Postcard from Spain: Running and Picnicking in Retiro Park

I had hoped to stay in a friend's typically empty flat during my trip to Madrid, but because he's having renovations done that wasn't possible this time. As a result, I ended up renting a little attic apartment close to the Atocha train station because I knew that neighborhood would be convenient for commuting out to Toledo to use the archives there as well as allowing for easy walking or public transit to the national library and the archives I'd be using in Madrid. The bonus: being close to the train station means being close to Retiro Park - one of my favorite spots in the city. Although running along the river or in Casa del Campo makes more sense for longer runs, nothing beats a short jaunt just a few minutes out the door.

I ran here one evening during my first week (which was not a pretty run as I was so hot each moment felt like a hellish eternity and I was having trouble getting my heart rate under control) and then on Monday and Thursday this week in the mornings (much better). I hope to do so again before I leave for the next stage of my research trip in a couple of days. I will say that, although I see lots of diversity in the people walking or enjoying time in the park, the runners in the Retiro (unlike the Madrid Rio) do still definitely skew toward the fitter, the faster, and the male. Nonetheless, I have seen a few other women running in the park. Also promising: so far I haven't been on the receiving end of any catcalls going to and from the park in my workout gear. Nor have I heard or seen any other women runners getting harassed during my runs. This all gives me hope that the running culture in Madrid is developing/has developed to a much greater extent than I would have dreamed possible eight or nine years ago.

The Retiro is not just a place for running! I also was lucky to be able to attend the birthday picnic of my friend Carlos in the Retiro after I got out of my yoga class on Tuesday evening. His Retiro picnic is a tradition but one that I haven't been able to participate in since 2007. It was a lot of fun to briefly catch up with an old friend Sophie there and to meet some of the new amigos Carlos has made since I moved back to the states. We enjoyed drinks and food and two kinds of cake to celebrate the fabulous birthday boy.

Have you noticed changes in running culture in a location you frequently visit? When was the last time you went on a picnic?

A Summer Itinerary

Last summer I think I changed time zones something like fifteen or sixteen times (not counting the ones I flew across in a single flight) between the end of the spring semester and the start of the fall semester. It's starting to look like this summer might rival last summer, as I am planning several trips and starting to iron out some of the more specific details. Apart from the fact that I'm going to miss my spouse and dog like crazy, I'm pretty excited about my trips!

May will take me to Vancouver for a long weekend for some downtime with my spouse and for a half marathon. Then later that month I will fly to NYC to spend about two weeks there doing some final database work for the project I was working on last summer. I'm also planning to do some research of my own while there and to visit some museums -- the Met's PUNK exhibit is seeming a pretty likely destination -- to do some running in Central Park, to hit up a yoga class or two, to do a bit of writing in the amazing New York Public Library, and to try to stay out of Century 21.

I'll spend most of June in Saint Louis, as I'll be participating in a four-week long NEH Summer Institute that's being held at a university in that city. I'm psyched to have the chance to hang out with and collaborate with a bunch of other early modernists, as I'm the only one in my department here in the Greater Whiter North. I'm definitely excited to explore a city that I haven't spent much time in up to this point, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to meet up with the fabulous Joanna before her big move. I also hope that Mark might be able to come out to join me for one of the weekends. From Saint Louis I'll head to Spain. I'm planning on spending four or five weeks there and splitting my time between archives in Madrid and Seville. I'm not sure if it will work out yet or not, but I'm considering a weekend trip to Burgos and possibly one to London or Amsterdam to visit friends. I still have to figure out accommodations for the Spanish portion of my travels, but I'm hoping that Madrid friends will let me stay with them for part of the time to help my budget stretch a little farther.

After I leave Spain, I'll probably meet up with Mark in Toronto for about a week to visit his family and to use the rare book collection at the University of Toronto Library. We'll head back home together and have about a week or so before classes start. What does all this mean for my running plans? I'm not yet sure. However, I'm hopeful that I'll be able to maintain higher mileage this summer than I was able to last, as I'm registered to run the Big Wild half-marathon here about a week after I plan on getting back into Anchorage.

