We are back on the road again

Rock n Roll Marathon

On the road again and need to be in Madrid for 28 April for Mog’s Half Marathon race – a swap from the full marathon due to the heat getting in the way of training and long runs but 13.1 miles is still a long way!! We stopped at the base of Sierra Nevada mountains near Granada on the way for just a night – very quiet and a lovely morning run through the olive trees and hills with snow topped mountains in the distance.

That was our last sunny day as Spain then had a freak weather week for this time of year and we headed north towards Madrid – where snow was forecast!!!

On the road through central Spain we have never seen so many olive trees – or Guardia police! Dave has a bit of a thing about the Guardia – you can’t go 2 minutes anywhere and you see them. We’ve been stopped once: they said “have you drink?” At the back of your mind you want to say “Yeah loads!” What a stupid question!!! It was 7 am and we were on the way to the airport to take Al and Ames back so of course we hadn’t – bit scary though as they have guns and balaclavas on!

On the road to Madrid 8 vans of Guardia passed us all full with police

Olive trees as far as you can see!

 Guardia as far as you can see!

Stayed at a campsite in Aranjuez which is about 40km outside Madrid.

Aranjuez

While chatting on video to Andy & Kirstie – good friends from Holsworthy – Andy mentioned that our van looked like we had been burgled in the night!!  Decided it was time for a bit of housework…..it takes a long time to do our cleaning – one hour later and here’s a shiny tidy Vannie!!

Friday we went into Madrid by train to pick up Mog’s number from the Expo – we are so not used to city life – took us nearly all day on trains and Metro – the Spanish Metro is well confusing and there aren’t any maps in the stations to tell you where to go like in London.  Made it to the Expo and here’s Mogs with her race pack getting excited but a bit nervy as the place is full of fit men and seems to be hardly any women running! D was getting tired just looking at them all!

Freak Weather to Rock n Roll

Having expected to be running in 28 degrees, the 4 degree forecast was a bit grim for the race! Alarms were set as the train left at 6.19 am for Madrid – as it was so bloody cold we went to Reception to book a taxi to the station – result – a Spanish man called Poni was heading to Madrid and gave us a lift in his warm car. We did get there 2 hours too early though!! Lots or pre race nerves and wees (as Mog’s friend Annie and other running buddies will understand) and it was time for the off

Having not been in a race for about 18 months Mogs was a bit apprehensive but the long runs in Mojacar paid off and it went really well.

M: Loved it! Great to be running in a big race again with 24 thousand others – and even better when you have a bit of energy at the end and run past the men!!!

Fab medal, pleased with 2:04:15 time, goodie bag with cool training vest and mug so a great result! And worth all the hassle of getting into Madrid in the freezing cold – I think Dave is wondering what he got out of it all though! He managed to negotiate the Madrid Metro (as said before the Metro here is a nightmare) and find me en route to cheer me on – great to see someone you know along the way – gets your legs going faster! Was so pleased to see him at mile 10 and he made sure I didn't do the marathon route!! Bit confusing - the 10k, half and full marathon all start at the same point and branch off en route...really enjoyed it and back into racing again...  D: I've got to do this again?!!!

Note for my running buddies - the race had the medical staff whizzing through every 15 mins or so on roller blades with Vaseline and freezing spray if you wanted it - not seen that before!

Madrid

How strange is this?

 

 

There was loads too much to upload!!

We are getting fed up with the cold wet weather – time to move on further north to Burgos just south of Santander – 2 nights there before we get on the ferry to Plymouth.  Hoping for a heatwave in UK when we arrive on 2 May?! The tans are fading fast…..

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr Burgos

We are surrounded by Dutch people – we think they are on a rally – we need some hurdy gurdy music to fit in!  It’s bloody freezing here but getting us in UK mode with the weather we guess.
 
Burgos is a lovely town but we couldn’t appreciate the walks and city as it was so cold – so we headed to some typical Spanish tapas bars to warm up!

Wrapped up in Burgos!

 

 

Time to head off to the ferry soon so booze shopping time

D: Mogs go and get some wine for going over to UK

Mogs comes back with 40 bottles!!! 

D: F**k me!

M: I got 10 as it’s £5 a bottle at home and 80p here, then got 10 for back up.

D: That makes 20

M: I got an extra 10 just in case

D: That’s 30

M: Oops – I can’t count!!!

D: We’re only back 10 days!!

Arrived at Santander and it's pouring...grim ... we stayed in the van and didn't look at much there! Have heard news of a heatwave arriving in UK - ideal!

 Just Cruising

Wow we are on a cruise ship! And Dave is missing his boat - not that it floated much!! There's 2 cinemas, pool, 5 bars, 4 restaurants and shopping! We feel like we're on holiday - bingo, quizes, live music and a magician.  The girl singer was great - the man was meant to be James Brown but was trying to be a black Elvis! Funny!

We loved the cruise back - 22 hours and it went so quickly - Thursday lunch Dave went to the cinema and saw a boy film and Mogs had a cheeky wine and caught up with emails and blogging - typing this with free Wifi in the bar as we sail......very smooth crossing and we can see England in the distance - looking forward to seeing family and friends for a week or so.

We also need to get to our Parcel Force office - Parts R Us – (also known as Les & Kirks) to pick up our essential bits for Vannie.  We hear there's a Mexican meal waiting for us - yum - thanks Les - looking forward to seeing you all!!

 
 Parts R Us