Rock 'n' Roll

I've wanted to run in the International edition of the San Silvestre Vallecana race held on New Year's Eve ever since I started running again, just over four years ago. It is another goal which has gone from being something that seemed unattainable to not being a "big deal" without me even realizing it. In fact, in 2009 I had the requisite sub-38 qualifying time of 37:45 in a 10k race I did in Fuenlabrada that year, but I was disappointed to discover that it wasn't one of the very few "homologated" races that the RFAE had certified.

This year I really am in two minds as to whether to run the International Sansi or the Popular one with my family. The last one, I ran with my wife and a friend who was accompanied by his two small kids for about 3 kilometers. I think my kids would really enjoy it. It is actually feasible if not a little ambitious to do both as the International race starts a couple of hours after the Popular edition. Although I'd want to run the International one as fast as I could so I could use the first few kilometers of the Popular one as a warm up with my kids, go back with them to the start on the metro and deposit them with a friend / family member who could look after them while my wife finishes her race and I prepare mine. Sounds a bit complicated already, especially for a New Year's Eve.

Anyway, the first step is to actually qualify. I've already broken 38 minutes in a 10k twice this year - technically, the first time was actually on the last day of last year on a unhomologated course and the second time was during a Half Marathon. There are actually very few homologated races in Madrid and some of these are too late in the year to guarantee entry to San Silvestre, for which the subscriptions open some months before. Looking on the website there was the option of travelling hundreds of kilometers to a race which, quite frankly, I can't be bothered to do (I'm already schlepping half way around the world for my races this year). The other option is to run the 10k in Madrid that starts alongside the "Rock 'n' Roll" Marathon - previously known as Mapoma. I've never run the Madrid Marathon - definitely something for the bucket list - but I have run half of it as a training run. The atmosphere is fantastic. It isn't, however, the flatest of courses.

So I've put myself down for the Rock 'n' Roll Madrid 10k on the 22nd of April, two days after my 40th birthday and - what is more of a potential hindrance - a week after the ICAN Half Ironman in Marbella. Well, if I am able to maintain my current form, running 10k sub-38 is like a medium intensity (CCM) run so it should be doable.

Hopefully my wife will also run. It looks like the sort of race that she would enjoy although, this time, she's on her own...