Three runs in around nine days, all just relatively short runs, from the very nice place where I'm staying on the outskirts of Orca in central Portugal.
It's been an effort to get out and run this last week TBH - I do find running in unfamiliar areas a bit anxiety inducing, I usually like to know where i'm going!
I've been pretty fortunate with the weather this last week in that the temperature's been pretty reasonable both in the mid morning and even in the late afternoon on a few days, both times when I like to go out.
I mean I haven't had to leave crazy early at 7.00 a.m. just to beat the heat for example, in fact it's been quite chilly in the early morning, and I've got a fire going for the past few mornings, which is a great way to start the day.
In fact I'm writing this now in front of the fire, drinking a cup of tea, just warming up before I go out for a quick run, the third one I'll add on when I get back!
I track most of my runs with Garmin, which auto uploads to Strava.
Weekly running summary:
- Total kilometres this week: 19
- No. of runs: 3
Friday's Run: 5K local explore
I ran from where I'm staying into the local town which was a bit shorter than I expected, about 3Ks, which prompted me to fork off and explore another road. That's the only Fork happening around here ATM.
It was quite handy as I found a nice route out of the tracks around here with more 'road' than 'track' - so much kinder on my car!
Sunday's Run 6K local explore out and back
There was a tempting looking tack in the opposite direction of town that I'd never been down, so I just headed off down it - one dead end and then just on....
I was able to head off quite late, in the late afternoon, as the weather was quite cool over the weekend, barely hit 20, and overcast, which is fine for running.
I kept going until I hit 3Ks then turned back, giving me 6Ks in total.
Today's Run: 8Ks - longer explore. Found a river!
I set off shortly after 8.00 with the intention to just to do 7Ks and extend my previous run a little - but I did 8 as I ran the first KM with a Romanian called Alex, who just happened to be jogging past in the same direction as I was starting off.
That was the last thing I expected - another runner! Turns out he cycled here from Belgium recently, he's originally from Romania, and is working locally.
Nice chap!
We parted company after 1KM, he was coming to the end of his run, and he recommended I run the route I was intending to anyway.
I did an additional K, because that first K was like a warm up - very pleasant but slow. I got a as far as a dried out river bed and then turned back.
The middle section after the turnaround was quite hilly, and the wind was against me on the way back, so quite hard work.
But I enjoyed this one! 8.00 is a great time to be running around here, its just such a nice climate!
Next week's plans
Going to play it by ear next week - I move into my 'Walden' style cabin later today, which is about 10K away from here, so I guess I'll be exploring around there. It's also very close to the start of some mountain trails, so I might do a bit of running/ walking next week.
I kind of feel obliged to put aside at least one day of the week for the rest of October to get out and walk/ explore the local mountain range!
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