Thursday 17th March: 
#22 completed, 288 miles done, 1022 miles left. 

This time next week it will be under 1000!! 😀

I didn’t feel too much pain during the three days after Ironbridge and I thought it would be easy today. But it wasn’t! 

Legs and mainly the hamstrings felt really stiff from the word go, the Hill from Hell and all that running on mud on Sunday was obviously tough on my legs.

I often feel like that at the start of my long runs and as time goes by legs usually feel stronger, but not today.

It didn’t matter, I just plodded along, had a 10.5k route in mind and thought I would double back to run it in reverse. 

I find that by doing that it feels easier because as you come back and go past the same places you know how long is left and it’s a psychological boost to get closer to where you started.

It took me 1:40′ 31″, over 7′ slower than Sunday, what a difference it makes running alone compared to running alongside other runners!
No toots to mention, just a wave from Owen who was doing his paper round as I was running the last few yards towards home.

Next one is on Sunday, will start in the Square and run the Shrewsbury 10k alongside friends and 900 runners and after I cross the finish line I will carry on for another 7 miles to complete #23 

  

Sunday 20th March:

Yesterday at Shrewsbury parkrun I thought I would take it easy but after 1st km I knew I was onto something special 🙂 My first sub 19 minutes finish, took me over two years and 515km in 103 attempts to achieve it!!! 

I knew it was a silly thing to do before a half marathon distance including a 10k race, but did it anyway 🙂
Anyway #23 is done 🙂 that’s over 300 miles in less than 3 months.
There was a change of plans because I got hold of my race number yesterday thanks to Susan V., that meant I didn’t need to get to Shrewsbury 10k race start too early to pick it up.

So I reversed things and started at 8am and ran from home to The Quarry and along river back towards home, saw a few runners walking into town for the race. 

Kept a steady pace, just under 5’/km, wanted to be as fresh as possible for the start of the Shrewsbury 10k race. 

By the time I got to the Square I ran over 11k (must be the longest warm up for a 10k race in the history of running!) and had to squeeze past a few hundred runners to get as close as possible to the start, very difficult because it was like trying to move in a tin of sardines !! 

Was nice to see so many familiar faces and get encouragement from from friends and fellow runners.

After a ten minute wait off I went again, my legs were just starting to feel stiff, first part of the course was challenging, but got easier.

Completed the Half in 1:49′ including the 10 minutes wait, and the 10k race in 43′ 48″ in 73rd position 🙂

Was very impressed by the way race was organized and can’t wait to run it next year on fresh legs, only criticism is that start was too narrow for over 900 runners, maybe a Quarry start with more space and finish in The Square/High Street would be better.

  

Next run, #24 should be on wednesday

If you would like to sponsor me please visit 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 : £462 plus gift aid

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 Alfredo at La Lanterna restaurant for putting a poster up to raise a bit more 
RRR (beep beep)

Website: http://www.rikfitness.co.uk
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Email: riccardo@rikfitness.co.uk