Do you have any summer travels planned? What strategies do you use for getting in your runs when you're doing a lot of traveling? Also, I'm definitely taking recommendations for restaurants and coffee shops in Saint Louis, so if you have suggestions please do let me know!

May in Review

This will probably be my last post for a few days, as I'm wrapping up in the archives today and want to see friends and need to pack before I fly home on Sunday. Since I arrived in Madrid, my weekdays have had a pretty regular rhythm. I get up and have breakfast. I go for a run or do a little yoga or write in my travel journal. I get cleaned up. I have a cafe con leche on my way to the archives. I log somewhere between six and nine hours looking at documents. I head home and drop off my computer and either meet up with friends or relax with a glass of wine on a terrace or with a novel or an episode or two of Downton Abbey at home. This month has been full of good finds in the archives, good runs (though short ones) along the Madrid Rio, and good times with dear friends who live here. I've enjoyed being here again, but I feel ready to go home and spend time with my spouse and doggy.

I kept my goals pretty limited for May because I knew I'd be on a different schedule while on this research trip. They were:


1. Run half-marathon number 9. I knew the Capital City Half-Marathon was going to be a bit dicey because I was running it two weeks after having oral surgery, but I finished. I had a good time running it, and it was a fantastic excuse to visit a dear friend. 

2. Make the best possible use of my archival time. I think I've done a good job of taking advantage of my time in the archives on this trip. I've spent most of my time in the Biblioteca Nacional, but I have also used three other archives during the 3.5 weeks I've had in Madrid. I'm going home with about 60 pages of notes and transcriptions and a cache of photocopied documents.

3. Take lots of photos. I've done pretty well with this one. I haven't always wanted to take my DSLR around with me and sometimes haven't had either my camera or phone with me when I've wanted to take some shots, but I've managed to get quite a few good ones for my 365 project.

Gardens on the Madrid Rio

4. Stay active. I've done more sitting than I normally do because you can't really do otherwise when you're reading documents in archives, but, because of the increase in public transit prices and the location of my apartment and archives, I've done at least an hour of walking every day since I've been here and sometimes plenty more. I did manage to get in 10 runs while I've been in Madrid, and I went hiking in La Pedriza. I have done some yoga at home, although I didn't make it to my yoga studio. There just aren't enough hours in the day....

5. Spend time with friends and visit favorite spots in Madrid. I have spent quality time with dear friends and visited a number of my favorite places. My favorite cafe-bar in the city was closed when I tried to go to it a couple of weekends ago, but I might try again tomorrow.

Lunch with friends P. and JL.

How has your month been? I'd love to hear what's been going on with you!

Weekend Adventures: Museums, Eurovision, and Running in Parks

This weekend was a fabulous one that recharged me for a final week of work in the archives. On Saturday I got up relatively early and went for a 5 mile run along the Madrid Rio. After getting cleaned up, I sought out a cute bakery and cafe that I had noticed one day when I was on my way to the archives and had a napolitana de chocolate and a cafe con leche. Then I went to Lope de Vega's house. I have tried to go a couple of times in the past to the Casa de Lope de Vega, but each time it had been closed. This time I was successful and managed to get inside and take a guided tour with a group of Spaniards. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside the house, but it is allowed in the lush gardens behind the home.

In Lope's gardens

After visiting my second favorite Spanish playwright's house, I spent a couple of hours meandering around an art museum in Madrid.

Saturday evening my friend C. and his partner J. invited me to join them and some of their friends to have a Galician feast of food and to watch Eurovision. Being an American who doesn't pay too much attention to singing competions, this was my first time to pay any attention to Eurovision at all. I had a blast, as we also scored the entries and came up with our own top 5. However, it was incredibly cheesy, and the Bjork-wannabe from Albania got way too many votes....

Intent on tabulating our scores

On Sunday morning I slept in a bit, and then headed to the Rastro (a big weekly flea market in Madrid) to buy another pair of harem pants and to do some looking around the other stalls. I meandered for a while around Madrid, had some lunch, and then spent a couple of hours reading a novel. Then I headed out to find the Parque de la Dehesa de la Villa to go for a run. While I'm glad that I explored a park that I was unfamiliar with and that I got a second run in this weekend, I'm not completely sure that this was worth the 3 euro in metro fare that it cost me to head up to the northern part of the city. The park was crowded with couples and families strolling around and kids playing soccer. So I didn't run for long.

