Week building up to race, did not entail a whole bunch. The best part was that Nat joined us at the village, which was very exciting to see him again and so glad he made the effort to see. He had managed to fly to London a few days early and then made the trip to Seville and down to Punta Umbria via the Spanish transport system and I was very impressed. He arrived pretty much when I thought he would! Thank goodness, didn't know what I would have done if he hadn't turned up!
So after arriving to a wet Spain, we had beautiful days and they got hotter and hotter each day. We were pretty much stuck in our village and the few blocks surrounding. We had the beach just across the street, which we really couldn't enjoy that much. We tried to get a rental car, but the only other people in a beach resort in the early spring were senior citizens and had booked them already, from all the nearby towns! So we were stuck to enjoy the sights and sounds of Punta Umbria. Which was not a lot, across the street was a small shopping center, a little supermarket, a Burger King - could not be somewhere without one. Plus a few other little stores, which I don't know where ever open while we where there, oh except the tourist shops!
All the team members finally arrived and slowly over the days the village filled up with all the other countries team arriving.
The NZ team played plenty of cards, ran and eat most of the days away! The Course was about 800meters from the village so we could just run down there to check it out. Mike got the Sayville Running Shirt on a tree with the perfectly manicured grass for the course in the background
This was an over bridge which you could see the rest of the complex in which we were staying
This was a view from our hotel room looking towards the beach. The room on the opposite side of the court yard was were we all dined for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
This is the course coming towards the finish, so got a few good runs on it, and the course drained well, looked like this all week long.
From the Village we could walk down to the beach, which during the week was deserted, however come the weekend and it was packed with people and a lot of topless women!
Every night we pretty much were fed the same stuff, only when we first got there, we could take our time, no waits, got what we wanted, but then when ever one else arrived they couldn't make the pasta and sauce fast enough.
And there was always plenty of deserts!
So Punta Umbria, is pretty much a beach town which people come to on the weekends, and in the summer when they have all sorts of attractions available. The area is also a fishing town, when you got of the touristy area you found very little Spanish towns.
Next up Race Time
After we survived the race we joined the rest of Spain and jumped into the water. Behind the camera man was some very entertaining sunbathers.
Here are some action shots
Start of the race
All of us lined up, NZ to the right
Going from the team room out to the start of the race
Thanks Saucony for these cool Spikes!
warm up - though not sure how much I really needed to warm up. I was sweating way before the start
You can never be upset when you get to represent your country, but you always hope that you can represent your country with pride. We all battled out there today, but with the heat of the day and training in a brutal winter I think I was unable to go into this race completely prepared. Things to think about for the following year. But for now time to actually enjoy Spain.
