Woke up at 5AM-packed up the last things I needed to and was off to catch the Aerobus. I said good bye to Emily who had a few hours before her train and was off. I walked to Placa de Catalunya (about 10 minutes away), and got in line for the bus. There were a lot of people waiting (surprisingly for being 530AM), but I got on no problem. The ride was about 30 minutes to the airport.

When I arrived at the airport, I had some initial problems because the agent couldn’t find my ticket, but it was cleared up within 20 minutes and I was off to spend the last few Euros I had. Luckily my flight boarded early…what? That is never heard of in America!!

First Flight: BCN->Munich: Got served a chocolate croissant which was huge!! Mmmm and it was good! Very smooth ride, only about 1 hr 45 min. I read the whole flight so it went really fast. I had to go through Germany security before boarding the next plane. I walked all the way through the huge airport and then another check point before being able to sit in the waiting area. First they check passports, then bags, and then get to wait in the holding area to board.

Second Flight: Munich-> CLT: Huge plan and I got to sit by myself. Lots of empty seats on this plane. This flight was about 9 hours so got a nice nap in and read. I was served chicken and spaghetti—which was great but it came with a salad, cherry coffee cake, and a chocolate which made up for the entrée. Because the plane was fairly empty so I went back a few rows to one that was completely empty and laid down along 4 seats to take a nap and watch Philomena. The ride was very smooth but I was ready when we landed to get off!

Third Flight: CLT->HHH: Of course this was a super small plane and it was packed. Only an hour flight to HH and by the time I landed I was ready to stay on land for quite some time. Alex picked me up and brought me home!

Woke up and worked on in the hallway with my resistance bands. I made my oatmeal again and then was off to explore my last day in Spain. We went to the market first since it was closed yesterday. The market is called Mercat de la Boqueria. This market is huge---tons of fresh fruit/meat/cheese/veggies—very vibrant colors and mmmmm delicious! We both had some fruit—I went with the Strawberries and fresh whip cream which were just delicious! We walked to every corner of the market, gathering interesting sights (full fish, meat being cut and served with the heads of animals still attached) and smells (some good some not so much). After spending a good amount of time in the market we went down to the end of Las Ramblas which leads out to the water and saw the Colon (Columbus monument in honor of his first voyage to America).

We decided to buy a picnic lunch at the market and then take it to Park Guel (another Goudi famous creation). We took the subway and had to find our way to the park which involved lot and lots of stairs and straight uphill walking for about 15 min—some great cardio (definitely missing my workouts if your couldn’t tell). I am pretty sure I was sweating by the top and ready to eat!! Once we got to the top of the park, we enjoyed a spinach pocket, tuna/veggie pocket, chocolate, and pistachio macaroon. MMMM wonderful lunch. After lunch we walked down to the most famous part of the park. This part of course we paid to get into. Goudi is just exquisite. His creations are very fairytale, dream-like. Very curvy nature, no right angles. I got to take a few pictures with the infamous lizard which Goudi put into the park.

After exploring the park, it was back to the subway. On the way to the hotel, we stopped at a Tiger store—like a dollar store/container store/cool gadgets for the home/kitchen. Emily and I had a ball in here playing with everything and checking out new home/kitchen tools. Then we got some frozen yogurt at Tuity and Fruity. I am vanilla and blueberry yogurt with cookie bits and mango. Then it was back to the hotel to repack and shower. I went to sleep around 1AM

Today was the first day I felt my legs were somewhat normal and my legs didn’t hurt. I slept in until 10:30AM today! I guess I needed some sleep! I went down to the restaurant and had a server help me make my oatmeal (can’t beat free) and then was off to explore. A lot of places were closed because it was considered a labor-related holiday today. Additionally, there was also a protest of the working class going on which was much like a parade—music, confetti in the streets, megaphones! One of the places we were heading (huge market) was closed so we went to see the Cathedral Barcelona and Las Ramblas (significant street which use to sell flowers, now a tourist trap-lots of the same things being sold in every shop).  Guess who I bump into walking back down Las Ramblas---Maggie Czerwien. Of all places, I see her in Barcelona (She lives in Madrid and was just there vacationing and visiting—very ironic!) We chatted for a bit—what a pleasant surprise!

