So, my final running adventure in Portugal took place in Lisbon, the final stop on my 3 week tour. I intended to get up early and head out before the heat of the day. As usual, that didn't happen, so I soaked my buff in cold water, put it on my head, and ventured forth after drinking copious amounts of liquid. I decided to try a 10k, and put 5 Euros in my bum bag to buy water after my run.
Yet again, I found myself staying in an apartment at the top of quite a steep hill, so it was downhill for the first 1.5 miles. As Lisbon is a big city, it's very built up so I ran on the cooler, shady side of the streets and chose a fairly direct route down towards the Tagus estuary. The pavements are cobbled in black and white limestone, with some beautiful patterns, but they can be quite slippy, so caution is advised when running OR walking! My shoes are still quite new, and have decent grip so I felt relaxed after a few minutes on this new surface.
I passed people shopping, grand churches, landscaped parks and then I was down on the wide flat area next to the water. A good opportunity to stride out a bit without needing to dodge pedestrians or traffic. I had to keep stopping to take photos of the beautiful coloured buildings, giant murals etc, and got swept into a huge indoor food market which was mobbed with tourists having lunch from dozens of vendors. The prices were high, even for the UK, so I doubt there were many locals eating there!
Outside again, I kept running on the flat until I passed the train station and crossed the road to have a closer look at the river Tagus, and the "Cais das Colunas" - twin pillars and marble steps that mark the entrance port to Lisbon. I kept going until I'd run about 3.5 miles, near a vast cruise ship docked at the port. OK, I thought, so I'll run 7 miles today rather than 10k.
I turned around and started heading back, then decided to have a closer look at a couple of the more spectacular buildings up on the hill while I was close by. I reasoned that I could get some of the climbing over and done early, and find a route back following the contours rather than doing the long slow climb back all the way to the apartment.
So I started trotting uphill, feeling quite good, along the increasingly narrow twisting streets of the old town. Here there were craft shops, artisan cafes and restaurants, lots and lots of tourists, characterful old buildings, and glimpses of the view back to the river. Beautiful! I was having a great time and decided that sightseeing by running was a great idea!
However ... I was finding it difficult to keep to the contours. So I found myself trotting up and down steep hills, wending my way through back streets so steep they had steps built into them, and main streets, taking dead-end diversions (eg to the Castelo), but still feeling good. I wasn't running all the time as some streets were just too steep, and by now I'd done my 10k and still had 2 or 3 more miles to go, or so I thought. I was checking my whereabouts on Endomondo and Google maps and found I was heading too far inland away from the river. Time to ditch the attempt at contour-hugging and head back downhill. I found myself in the main shopping area of Lisbon featuring big name European chains, and started jogging back uphill - now on the home straight (I thought). After 7.5 miles I decided an ice cream would be just the thing to reward me at the end of the run (it's all Sqkr's fault ... would never have occurred to me before she sowed the seed of this idea 
so I checked tripadvisor and found a highly-rated Italian gelateria half a mile ahead. And very delicious it was too - stracciatella and mango, enjoyed on one of several wooden benches situated under the shade of a fabulous ancient-looking tree supported by a metal framework.
I checked my location again, and set off jogging, downhill again! More twists and turns and I came to an area I recognised - hurrah! Now retracing the original route, I started going uphill, yet again, but on the sunny side of the street.
I came to a botanic garden and jogged in to have a look. Lots of lovely cool shade under magnificent specimen trees. I took a photo - and my phone battery promptly died! Oops. I'd come 8.92 miles, and guessed I had half a mile to go. I carried on jogging around the gardens, stopped at a water fountain for a welcome drink, and went back out into the street. I tried my phone again - it wouldn't respond. I bought 2 x 1.5 litre bottles of water (and drank a fair quantity of one of them) and spent the next two hours walking briskly around looking for the apartment. I couldn't remember the address (written down, in my phone! ). I knew I could find it if I could find the organic supermarket I'd visited the evening before. I asked a local lady - she sent me a couple of streets away - no sign of it - I presume there is more than one organic supermarket in Lisbon! I visited some slightly dodgy looking areas of the city during my travels, some pleasant leafy parks, and eventually spotted the river in the distance. I headed towards it - downhill again! and found I'd been wandering around much too far to the west based on the location of the big bridge across the river. From the river I eventually found the main road the taxi had taken the previous day to get me to the apartment, with the walls painted in distinctive rainbow coloured stripes. From here, I found the organic supermarket, and with a huge sense of relief, at last! - the apartment I had rented! Note to myself - write the apartment address on paper next time! I walk at 3+ miles per hour so I covered at least a half marathon distance during this adventure. My knees and feet were perfectly happy - no blisters, no pain - remarkable! So perhaps, maybe, a "proper" half marathon might be achievable with appropriate training? Before my battery ran out, Endomondo had recorded 1700 feet of ascent and descent. I ended up back at sea level again after that, and back uphill again to the apartment, so over 2000 feet in total. Quite a trek, and definitely one of my most memorable runs to date!!
x
Evening run for a change
The hills are .....
Sunday long run...…..longest in a long, long while :)
New route
New Forest paths...
