A neolithic 31 miles
Distance: 31.5 miles approx (measured by currently unreliable Garmin footpod)
From: White Horse, Uffington car park
To: Barbury Fort, near Marlborough then back
Mostly a grey day with drizzle for about an hour, then the sun came out and burned my shoulders AGAIN, grr. The trouble is, after four hours of running, you don’t even notice that kind of thing and forget to put the lotion on - stupid, very very stupid.
I’ve learned that you can have downs but get up again, mentally that is, obviously there are ups and downs on the run because it’s the Ridgeway, and there are hills. Right, so after three hours or so I felt pooped, especially after the drag up from Ogbourne to the top of the Ridges again, and a couple of miles of rutted tracks. But following the downhill over the M4, I really picked up again. Was it to do with the oat biscuits? Simply a matter of fuel and energy? By 28 miles I was okay, but 30 to 31 was tough, and I had to walk the final 300 yards to the car park, slightly uphill.
Stiffer legs than usual when I got out of the car at home, but I managed a couple of fast circuits on a track the next day, proving that the old legs are managing to keep up with me.
August 13th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
ah yes, this reminds me of my epic 5 kilometre struggle with destiny. have i ever told you about that? oh the exhaustion, the despair, the inhospitable terrain, the distressing lack of oat biscuits etc. at the half-way point (everyone will tell you that the 1.5 mile barrier is a killer) felt like lying down and letting the two elderly women at my rear just walk over the top of me. lucky i knew that motivational mantra.