After walking a bit we decided to go to Sitges which is right along the Mediterranean Sea just for a couple hours.  Woohoo beach time!! We took a fast train, only about an hr ride or so. Sitges is beautiful, a little warmer here. When we arrived we had to make our way to the water so we walked down many meandering streets. These streets were very well crammed and lead into hundreds of shops/restaurants/cafes. We stopped at a little shop and had some fresh fruit cups…mmmm  they were delicious!! Finally we made it down to the water and discovered it was a nude beach. Ohh boy hide my eyes. Of course it is the old old men who are completely naked just walking up and down the beach….Emily and I had our fix rather quickly and enjoyed many many laughs. Being Europe, most women were topless (all ages), but those that chose to be completely nude, most were aged but some middle age as well.

We decided to look at more of the waterside and walked by the harbor which had many restaurants, shops—seemed to be where those who vacation here at Sitges all went to dinner—seemed pretty fancy. We walked back along the beach and head back toward the train and window shop along the way. We stopped in a café since we were both a little hungry. We had a few little sandwiches, tuna/peppers and cucumber with cream cheese on bread---small little appetizers to hold us over, both were very good! In this café, they were playing 80’s music and Whitney Houston (Wanna Dance with Somebody) came on. Emily and I started singing, laughing---just relaxing and having a good time. It seems everywhere we went we would make friends and could always find someone who spoke English. After we finished our snacks we headed back to the train station and got off at Plaza de Grasie (35 min ride). From here we walked to Casa Mila, also known as “La Pedrera “which is Goudi’s amazing, grand created apartment building. We took the official tour, went to the rooftop (could see the whole city from here-just wonderful), the attic, and at the apartment—so unique, each nook and cranny was detailed and very distinctly Goudi. After we walked around the building, we walked back to the hotel to shower and head to our Flamenco Show! I was so stoked for a live dance performance. Only 180 people were allowed into the show, it was very small and guess who had the front row? Woot woot! We walked to the theatre which was just down Las Ramblas so maybe just 30 min or so.

The show was fantastic. Lots of stomping, singing (very different accents than what I am use to so I am not sure how much appreciation I had for the singing), partnering, 4 female dancers and 2 males, an entire band. The dancing was very intense---very focused dancers, no smiles until each dance was complete. These male dancers were sweating and few times as they whipped their hair back during their dance and to make more accented movement I got a little wet!. The show lasted about 2 hours and then it was back to the hotel to sleep! What a day!

I learned the origin of tapas from Emily---Tapas origin: couldn’t just drink and have nothing inside their stomachs so they out food on top of their drink and called them tapas.

Couldn’t sleep any longer and we had to make sure we were up and getting out to catch our train. I made oatmeal again and we were off! We walked to our train, got to see all the Sevilla kids walking to school-everyone in school wears the same uniform. The train left promptly at 8:50AM (love out on-time these trains were). On to Barcelona!! The train ride was 5.5 hours. We past huge pastures, trees, olive oil fields (Spain is the largest producer of olive oil), and sunflower seed fields. The train was very smooth, comfortable ride, went fast so I napped, read, stood in the cafeteria cab to stretch my legs out.

We arrived at 2:30PM and walked to our hotel. It was about a 25-30 minute walk to Axel. We didn’t know this in advance but the hotel seemed very metrosexual. Very European, drag, gay! Very clean, large rooms, but seemed very gay-friendly. Had a sign which you put on the doors for DND, and then one for Please Disturb……yikes!! Inside the room there was a picture of a naked back of someone on the wall and of course condoms in the bathroom. I am not sure how I felt about this place. The notes in the room all said hetero-friendly, but we for surely in a gay community.  Barcelona right of the get-go felt much larger than Madrid and Sevilla. Blocks were much much longer and to commute took a little bit longer that the other two cities. Cooler in temperature too which was nice.

