Training for the 6633 has has been far from ideal, I continue to have back/hip problems, continued stretching and the occasional pain relief keep me going, changing between hoka/inov-8 helps as does walking as apposed to running, so when I tipped up at the start line for the shorter 120 mile 6633 I didn't know what to expect, but from the off I felt good, I lead the race for about the first 65 miles and came into the first checkpoint 5 mins down on the leader, I never intended to stop at the checkpoints but I did have some food and put out a fire!!! Before heading out again, up until this point my back had been fine, hip a little sore, but the constant banging of the sledge waistband was taking its toll, I had a couple of short stops to stretch but my race was gradually falling apart, trying to not put too much pressure on my right hip gave me a huge blister on left foot, while sat on the side of the road I drained the large blister and contemplated another DNF, as I despondently dragged my sled in my hand I noticed that not wearing the waistband stopped my hip hurting and also enabled me to run which stopped my feet hurting, so I ran/walked the final 40 miles or so in this fashion dragging the sled in my hand all the way to the finish line, not only did I win the race but I also knocked over 4hrs off the course record!!!
I'm continuing to do the Likey's 365 challenge, we're on something like day 212, what has surprised me is that I have not found it a chore, even when my hip has been giving me a bit of grief or the weather has been cold and miserable and we get a lot of that in Wales(!) I've looked forward to my daily dose of fresh air...
Need to sort out some summer races, only planned event is another crack at the G24, Carole is doing the Trans Briton event in Sept. and I'm looking forward to training this summer with her...
