Hi everyone! I'm sorry I have written in a while but as many of you know I have been traveling a lot. I had the opportunity to go back to Sicily and visit with Chris's relatives again so of course, I jumped on that chance! I also had the chance to meet my brother in Barcelona so I wasn't going to miss out on that one either.
If you follow me on Instagram then you have already seen most of my pictures from Sicily and Spain. For those of you who are not on Instagram I will put some of my pictures in this post. I am in Vegas right now because Kristie and I had 3 races in 2 days. I need to finish packing and get to bed early because I have to get up early to catch my plane home so I am going to have to leave many things out about my trips and races.
Let me start with getting to Sicily. I found really cheap flights for getting to Sicily and then to Spain but in order to keep it cheap I had to fly on different airlines. This doesn't sound like a big deal but when you are on different airlines you frequently have to change terminals. This is what happened to me at the Paris and Milan airports. My plane from Denver was late getting into Paris so by the time I figured out how to get to the other terminal and took 2 buses I barely made it onto the plane. The same thing happened in Milan. I was late getting there so I had to run to get to my gate on time.
Unfortunately, all my running in airports with a heavy backpack (when you are on different airlines you cannot check a bag) on my back caused me to completely rip my cute sandal!! I got to my gate in just enough time to take my shoes off, throw them in the trash and pull out a different pair.
My phone wasn't working right for some reason so I could not text or call Chris or his relatives in Sicily who were supposed to pick me up. I just trusted that they would figure it out and I would see them when I came out to passenger pick-up. Luckily one of the other cousins came into the airport and saw me!!!
Anyway, I had a great time staying with them. I ate so much yummy food and had great conversations at night over wine. After about a week it was time to go to Barcelona. The first night I stayed in town and did a tour the next day and after that I went to my brother's hotel. He had to work during the day so I was on my own. We were not in town so there wasn't a lot to do by his hotel. I got up and went walking or running every day and found a place for coffee. Chad and I did a wine and tapas tour one night and another day walked a very long way to Park Guell. We went to dinner at night together the other nights. It was great walking all over with him. I was glad for the opportunity to meet him there.
Here are some pictures, click on the arrows to advance them.
From Sicily
From Spain:
Of course I took more pictures but these give you a little taste at least.
Now, onto the races this weekend. We did the 3 Degrees of Hell races near Vegas. It was 3 different trail races in some major heat. The first race was Friday night, the 2nd Saturday morning and the 3rd Saturday night. Honestly, they were all a bit brutal but the first one did us in because we both fell. We both got bruised and scraped up so the next morning did not feel great! It was 101 when we started our race Saturday and there was no shade so it was very warm! The last race was hard because our legs were already tired and it was hot and super windy. I was so glad to finish that one!
The first race was a really technical trail. We were not prepared for that because the pictures and videos on the website just looked like gravel paths. Neither one of us brought trail shoes. They started us late so it was getting dark near the end of the race. I don't see well at dusk. I was less than a mile from the finish and I was thinking that I couldn't see well and I better hurry or I was going to fall and then I fell!! I got both knees, both hands, my left thigh and elbow. Kristie got her hands, wrist, big toe and back of her legs. We were quite a pair!!
The second race was more of a dirt road and the third one we had to climb up on a mesa then run across it and back down. All of them required climbing. They were hard! I have to hand it to them, it was some hell!! Anyway, I have got to get going for now. Here are some pictures from the races.
Well, I hope you have had a great week and your week gets off to a great start! I will try to be more consistent again with my posts now that I have a short break in racing.
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