Rain rain

We travelled up to Scotland and the closer we got the heavier the rain came down. It really was going to be as bleak as predicted. I sat in the car daydreaming about the run the following day. I hate rain, but if there's no wind it's a case of once you're wet, you're wet, and what's the worst that can happen after that because you can't really get wetter once you're soaked! I wondered how I was going to cope too... What if all this time I've wanted to run ultras, when it comes to it I absolutely hate every second. I've never finished a marathon yet and felt any sense of achievement... What if tomorrow is the same. I wondered how my calves would cope, I wondered how long I'd be able to stick to 5 minutes run and 5 minutes walk before having to resort to walking the rest of the way because I was in too much agony to run again.... I basically wondered about a lot of things.. Things that would have an answer in 24 hours!

When we got to the hotel we thought it was lovely... But there was no bath in our room. Gutted! That would not be a welcoming sight after 30 miles! I was too tired to pack everything up and change rooms so it would have to do. When I get home I'll email the Amsterdam hotel to ensure this doesn't happen there. I considered it an early warning!

Saturday morning I woke up at 5am on the dot. Damn that Lumie lightbox which appears to have already changed my bodyclock. Graeme slept until 7am. We went down to breakfast and I had a couple of croissants and a pot of coffee... This is one time I'm allowed caffeine.

We got ready and set off for the run. I was nervous but really looking forward to it. It was absolutely stotting it down with rain. We were soaked to the skin in less than 5 minutes. I had weighed my backpack before leaving home and had made sure it weighed the same as my XL vest and Camelbak. It felt heavy, but comfortable.

Our plan was to run as much of the Clyde Walkway as possible. I was wearing my new trail shoes and I knew they were going to be fine. I didn't even put plasters or gel toecaps on, however I had them with me just in case. Our 5:5 was going well and the running parts seemed to fly by. I felt very good but Graeme said he felt tired. Suddenly the walkway was blocked by police tape and so we ran a little detour before getting back on later on down the road. We ran for maybe half a mile before seeing more tape and a policewoman. She stopped us for a minute or so and explained there had been some incident and we would have to turn back. We did so and ended up running through the city streets for ages before crossing a bridge and coming across a bicycle route. This was then blocked off and after more town running we crossed another bridge and ended up in a random field. The field done we ended up running back again and found the cycle route again which seemed to go on for quite a while.

We decided we would need to go about 17 miles before turning back because of the detours, but Graeme felt rough at 15 and turned back. I was finding this incredibly easy so ran on telling Graeme to find a taxi or bus if he felt too much pain with his knee. I ran for about 15 minutes on quite inhospitable roads with stacks of traffic. I was just about to turn around at 17 miles when I saw Graeme just ahead. I thought he was going the wrong way but I then realised I'd made a wrong turn and so caught up with him... A measly half a mile extra!!! He was feeling loads better and I was glad to be back running with him again as we had been having a good laugh.

At about 23 miles my feet felt incredibly tired, and by 25 miles everytime I began running I would wince as I first started up. I had said to Graeme I wanted to stick to 5:5 until my cramp kicked in, but at 25 miles I was still good apart from little twinges in my right groin and hamstrings which went after about 5 seconds of running. By 27 miles I was knackered and every run had been a drag to achieve. At 28 miles I got a second wind and found the running parts easy and the walking parts dragged (although I walked to Graemes faster pace quite well). At 29 miles I couldn't wipe the smile off my face and we did a "high five" and congratulated each other on a stirling effort! At 30 miles I switched my Garmin off and let Graeme finish his walk/run so he could get to his 30 miles. It didn't take him too long to cover the extra half mile.

I felt the best sense of achievement I have ever felt before. It was so much more exhilarating than finishing a marathon despite the pace being so much slower. I had really tried to get it done under 6 hours but it took 6:08:24. Had we not had so many stops and detours maybe the time would have been better, but it isn't too far off my ideal plan.

A day later and I feel better than I did after the 22 miles in Lyon (I walked much more there too). And I found out that when it comes to it, your mind really CAN pull you through! :-)