Day 33 - Training Blog 26th January 2013

Great afternoon, great meal in Don Sebastian, very late night. Up early, feeling knackered! Legs very heavy and tight, glad today is going to be a steady 10 mile recovery run just to get the legs going. Porridge and banana consumed, quick warm up done, Tiger Balm applied, kit on and ready to go. Met Joaquim at 11am, plan changed! He felt he needs to test h...is legs on a long run as he had no power at the end of yesterdays run? Made no sense but its his gig so after a few more stretches and a lot of Voltarol applied we set off from Burgau towards Lagos for a 30k run! Steady start out of Burgau through Luz, no rain and very warm. On to the N125 to Lagos and the pace picked up to 4"30/k legs feeling a bit better and energy level was ok. Slightly different route from the top of Lagos towards Port do Mos. Quick loop and back on the 125 west. The pace remained consistent, only slowing up some of the hills against the wind. We soon passed Espiche, Luz and Almadena. Feeling it a bit at this point, legs tightening as we got to Alma Verde. Fortunately we took the left to Burgau and away from the head wind! The plan of 30k was looking off the mark as we had only covered 19k and only about 2k to get back to the start, all good. Joaquim informed me at this point that the last 7k would be one loop of the run we did yesterday! I felt like stopping as we passed my car but helped by a bit of "stop if you want" from Joaquim and I carried on. A very workmanlike 7k lap, a good push to the finish and an unexpected but pleasing 30.14k complete in a very tough 2'20"44. Quick warm down and stretch, towel off and into Burgau to meet Mr Moran for a coffee in the Veranda bar. The sun was out, the coffee was great and a bonus, a pod of Dolphins swam across the bay flying out of the water as they went, a good 20 of them! Very nice afternoon had, quick visit to the supermarket for chops and back home to cook. Dinner on, washing done very hot shower taken but feeling pooped! 4th creation, very much like the 1st, consumed followed by a tin of Fruit Salad a bit of chocolate and a cup of tea. All good. Early night planned but my old mate Mr Moran is staying with me and can talk, especially when lubricated by a very nice bottle of 2004 Dao Cabriz Reserva to himself, 26 days without a drop for me! Anyway, I got a great email of encouragement from a lady called Eiddwin Evans. I met Eiddwin just before Christmas at a presentation talk I did at the Watford Chamber of Commerce. Eiddwin raised millions of pounds to get a Teenage Cancer Trust unit built in Wales and her amazing efforts were rewarded with an MBE at the end of last year! It was a pleasure to meet Eiddwin and I am very fortunate that Eiddwin will be helping me to raise awareness of my challenge and the great work of Teenage Cancer Trust. Thank you.