Any race with a beer in the pre-race goody bag, and a bag of oranges presented as you cross the line, already has me in the palm of its hand. Add in sunshine, perfect temperatures for running, palm trees, wide, flat roads and you have an official contender for my favourite 10k ever. I’ve spent the weekend in Valencia, eating oranges, running that 10k and cheering on the marathoners on the same course (my race route was essentially the last 10k of the marathon). The start/finish area is one of the most picturesque I’ve ever seen, and I swear I have actually felt my Vitamin D levels rising in the Spanish November sun.
I confess I’ve been struggling recently with motivation - not so much with track or hill sessions. Broken into small reps, and too little breath or oxygen to the brain to really have any thoughts - negative or otherwise - I can always get those done. It’s more the so-called easy runs: I just haven’t found myself either looking forward to, or enjoying, one of those in ages.
But if London’s grey November had stolen my mojo, I may have rediscovered it in Valencia. Aside from the race, I’ve been on a couple of easy runs around the fantastic Jardines del Turia, once a riverbed, now a snaking corridor of green that runs right through the heart of the city. There are even segregated paths for runners, and some fabulous road furniture. Utter heaven. Top that off with a sub-40 for the 10km and I am once again a very happy runner. Now, it’s Sunday afternoon ... where is the cerveza?
