"Running" around Spain

It has been a while since my last update, and I know my readership (all 5 of you) is dying to know all the crazy things that I've done here in Madrid. If that's the case, you probably don't want to read on. Not much craziness here, but still some fun.
Since the last time I've posted, about 3 weeks ago, I've probably worked a total of 15 hours. My workweek is supposed to be 16 hours, but a lot of the professors just don't need me in class. Normally I would probably be offended by this and not know what to do with all my free time. But yes, I have found ways to fill that time by siesta-ing and visiting about 3 supermercados a day looking for new foods. I've also gotten a good start on my marathon training. I plan to run 2 marathons: one in Barcelona on March 7 and one in Madrid on April 25. I've never done one before, but I'm excited for my first 2 to be in Spain.
On the running note, I ran my first 5K in Madrid on Nov. 1. Yes, the day after Halloween, which means I spent Halloween at home relaxing. Next time I'll check to make sure the 5K isn't the day after a night I'll want to have fun on. It actually ended up being a 5.8K, which was not too well explained to us beforehand. But it was only 5 euros to enter, and I got all kinds of cool swag: a coffee mug, a cool dri-fit t-shirt with my race number on it, a sport backpack, a hand towel, and a pair of socks. The Spaniards really know how to do the gift packs. But I digress. The race: there were 7,000 people entered, some for the 5(.8)K and others for a 10K that started on the same route. I wasn't really sure about the whole start thing because all of the pace markers at the start were for the 10K. But I hoped we were all just starting together and jumped in somewhere about the middle. Luckily for me I was right about us all starting together, but didn't get far enough up and had to dodge people for the first couple of minutes.
When I talked to my parents the night before the race, they asked me if people run differently here in Spain. They then told me about a story my dad saw where people in the Middle East were wearing jeans and boots and stuff and running like madmen in a 5K. This is not the case in Spain, but this image was stuck in my head and provided entertainment for a while. One thing that they do is use kilometer markers instead of miles, which I didn't think about until I got there. So I had to think through what km pace I wanted. Didn't work so well, but I figured I'd just run fast.
Well, the race went really well. Like I said, it ended up being a lot longer than a 5K. The guy who finished by me had a GPS watch that said it was 5.8K. I finished in 21:15, which was great. I then hurried home to the computer to see what my pace was and what I would have run if it had actually been a 5K. My 5K time would have been... (drum roll)... 18:14! Yes, almost a minute faster than my old PR. I guess my strategy of just running fast paid off. It also helped that it was downhill for a lot of the way, but we'll just blame it on pure talent.
Aynways, I was really happy with my time and picked up as many free Powerades and Fantas as I could carry from the finish line. I also got a great free massage from a sports massage booth after the race. I also got a text message from the race coordinators later that night telling me my official time and place. For some reason, they didn't do places by chip time, even though we wore chips. With non-chip time, I came in 18th. With chip time, I came in 15th. Out of about 2500 in the 5K! Maybe Spain will be really good for my running!
My next race is the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. It's a 10K through Retiro Park, my training grounds. Hopefully that will, although a little hillier, will go just as well!