We dropped off our stuff and then went out walking right away to check out the neighborhood and famous sites. There were tons of tourists, traffic, skyscrapers, tall gothic buildings, we were definitely in a city (much different from Sevilla—it was very congested and busy). We walked by the Casa Batllo (masterpiece designed by Goudí) and went to Segrada Familia (astonishing unfinished church in Barcelona designed by Goudí) which was just brilliant. The architecture being carried out it just mind blowing. Wow I was just stunned at how intricate and detailed each angle of the church was and how much of the bible is inside and outside the church. It is still being worked on and costs money to get in so we bought tickets online and got right in (there was a line of hundreds of people so we just went online and cut the line and got right in). Being in the church was just amazing---beauty and genius at its finest.

After we looked around for a couple hours, we walked back to the hotel, cleaned up, and went to dinner with a couple that Emily knew at 9PM. We walked to the restaurant which was about 20 minutes or so away. It was an exquisite dinner-my favorite so far. It was a 4 course meal:

1.       Champagne, water, bread

2.       Appetizers-asparagus, veggie fried chips, calamari rings, something with fish

3.       I ordered a modado (white) fish with a potato block underneath—delicious!!

4.       Dessert-dark chocolate mint mousse mmmmmmmmmmmm it was so good!!

I learned I had to make sure I clarified if I wanted distilled or sparkling water at every restaurant and café I went to. Sparkling water (Carbonated or fizz water) was something that was very popular but something I am not used to and prefer distilled (normal drinking water).

The couple we ate with were very very nice. They both spoke English so I could engage in full conversation and surprisingly I missed talking a bit. We talked for a couple hours, treated us to dinner, and drove us back to our place. It felt nice to be in a car because I hadn’t been in one in over a week. It was 12:30AM by the time I laid down---exhausted!

I slept in this morning and got up around 8:45 AM. I worked out in the hallway with my resistance band (hooking it on the stairwell banister-sometimes you need to get creative). We didn’t get breakfast with this hotel so I went and made myself some oatmeal/pb/banana in the kitchen of the hotel. Then it was off to explore Sevilla. We walked everywhere that day—went to the Giralda (former minaret that was converted to a bell tower for the Cathedral of Seville in Seville), lots of plazas, la plaza de Espana (the Worlds Fair entrance), Maria Luisa park which we walked thru and sat a little park to relax, Torre de Oro (tall gold tower by the water). To cool off a bit along our journey we spotted people drinking strawberry mojitos and just had to get one. I got a virgin one (mmm it was so good-fresh strawberries, mint, lime). Then we went to the Real Maestranza-Bull fighting arena and took a tour. It was very fascinating- bull always dies-either pierced at heart and dies quickly or in lungs and slowly. The matador has to study the bull in 3 stages to understand the bull and be able to kill it properly. The matador’s outfit is very protective and fancier the better he is. I learned that fighters  (called matador which means killer) get about 20 minutes to fight and kill a bull. First they 1. Learn the bulls tactics by using the red cape, then 2. Get on a horse to slow the bull down and tire the bull out. Then 3. Use a sword to stab the bull in the heart. If they miss the heart and stab the lungs, the bull will die slowly and then the judge gets mad because the fighter lost and then ends the bull’s life quickly and declares the matador (killer) a failure and he loses all points of the match. During the tour I got to see the arena, where the horses they ride stay, chapel (where the matador sits/prays right before the match to get mentally ready), the principle gate where the killer enters, and also the museum of the archives of past and present matadors and bull heads. I really enjoyed this tour a lot.

Then Emily and I walked to the old Jewish neighborhood where there were lots of shops selling the same thing. Tons of side streets of little trinkets, we got lunch around 4PM at a local tapas we found walking. We got grilled eggplant with mushrooms which was delicious, goat cheese and honey which was good too, a vegetable lasagna-which was great!! Of course bread and water were served; the bread here is very good! All restaurants are always half inside half outside which I enjoy. Get to have some inside seating but an outside, open feel. There is room for about 6-8 people inside and about 10 outside, so fairly small restaurants looking to serve maybe 4 groups of people at a time. Most groups are two people maybe 4-5 at the most so there’s enough room for a few small groups. Menus are always in multiple languages and typically the server asks what language you want as you sit down, or they listen and give you the appropriate one.

