A late finish at work meant that day 62 was done on the treadmill in 03:22:57. That was slightly quicker than average but still way off where I want to be. It's worth repeating that while I'm feeling fitter the fatigue from not having a rest day is really telling. There's a bit of a pattern emerging now. I start off at a decent comfortable pace then tend to drop off around mile 8. This can be even earlier if I start running much later in the day.
Day 63's half marathon was another one of those random, unplanned, twisting and turning routes. The aim was to run around Gosforth, Kenton and Kingston Park before heading to St. James Park for the Newcastle match versus the reds of Manchester.
I haven't done many hills so far during this campaign. The climb up to Kenton was probably the steepest climb I've done so far. Hardly the Rocky Mountains but I'm sure some serious climbs will feature soon enough.
I was disappointed with a final time of 03:36:02 but that's 63 half marathons and £1399.33 raised so far for St. Benedict's Hospice.
Day 64 was another later than desired start. The route was from my work location in Gosforth back home. To get the full 13.1 miles in, I decided to run through Wideopen then Cramlington. On the way, I had a near miss with a speeding car on Arcot Lane. It's barely a single track road! I reached the east coast main line crossing and, true to form, the barriers were down. I turned back for a hundred metres or so and back again when the barriers raised. However, as I got close to crossing the barriers came down again. I eventually got back running in the direction of home!
The 3.5 mile section through Cramlington was the slowest of the lot. There were more grass verges than paths to run on and it was hard going. Even more so with tired, sore legs.
The final 3.5 miles were in complete darkness. I used my iPhone to light the way. The section down to Bedlington Bank near Attlee Park was particularly hazardous. I tried to muster as much pace as I could in order to avoid the passing cars on such a dark bank.
I'd never been so pleased to see Bedlington Front Street! The last mile to my house was very slow. The heavy pack I was carrying containing my laptop and day time clothes seemed to be heavier than when I set off with it. A final time of 03:45:59 was particularly slow but, once again, I'd kept the half marathon streak alive. Donations on day 64 of £97.50 really helped to keep me moving forward. This meant the fund for St. Benedict's Hospice stood at £1496.83.
I waited as long as possible to get day 65's half marathon underway. I didn't start running on the treadmill until 8pm. It's probably the latest I can start without putting the campaign at risk. As a reminder, I have a self imposed cut off time of midnight each day. I've only ever taken more than 4 hours to complete a day so far. That was day 28 in Paris. Even then it was only 45 seconds above 4 hours.
The main reason for starting so late is to, at least spend a bit of time with Donna and Órlaith. Second to that is the need to get as much recovery time as possible.
The day ended on a real high with donations pushing the fund over £1500. The total for St. Benedict's Hospice was £1526.83 (and £340.09 of gift aid on top of that which I never count in my fundraising but it's very worthwhile mentioning now and again).
Day 66 was yet another run to the match. It was an 8pm kick off so I didn't set off until 15:40. I haven't seen any rain for a while and the sun seems to be featuring more these days. That made for a pleasant start.
By the time I got to mile 7, the temperature started to dip a little. To my right, I noticed what looked like a memorial to a Newcastle fan. "Wilsa 88". When I get more time, perhaps I'll stop and take a closer look.
The now very familiar miles through Wideopen and Gosforth passed without too much drop in pace. The slowest mile was the last mile where I had nothing left in the tank. I reached the finish line (pre match car park spot) in 03:22:22. I felt exhausted and it took longer than usual to get changed in the back of the car before walking to St. James Park for the match.
