Thursday 14th January: #4 was easy peasy, picked a route that I regularly use, with a few climbs but nothing too strenuous. Was a cold and windy morning, my finishing time was 1h 44′ 02″ my slowest to date, but that was part of my plan because of a little backache I’ve had for a couple of days, that’s why I picked an easy route and wasnt too bothered about the finish time.

Thanks for the toots, Mandy on mile 2 and Lindy on mile 4, got another two along the way but couldn’t tell who it was at the time and found out later that it was Len and Susan V. 

  
Sunday 17th January: #5 is a milestone (ish) so I thought I’d run my favourite course four times!!! Yes you guessed it, it’s the Shrewsbury parkrun course and yes, went up that evil climb eight times!! Running from end funnel area back to the start made up the 1.1 km that I needed to complete the half marathon distance. Plastered my legs and lower back in deep heat cream, wasn’t taking any chances in this cold weather, cold muscles are more likely to get injured.

Was my fastest run to date at 1h 41′ 55″ . 

Had a few thumbs up from random people and a little boy ran about 5 meters with me, and a few dogs joined in as well.

Saw Keith down the hill on km 16 and it was good to see so many people running in the Quarry on cold and wet Sunday morning .

  
Thursday 21st: #6 completed in 1:37’53” my fastest so far and a whole four minutes faster than last one !!

78 miles done to date and 1231 to go! 

Felt good and strong, extra recovery day made a big difference. Also lots of stretching sessions and a strengthening session helped a lot. Was surprised at my time, also because I wasn’t pushing that hard and kept a comfortable pace all the way 🙂

Weather was cold but dry ( it started to rain as I stepped through the door at the finish !) 

Had to change route as I wasn’t sure whether it was ok along the river, so I took a detour into Telford Way then right and right again and down Monkmoor Rd. 

A few toots to mention, on km 1 up Ellesmere Rd, a yellow van I think, on km 7 on Telford Way Jo tooted and waved ( again, she saw me on my first run!) 

Jordan on Km 10 in Abbey Foregate , then on Km 15 Mandy was running towards me and waved, I thought she might turn round and join me but she said later that she needed a bike to keep up! and finally Ben Cedolin on Smithfield Rd on km 19 walking back from College. Got a few thumbs up too from a few Spider-Man advertising a pizza place.

Next run is on Sunday, not much recovery this time and my 96th parkrun the day before! 

Another 3 numbers added to my yearly planner, only 94 to go!!! 
If you want to sponsor me you can now donate by SMS, just text RIKX99 and £? To 70070 , or visit my page at http://www.justgiving.com/Rik-RoadRunner 
Time to say my thankyous : 

1. to all who encourage me and wish me good luck, like and share my social media posts

2. to all who sponsored me so far : £240 (plus gift aid) raised in first 3 weeks! 

3. to Gareth from Purity Lifestyle Studio in Wellington for free massage on my calves

4. Joe Williams from UKRunChat for free entry at Shrewsbury Half Marathon 

5. Up& Running shop in Shrewsbury for big discount on new Running Shoes

6. Susan Bowes for selling her extra M.Drayton 10k entry and donating the money to Cancer Research uk

7. My Family for patience and support and for listening all day to my numbers and stats 😀

8. My brother at La Lanterna restaurant for putting a poster up to raise a bit more cash