Sunday 11th March MARATHON 52

11th March - Day 58. Down for food! Hotel snack bar for set menu. Calamari, steak and chips followed by Apple Tart that we eventually got them to make it hot! Very nice, the place was very busy and we enjoyed a quick meal. Back to the room, Real Madrid were on at 9:45. Dad set himself up in bed to watch and I did the washing! All running kit washed and hung around the bathroom, I found dad fast asleep with his head phones on listening to some classical stuff and football at half time 1-1. TV off, told dad game was over and I did not know the score but last time I looked it was a draw and got to bed before 11pm! Cruel but needed! Legs very tired but good nights sleep and not woken by the toe! Left Achilles area very sore still! Up with alarm at 6:30, quick massage of both calf's kit on and down for my run by 7am. Wet under foot and very cloudy! Santander did not look that nice when we arrived, mostly large 5,6,7 story buildings built in the 70's and 80's, I would say. Now on the sea front it does look better but they seem to have concreted or paved over everything! I ran east along a cycle path to see what was about. The path stopped just behind a sea front cafe due to the sea taking the path away! I turned and ran back to the centre past our hotel and tried the other way. Lovely beach with the very rough sea crashing in against the promenade wall. A few people out jogging, all looking more comfortable than me! Anyway I carried on following the cycle path and it led me to the Real Club De Santander stadium. Not that pretty, all concrete and not that big, good to see though. I carried on along the path and round the stadium. At the rear of the stadium a new big silver thing had been built, a conference centre I think and behind that a very strange very big open space all concreted and terraced! What were they thinking, I ran back past the other side of the stadium. Again big open space with a fairly new college, 10 sports courts and a big general playing area, all concrete. There was not one green space! Back to the front, through the only grassed area with a few trees, very nice, I followed the promenade west as far as it went. Very nice lovely cafe's and hotels, most of which looked late Victorian in age. I hobbled back along the front, very pleasant run, apart again from the pains, and back to the hotel. 8.42k 1hr and 6 minutes. This was including stretching time at the end, I forgot to press stop on my watch! Back to the room just after 8:10, quick shower and down to breakfast with my porridge under my arm! All good and very helpful, big bowl of porridge consumed along with 2 toast and jam, 3 mini pastries and a kiwi fruit, very nice! Back to the room to plan the route! This is becoming the worst and most frustrating part of the day! I wanted to run from the hotel along the sea front east and south to the town of El Astillero. The sat nav would not plan the route that way and dad did not fancy the drive through Santander! I lost the battle against dad, the sat nav and the maps, i could not see an easy way through! Normal routine done, I did not fancy running at all today, my legs felt dead, my hip flexes, glutes and groins ached and my mind was not tuned in! I really enjoyed the hotel and could easily have stayed! In the van and off we went, turning right along the front, against the instruction of the woman in the sat nav, as I wanted to run this way and see why it did not plan this route! It would have been great, the first 6k had a promenade! Dad and I had a few words at this point, however the next 10k took us all over the place through the industrial and not nice back streets, taking lefts and rights avoiding the motorway which would have taken us straight there, I can see why now! Anyway across the bridge and to a scruffy little place with a lot of big industry, El Astillero. Found a spot to park, quick video and a bit longer than usual to get myself tuned in and I set off at 12:40, I really did not fancy it today! My thoughts were to run slow and take up to 4.5 hours. The first few kilometres really hurt and I fought to get my legs involved in the event, 3k gone and no real change! Head down and I pushed on past factories, closed down show rooms and not very nice villages. The weather was not great and the scenery was very unspectacular, nothing to take my mind elsewhere! At 6k I started to feel a bit better, legs started joining in and left Achilles area started to free up and the pain subsided. I still felt that my legs had nothing to give today. I looked at my Garmin and I was travelling at a reasonable pace, not as yesterday but not bad. Dad and I were not seeing eye to eye today! Big route planning session this morning, all written down and quite simple dad wanted to turn off course as the woman in the sat nav was telling him to! I offered my opinion and we stuck to our plan, next dad was not in the right place to film and we exchanged views again! All of this was down to me not feeling good! Anyway, I had encountered a few small inclines but generally the route was very flat on the CA-141 past Elechas, Pedrena and Somo Loredo. The road then was almost dead straight for 8k, all good as I had nothing to give! Unfortunately in the distance a wall of mountains were looming, I started my climb just past the 17k point and reached the top of a non stop climb just before the 22k point! That took every bit of my will power and energy to keep going! At the top, much better scenery but I could only look at the tarmac 6ft ahead, I felt finished. Fortunately a steady decent for a few kilometres helped until the next hill! This one was not as long, steep or high but it truly was the last hill I could manage today. For the rest of the run I kept looking ahead, half wanting a hill to give me an excuse to stop, but praying the roads ahead would wind there way around any hill! Fortunately, I think, it was very flat through the town of Argonos, left on the CA-148 and through what looked like marshes, through Santona and to the finish point just past Montehano on the CA-241! I was finished, not the run, me! I could just about climb in the van, take my shoes off and wash my feet. I did however feel great to have completed another marathon and the time, not as fast as the last few but still ok, 3'53"00.

I had my orange and a drink, dad and me now back to best mates, discussed our options for accommodation! We decided to go forward to Colindres, if we could not find somewhere straight away we were going back to Santona. The town looked rough but we turned rounded the first bend and found a place straight away that looked ok! Booked in, coffee in the adjoining restaurant and up to the room for a shower. I, at this point started to feel a bit unwell, I had a quick lay down and promptly fell asleep! I awoke nearly 2 hours later still not feeling great with stomach cramps and a raging thirst! I sat up had a few crisps and about 4 glasses of water and felt a bit better. Now nearly 9:30 here, we are going down to find food. A good day overall, it is good to get the bad days done, I hope I wake with more energy tomorrow, it is my own fault for pushing a bit too hard over the last 4 or 5 days. It is less painful though when I can run at my pace, can't win!