Day 3 - Reading to Swindon

Sadly Rachel hadn't recovered overnight and was unable to continue  today.  A huge shame as I know she was looking forward to clocking up a record distance in one day.  

The hotel didn't start serving breakfast until 0700 so we left without our morning coffee.  Fortunately I'd come prepared and brought several tins of rice pudding with me which made an acceptable alternative to porridge.  I don't think you see the best of any city in the early hours and I was glad that I had Scott running with me as we made our way from the hotel back to the Thames Path.  

We walked for about 40 minutes trying to wake up our legs and get breakfast to settle in our stomachs.  On days 1 & 2 we had been running for 25 minutes and walking for 5 minutes but that felt too much for today so we cut the runs down to 15 minutes.  It was all going well on the Thames Path as far as Pangbourne when the route suddenly left the Thames and headed over a significant hill.  From that point on we were running the level sections and downhills while walking the uphills.

We knew there was a coffee shop in Streatley but sadly we arrived before it opened.  We pressed on up the hill towards the Ridgeway and found this elephant sculpture in a garden

It wasn't long after that to our first rendezvous with Neil at the 14 mile point.  It was cold and misty by this point so we both picked up more clothes before heading up onto the Ridgeway itself.

At least the Ridgeway was well signposted.  Once we left it it was detailed navigation using the map all the way to Swindon where we arrived 12 hours 56 minutes after leaving Reading.

The day then seemed to be one long slog up hill and down - too slippy to run in many places.  Neil met us twice more on the Ridgeway then a final time about 8 miles before our destination.  He really is the unsung hero of this weekend, without him we wouldn't have got this far.  

Reasons to be cheerful:

Longest distance covered in one day
Longest distance covered in one week
Fresh dry socks after 30 miles - bliss

Reasons to worry:

My knees are very sore
I have a large blister on my left foot - where my foot was pinched between my trainer insole and the side of the shoe.  Hopefully a change of shoes tomorrow will help

Today's stats:

Distance: 47 miles. (110.4 miles from Westminster)
Elevation gained: 809 metres