Weeks, 52 Half Marathons - Stage 15
Lisbon Derby(*)
Saturday, April 27, 6:29 AM
The Christmas-Eve-kid in me was suddenly awakened, at 5:00 AM, by the sound of pouring rain outside. I have a hard time getting my beauty sleep on the night before the game. I can’t wait to unwrap what gifts the route will bring me and unconsciously end up waking up multiple times during the night. Needless to say that the impromptu water alarm robbed me of the last 45 minutes of my night rest - prophetic.
Today we are going to tour the main sports stadiums in Lisbon (football / soccer). The starting whistle is blown by the Fonte Nova shopping center - a vintage mall.
Parking is easy, if you don’t try to park like 30 years ago, which might just as well be the last time I had parked there, a lot has changed.
It’s a chilly 10 degrees Celsius (50°F), close to my ideal running temperature. During game days at Benfica stadium, the area becomes part of the savage parking perimeter (every sidewalk becomes a parking spot in the area).
The first half of the run is not too hilly, and is split between side-walks and wonderful bike lanes.
The first km of every run is always the longest. I have the watch parroting every km, and invariably I think I forgot to start it as it lingers to award me the first milestone.
It has only been 800 meters, that felt like 2km, ran at a good pace, for someone who never warms up, when we arrive at the largest shopping center in Portugal - Colombo (as in Christopher Columbus).
Just across the road from the mall is the Benfica Stadium, Estádio da Luz. On match days Colombo is flooded with people wearing the red colors of the club. It becomes impossible to park.
I keep following the bike-lane, which slopes up, earlier than I had hoped for. I was determined to follow a lively pace in the first half, and that meant my heart rate would be following the slope.
The route is not the prettiest, we are moving through residential areas and I have not identified that many landmarks. Arriving at the crest of the first sacrifice, stands the small church of Nossa Senhora da Luz (Santuário) facing a small park, Jardim da Luz.
On the other side of the road stands Colégio Militar, a strict and well known school for students that want to attain a more formal education rooted in the military discipline.
The road leads to the Telheiras quarter, a nice residencial area with wide avenues, green spaces between the buildings, local commerce, and jet engine lullabies. I am beginning to realize, specially this early in the morning where it’s just me and the birds, cell-based and mechanical, that it is very hard to escape the melody blown by Pratt & Whitney tubas. This airport needs to move.
The terrain for the next 7 km is favorable for fast paces and I took advantage.
The tartan colored bike-lanes put me inside a race-track. I reluctantly have been growing up to my challenge, and am able to pace myself. If I want to take this project to the end injury-free I must not push my body too hard.
The Sporting football club stadium, Estádio José Alvalade is coming up at km 4. Sporting and Benfica are rivals and traditionally natural candidates to winning the Portuguese Football League (as is FC Porto).
Both stadiums have been fully rebuilt for the Euro 2004. The Sporting stadium was designed by the “JR-Ewing-Dallas-Architect” (stage 8), and it shows on the outside. On the other hand the inside of the stadium is very interesting.
I ran underneath the stadium, and it felt like an early morning Bourbon Street run again - what an incredible smell. Another mobile operator, NOS, sponsored their headquarters right by the stadium. Fortunately their building looks modern and fresh.
Finding the way to cross the road was a bit challenging due to the construction going around in the area. I was looking forward to visit the University Campus on the other side. We are only at the 5th km, and the game today is going on overtime. The run in now going along the Campo Grande Park right by the Campus border.
The Campus of Cidade Universitária is excellent. A mix of old and new buildings, lots of sports complexes and plenty of open space. The plan was to loop around the sports areas and had my fingers crossed to have one of the two athletics tracks in the area open for one lap.
There is an excellent trail that goes around the perimeter of the sports complex. This is perfect for looping 10 km in the area inspired by the different sports fields in the area.
The trail/track is a hidden treasure in the middle of Lisbon. It surely gets crowded with runners later in the day. It’s 7 AM, not a living soul in sight. I own the place.
There are golf courses, basketball courts, padel courts, athletics tracks, the students have it all and so do the locals. The loop through the perimeter is roughly 3 km.