Do you watch Eurovision? Readers who run, do you drive or take public transit to places where you run or do you just run from your door?

Perceptions on the Running Culture in Madrid

When I lived in Madrid five or so years ago, I ran inconsistently. In part, this was because I was a smoker at the time and not really in the best shape for an activity that can burn even healthy lungs at times. In part, though, it was because I always felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb when I ran in Madrid. I almost never saw other runners out on the streets and even in the parks there weren't all that many runners. Those who I encountered tended to be fast guys. It wasn't exactly encouraging.

Well, I'm happy to report that something has changed in the five years since I have moved away. I see runners everywhere now, and it's obvious that they're not all tourists. I still see more men than women running, but I no longer feel at all self-conscious about running in Madrid. Since my arrival last week, I have seen runners of various genders, shapes, sizes, and at various times of day in various places. I've seen them in the narrow streets near my apartment. I've seen them in the parks. I've seen them along the wider avenues leading to the museums and the business districts. I've seen them along the river. This heartens me significantly. The city that I love so much has given me yet another reason to love it.

Perhaps one of the causal factors in the boost to running culture is that there is now a relatively new space for running, cycling, and rollerblading in Madrid. About 10 kilometers of paths intermixed with playgrounds and basketball courts now stretch along the Manzanares River in Madrid. I went on my first little run on this new-to-me route a couple of days ago.

When I went hiking this past Saturday, I fell into conversation for a while with a runner from Madrid. He had a Madrid medio maraton technical shirt, and we got to discussing distance running. He said that he and a group of guys run together every weekend. I told him that I'd love to run the Madrid Marathon some day, but it probably won't be in the near future because it falls on a date in the middle of the academic term. I'm going to keep it on my bucket list, though. And hopefully during the interim the running culture in Madrid continues to flourish.

Runners, have you ever lived in a city where there was no running culture or have you ever been pleasantly surprised to find a lot of runners in a place where you didn't expect them?

Hola from Madrid

Hola! I arrived in Madrid yesterday morning after one of the weirdest and most annoying flight experiences I've had. To make a long story short, the guy that I was sitting next to on the flight was annoying and invading my personal space and ultimately tried to get a little bit handsy. I had to tell him off - after which there were no more issues with him - but I basically got less than one hour of sleep on the flight. After what seemed like an interminable voyage, we landed. After I made it through passport control and collected my luggage, I took a bus to the train station at Atocha to meet a friend of the friends whose apartment I'm renting. My cell phone wasn't getting any signal at all, so I had to ask a nice woman on the bus to let me use her phone to make the call to let my friend's friend know that I was arriving. The woman was very friendly about it and that helped to get the bitter taste from the flight out of my mouth. Soon the friend arrived at the meet up point and gave me the key. I, then, headed to the apartment to settle in and take a bit of a nap.

I spent part of the day running a few errands - acquiring a Spanish cell phone and doing a little bit of grocery shopping - and part of the day walking around and taking some photos so as to try to keep myself awake until I could reasonably go to bed, sleep for 8-9 hours, and get my clock mostly reset. After a while I headed back and made myself a sandwich, watched a couple of episodes of Downton Abbey, read for 10 minutes, and went to bed.

This morning I got up and headed to the Biblioteca Nacional, arriving just as it was opening at 9:00. I had to get my reader's card renewed, which was something of a process because I had my passport on me but I wasn't carrying my driver's license or my faculty ID. (It doesn't seem wise to carry all my ID around with me.) So it was a bit of a process to get that sorted out. But before long I had a sermon from 1649 in my hands, and was at work in a beautiful and inspiring work space once again. So all was well.

Right now my only complaint is that I haven't figured out the trick of getting the pilot on so I don't yet have hot water in the apartment. I took a very fast and quite cold shower yesterday. I'm hoping that I can figure it out tonight because I'd really like to go for a run tomorrow, but I don't want to get too sweaty until I know that I can take a hot shower.

