Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Spain- Day 3
Day 3
The others decided to take wind breaks etc and stay on the beach for the morning, but that's really not my thing, so I opted out to do a spot of heat training instead... Dad drew me a rough map of a 16k route they cycle and I filled my small rucksack. As I headed out of Catral, I decided it wasn't quite heavy enough, so stopped to add three biggish stones. I guess it must have weighed around 2.5kg.
Heading Out Of Catral
I took the road out of Catral, walking on the left to face oncoming traffic, up to the small hamlet of Casicas; there wasn't much there apart from a few houses with tiled fronts, cacti and assorted dogs. The Spanish natives were sitting relaxing in the shade and I got a few strange looks as I jogged past- only mad dogs and English women...
The Road To Casicas
The others decided to take wind breaks etc and stay on the beach for the morning, but that's really not my thing, so I opted out to do a spot of heat training instead... Dad drew me a rough map of a 16k route they cycle and I filled my small rucksack. As I headed out of Catral, I decided it wasn't quite heavy enough, so stopped to add three biggish stones. I guess it must have weighed around 2.5kg.
Heading Out Of CatralI took the road out of Catral, walking on the left to face oncoming traffic, up to the small hamlet of Casicas; there wasn't much there apart from a few houses with tiled fronts, cacti and assorted dogs. The Spanish natives were sitting relaxing in the shade and I got a few strange looks as I jogged past- only mad dogs and English women...
The Road To CasicasIt was hot- up in the 30's- but I was slightly disappointed to experience a slight breeze which often kept the worst of the heat off; I'd quite like to have experienced the full force of it for a more authentic Saharan experience. I decided to run slowly and cultivate my Sahara Shuffle! Before long I was dripping with sweat, which kept running into my eyes and stinging like b*ggery- maybe I need a sweat band!!
Rustic House
Crevillente Mountains 
San Fellipe Neri Church
Rustic HouseI followed a track running parallel to the motorway before crossing over in on a bridge and following the other side. I ran past a scrapyard (nice!) and along the way passed several compounds with large, angry dogs barking at me, I was so glad they couldn't actually get out... had a few near misses with Spanish HGV drivers too...
I stopped at the outskirts of the village of Realengro to check on the condition of the chocolate I was testing today- peanut M & M's and Freddie Frog Dairy Milk. The M & M's were in excellent shape, and the Freddie Frog had become totally liquid as I guessed it would- the real test would be if it solidified satisfactorily later.
I plugged in my MP3 and carried on down the dusty road, sweating lots, with the view of the mountains below;
Crevillente MountainsAs I came into the small village of San Fillipe Neri, I saw a sign pointing to a track, saying 'Nature Reserve', so thought it may be worth a look see- only trouble was, there were two tracks running parallel, each side of a wide irrigation ditch, and I wasn't sure which track actually led to the Reserve... I decided on the left side track, so followed it some distance, only to see the entrance to the Reserve on the right hand track! There was no way of crossing the ditch, but I thought if I kept going, there may be a bridge or something. There wasn't- just a locked gate barring the track, so I had to retrace my steps and follow the right hand track.
There was a visitor's centre, with a sign outside promising toilets and drinks. I pushed the door open and walked in... it was empty, except for a few displays in Spanish about plants and birds, and my footsteps echoed as I stomped around looking for a loo. A lady emerged and asked me something in Spanish, and as the word for toilet had escaped me, I said, hopefully, "Toilette?" She answered in English that there were toilets outside, and I decided to ask whether there was the possibility of purchasing a cold beverage. All that came out was "Agua?"
She replied that there were no drinks available to the public yet, but added "I have some water I can give you" and fetched me a plastic beaker full of ice cold water from a water cooler. As I gratefully sipped, she fetched me a leaflet about the reserve (in English!) God knows what she thought of this mad English woman carrying a rucksack and dripping all over the floor! After I visited the loos I walked around the reserve on a trail constructed from less than stable board walks.
Suitably refreshed and educated, I retraced my steps and jogged through the village, past the church;
San Fellipe Neri ChurchThe water in my drinking bottles had become very hot by now, and rather unpalatable, but I figured it was good practice for drinking in the desert! The SIS Isotonic drink was still ok, but quite sweet so I may try diluting it more in future.
When I reached Catral I walked round the village back to Dad's. Although it had been really hot, and I'd sweated loads, I had been out for around 3 1/2 hours, covered around 12 miles and didn't feel too bad at all, which is encouraging!
I went in the pool afterwards and swam quite a few lengths- unfortunately I haven't been able to hear properly out of my left ear since!! And the Freddie Frog never did solidify effectively- it just crumbled to bits and tasted funny, so- peanut M & M's- yes, Freddie Frog Dairy Milk- no.