My legs were still sore but feel like they were healing. My Achilles, knees, and quads still hurt. Sore to sit, stand, go up and down stairs, sometimes knees still rejected me and I would stumble. Mostly my right Achilles killed but the rest felt somewhat like it was healing.

After we refueled it was back to wandering. I was in charge of the map, Emily let me lead even though I had no clue where I was going, but made it around very well and was much better at reading Spanish maps. We walked further down the old Jewish town and back to the hotel. We both laid down for a bit, checked emails, and hung out in the room for a couple hours then we met up with Emily’s friend again. We walked about 10 minutes to meet them down the road. Marise and her father met us half way and then we taxied to the restaurant. Her father was such a sweet, old man and at the restaurant we met Marise’s mother. They only knew Spanish so I didn’t talk much at this meal…just listened and could understand most of the conversation, but afraid to speak really. Because they heard I wanted to take Jamon home to my family, they brought me down the street to a local butcher to get some. Marise bought some for my family and Alex, she was so sweet. Then we went back to the restaurant (seated entirely outside) and had some dinner, it was like 9PM I’d say. They ordered for me—I had pescado de la plancha (grilled whole fish) with green sauce and salad. Also Spinach and filo triangles which were great, sardines which I did not try, and bread of course. Also there were these potato chips (made fresh so mostly potatoes) which Emily let me try. Her dish which they ordered for her too was an egg on top of the potato chips (really more like fresh fries). The parents were so sweet, we sat there talking until 11PM and then needed to catch a taxi back. We caught a cab and went to the hotel. I went right to sleep, but woke up at 3:18AM and couldn’t fall back asleep (I think the time adjustment finally set in). I got on FB and chatted with Alex for a while on WhatsApp until about 530AM and then fell back asleep until 7:05AM.

Woke up at 7:40AM-went down to have breakfast which was the same from the day before. I hobbled all the way down and into breakfast—I am assuming people thought something was wrong with me. My quads were rejecting all the movement I was doing. I felt like I was walking around like my dad. My knees hurt really bad, very stiff-sometimes they would give out while walking which was painful. It was painful to sit down and stand up. I would tell myself to sit or stand and it would take a few extra seconds to actually execute the movement. I was very slow at moving today. I went back upstairs to find Emily packing up. She went to breakfast and I showered and packed up. Then we checked out and walked a little around Madrid (I only got to see a half day’s worth of Madrid and then whatever I saw while running) because I wanted to see more before we left. We walked for maybe a half hour or so and then headed to the train. I learned there is very little pollution in this city or waste on the ground, however, in restaurants you can throw waste on the floor and someone will come pick it up.

We went to Plaza del Sol-main meeting plaza with fake Minnie and Mickey Mouses and characters like the Simpsons. These characters would stop for pictures. Also this is where Tio Pepe is located. All cobblestone paths inside the plaza. We walked down the pedestrian walkways where I got to see all kinds of specialty stores which sold leather, hats, meats, fruit, shoes, etc. Every street off the Plaza had hundreds of stores. Then we went to Plaza Mayor-which is a smaller version of Plaza del Sol. Plaza Mayor is a large open space where people meet/hang out/eat. Not too many people here because it was only 11:30AM, but lots of trucks making their deliveries. Then we walked to Station Atocha which was about another 20-25 minute walk. My legs were still rejecting me and I felt I was super slow, but I am happy I got to see more of the Madrid city. We past more shops, museums-there was such wonderful architecture. We made it to the train station which was just beautiful. We checked in, got luggage security checked, and got to the gate. We waited for maybe 5 minutes and boarded. We travelled in tourist (other option is first class but not terribly different and didn’t want to pay more)with assigned seats so we could sit next to each other. The seats were really nice-had A/C, got headphones to keep, had an English movie playing. The train ride was about 2.5 hours so I watched the movie, looked out the window, and read. The train traveled at a max speed of 265km/h= 197 mi/hr. It really didn’t feel that fast at all. It was a very smooth ride.

