Thursday 12th Jan

 What a day!

I got up feeling ok got ready and started my warm up routine, I then got a message to ring Kiss FM Algarve, I did and within 45 minutes I was sitting in a radio station with head phones on about to go live with an interview! All went well and I think I got the message across about the cause of the run, to the Algarve residents,  I apologised for being sweaty and in my running kit!

Drove back to Lagos and had 2 calls from Radio stations in England and conducted road side over the phone interviews. To be aired I believe saturday morning on 3 counties and Heart FM. The only problem was they all kept on about how impossible the challenge was and I had started to believe them!

We went back to Lagos and had a bite to eat in the Marina and I decided I would run in the afternoon. We drove around Lagos trying to work out the best way to run through the town on Saturday. As we drove off, a runner crossed the road in front of me going at quite a pace. He was an old friend, I first met when I came over to Portugal to play football in 1981. He is a few years older than me but he has looked after himself, where I have not! I got out of the van and ran after him. Eventually I caught up and I ran with him back towards Luz. He told me he has trained hard over the last year or 2 and just completed the New York marathon in 3 hours and 58 seconds! He came in the top 40 of his age group. So my run back from Lagos was much quicker than the run I had planned! However not quite as far, just about 10k in about 43 minutes. Felt good and after talking with Joaquin (Jimmy) during the run I regained my confidence and re focused on how to get through each of the coming marathons one at a time and one step at time.

By the way my PE teacher from Bourne Valley school who now lives here in the Algarve is Andy Robinson. I had a few emails asking which PE teacher I referred to yesterday.