ok, not my pictures... dont run with a camera, but, you get the idea - amazing!

i felt so accomplished, energized and proud . 10 miles ... of running! Not a preferred past time but something i want to like, a healthy activity that i always think of being a good habit, shouldn't be so difficult, so sometimes i pretend i like it... try to trick myself into it - ha, i am such a dork!
i should use margaret's excuse - "according to our family history - osteoporosis and all, maybe running just isn't good for us" - good one!

with the turn of the new year comes the famous new years resolutions! as the last year, instead of making general resolutions (lose weight, keep up on the news, be more involved in politics, read more, blah blah blah - always the same, so i've got to find a new approach instead of always thinking i am going to do something and then it always gets put off... and hey, we are at a new year again... roll over resolutions, no?) i find that starting with basic monthly goals is a good way to keep myself conscious and accountable for those personal objectives - that's my resolution solution!

so, apart from reading a spanish novel (got to make the most of language acquisition while living in spain) i made the commitment to myself that i would re-incorporate running into my exercise regime...
...about half way through the month, feeling pretty good and content with a 3mile run up and down diagonal, barbara - my boss and athletic maniac by the way - began convincing me to run the bcn 1/2 marathon! ok, i thought, pretty perfect way to not let this "resolution" slip slide away, so i said, alright, this weekend we go on a "long run" and if i don't die, fine - i'm in... oh gad, what am i getting myself into - i hate running!

bright and early the next morning training began...if i can do 3 miles, i can do 5 and if i can do 5, 7 shouldn't be too bad, right? and then, hey, that is more than half way to 13....

there is a catch, of course! - i have just about a month before race day, yikes!

none the less, a beautiful bright, sunshiny day, 2 weeks after the grand commitment (cold! but sunny) i tromped on new barcelona grounds, amazing afternoon escape... peaceful carretera de las aguas, just above the city and beneath the famous tibidabo - away from the hustle and bustle...mountainous trails proving a view of the glistening sea, and all the main attractions - segrada familia, monjuic, olympic stadium, torre agbar ... all within my undisturbed panoramic view from the hills :)
i didnt even feel like i was in barcelona, nor spain...not really sure where i thought i was - maybe that's the point - not even thinking about where you are, where you are going... just being and breathing! it is so liberating when you get the chance to free your mind, i've got to figure out a way to do that more! maybe that's why i have such a love-hate-relationship with running

two weeks to go - all good and jazzed until... gripe a? swine flu? who knows? whatever this maldido virus - immobile for over a week... no training - cant even breathe through my nose - crap!
we will see...

i just had to share the my carretera de las aguas experience - it made me glow for the following week, and realize how much ground can be covered jogging around - it makes the city seem so small!