Going out for a run.

[Bierzo Baggie]

Not to mention K's 20 to 22. That's quad-mashing descending right there. Yikes.

That’ll be the firebreak. I’ll try and find a photo...

Last Sunday.
The Aquilianos long route is creeping up and I’ve not done any long mountain walks which have always provided the groundwork in previous years.

So at 7am I set off from home with the intention of doing the Aquilianos short route as a trial run for the big one. The temperature was Already a balmy 16ºC and I carried a bum bag and no water bottle. Calculated that gulping down as much water as possible at each spring or village fountain would be enough. In between I’d suck on the odd jelly baby and I optimistically stuck a banana in the bag too (should have listened more to marathondan’s training diary on that one).

Combined running and fast walking. Never ran for more than 15 minutes at a time. The first kms were accompanied by a full symphony of birdsong, a prelonged dawn chorus from which I distinguished the occasional cuckoo.

Monte Pajariel,
medieval bridge over the Oza,
Villanueva, Valdefrancos, San Clemente..

All pretty familiar so far. Felt OK.

Then I ran a short section of road. A car pulled up.

It was Mad Dog Jorge, the fittest HGV driver in the north west.
Mrs Mad Dog was in the passenger seat and Mad Dog dog was on her lap.
Mad Dog dog snarled and tried to bite me.

“Where are you going?” said Mad Dog Jorge.
“To Montes, and then to Ferradillo... maybe.”
“Are you going to Truchillas?”
“Yes, and you?”
“No,” said the all-original Mad Dog.
That wasn’t surprising. The last time Mad Dog went to Truchillas he got a free lift home in the ambulance.

“I’ll call you some time, we can train together.”
“No thanks,” I said “you’re a mad dog.”

But to be absolutely honest today I am the mad dog and so I trotted on up an old cart track which leads to the romantic ruin of the monastery of Montes.

I didn’t see anybody else for the rest of the morning.

After Montes the track widened into a stony, dusty highway and my running became increasingly sporadic and for no longer than a minute at a time.

Descended into the abandoned village of Ferradillo. The spring water here is the freshest and the tastiest of them all. Or was I just excessively thirsty?

From Ferradillo, across pastureland and to the final big descent which comes in two clearly defined sections. First a thin path snakes through the woods and across two rocky outcrops. Here I‘m able to run a bit. But only a bit. Then the path widens into another hard dusty trail. My legs were now too tired for anything that resembled even a trot and my knees were starting to ache worryingly.

The last hour and a half was spent walking despite it being mostly downhill or flat.

I learnt some things. There’s always something to learn no matter how many times you’ve done the same route.

1. It’s going to be better to walk more at the beginning and run more at the end.
2. Footwear. Wore some conventional trainers with cushioning. The Mizuno Wave Harriers win hands down. With the Mizunos I descend much better. My feet and toes are more sensitive to the terrain and it just feels better. But (and it’s a big but) when you haven’t got any strength left in your legs it doesn’t matter what you’ve got on your feet. You may as well be wearing clogs!
3. Did I feel more knackered than normal and did my knees ache because I didn’t drink enough water? Best to drink more just in case.
4. Don’t pack pieces of banana in a bum bag even if they are wrapped in cling film. They’ll just turn into sloshy mushy mess and make your jelly babies sticky. Right Dan?

Total route: 6 hours 38 minutes. (No more than 2 hours were spent running in total).

Sunday: Truchillas and then June 2nd the Aquilianos long route.