Gearing up for Madrid

In the past couple of weeks, plans for my first research trip of the summer have begun to take shape. At the end of the term, I will be taking off for a month of research in Madrid. After some hemming and hawing about dates and prices, I booked my plane tickets. I'll be flying from Columbus (where I'll be running a half-marathon) to Madrid on May 7th and will be there until June 3rd. Now I'm in the process of formulating my plan of attack for the archives. At the moment I am planning to essentially split my time between the Biblioteca Nacional and the municipal archives with possibly a few days in the Archivo Histórico Nacional.

Madrid Skyline. This photo was from my last trip to Madrid in 2009.

I have also found accommodations for my stay. It has worked out that I'm going to be able to rent the flat of some good friends for the month that I am there. It really was serendipitous for me because I was on the verge of committing to a much more expensive place when I got on skype on a Saturday afternoon and my friends happened to be online and notice my virtual appearance. They informed me that the person who they had already been planning to rent to this summer was not going to be able to come to Madrid after all and asked if I still wanted to stay at their place. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance. I was a little apprehensive about committing to a place without seeing it in person first and had been trying to coordinate with a couple of friends in Madrid so that they could go check out this apartment for me. I'm also really happy that it worked out because they are giving me a generous deal in terms of the rent and because their place is in a pretty central location. This will make it easy for me to get to the archives during the week. I'll also be relatively close to my favorite park in Madrid, which should make for some good running.

Retiro Park

I'm rather sad that my spouse won't be able to come with me on this trip, but I am looking forward to getting back into the archive routine, drinking cafe con leche, and eating tapas. I'm also really looking forward to going to some yoga classes at the studio I went to when I lived in Madrid and to seeing friends that I made during the year and a half that I lived there. Less than four weeks stand between my trip to Madrid and me. Unfortunately, there will be lots of marking to do in those four weeks. Fortunately, I am getting on a plane and going to Spain when I get done with grading those stacks of papers.

Nostalgia: Couch to 5K in Madrid

During the summer of 2007 I was out of shape and a smoker.  Most Americans lose weight when they spend some time in Europe because overall the European lifestyle tends to be healthier - more walking, smaller portion sizes, and so forth. But being the contrarian that I am, I gained 30 pounds during the first 9 months that I lived in Madrid. I was doing lots of walking, but I wasn't going to the gym 5-6 days a week and biking about an hour on a daily basis like I did before my move across the Atlantic. While I absolutely loved Madrid, I was also going through an emotional low point in my personal life and I took solace in patatas bravas, manchego cheese, and cañas (small glasses of beer).

During the previous year I had tried to go for a couple of short runs. Running in Madrid was always sort of surreal to me. If I took to the streets in my neighborhood, I would often draw the side eye from ladies in heels and furs. Plus, unless it was incredibly early in the morning, there was so much pedestrian traffic that it got annoying quickly to have to constantly play frogger. But there weren't that many runners in the parks either, and the ones I saw were all of the fast and furious type.

Even so at the beginning of the summer I decided that I wanted to get to where I could run a 5K again, and I googled the Couch to 5K program. Knowing that it was less than ideal to run on the sidewalks, I took my work outs to Retiro Park. As I ran and walked my intervals, I dreamed of being able to consider myself a runner. Over the course of those next couple of months I built up from running 60 seconds to running for 30 minutes. During the day I would go to the archives and in the evenings before going out with friends for dinner or drinks I would either do yoga in the tiny living room of my flat or go for a run in the park. As the summer progressed, I lost some of the weight that I had gained, but much more importantly I rekindled my love of running.  Although I didn't start really running many miles for another year, I had become active again and wanting to get better at running (among other things) prompted me to try to quit smoking and eventually to succeed at dropping that nasty habit.

The sunset at the lake at Retiro Park

I don't miss a lot of things about my life in 2006 and 2007, but I do miss Madrid. And I miss running in Retiro Park - even though I rarely saw other runners there and those that I did see tended to be male and super serious.

Boats on the Lake

One of the things that I love about America is the flourishing communities of runners that you can find in just about any town. I like being part of that, but Madrid will always be an important part of my running history.