Day 24 – EU – Spain [Ronda to San Pedro de Alcantara]

29/12/19

48km

  From Ronda (Spain) to San Pedro de Alcantara (Spain)

Europe

A long day of running, 17km up and 31km down – not sure which was worse!

I knew it would be a long day and I also knew it would involve different challenges.The first being the 15km of uphill, out of Ronda, with an elevation gain above 600m, facing strong headwind for the most part. The second being 31km of downhill on a mountain road with no hard-shoulder. The third being facing the longest day on the road so far, 48km, without a single stop, to the exception of one petrol station at km11.

I was mentally prepared for a tough day. And it did not disappoint! The uphill was indeed very difficult to handle, especially with such a strong and cold headwind. I was reduced to loads of walking bouts and BoB was subjected to wind gusts and quite a burden to handle.

Once the uphill was over, I was sort of relieved. The downhill was indeed smoother. Though very long and without any distraction for a break. I found out the road was the playground for motorcyclists, and it being Sunday, there were many of them zooming past me. Needless to say, as the road did not have a hard-shoulder, I was a total incongruity on the road.

I received many unpleasant hand gestures, most of them suggesting with a twirl to the head that I must be completely zanny.

I am yet to see (tomorrow?) the effect of 31km of downhill on my legs. They feel a bit tired this afternoon, but with no specific pain that I can point to. Let’s wait and see how it goes tomorrow.

This week is being quite tough in terms of uphill. Garmin records today’s run with 1172m elevation gain – whilst Strava has it below 700m. I am yet to understand the differences of elevation between Garmin and Strava… I reached my highest point of the World Run so far, at 1125m (picture taken after some downhill from the highest point which was not physically marked).

For the World Run, my intention is to report on Garmin Data, both for kilometers run and elevation gains. If any of you have any idea why Strava would differ from Garmin (which is source data) please don’t hesitate to use the “Contact” page to explain to me!

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: