the flow

Thought y'all might find this interesting in light of my vague post yesterday about rhythm...

Athletes who achieve their peak performance usually experience something that has come to be known as “flow,” a concept introduced to the world in the 1970s by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow is “a state of consciousness where one becomes totally absorbed in what one is doing, to the exclusion of all other thoughts and emotions,” according to Susan A. Jackson and Csikszentmihalyi, authors of Flow in Sports (Human Kinetics, 1999). “So flow is about focus.” In other words, when you experience that running nirvana during which everything seems effortless, you are probably thinking associatively.

I'm a car

So, I am right in the middle of the most intense part of the training, and I am proud to say that I did survive the 18-miler this Saturday. WOOOOOOHOOOOOO. As my friend so elegantly put it, i am now officially a car with that kind of mileage. As strange as it sounds, i didn't actually think I would be able to do this before last weekend when I finished 16. Over and over again I have heard people say, "If you can run 13, you can run a marathon." Turns out, I am starting to believe them.

Here's the tough part about this whole running business - I can now run 18 miles (and hopefully more), but there are days where 5 miles is the most painful thing in the world. I just don't get it. Sometimes it actually feels better to know I have to run 18 rather than just 5. With a short run, I never really get into the rhythm of everything, if that makes any sense.

Ok, well off to bed. Just wanted to give everyone an update of where I am in the training and let you all know that I think I might pull this off. I'll leave you with things I currently LOVE:

1. Body Glide

When I run for that long, my body starts to rebel against my own clothing, particularly

seams and edges. Sounds gross, but this anti-chafing gel rocks and has saved me from body burns.

2. Casa de Campo

I cannot say it enough. This park is AMAZING. It gets a really bad rep because of the plethora of prostitutes at all of its entrances, but once inside, it looks like a national park. Also, it makes it much easier to run 18 miles when I don't have to

do laps :)

3. My foam roll

For those of you who have not encountered the wonder that is the foam roll, I strongly encourage you to head to your nearest physical therapist NOW. This really is one of the most amazing devices I have ever found and is an athlete's best friend. Basically, its just a small tube made of foam but it acts as a deep tissue massage for all of those aches and pains (calves, IT band, lower back...). It sounds crazy but it has saved me from limping down the street in Madrid.

As always, thank you to everyone for the kind notes and support. I will send an update on the fundraising efforts as soon as I hear back from Colby.

Un abrazo,

Whit

the rain in spain

So, I don't know how this is possible, but it's been warmer in Waterville than in Madrid. That's just sad and it makes for very depressing running weather. Case in point - on Saturday I had to run part of my long run (15 miles) inside. Booo. I have decided there is nothing more depressing than a treadmill, even if it does make me run faster and doesn't have hills.

So after about three weeks of rain, the weather finally cleared today and made for a very excellent 8 mile. Here's the thing about Madrid, even with the lack of athleticism coming from the female sex, people still really do enjoy being outside, especially when its nice. Madrid has some of the best parks in Europe and madrileños really do take advantage of every free second to dar una vuelta around the city. So, instead of seeing rain and mud, today I had the joy of seeing many couples making out, tons of MEN exercising, and a bunch of hookers...let me explain.

One of the best parts about living in a new place is learning about things that locals consider normal that are so not normal. In Madrid, people generally live with their parents until they get married. This makes it very difficult for them to hook up at home, so people tend to hook up in public...a lot. Winter and bad weather have kept the parks pretty quiet over the past few weeks, but today I witnessed the joy that is the public make out sesh ALL over Madrid. It sort of reminds me of this day at Colby we used to call skirt day. On the first sunny, warmish day after Winter, all girls at Colby would collectively, unconsciously decide to wear a skirt. It was always the unofficial announcement of Spring and quickly reminded all Colby men that women do indeed have skin underneath layers and layers of jackets.

Along with seeing copious amounts of hooking up, I can safely say that I ran for over an hour today and did not see one female working out. It really is the strangest thing. In a country with good-looking people and really great football clubs, why do women just smoke and not eat? With the nice weather, a ton of people were outside exercising today, all of whom were men. This will make for a very interesting marathon where I hear about 10,000 people run, 500 of whom are women. Qué morro!

Ok, the last, and most interesting part of my run was the presence of hookers in Casa de Campo. If you ask any madrileño about Casa de Campo, they will first ask you about the prostitutes. It seems that this sprawling piece of land is the hooker capital of the city...day or night. Today, I had the privilege of seeing three prostitutes in white pirate boots on the side of the road with their pimp at about 5:30 in the afternoon. I have also seen such interactions on Saturday morning at about 11. Seems like there is no wrong time to walk the streets, even with children and bikers cruising around the park. I have never in my life witnessed such an odd social interaction where families and prostitutes accept each other without a thought. Hmmm, I have a feeling that wouldn't work so well in Dallas.

On another note, I recently received a note from Colby telling me that the current donation total is $1, 522! That is AMAZING, and I am so grateful for everyone who has given money and taken an interest in the cause. Please know that every little bit counts and it is especially motivating when I feel like my legs are going to fall off.

Besos,

Whit