Distance today = 48.27 km; Total distance = 15,842.60 km; Location = Caceres – 39 28.391′ N, 06 22.493′ W; Start time = 0910, Finish time = 1712

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/268344439

Another pleasant day of running in western Spain, although there were some minor “off-field” dramas.

Firstly, our Portuguese SIMs don’t work anymore, and we haven’t been in a big enough town in Spain yet to buy Spanish SIMs. That means we’re without a means to be in contact, and I’m without maps. It was only twenty years or so ago, before mobile phones, that we all managed to plan our days and travel around, without the now ubiquitous mobiles. These days, if you’re going to a bar or the football or any number of places, we simply say “I’ll give you a call when I get nearby, and we’ll find each other”. Twenty years ago that was impossible. You had to have everything about your rendezvous planned meticulously. Mobiles have made things more convenient, but we’ve all lost a skill. And that got rammed home to me today.

So, it was back to the days of carefully agreeing on what we’d do and where we’d meet. In the end, it worked out OK. However, for the same reason, the tracker wasn’t able to work today. I hope to have a new SIM by tomorrow, and have the tracker up and running again. In the meantime, I’ve used the hotel wifi for the tracker to locate my end-of-day position.

Secondly, early in the day, when I was leaving the hotel room, I ran into a steel stairwell and split my head open. It’s not quite bad enough for stitches, but will probably result in a scar on my forehead.

The roads were a bit busier today, but still nothing to be concerned about. I would be happy to run on similar roads for the remainder of the journey. Lots of yellow fields that look like canola, but I’m not sure if it is – perhaps it’s just a yellow weed.

Tonight we’re in the large town of Caceres. It was founded by the Romans, and has existed ever since. From what I can gather, there’s also some Moorish influence in the architecture. Hopefully there’ll be some good photos tomorrow.

PS Carmel has been having trouble getting her Apple computer to connect to the internet some evenings, even when my computer can. If you notice days when there are no new photos, this is the reason.