52 Weeks, 52 Half Marathons - Stage 41

Washed in suburbia

Saturday, October 26, 2024 - 08:00 AM

The weather forecast was grim. The probability of a very wet run prevented any hopes of following a scenic route. I was still lacking a few brushstrokes in my year-long map-painting endeavor. This would be the perfect setting for watercoloring an otherwise grayish suburban area, so I thought. I was coming from a glorious stage in the Montejunto mountains. I had that feeling of moving from drinking a fine red wine to a cheap table wine. BTW, this assumption is not valid in Portugal as the adjective inexpensive does not correlate, at all, to poor quality in wine.

Monet's cataracts on my windshield

I picked a place close to home and had to drag myself out of bed for this one. I would start unusually late, evading the rain probability chart from my phone weather forecast. During the short 10 minute drive, pouring rain kept mixing varied watercolor palettes on my windshield. I fought with my inertia for a couple of minutes before having the courage to face the Turner-like skies outside - let the battle begin.

Turner's skies around each turn

I like to think that luck protects the bold, and that has been my experience throughout all the runs of this year. After a couple of minutes in the run, heavy rain dissolved to drizzle. The leftover water on the road becomes the canvas for my watercolor experiments. Not up to par with Turner's reflections, but with an extra mix from the sun it does the job.

Following my kind of walled garden

Today's route profile resembles a turbulent sea course. Instead of long climbs, we will face many waves over the bow, I will definitely arrive soaked. I find myself again exploring suburban neighborhoods so close to where I live but where I had never been before. Quite nice and deserted. An advantage of the rough weather is that people tend to stay inside, so, even though I started later, I still get to enjoy some solitude.

A breach in the wall, and Portuguese ad hoc parking

It did not take long, 2 km, for Mother Nature to give me a truce. A small opening in the skies gave me hope. There's not much to see, it's another typical Portuguese suburban area. Interestingly, the sidewalk turned into my favorite color bike lane which always feels like I am being welcomed into my personal Olympic stadium.

Entering my stadium

By now, I thought I had crossed all the bridges over the A5, which of course I hadn't. This one ended up being quite a pleasant surprise. The lighting, the sky, the reflections on my running track and even the water droplets posing as tiny lamps on the ugly fence turned into a nice canvas. We are at the 5th km and I have been progressing at a good pace, even with all the hits to the bow.

Sometimes, even an overpass can be pretty on a photo

The area is a lot more pleasant than I expected and my walled running track is very well protected from the nonexistent traffic. I was expecting rougher and crowded routes. The sky remains in watercolor mode, and I am thankful.

Unusual pathway by another Turner sky

We are at the 6th km when it is time to cross another creek. Creeks almost always look nice in photos and this was no exception. Crossing a creek means there is climbing ahead.

It's hard to spoil a creek

Today was no exception, the nasty creek brought along a 400 m, 11% climb with it. The choppy seas gave way to a wave from the Nazaré canyon. It's always harder when you are not expecting it.

Today's wave from Nazaré

After riding my wave in an inverted mode, I would find the foam at the top. The asphalt is replaced by cobblestone and traditional Portuguese pavement (calçada) in an unusual way. It is as slippery as it looks but beautiful.

Interesting choice of pavement

It's time to head to Tires, a well known town in the area, to cross another creek. This creek has been re-routed in this area and to compensate the lack of its natural look someone came up with some colorful tires (great pun!). I don't know the meaning but they painted the photo.

Some colors in my palette

Tires is a very dynamic little town. It is known for the Regional Airport of Tires. Recently Cascais, the main city of the municipality, appropriated the airstrip and it is now renamed to the Cascais Airport. Tires is also known for having a large prison by the airport. That one stayed, and was not renamed to Prison of Cascais.

Tires center, host to a well known summer fair

Tires is a very busy area but luckily enough, there are a few bike-lanes that come in handy to move around town without too much of a hassle. The sky is playing hide and seek with me and sprinkling from time to time. The reflections on the roads are straight out of Turner's watercolors but hard to capture.

