5k Anyone?

(Ryan Hall - Olympic Athlete: Marathon)

5K Anyone? -
And no, I don't mean $5,000, I'm talkin' bout RUNNING. I developed a love for running in 10th grade when I was doing my best to cope with some emotional issues that struck me kind of abruptly. If there was any one thing that helped me get through that tough time, it was definitely my commitment to excellence in running. And by excellence, I don't mean winning the NYC or Boston marathon, I mean doing the best I can and being the best runner I can possibly be. I set out to complete a 12 week running program which, at the time, was the longest commitment I had ever made to anything non-scholastic in my life.

Let me tell you though, my friends thought I was crazy...and perhaps I was a little bit.

I say this because I recently found one of the daily schedules I created for myself during 10th grade and the first activity on it looked something like this: 5 a.m. - Wake up and run 4 miles.

And the thing is, I would actually do it! I'm a bit jealous of my persistence back then. I went on to complete the 12 week program and scheduled a race for the day after the program ended. It was a small race by my house and there were only maybe 15 runners - two of us being females. That race is an experience that I will always remember because it was the product of weeks of hard work. I didn't just up and decide to run the race the day before; I planned for it and took the necessary steps to run a successful race. I ended up with a time of 26:42 and was beaten by the other female racer by 19 seconds --- and this other female racer just so happened to be my sister.

So as I prepare to embark on my next 5k journey, I'm forced to be a bit more careful due to my ankle. I ran a mile the other day for the first time in a long time and I felt surprisingly good afterward. I did experience some pain the following day but overall, I think I felt just as any normal runner would feel the day after extending themselves (yes, at the current time I sadly consider 1 mile extending myself).

I don't exactly have a 8 or 12 week plan mapped out this time around because I don't want to dissapoint myself if I have to skip some days because of pain. I've decided to go on the way I feel more than anything. If I'm feeling like superwoman and want to run 3 miles, I'll do it. If I need to scale back and just do some powerwalking, then so be it...as long as I'm staying active.

I'll do my best with progress updates...Here I go!

Raw. Love.
-Natalie

Wait...Before I Go

Ok, so I know I said that you wouldn´t be hearing from me again until I was back in the U.S. but lucky for you all, I had a little something on my mind that I wanted to dish before I go. I wanted to talk about a couple of cultural differences that I noticed during my short time here. As you know, the United States and western Europe are a decent distance away from one another but they are very similar in multiple ways. But...I´m not here to talk about the similarities, I´m here to talk about the differences, and three differences in particular:

1) Being Nice

As simple of a concept as it seems, I don´t often run into very nice New Yorkers, and I´m guessing that there are some other New Yorkers out there who feel the same way. This trend of un-niceness may not be a demonstration of the true colors of many New Yorkers, but perhaps when you get so caught up in your work and you´re constantly rushing from place to place, you can come across as being a bit aggressive. Maybe this is why so many people in the city walk around with their headphones on? To tune out all of the mean people they feel they are surrounded by? I bring up niceness as an example because when I was in the grocery store the other day, a nice associate came up to me when I was walking down one of the aisles and handed me a hand cart. May not seem like such a big deal but...it is. This has NEVER happened to me in the U.S. and if it did, I would probably shop at that grocery store every day. Yes, perhaps this was a tactic to get me to buy more but hey, it worked because I definitely bought more things than I would have been able to hold in my hands.

2) Caring for your fellow man or woman

The picture at the top of this post is of something that I typically see around here; older spanish women holding hands and taking a walk together in the early evening. Let me tell you, I love seeing this. I barely ever see older people here who are accompanied by care takers because most of them are caring for each other...isn´t that a beautiful thing? Wouldn´t it be great if we all, at any age, could partner up with the people we love and make a fitness pact? As a matter of fact, it doesn´t even have to be about fitness, you can merely have an agreement to take an hour long walk twice a week to reflect on the events that have been occuring in your life. Wow, what a difference that would make.

3) Please...stop the music...and the phones

Huge thing that I´ve noticed - people don´t walk around listening to their ipods and talking on their cell phones. The few times that I see someone with an ipod is typically when they´re running in the street but other than that, I seldom see people wearing headphones. This is probably because most often, people are walking in pairs or triplets - typically with their significant other, a friend, or children. Aren´t conversations always better than words in a song anyway? ( although, I´m a huge advocate for audiobooks). Also, cell phone usage while walking in the street is virtually non-existant. I can´t tell you how sick I am of hearing about who gave who the STD in what should be a private conversation between two people. When will the madness stop?? What ever happened to landlines??

