Although I haven´t trained much lately, I was eager to take part in this race which is really interesting since it is in a course with no traffic, at the port, the views are great, the atmosphere is wonderful and it is very flat and the organisation is really good.
On Saturday afternoon I had picked up my race number and technical orange T-shirt. On Sunday morning I was very happy since UD Almería had beaten Sevilla 1-4 in their stadium. We are close UEFA positions, just three points away and five matches left.
At the port I met Javier, Pepe´s son, Pepe, Encarna, Felipe, Mario, Santiago. We were all very glad to take part at the race although it was a bit windy. I also met Alejandro, a brilliant former pupil of mine ,who was there to cheer his brother David and take photos.
The race started at 11 am. I started with my running mates but soon I saw I couldn´t keep their pace so I decided to go on my own. This year the course was better since we didn´t have to go round some parts of the port but ,instead, we continued along the fishing port. We were given a bottle of water at km 4.5 then we reached the lighthouse and on the way back, we were given another bottle at km 7. The view of Almería with the Alcazaba in the background or the bay of Almería was wonderful. In the last kilometre, as I felt great, I went faster overtaking a few runners. At the finish area, I was given a bag with a cap, a bottle of water, and other things. There, I met Carmen with her son Paquito, and all the other mates who had arrived before. There was a ballot in which Felipe was lucky and got a pair of Saucony trainers voucher to get them at a sports shop. After the race, I went home to have a shower and at 2 o´clock we had paella at a restaurant where Felipe had booked it. We had a very good time and were ready for the next race, the Red Cross race, on the following Sunday.
We´re staying at Kennilworth hotel near the British museum. We plan to go sightseeing and have a drink at pubs and meals at pubs and restaurants. We arre going to be typical tourists. I´m supposed to be their guide and interpreter since the other seven people have never been to London and most of them don´t speak English at all. I´d like to take them to the British museum, National gallery, St Paul´s cathedral, Westminster abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar square, Piccadilly circus, the change of the guard at Buckingham palace ,Harrods, Covent garden, Portobello road street market. We won´t probably have time for so many things!
If you can recommend any interesting places to go or pubs and restaurants, I´d appreciate it and if you could meet you and M there it would be wonderful but I understand that you will probably be very busy.
Saludos / Regards
Antonio
PS. Bad news. Almería lost 1-0 in Valladolid this afternoon.
Good news. I took part at the Red Cross race this morning. It was a wonderful day and I felt all right.
I forgot to say that I did the 10 km Puerto de Almería in 59´50´´ , five more than last year.
It's great to see Encarna is continuing to race. I expect she'll be the first finisher in Almería of our group in January 2009 It's true that we don't get anything like the goodie bags you guys do but it's the post-race meal I'm most jealous of (and no doubt the setting).
Eveything about the race sounds lovely except the distance and the odd part about it being very flat. How cruel.
Mrs S sends her warm regards to you and Mrs A. If you get the chance I highly recommend taking Tiffin at Chor Bizarre. This is an Indian resturant opposite Browns Hotel in Arbamarle Street (just off Piccadilly opposite the Ritz). They serve traditional British Raj style afternoon tea - I understand it is both historically accurate and absolutely delicious - lots of cakes!
Oh, and there's a cracking pub next door - The Kings' Head. They serve Timothy Taylor's Landlord, a pint that tastes remarkably like (and almost as good as) Harvey's Best. Cheers!
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
It's true that we don't get anything like the goodie bags you guys do but it's the post-race meal I'm most jealous of (and no doubt the setting).