Back on track in downtown Tires

We are at the 10 km, the area is well embellished with lots of green, and the clouds are now sparse in the sky which is now in my favorite blue color. We are going through a commercial area that looks straight out of a US suburban area. Which in this case is a good thing, there is plenty of parking spots.

Sky switching to a happier palette

Municipalities like to prop up their roundabouts, and this one is no exception. It's a huge 3-lane roundabout that normally looks like the wild west with cars coming from every direction and making up their own traffic laws. Grass and palm trees are the magic recipe used over and over.

Portuguese famous rotundas with not-so-native palm trees

For some reason I am feeling a lot more tired than normal. At a given point I am going through a baby wave and struggling so hard that I can imagine my face looking like one straight out of a Paula Rego watercolor. We are now close to the 13th km and getting into the best area of the day, the cherry that I had been longing for.

I am a sucker for water towers

I have been driving through this road for many years and frequently trying to shoot photos of this spot from inside my car. This is the first time that I will be walking by the place and I divert my route just to be able to go by the perfect spot for my perfect photograph. In the end I don't think the picture does any justice to reality. I need to perfect my watercoloring skills and maybe come back while not running.

The master piece

It's now time to step into another Olympic track, a wonderful road that I have also driven millions of times and love each one of them. There is Sintra in the background, a tartan tapestry for my speeding, a nice paved road and so much green pasture that I feel like grazing.

Road to infinity

It's as if we are going through multiple wallpapers in real life, suddenly the sky is bright blue and the showers from earlier on are a thing from the past. Of course, while driving, this road looks flat and it's so nice that it goes by too fast.

When it looks too good to be true

It's time for me to acknowledge that table wine can be fantastic. I started pessimistic and this bottle was actually a gourmet grade. The rain from the previous days pulls all the color out of the landscape and shoves it right into my eyes. The contrasts are phenomenal. One of the best glasses of wines I've had in while.

I Drink Wine, a fantastic song by Adele

This road setup goes from the 15th to the 17th km. It's an easy route and a short distance. It's mind-blowing how the fact that I normally zip through it when driving set my brain for expecting a quick and easy run. This of course is not the reality, 2 km, unless you are sprinting, take some time and since my brain was wrapped around a different reality, it amplified the perceived difficulty. Running is many times more about the strength in our heads than in our legs.

Keep on going

Regardless, it feels like I am on a TGV across the country, going fast and enjoying the landscape. I left the watercolors behind; the sun is giving me full resolution photography.

Fast track

Have another glass

I am so distracted by the landscape around me that I forget to check the rearview mirrors. There is blue on the sides and some in front of me, but a sneaky heavily loaded cloud has been following me from behind.

Mirror mirror

Out of nowhere, I have to unpack my watercolors once more, as it comes pouring down. This is the most rain I had caught in any run this year. It was unbelievable, I had been ambushed. I switched from running to breaststroke. We are at the 17th km and coincidentally passing by the swimming pool of a high school. I am swimming outside.

Deluge

The blow from the rain did not last long but it did prevent me from navigating my initially planned route. My phone and watch were so wet that it was impossible for me to use them to check the exact route I had planned. I have no choice but to follow the road I know.

After the storm it does come the calm

Cascais municipality has been investing in putting out many bike trails. I love it. They don't all make sense because they are rarely connected but are wonderful when they show up.

Cascais is the municipality of tracks

Because of my ad lib route I arrive at the finish line before the half marathon distance so I need to come up with another solo to complete the song. I loop around a familiar area, always following my tartan track, just as if I had arrived at the Olympic stadium.

One final climb to the finish line

Another moment where my head was not as strong as I wanted it to be. Once I set my mind to finish at a given point, having to run past it sounds like punishment and my legs felt heavier than they were.

I came in with gray thoughts and ended up wine-tasting in the shower.

That was fun!

Enjoy your runs!

-APF

Route and profile as recorded by Strava