We arrived early in Seville at 2:15PM. We got off and walked to the hotel (Santa Lucia)which was about 15 minutes away. We had to ask for directions because we didn’t know where we were at. We eventually found it though. It was a very cute/quaint/small place which is tucked away by residential area. Just in a little corner, very quiet place. The staff was wonderful, I felt like the only guests there. It was a hole in the corner, but very clean, basic, quiet. We sat for a bit and then decided to take a walk. My legs were still very sore, but it was good to walk it out. We walked to the Macarena (Virgin of Seville who is culturally very important). They carry a figure of the Macarena (Mary) in a parade of 21K with 42 men carrying her around town. They are very proud of her and what she represents. Then we wandered to a few other places (Metropol para Sol—the big mushroom some people call it). It was in  a large square where people gather, eat, hang out. Then we went back to the hotel just by winging our own directions (we didn’t know precisely where were at). The streets were much like Rome, where each block changes and some are half blocks and some blocks change names half way through-no real orientation or structure to the roads.

Emily’s friend Marise (knew some English) came to the hotel with her twins (learning English in school and wanted to practice) and husband (knew no English). They walked us to a plaza where we got drinks, jamon (Ham which is extremely popular), and sardines. We also had the house wine which was really strong for me so I drank maybe 1/3 of the glass. They also ordered me a salad because I didn’t have sardines or jamon, and the salad had tuna, tomatoes, green peppers in olive oil—interesting definitely. It was alright to eat-not my favorite but very tasty. Common foods in Spain: danishes, jamon, bread and cheese, tuna, and calamari.

I listened to conversation for the most part-Marise and her kids tried to speak, but preferred Spanish of course.  Emily translated for me when I couldn’t understand. I caught on fairly well though-could understand just not speak as well.

After that plaza we went to another place just about 8 minutes away (everyone walks here because the streets are so narrow and driving is crazy). I got water and we ate/drank again here. I was stuffed from the previous place, but the waiter wouldn’t let me not eat so he brought me San Morejo (green veg blend-bread, olive oil, green peppers, hardboiled eggs, garlic, and vinegar). Usually it is served with eggs and jamon (which they ordered again because the kids and husband move it), but he knew I didn’t eat meat because Emily told the waiter that. It was okay, not my favorite or something I would order, but not a bad dip. The Spaniards love it and eat it by the spoonful, but not my thing. We talked a while at this place and Marise brought albums with her to look at from when Emily and her were in their 20s vacationing together. They have known and traveled with each other for about 20 years now. We talked for a while and then kids had to go since they had school the next day at 9AM, but they get up at 7AM to study before school. Then we walked back to the hotel and went to sleep at 12:15AM.

Marathon day! Woke up at 7:20AM, went down stairs to have breakfast. The breakfast was huge—danishes, toast, jams, Nutella, all kinds of meats, cheeses, lots of fruit (whole and sliced), eggs (scrambled with cheese in it), meat sandwiches, tons of bread, cooked meats, hard boiled eggs, cereals, yogurt, juices/coffee/tea/cappuccino maker—really way too many options. Emily stayed sleeping so I ate alone, but two other racers were at breakfast as well. They wished me Buena suerte and I wished it back. I ate 2 slices of toast with Nutella, 2 yogurts, some scrambled eggs, a piece of melon, peaches, banana and special k cereal. That should hold me over for 26.2 miles right? Lol. Then I went back upstairs, got dressed, and warmed up in the hallway. Got my bib on, put on anti-chaffing glide, took my picture, and was out the door. It was a bit nippy, 46 degrees to start. It was only 3 blocks to the starting line which was perfect and I was warm by then. I had to squeeze into line, there were so many people trying to fit in between the two fences. While standing and waiting for the race to begin, I met two girls from Sweden and the UK. They spoke English so we talked and motivated each other. Once the race started, it was about 5-6 minutes before I actually moved. It was a very slow process to inch forward. I was very warm by this point because it was like being in a sardine can with all the people.

Crossing the starting line, I prayed and was off.

