Mud, Sweat and Beers!

Well what a good week it has been! Some excellent coverage from the Barry & District, a 17 mile run in the bank, more sponsorship coming in and Sully Sports going top of the league!

Firstly I'll start with the B&D and a wonderful piece written by Chris Seal giving the background reasons for my run along with some great photos; including an action shot of me running the Cardiff Half Marathon and one on the lifeboat with the Sea King helicopter above me, a superb view! Check the article out on either page 5 of the B&D or here via this link.

After a couple of my regular runs this week (the usual 3 miler before training on Tuesday, and the Sully/Penarth 6 miler on Thursday) I decided to do try another route, which culminated in 17 miles, on Sunday morning.

It was a brisk start at 8.15am but knowing that I could be done and dusted by 11am spurred me on to get out early. Whilst it was cold, I was glad that there was no sign of rain however I hadn't anticipated how wet underfoot it was going to be on my route!

It is always a tough start running from the Knap as everywhere you go the only way is up and this Sunday was no exception as I ran towards Porthceri park through Marine Drive. Coming down the Golden steps and along the coastal path it was extremely wet and muddy and I had to slow right down to avoid slipping everywhere.

The path through the caravan park and through Rhws was a right mess. It was more like cross country than training for a marathon that is going to be run entirely on a hard surface. My trainers were dirty and heavy and the mud had quickly spread up my jogging bottoms qhich made it feel like I was running with leg weights attached.

Leaving the coastal path behind I ran through Aberthaw and as I ran past the Blue Anchor I was wondering if it was bad thinking that I could've murdered a pint! Especially in such a nice pub.

Resisting the urge to stop (anyway I would've looked like a right wino banging on the door at nearly 9am) I ran through the lanes of Fonmon emerging the other side, into Penmark and out by the Airport roundabout. Along the link road I went (the most dangerous part of the run) and back towards Rhws before eventually cutting back into Porthceri and back into the mud!

With my legs already feeling heavy this was some of the hardest going I have encountered running but I emerged onto Salisbury Road knowing that once I got to the creast of Barry Road I was nearly home and hosed AND it was all downhill from there on in.

I cruised down Dock View Road into Broad Street after cutting through the back streets and arrived home in a respectable 2hrs 35mins. Especially after so much of the route was through muddy trails!

The route was definitely one for summer training but on the plus side, whilst I hadn't done the mileage in the best time (my previous 16 miler was completed in 2hrs 15mins), I did manage to run for an additional 20mins which will all help when it comes to the big day!!!! See my Sunday run here. You can also follow my run progress on my Twitter page @Ed_RNLI_Ldn2012

I have received another £100 in sponsorship this week but I still have a long way to go to reach my target of £2,300. Please check out my sponsorship webpage here - http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ed2012. Many thanks again to the people who have sponsored me so far.

And finally, to top off an excellent week, my football team Sully Sports have gone top of our league for the first time this season with another excellent win against Tonyrefail on Saturday to stretch our winning run in the league to 11 games.... Long may this continue and whilst we mustn't get carried away too soon, it is a nice feeling to be sitting on top of the tree. The biggest challenge now is staying there!

After all that I celebrated the end of the week with a nice refreshing beer on Sunday night as a small treat to myself... I think it was well deserved!