The After Math

After the race on Sunday nothing much happened. Some Athletes started to pack and go home others went back to the hotel and relaxed. That night was the athlete banquet which was non eventful.

The next morning we got up and caught a bus up to Seville, Leo and I were staying an extra few days to do some sight seeing. I figured instead of describing every tourist thing I would post some photos with a minor description. Click on the photos to make them larger, click on the links to gather more information from Wikipedia on the sights.

1. Plaza de Espana where people gather for street vendors.

2. The Sevilla Tour Bus, double decker.

3. Basilica de la Macarena, during Roman Times this was the only way to enter and exit the city of Seville.

1. View of the Courtyard of La Giralda.

2. The tower of La Giralda, the oldest Cathedral in Seville. You can also find the tomb of Christopher Columbus here.

3. View of Seville from the tower of La Giralda.

1. View inside of a bull fighting ring, built in 1794.

2. Outside of the Plaza de toros, the bull fighting ring.

3. Nat, Leo and myself with the bull ring in the background.

1. Torre del Oro, a watch tower constructed in the 13th century. Constructed for military function along one of the largest rivers in south Spain.

2. View from the watch tower. You can see La Giralda in the background.

3. Leo coming down the stairs in the tower, 91 stairs to be exact.

This is a collection of cool things that I wanted to share but only had one photo of each and didn't fit in the above sequences of photos.

1. Watch tower over the Plaza de Espana.

2. Duff Beer, world famous in Spain.

3. Leo and I in front of a monument in the Murallas del Alcazar park.

The one thing that we didn't get to see inside of was the Alcazar Castle or Royal Palace. We saw the outside of it, but when we went to go in it was closed. Since it is off season for tourists it has limited visiting hours, which we were unaware of. Here is a link to the castle anyway.

Alcazar Palace

I hope you enjoyed your tour of Seville, Spain.

The Race

The Call Room

Lining up to head out to the starting line. Checking our numbers, bibs and timing chips.

Starting Line

Moments before the gun goes off, all the athletes stand motionless.

100 Meters

Into the race everyone is battling for ideal positioning.

Hurdle Jumps

On my second lap through the second set of hurdle jumps. These were not fun.

Beach Cool Down

After the race the Women's team cool downed to the beach for a refreshing swim.

Overall Leonora had a great experience and learned a lot from it. She was 86th overall, 1st New Zealand Woman to finish. She looks forward to getting another chance to represent New Zealand and perform at a higher level. Thank you for all the support.

We have just arrived in Seville, we will be here till Wednesday when we fly home. Keep checking back for some more updates.

FOOD!

Salad Bar

Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, peppers, onions, beet root, carrots, and corn.

Antipasto Bar

Cold cuts, cheeses, and dressings.

Grill

Meats (Chicken, Steak, Fish, Pork and Beef) Pastas, Pasta sauces, potatoes and other stuff.

Sides Bar

Cole slaws, pre made salads and sandwiches, pickles, fruit, bread and much more.

Dessert

Cakes (cheese and danish) Jello, puddings (chocolate, caramel and rice) and ice cream (varied flavors).

Stuff

Thursday Day 4 was stuff day. Leo got her race numbers, credentials and invite to the after dinner party. I even got stuff too. My credentials are below. Other than that it was training as usual for the athletes with Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner mixed in there. O yeah card playing as well. Just living the dream!

Invite

Leo Bib and Credentials

My Credentials

Hotel Pics

The name of our hotel, Barcelo Punta Umbria.

Click link for more pics and info.

View from our balcony.

The Key Card controls the whole room. Without it no lights, heat/ac, and power.

The pool and spa at the hotel, little too cold for a dip.

This hotel is so flash we have a bidet.

Day 2 and More

To begin where I left off, the rest of day 2 was pretty simple. Leo and I went for a walk along the beach and then through the town. Leo then went for a second run with the rest of the New Zealand. When they returned we played some cards, which was a good time and laugh. We then headed off to dinner.

I don't know if I have mentioned how nice the food is, but it is delicious. Open buffet with all foods imaginable. Since I am not running it is hard not to dig in for seconds and thirds. I am definitely putting on some pounds being here. (I have started going for 5 mile walks out to the course and back to burn some calories)

After dinner we headed to bed.

The next morning we got up around 8AM and went for breakfast. After breakfast we chilled out a bit until we went for the training session up at the race course. Some team members had workouts, some were doing some stuff in their spikes and others just for a run. The course is really nice, well maintained and going to be tough.

The course is a 2km loop on well manicured grass surface. Along the loop there are rolling hills, man made hills and 2 sets of 3 logs jumps 8 meters apart. All made to break up rhythm and keep the runners on their toes. The course lacks flat sections to work on the rhythm and so forth. I would estimate that there is about 500 meters of broken up flat throughout the loop. This course should make for some good tactical racing.

Here is a photo of Leo doing some strides in her spikes.

After the course run everyone headed back to the hotel for showers, lunch and some down time to relax after the tough morning. The team is small so all our rooms are in the same stretch of hallway. So we alternate hanging out in each others room playing cards and just BSing. Its a good time.

The rest of day two was pretty boring, we just chilled out waiting for dinner. Some team members went for second runs, others stayed behind and played cards. Leo and I played cards. Then we headed off to dinner, where nothing exciting happened.

These blogs are pretty boring, we are not getting out and doing much. For the athletes this trip is like a business trip. All work no play. After the race some people will be down to do some sight seeing. With the race on Sunday, that only leaves us Monday, Tuesday and we fly out Wednesday to see some stuff.

I will have some blogs showing you guys the hotel, the food and some other cool stuff.

Travel to Spain

Smooth sailing from New York to Madrid, however from there is where it gets interesting. We landed at 10 AM local time and had to board our connecting flight at 11 AM. That doesn't seem too bad until you realize you have to clear customs, take a 5 minute train ride to the next terminal, find what gate your are going to and then clear security again. Needless to say we made it to the gate with a few minutes to spare, so no big deal. Then we had to sit on the plan on the run way for an hour to take off. No delays in New York, but Madrid 1 hour.

All that just meant that we arrived an hour later then we were scheduled for. We had a VIP Shuttle waiting for us in Seville to drive us the 90 minutes to Punta Umbria. Once in Punta Umbria we got our room and hurried off to take a nap.

After the nap we went for a walk around town before heading to dinner, we were out for about 2 hours, and then back to our room to chill and get to sleep by 10 PM. The first day was pretty slow going, there were no other team members here, so nothing really to type about.

Day 2 started with Leo getting up at 8AM to go for a short jog. When she got back around 9 AM I got dressed and we met some of the other team members for breakfast. After breakfast Leo got her racing uniform and warm ups. That brings me up to typing this blog.

The rest of the day we are going to head to a supermarket to pick up some things, then go for a nap, Leo will have her second run and in between all of that we will have lunch and dinner. Today is when the rest of the New Zealand team arrives and many of the other Nations.

I will try and update this everyday with the daily happenings of the trip.