1-5K: The first 3 miles was rough, I want to say the most rough. It’s hard getting into the groove. My Achilles was hurting a little and the pacers were all a bit off so I was confused the pace I was running. However, from training and knowing my body/breathing I could pace myself and keep it consistent.

Once I set my pace, it was just one mile after another was passing. The course was beautiful and I tried to keep myself observing and enjoying the area around me. I heard the crowd shouting “Vamos (Lets go),” “Animo (Energy),” “Si, se puede (Yes you can),” “Vamos Chica (lets go girl).” The crowd was so supportive, especially the women. They would run to me and make eye contact and cheer me on. It was very motivating and inspiring.

6-26K: I coasted very well here, beautiful course—buildings/fountains/palaces/tons of spectators. I try to remind myself that I need to take in the scenery and look around, not just concentrate on breathing. I saw Emily cheering me on at 20K. At 28K (almost 17 miles), I had an urge to stop. I think it was just a mental break so I talked to myself, prayed, and kept one foot in front of the other. One step in front is one step closer Danielle, you got this and God is here with you.

I had great snacks along the course too. There were drinks or snacks every 5K. Water, powerade, bananas, had goo packets at 21K. Felt very well nutritionally along my run. I even brought sugar orange slices on me in case.

At the split where the half marathon/full marathon runner part, the half marathon runners literally turned to us and cheered us on. This gave me goose bumps and inspired me. They stopped to make sure they made eye contact with us and clap for us. There were all minds of supporters: kids, pets, old and young. There were even a few strollers in the race, a few wheelchairs, a hand-pedaled bike, even friends/spouses who hopped into the race, ran a few miles with their significant other and then drift out.

36K: I saw Emily and Mariterra (step daughter who lives in Madrid) and this is where I took my first break and walked. Walked for about 1K and then picked it back up to 38, and from there to 41 I run/walked on and off then ran the rest. The people in the streets were cheering me on the whole time, people got really close to me while I’m running and were supportive. Sometimes I didn’t know what they were saying, but very motivating. The clean-up crew was just phenomenal-people were always making sure everything was cleaned up, even the runners would throw their cups in the trash rather than the ground. Runners would even run out of the way to throw out their trash in a garbage can.

The hills were hard. I got to one hill and I had to talk to myself, I was like “Are you kidding me?” I really couldn’t take anymore, but kept one foot in front of the other. A part of the race went into this forestry area. This was much appreciated because it was getting hot by the end of the race. It was such good oxygen and shade for a few miles.

Last bit was a little confusing---so many arches to run under, I think there were 5 for the last 1/2K—when I saw the first arch I thought I was done. But nope, there was another 4 to go through. I just wanted to be done. I finally made, goose bumps and all, thanking God for being with my throughout the whole race and making the finish line with no injuries. I finished in 4 hrs 52 minutes! I received my medal (boy it was much heavier than I thought-had to lift it off my chest because I felt so heavy to begin with) and then they handed me a bag of food-chocolate cake, granola bar/water bottle/powerade to refuel. I walked a little to get the feelings back into my legs, but then I just had to sit down. The only problem is that my legs didn’t want to take the weight of my body. I could see the floor and where I need to go, I just couldn’t get there. After a couple failed attempts, I finally just had to let my body catch me on the ground as I fell as graceful as possible. Oh did that feel good!! I stayed down for about 10 minutes and did some stretching then knew I had to get up and find Emily. I had no idea where her, her son and step-daughter were, and after about 35 minutes of searching I finally found them. We took some pictures and then were off to brunch.

