September. Last of the summer wine.

[Bierzo Baggie]

After a long, hot, dry summer the fruit finally ripens and the leaves gather golden tints of autumn. I hate July and August. September, however, is a marvellous month.

On Sunday I ran the Toral de Merayo-Monte Pajariel route for the first time for over a month doing the road bit past the allotments first. The fruit picking season is just about to start and everything is ripe or nearly ripe. Apples, pears, figs, grapes and the occasional maize plantation with huge cobs of sweetcorn. Our neighbour gave us a tomato the other day from her vegetable patch which was bigger than baby Lara’s head! (the tomato, not the vegetable patch).

Met Eduardo “lord of the paths” on the Monte Pajariel stretch. Eduardo was my partner for the first mountain marathon I did back in 1999 which consisted of 21kms of climbing followed by 21kms of crazy descent up and down Mount Aneto in the Pyrenees. Despite being 20 years older than me Lord Ed had soon left me behind once we'd reached the steeper slopes and had finished, showered and was having a beer by the time I crossed the finish line. Today he’s out walking with his wife Amelia and from a distance they could well pass for twenty-somethings striding merrily up and down the hills. Stopped to chat for a couple of minutes and then finished the last section of trail. The contrast between the healthy unburned section on the western flank and the charred northern side is dramatic. Stripped of its outer garment of greenery the hillside becomes a large, unrecognizable lump of rather ugly rock. It’s been a long, hot summer.

Running time 45 minutes. Amazingly consistent. I’ve been running this route for over 10 years and I’m rarely more than a minute either side of ¾ of an hour.

Monday morning run around the river and up past the Templar's castle. Fresh. Weather changing. Mountain views hidden by cloud. Tired legs from yesterday.
Running time; 31 minutes.