La Copa de Campillos!

That's right, today was my first race of the season. :) You might remember I had wanted to do a triathlon sprint...well somehow I missed the sign-up date--poo! Anyway, I found today's race online and went for it.

It was 9.5km...if my math is right that's 5.9 miles. The race consisted of four laps through the nearby town of Campillos. I didn't realize it was a circuit race until this morning when I arrived to get my number--a little disappointing, honestly. Still, it had some benefits; after the first lap I knew exactly how to run to keep my time, etc.

(What was your time, Viola!!??)

I am pleased with my race. I came in second for women and second in my age group (16-34...pretty big, if you ask me!). I ran very consistently: nearly 11 min per lap. My time was 44:53 that's an average of 4:43 per km...which I think is about 7.5 min miles. Pretty good. The course was really flat; there was just one slight hill. I happily beat a smug cop from La Roda and kicked past a guy in the last 800 meters or so. The first place girl beat me pretty soundly: 41:30.

You can see in the photo some of the goodies I brought home. The shirts we were given were all size XL... can you tell?? And I got the cool cup trophy and 30 euros for placing second! Tonight I'll take Angelines out to dinner. ;) She joked that today I made more money than her. Ha! Maybe I should start taking my training more seriously.

It's amazing how few women compete here. Really that's part of my success. I don't mean to play down my own abilities, but in the US I doubt I would have placed. There were several men from La Roda's running club at the race and all of them said I needed to keep racing. They assured me I'd have a room full of trophies because so few women race and I am in good shape. I do plan to keep racing. Having a goal is motivation for training... and knowing you've got a good chance at taking home prizes is just an added bonus!

Happy running!