Distance today = 58.31 km; Total distance = 16,407.61 km; Location = Canalejas de Penafiel – 41 31.249′ N, 04 06.948′ W; Start time = 0909, Finish time = 1840

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/272601152

My biggest day since April 23 last year. I wasn’t intending to run over 58 km, but we had a mix up with the maps at the end of the day, so I just kept going until I found Carmel and the car, and we did the 10 km commute to our accommodation.

The weather cleared up quite a bit, but it was still very cold at times. The snow is not melting quickly.

The terrain was flatter in general, but there were a lot of plateaus, with farming land being plowed ahead of the spring sowing. As always, there were many quaint little Spanish villages that I ran through. Every town seems to have several very old buildings that are falling down. And there were ruins along the way. It’s hard to estimate how long ago these structures were built – it could be a thousand years or more in some cases. After all, there have been buildings in these parts since before the Romans.

I’m a bit tired from the day, and behind schedule, so I’ll keep it short tonight. It’ll be interesting to see how I pull up tomorrow.

Distance today = 50.66 km; Total distance = 16,458.27 km; Location = Aranda de Duero – 41 40.253′ N, 03 41.098′ W; Start time = 0901, Finish time = 1721

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/272901173

The run today began in the fog, but it soon burned off to a partly cloudy day. There wasn’t too much fatigue from yesterday’s long run, although the legs were a little heavy late in the day.

I ran most of the day through the Duero Valley. It’s quite a wine region, and I finished the day in its capital, Aranda. I’m looking forward to trying one of the local reds tonight.

Penafiel, which I ran through early in the day, is certainly to be recommended to any tourist to the region. There are some ancient buildings, none better than a hill top castle in fine condition. There are several other hill top castles and forts in the surrounding area too. It makes for very enjoyable running.

Distance today = 51.61 km; Total distance = 16,509.88 km; Location = Lerma  – 42 01.912′ N, 03 45.577′ W; Start time = 0848, Finish time = 1704

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/273208614

I enjoyed running through the Ribera de Duero wine country today. The early weather was perfect – crisp and clear, with no clouds or wind. There are many small towns and villages in the region that make their living from wine – despite some of the old buildings in town being beyond repair, there is always a nice new bodega, where the wine is made and sold. We tried one of the local reds last night – it actually came free with the meal. It was quite reasonable too, at a rating of a 7 in my opinion. Given that it was free, this effectively gives it a RWVQ score of infinity.

I did a lot of running today on very basic dirt and gravel roads. I find this quite difficult, as the unevenness hurts my heel, and the sharp rocks in the gravel bruise my feet through the thin-soled shoes. I will have to try to avoid such roads as much as possible.

Just about every village I run through has many ancient buildings that are falling down or in total ruin. Many look to be many hundreds of years old. There are often lots of nice new buildings side by side with the dilapidated ones. I guess no-one these days wants to live in a house with no plumbing or sewerage or running water, and it would cost more than it’s worth to retro-fit the really old ones with these modern amenities. So people just move out and leave them (I think this happened a very long time ago in many instances). They probably had minimal value anyway. It makes for a very rustic look, but I wonder how it affects the psyche of the residents, seeing all this rural decay on a daily basis. Anyhow, it makes for pleasant running scenery.