Sunday 5th February MARATHON 23

Schoolboy error again last night! Ice bath went ok as ice baths go! But thought would be ok to not have hot shower after as a bit late! Went out for dinner, ok but not great but I could not get warm! Back to the room heat on and after an hour or so felt warm at best. I felt very low for some reason, may be I felt good after yesterdays run then realised I still have a few more to go! Up at 6:45 still feeling cold, warm up done, shower and down for breakfast at 7:30. Did not feel great but still managed scrambled egg, fruit, yogurt, croissant, toast and honey! Packed up and loaded van. Very nice hotel Moliceiro good value for quality but they had a laundry service and charged me 141 euro's for 2 small carrier bags! Still now not smelly! Did not fancy running at all today, still felt dodge and realised I pushed too hard yesterday! Left lower thigh sore, left ankle more swollen and right hamstring tight. Anyway normal photo shoot done and I set off at 10:15 in sunshine. It looked and proved very awkward to get out of the town! All roads north seemed to be motorways so we headed south east and then north on the N109. Sun disappeared very quick along with any hope that today's run was going to be as enjoyable as yesterdays! Left foot very sore for first 5k then bedded in, left lower thigh and knee started aching at 8k along with sharp pains in left of left shin! Dads day was faultless though! I ran out of Aveiro's industrial area and onto a quieter N109 through Salreu, Estarreja Municipality. The route after that was a bit of a blur, I was suffering with injury and felt very ill! I had to stop at 27k with pain but mainly due to the fact that I needed a number 2! Very awkward at the roadside in a bush made more awkward with compression tights! Anyway deed done I set off again, head down, short strides and ground out the remaining 15k! Passing Ovar towards our destination of Furadouro, it all looked a bit bleak, it started to rain and surroundings did not look that good. However very surprised by the approach to the town centre, nice houses and lots of people. Finish point was in a nice suburb just off a cycle track. Marathon distance in 4'21"38 pleased considering how I felt! A bad one completed and number 23 out of the way.

We stopped at a very overcast, very windy but very busy seafront. The first place we saw looked nice so I went in to ask if the could put us up for the night, I had seen it on Google last night. As I entered I realised this was no ordinary sea front hotel, very nice and very chic! I was about to turn round and go look for a campsite when a very polite man approached and asked if he could help. I had a pair of shorts on with ice wrapped round my shin and a hoody on! Before I could speak he said "I have just seen you on TV you are the marathon man" he asked me to sit down, the manager came over and offered a discount and the free use of the sauna, gym, pools and best of all a free massage! The owner then came over and also said he had seen me last night and thanked me for choosing his Boutique Hotel! Just goes to show, if you want to get freebies run a 100 marathons! Seriously though they all were so good and wished me well. I went to get dad, they also treated him well and sent us to our room to rest and they would get the bags and we could check in later! Now about to go to dinner, massage was great not too deep as that would only aggravate injuries. All good, RTL the national Portuguese TV I think? are now coming here at 9:30 tomorrow to interview and see me off! All good exposure. I hope tomorrows run to Porto is more pain free! Looking forward to finishing at Rua Da Cerca, 326, Foz do Douro, 4150-201, Porto. The school where Dave Butcher is head and the Karen and Marilyn, the ladies we met in Aveiro, are teachers. Keep on keeping on!