They treated me to brunch which was just sweet. We walked to the restaurant which was my request so I could walk it out and keep blood flow in my legs. It was about 2-3 blocks away. My legs were already really stiff so it was a slow walk and it felts great to sit down. Brunch included a lot of food! First it was OJ served, then danishes (didn’t try them), the bread with jam/Nutella/cream cheese/butter/tomato paste. I had a couple slices and jam/Nutella. Then water and coffees came. Then entrees-I ordered a smoked salmon salad with a cream cheese rolled in sunflower seed glob---the dressing was delicious-a little mustard sauce yum!! (I learned meals come in 4 courses: 1. OJ, danishes, cheeses, eggs. 2. Toast 3. Fruit 4. Yogurt-dessert.) During brunch we had some little birds come and they got really really close. Of course I am not a fan and I tried to shoo them away, but Mariterra just threw a piece of bread far away and they left. Then it was time for desert: yogurt with honey and oats—it was delicious but way too much food. When it was time to get up, it was like my legs had turned off. Just flexing my quads was painful. I was very slow to get up and even slower to try to walk forward. It took about 10 min to walk back to the hotel. My feet felt fine, but yikes my quads were tight. I staggered a bit because I couldn’t control my legs sometimes—had impulses to straighten quickly and also bend quickly so I felt like I was jolting back and forth.

When I got back to the hotel, I sat in a cold bath then hot bath and then showered. I china gelled my legs and took it easy for the rest of the night hanging out on my bed. I rolled my legs out and finished my post cards then went to sleep because I was exhausted at 8:40PM. I realized I was pretty sunburn too from the run. I slept for about 3 hours and woke up at 11:40PM---I was hot, achy, had a headache. I called Alex and talked to him a bit and then went back to sleep.

James Bond drove me back to the airport the next day. First flight SAV->ORD---sat next to a kid and just read for the 2 hr flight.

Second flight ORD->Frankfurt, Germany—sat next to an Argentinan man. I watched Frozen and listened to music. The man next to me though started to try to caress my thigh (it took me a little while since he was trying to be sneaky). It freaked me out and made me really uncomfortable, so I pulled the blanket over my legs and moved my legs to the other side of the seat. I tried to ignore it. I think he was flirting and was really persistent. He had a few little airline bottles of wine and was feeling a bit frisky. He then asked if I liked girls because I kept moving away…so I talked about Alex. The man was nice and funny, but a little too handsy for me. I ate a vegetarian meal (rice, beans, salad, bread).

Third flight Frankfurt->Madrid: I had to go through customs in Germany which was super easy—just a walk through, show passport, and then done. The last flight I got to sit alone and really needed that from the previous flight. I slept most of the way. When I arrived in Madrid there were no customs, just went right to an ATM and got cash for a bus. I found the bus stop and took it to Plaza de Cibells where Emily Earean was waiting for me. She showed me the 3 blocks we had to walk to the hotel, telling me the history and what places we were passing/close to. What a beautiful country. The hotel was lovely (I booked all the hotels using europeandestinations.com—great discounts), beautiful lobby and room—very sustainable and modern. I dropped my stuff off in the room and then it was off to the Expo. To save my legs for the race tomorrow, we decided to taxi. Only about 15 minutes away, but when we got there, wow the line was extremely long. I felt walking to the end of it, there would be no end. However, the line moved really quickly, only stood in it for about 25 minutes. I got my Bib, bag, shirt, bought calf compression sleeves, walked around a bit, went to the pasta party---there was a long line for that too (took about 30 min to get pasta). But had a large bowl of pasta with bread, sauce, orange, chocolate milk, and coke zero. We sat in the Pavilion and Emily and I talked. There was entertainment while we ate---people dressed up like bride and groom, walking around on stilts, juggler, clown as well—very unusual but the local people just loved it and kids would follow dancing with them. We took the metro back to the hotel and I got a few postcards to send out. Emily and I sat in the lobby, put on our sleeves, and relaxed our legs. These sleeves made my legs feel amazing—I was having some Achilles issues and these sleeves made it all go away. We chatted until about 9 and then it was time for bed, I had a big day ahead of me.

I fell right asleep, but woke up at 12-12:30PM and was wide awake and ready to run. Had to get myself back on Madrid time and talk myself back to sleep so that I was full rested.

Off to Spain...just kidding

I went to Savannah with Jennifer Seerey and found out my flight got delayed to 4/26---was a bit disappointed and nervous that I wouldn’t recover in enough time for the race. But I had no other choice, back to Hilton head I went. Luckily, Jen came back and got me and I spent the night at home. Alex came over and we watched some tv and got into an interesting/emotional conversation about our relationship and where it is.