4. The One Where People Thought I Was A Hallucination

2 August 2015

I have had a holiday booked in Ibiza since the start of the year - some of my lovely friends and I go every year (though I'm not sure how we're allowed in, being over 30 now).  Although it would have been amazing to have the usual drunken holiday, instead I conscientiously brought my running kit with me - including my running hydration vest, which was SUPER necessary in the 35*C heat! - and planned a few runs around and about Ibiza.

For the first three days we stayed in San Antonio ... which does have nice parts as well as the chavvy West End!  I got up at 06:00 for my first run, which I hadn't planned exactly, but which I intended to be up into the hills to the west of San Antonio and to be about 15 kilometres.  I set off along the beach front, much to the absolute disbelief of the crowds of partyers who were still hanging out from the night before (I am fairly certain they thought I was a hallucination, judging by the incredulous stares I got).  The beach was lovely, but navigating hordes of ravers was a little tricky so I was pleased to get to the other end and head up into the hills.

I didn't know that part of San An at all, so I literally just followed the road up BUT I was lucky enough to find this little pine forest!  It was ideal - really small, so I didn't have to worry about getting lost, but beautiful and off-road.  The best bit was that it was sunrise while I was up there, so I could appreciate the early morning beauty even more!

I did venture out of the pine forest on the other side, but I ended up on a main road with no verge and cars hurtling along at a good 100 mph or so, so I thought the better of that and headed back down into the wilds of San An again.  Fortunately by the time I got back down to the beachfront the majority of ravers had passed out in gutters somewhere, so I managed to get back without quite as many stares ... there was even another runner out!!  Ooooooh!

All in all the run was okay - it wasn't easy but then again it wasn't that hard either, with a total of 13 km (it would've been longer had I not hit the main road, though I could easily have stayed in the pine forest for a little longer).  It was also boiling hot - even at the sunrise it must have been 28 or 29*C, and by the time I got back it was already in the 30s.  However I can't complain about that since I spend the rest of my time at home complaining about the cold, so it was all good!

I've finally worked out how to use MapMyRun, so here is my workout summary.  I won't bore you with the full deets for now although I'll add them in as the race gets closer!