Day 25 – EU – Spain – [San Pedro de Alcantara to Fuengirola]

30/12/19

40km

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

Europe

My first Mediteranean run! Leaving the mountains behind for a while…

As I started running this morning, I felt a bit mixed. I was looking forward to my first Mediterranean run, for sure. But I was also feeling a bit sad about leaving the mountains behind. I had very much enjoyed the quietness of the countryside, the sense of isolation and grandeur of nature. Running by the sea will mean a lot more urban landscapes, touristy resorts and populated places.

The first 15km today were an absolute bliss. Running by the sea, on a pedestrian trail, full of early morning runners, dog walkers, cyclists… I received a lot of thumbs up (people seeing me run think I am a mum pushing a baby in a stroller) and it was nice in general to exchange smiles. I have met nearly no one on the road for the past few weeks. So I smiled a lot, gave loads of “Ola” and “Buenas Dias” and it felt great!

Then to my surprise, I had to adjust my itinerary. Google Map had me run about 10km on the sand… and whether I chose the “pedestrian” or “cyclist” option, the app kept directing me to the beach. There is absolutely no way I could possibly run in the sand with BoB. I wonder how cyclists could. Anyway, I redirected to the only road going to Fuengirola: the sideway of Motorway A7. Arghhhhh….!!

Not much to say of the 25km I ran on its side, on the “safe side” of the security fence. My only hurdles were outgrowing bushes, which took me forever to go through (I don’t carry a machete with me) and the few occasions where the side road was too narrow for BoB. Procedure is: empty BoB, fold BoB, carry everything to the place where it is wide enough again. Re-assemble everything. Resume running. Ah – as the picture shows, my shoes are getting a bit tired, approaching the first Thousand Km of the world run…!

All in all, another good day on the road, I am feeling great, and tomorrow is a short run – and the last celebration day of 2019! Happy festive period anyone, keep healthy, keep moving!

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: