Welsh Poppies at Mile 9
Day 8 started with an awful lot of uncertainty, there were still 3 marathons to go, some 78.6 miles which is no mean feat with a pulled hamstring. I was able to walk with hardly any pain but when I tried to run, it hurt significantly every time I planted my left foot. I was committed to completing the whole 10 days and convinced I could still do it, so I decided to take the day very slowly and basically walk it with a some short test runs. If the worst came to it then I had already mentally prepared myself over night that the rest of this event could end up simply being a 78.6 mile sponsored walk.
For the first half I walked all the way, doing this was almost pain free and gave me the heart that even slow it was a method of completing the 10 days. I took my mobile phone with me so Yuk-Lam could track my slow progress and so I could also take some photos of my favourite bits of the course in the lovely spring sunshine. At least it wasn’t raining!
At the Swan Hotel, Newby Bridge with Chris
Chris Heaton kept me company from mile 12 (box 6) to 13.5 miles (box 7), it was lovely to chat with him and it helped to pass a mile or so. It gets pretty lonely out there although the scenery is always so beautiful. He pointed out that my current pace would take me over 7 hours. This was his way of gently trying to get me to push a bit harder and focus more. I got to the half way point in a miserable 3:33, I’ve completed the whole course faster than this on many occasions.
With half the day’s marathon complete I felt a bit better and decided to try and run little bits during the second half. I manged a bit of a run/walk strategy which seemed to work. As I made my way into Ambleside I realised if I pushed I could dip under 6:30 so I even ran up the drive to finish in an extremely slow 6:27:21, my personal worst marathon time but still a relief not to go over 6:30. Last place today, that’s a first! Now only 2 marathons to go.
Woods at mile 1
