FourtyTwo.OneSix : Day 4: 8 Mile

Today I had a nice little rest day after my big ole' 8 mile that I did! This is the second 8 mile long run that I have done during this training and the second time around was MUCH easier. This could have been because the first time was on my treadmill in my basement. But actually, that was a pretty easy run also. Thanks to my mom for putting on White House down so I could stare at Channing Tatum for 80 minutes

Note: Denzel Washington was never in that movie. I actually went 80 minutes thinking Jamie Foxx was Denzel Washington.

Now that I have enjoyed a long day of rest and a day of cross exercise (that consisted of me doing a few pushups in my room next to a box of oreos) I am here to blog about the experience.

July 5th: 8 Miles

Mile 1-3: Parque De Retiro

Today I took a run to the largest park in Madrid. I put mile 1-3 on this title because I actually spent about three miles dodging people through the Gran Via (busy rode in Madrid) to get to this park. It was the only way I knew how to go that wouldn't have gotten me lost... So I sucked it up and ran through Gran Via and let the whole population of Madrid stare at me... again.

Keep in mind, I don't have cellular data. I mean, I do. But it is very limited and I would only use it in emergencies (that was a quick note for my mom just to let her know how responsible I am with money $$$$$).

In Madrid they have lots and LOTS of WiFi. They don't call it WiFi though. It is spelled WiFi but they say it like this: WEE-FEE.

It was the funnest thing in the world the first time I heard someone say it and it will forever be funny.

So here is the beautiful entrance of Parque De Retiro --->

It is right off of a pretty busy road and the first part of the park is surrounded by local vendors that are trying to sell their janky stuff.

Janky stuff that I probably have bought a million times. Sorry mom, I love you.

Mile 4: Still in the Park

The options that I had with this park were the following:

Be in the shade but be in a constant incline
Don't be in the shade and become red like a tomato

Well, to be honest, I tried a little bit of both. Unfortunately the tomato outweighed the incline. So now I am a tomato. Only on my shoulders though and it doesn't really hurt THAT bad.

This is a photo of one of the areas that was clearly had no shade in sight. It was cool to run through and I snapped this rockin pic. That was really the only benefit of it.

There are statues of people surrounding this area of the park. I have come to the conclusion that all these people are just royal. I am assuming kings.

There are two things I never got above a C or a check minus in during my schooling.

Cutting in a straight line (kindergarten)
History (every time it was required)

Mile 5: Look at Dem Trees!

How awesome are these trees?!

They look like little pieces of green popcorn all joined together to make nature. In my head that made so much more sense.

They are so cool though! There was a kid climbing in one and he scared the crap out of me when I ran past the tree. He goes HOLA and jumped down. I was like for real? thanks for that. Then, I wondered where in the hell this kids parents could have been.

Probably hiding in the other tree.

This was a fun little spot to run around. I did three or four laps to complete the mile because I wanted to see if I could find more trees like this. Unfortunately, I could not. Who I really should have been looking for is the gardener/artists who carefully crafted those leaves.

What a guy!

Mile 5: Found Myself a River

I was kinda over this park during mile 5. Not to mention, I could not even find the man made lake that everyone was talking about. Apparently Parque De Retiro has a big lake that you can paddle boat and do cute stuff in. Much like downtown Naperville. Except clearly better because Naperville is not Madrid.

I just laughed out loud because I just compared Naperville to a beautiful lake in Madrid.

Well potentially beautiful. I may never known because my legs wouldn't let me find it. How big COULD it be? I mean if it so big I shouldn't have missed it, right?

Maybe I wasn't in Parque De Retiro this entire time... WHAT IF.

No thats ridiculous I totally was, I remember a sign.

I had that entire conversation in my head when I was running around. Just pondering if I was even in the right park. Well I did find this little river/lake thing. It was cute! There was no paddle boats on it. But it was cute. Definitely a great view for mile 5.

Mile 6: Hand

As I started to make my way back to Gran Via I found this statue. Just look. Say to the computer screen what you spot wrong.

SHE DOESN'T HAVE A HAND. ITS A NUB. A NUB HAND.

I laughed for ABOUT 5 minutes until I realized how stupid I am. These are the things I notice. Not the history, or the culture, or the beauty of art... no. I notice a missing hand.

A MISSING HAND.

This was the best part of mile 6. Not this was the best mile ever. Because of this missing hand. I just wondered for about another mile where the hand could have gone.

Did someone steal it?

Did someone try to clean the statue and then knock it off?

If you look really hard there is a wire sticking out to where the hand used to be. I think that when the hand was taken off, it was done purposely. Because the wire is still there.

I will never know. Never.

Mile 7: On the Road Again

Here I am, back on Gran Via. Now if you notice there are no pedestrians. Except for the one guy across the street, but he doesn't matter.

When I was running down Gran Via towards the Parque I kid you not there were a million more people. I dont know where they went but this scared me. It's like someone told them I was coming back and they need to move out the way.

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. It was just weird to run down Gran Via and not have to dodge anyone. The people in Madrid have no idea what time is.

One would argue that I have no concept of time as well... and I will defend myself against that because its true. I don't. My sincerest apologies to all those affected by my tardiness.

I would always get mad at my mom for being late. I would say "mom hurry up we are late" and she would say "why hurry, we are already late." SERIOUSLY?

Mile 8: PIG

I FOUND A PIG ON A LEASH DURING MILE 8. REPEAT: I FOUND A PIG ON A LEASH DURING MILE 8.

LOOK AT IT.