I had my eye on the tracks, I really wanted to do one lap for the records. Regrettably, all the entrances to both tracks were closed. There were no refs around (security) , so I felt like scoring offside, but the little guy on my right shoulder stopped the insanity. I could get a red card early in the game, and jeopardize reaching 15 points in my league. That little red devil on the left shoulder tried hard to convince me otherwise.
Off the park, at km 8, I have my next goal in sight. My tactics set a better time and lighting conditions to visit Benfica’s, Estádio da Luz. I had a special building group on the way, that would be rooting for my running squad of one.
Torres de Lisboa (Towers of Lisbon) were the place where I had my first full time job in 1995. That job and this place set the stage for one of the most important changes in my life. My marriage, and moving to the Bay Area for a few years.
The Towers were then brand new and home to Telecel, one of the very first GSM digital mobile operators in the world, owned by Airtouch, today Verizon Wireless.
All dear to me.
Energized by amazing memories, I face the first killer climb of the day like a fresh defender racing to stop a counter-attack.
I got to the goal area on time but exhausted from the sprint back to defense. I am glad to know that the way to the stadium is now a sweet descent.
We pass Estádio da Luz slightly after half-time. I am bummed that I can’t find a good angle to take a nicer picture of the arena. The stadium has a twin, the Arsenal Stadium. The second half of today’s game is going to be played in a different pitch.
We will be moving to the south lung of Lisbon, Monsanto. I had briefly explored the north lung on the Easter stage 11. The good news/bad news is that we will be going all the way to the top of Monsanto.
The ascent starts by another very important and well known Military School, Instituto dos Pupilos do Exército, Military Institute of Army Pupils.
What can I say about this climb? It is a monster. It goes from km 13.2 to km 15.4, from 71m to 216m. For one of the kms, Strava registered and ascent of 92m. It is basically stairs in the form of a ramp. It feels like we are on the 120th minute of overtime when in reality we have just barely crossed half-time - I LOVE IT!
I start the initial climb on the road, and soon realize that it is to dangerous as there is barely any space to take cover from incoming traffic. There is a trail on the right side and I briefly followed it, but it diverted from the road and I had to come back. I counted 3 or 4 cars passing by, still too risky. Halfway through the climb I moved to the safety of the trail, well partial safety. We are separated from traffic but have to turn our attention to the uneven terrain.
The summit came faster than I expected, even though my race pace went down the drain. It’s hard to capture on the phone how high we are (yes, runner’s high and terrain height).
At the top, there is an Air Force radio station base. The theme today ended up being the Military and Sports. During my university years, we came to visit the text book antenna arrays that they have set up in this area.
It’s time to fly down the mountain back to base. On the way down we cross another important personal spot. On a light-pole stand some cellular antennas for the first microcell project implemented on Portuguese GSM networks. I had the pleasure of taking part. The large tower on the back used to broadcast the only two TV channels that served the country for many years. What a contrast!
I make my way down on the side of the road. There is plenty of space and traffic is sparse. I start to become suspicious of my planning as I don’t think I will get back to base with 21km. If there is one thing that brings me down during a run is expecting to finish at a given spot and then having to run further. That, and blind-alleys!
When we get to the bottom of the mountain, we are at km 18, according to Strava and km 17 according to my Apple Watch Nike Run Club APP. Down below stands another stadium. Estádio Pina Manique, for the small team Casa Pia Atlético Clube. For many years the team was playing in the minor leagues but today they play on the 1st Division and this year are doing very well.
During my 1st job years, I played in an amateur league and we trained at this stadium. Back then, there was not even grass! Eleven football is hard.
The way back to the starting line is not very fun as we have to go below a number of overpasses, where the sidewalks suddenly “disappear”. Eventually we make our way back to civilization and are presented with a nice bike-lane.
My fears come true as arriving at Fonte Nova, my NRC Watch APP shows 19km and even Strava is showing 20km. According to my Komoot plan I should have arrived with the 21.1km.
No worries, there is a long stretch of road that is just perfect for me to sprint for 2km and comply with both APPS. I felt good! The error was not going to win.
In the end Strava shows 22.28km vs 21.1 km on the Nike Run Club. Whatever.
I had conquered Monsanto, that was all that mattered to me. The game was over.
Enjoy your runs!
-APF
(*) My good friend LB suggested and I took it.
Nice pictures! (Good eye ;)