Blistering wind

I got up at the crack of dawn yesterday, and by 6am I was eating breakfast. I had everything ready for my day of training and I was setting off at 7am exactly, ready to meet Kerry between 9 and 9.30. I was really tired. I felt like my body had pretty much had enough now and I just wanted the next few hours to be over and done with. The forecast was very blustery with heavy downpours so I dressed for the occasion. I wore my windproof trousers and jacket, hat, gloves and thermal top and tights. It was weird dressing like that because outside the sun was shining and it looked glorious. The bad weather was on it's way though, and because I was doing the run/walk on the beach banks I knew that the wind and rain would feel even worse.

The first hour of the run was okay but I already felt tired. Had Kerry not been coming to meet me, I'd have felt very down. I kept looking at the time and counting down sections of trail until she would be there. When we met up, her and Terry said I looked like a ninja all in black. I'd have seriously frozen to death if I'd worn the same as her... capri pants and a t-shirt underneath a jacket. I'm a proper wimp in the cold though... I freely admit it.

We set off and did a loop of the beach banks. There were a few parts where the wind didn't even seem to be around and other sections where it blew in our faces. More than once I felt quite chilly. Kerrys' legs were quite red but she said she wasn't feeling the cold in them at all. After a loop of about 4 miles, we carried on down the road and ran through Crimdon and along the beach promenade to the caravans. Kerry said it was nice to run somewhere new. Coming back towards the beach banks I totally misjudged the route and ended up taking us to a climb over a few rocks to get back onto the path. It didn't feel good on my legs at all. I have to say though, having Kerry there didn't half take my mind off any aches and pains. I even mentioned that I didn't really feel any aches at all, I just felt tired. I told her that I'd totally had enough of running now and was looking forward to tapering. It seems all I've done every Saturday is run and walk, and walk. Mentally, I'm ready for a break.

The last half an hour I found it really tough and I felt like I was running like a snail. Apparently I wasn't, but it felt that way. So, finishing my run/walk on 22 miles (I think Kerry had done about 11ish), we went into the house and had a cup of coffee. I had some potatoes with a big chunk of pease pudding (which tasted gorgeous) and I think Kerry had a banana as she doesn't like to eat too much so close to running. While out on the run she had given me a Trek bar. It tasted lovely but I had a stitch that bothered me for ages afterwards. I also found it difficult to swallow, but I'm like that with a lot of stuff while I'm running.

We got a change of clothes and then we went off for our walk. Kerry did the first 6 miles with me (when she stopped at her hotel) and I carried on. The rain had been teeming down but it got better fot the next two miles. The wind seemed to have stopped too, so I walked along the beach front at Seaton Carew. It was only when I turned around that I realised it hadn't stopped at all, but had been on my back the whole time. Now that it was in my face it made walking fast a bit harder, but not impossible.

By the time I'd got to 12 miles I was sick as a chip! The wind was very annoying and it was relentless. It was as bad as the worst parts on the beach banks I'd endured on the morning and I felt quite demoralised. I ran down a bank at about 13 miles and would have ran further but my feet were very sore and felt a little bit swollen. I rang Graeme when I was half a mile away and he ran a bath for me. As I walked through the house barefoot, even the carpet hurt my feet (although there were no blisters and no puffiness that I could see). After the bath I noticed a rash on the top of each foot, but with a dab of Sudocreme and an anti-inflammatory tablet that went within the hour.

We went out for a lovely meal with Terry and Kerry and I seemed to get more alive as the night wore on. I felt quite celebratory in the fact I'd done 38 miles that day and including the half hour or so break, I'd still completed it all in under 9 hours. My face was quite red from the wind, but I have woke up today to find it very red and sore, quite puffy and I have four blisters across my nose and cheeks. I think I need to invest in a good face cream!

So, it's done and I'm now tapering. THANK GOD! I'm so tired.