Anyway though, I think I have done enough ranting for the last week and it´s now time to settle down a bit and get back in the school mindset. I´ve got an economics exam waiting for me on Monday...how so very exciting...

Take care everyone and expect another post in the next few days.

Raw. Love.

-Natalie

Almost Time to Go

Once again, I´m plagued with limited time and a keyboard that seems to have honey stuck in between the keys so I have limited time to do a post....we have to learn to work with what we´re given though right?

I got back from the movie theater a little while ago and my friend and I ended up watching the movie Underworld 3...it was mad weird. We couldn´t see the Almodóvar movie because it had already started and we didn´t feel like sitting around and waiting for the next showing to start. I had some popcorn and water while we watched the movie.

For lunch today, my host mom made this really tasty mix of rice and garbanzo beans but I could have done without the copious amounts of olive oil she put in it. Whatever though, I still enjoyed it. My host dad seems to have lost a lot of weight since I last saw him two years ago so I guess they´re doing something different with their cooking nowadays.

The picture above is of me and my host parents daughter Candela. They´re going to name their second daughter Raquel - I like that name.

I had to do a double take when I saw that picture through the LCD screen because I can see my winter weight gain clearly...especially in my face. My trip to California is quickly approaching (2 months away) so it´s time for a bit of a turnaround. Gym anyone?

I have a list of about 20 or so goals that I carry with me everywhere and one of my fitness goals is to run 15 5k´s between now and February. I better get cracking though because as of right now, I can´t even run a straight 10 minute mile without huffing and puffing. I ran my last 5k (3 years ago) in 26 or so minutes and that didn´t even scratch the surface of my potential, so I´ve really got to work hard, especially with my broken ankle.

I´ll try to put up the video in my next post...which will be from the U.S. Until then, take care everyone.

Raw. Love.

-Natalie

Some Photos

(New bike trail laid all throughout the city)

(Apartment complex where I lived)

(Roman ruins)


(Average city block)

(Average Cathedral)

(Pilar Basilica - Biggest attraction in the city of Zaragoza)

(Bell tower situated next to a Cathedral)

Above are some pictures I took in the past couple of days but unfortunately I can´t go into details about all of them because I only have 10 mins left to use the computer. Life in my host parents house has been good. They have a daughter who is almost two years old and she is absolutely adorable (my host mom was still pregnant with her when I left). I finished up with my siesta about an hour ago and now I´m out and about trying to take some more pictures. Tomorrow, a friend of mine ) that I made a couple of years ago here) and I are going to see the new Almodóvar movie starring Penelope Cruz.

Anyway thought, it´s the food you´re interested in right?

For breakfast: orange juice and an apple.

For lunch: something my host mom called "frita" (I think). It was a mashed mix of onions, zucchini, and potatoes...accompanied by bread and stewed tomatoes and we had water to drink.

Okey dokey, must get going but I´ll try to do another post before I leave for the U.S. Take care everyone.

Raw. Love.

-Natalie

Update

Hello all, was I missed?

My sincere apologies to all 5 of my readers out there. I got slammed with exams over the past two weeks and I´m just now on the upside of recovering from them. I´m on vacation right now in Spain and I´ll be heading back to the states on Friday. The weather here is great (compared to DC) and if I didn´t have to finish my bachelor´s over the next few years, I just may have thought about staying (I make it sound like getting a visa is so easy).

I just finished up with my stay at a hostel in Zaragoza. I´m heading to my host family´s house this evening and I´ll be staying there until Thursday, at which point I´ll head to Madrid and either overnight in a hostel or get to the airport super early. The hostel I stayed in was nice, and probably as good a room as you can get for 36 euros per night. I recorded a video two days ago of some of the food that I bought upon my arrival so as soon as I get back to the states, I´ll create a youtube account and post the video on my blog.

One thing I have to mention about the food here is that when I eat, I don´t have that heavy, brick-like feeling in my stomach when I finish. For some reason, that feeling is inevitable when I eat cooked foods in the states but it´s like a world of difference here. In the video I´m going to post up, I talked about some fruits and vegtables that I bought here that were super cheap and tasted pretty decent. I´m going to head out and buy some more today that´ll hopefully last me until I leave...I just have to be careful not to offend my host parents by bringing my own food into their house. Maybe I´ll hide it?

If I get to another internet cafe in the next few days, I´ll post some pictures from my camera (which I don´t have at the moment). I´m often so easily blown away by the beauty of this city, its people, and its architecture which is the reason why I feel I need to share it with you.

Take care everyone and more updates to come...promise. And sorry about the survival guide thing. Maybe a reflection instead?

Raw. Love.
-Natalie