“Crazy got you here. Grit will get you back.”

“Crazy got you here. Grit will get you back.” said the motivational fluorescent pink sign part way around the Rivington Trail26 off road marathon on Sunday. This wasn’t long after we had to push cows out of the way to get along the track in an event which had a selling point of “the bog of eternal stench”. Other pink signs referred to zombies chasing you, blisters being running trophies and that unless you puke, faint or die – keep running! All in all though, it was a fantastic event.Extremely well organised with great feed stations and no need to navigate whilst enjoying the beautiful countryside. Better still, we finished strong (ran with MDS buddy John again) and nearly an hour quicker then the same distance 6 weeks ago. Today, apart from being a bit tired I am no worse for wear. Very happy with my running progress. So yesterday, I did not need to draw on the Yorkshire Grit within me as the run went exactly to plan, but come April next year this is one message which I will hold in the bank for those tough moments in the desert.

This month has been busy with the postman. Lots of fundraising materials have arrived from the Intensive Care Foundation, and a running vest. I needed new trail shoes, although they already don’t look very new and I expect there will be a few more pairs of them before next April.

I ordered a rucksack for MDS which I hoped would fit and that I could start training with. No such luck. While the Raidlight Olmo 20 was a fantastic pack it just didn’t fit me. Despite having wide shoulders and being relatively tall, none of the straps would go tight enough and the shoulder straps were on the very edge of my shoulders. I have since tried on every rucksack I have had access to in the hope I will find the right one. The quest continues…..and I haven’t even started with the rest of the kit list yet! Note to self – kit list needs increased priority.

I’d like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who had so generously sponsored me donating to the Intensive Care Foundation and for all the messages of support. It means so much. I am over 10% of the way to my target fundraising amount.