Dem Hills 

Morning Sports Fans!

Last weekend was indeed the weekend of the Longmynd Hike, our final preparation event before the tour.

Now the Longmynd Hike is a 50 mile hike through some of the steepest hills in Britain open to anyone over 16 years of age. Whilst traditionally this has been an event for locals eager to complete the hike in less than the 24 hour time limit, it has recently become a popular race amongst the Britains Top fell runners and Ultra marathan runners who will complete the race in around 8 – 10 hours.

Tom had done the event the year before and saw it as ideal (Mental) preparation for the tour.

Now I emphasise “mental” side of things because I would be making a few leaps in belief as the race went on. Having never run anything more than a half marathon the 50 miles ahead of me could have seemed quite daunting.

Tom had also played down the Fell running Ultra marathon side of things, so I was expecting more of a hike/scouts trip event.

As we approached the start I mentioned to Tom that there seemed to be a running event on at the same venue. “What’s an ultra marathon, Tom?” I asked inquisitively. ”Oh that’s anything longer than a marathon distance, mate. The Longmynd is one of those”

Right there I realised what I had let myself in for….

I wouldn’t be needing the hip flask on this Hike! 

Anyway, we started well, running the flats and speed walking the (near vertical) hills, putting some distance between ourselves and the pack and were on the tails of the leaders up until 5 hours in. 

This is where I learnt all there is to know about walls….

They mention walls with reference to the stages of exercise where your body has run out of the easily accessible reserves of energy and has to dig a little deeper.

At 20 miles I felt strong, but at 21 miles I had met my first wall. The trouble was, unlike a marathon where you normally have a mere five miles to push through, I still had 29 miles to look forward to!

My wall was actually more of a multi layered breeze block high security establishment, lasting around 2 hours. From 20 to 30 miles I was in physical pain but also suffering from low blood sugar, (slight miscalculation on the nutrional side of things).

The trouble is when your blood sugar drops the mental battle can be as bad as the physical one.

Fortunately, at about 30 miles I came through my wall, only to find another one at 35, but the lesson had been learnt. You can get through these things and find more energy!

As Tom always says, “if you think you have nothing left you are probably only at 70% capacity. There is always more!”

The body has amazing reserves and you just need to be patient in order to find them.

As they say in the Hadith’s (the ancient proverb’s of the qu’ran) ”Mactub” “This to shall pass” And so it does.

Although, my next wall was as much to do with physical pain as mental exhaustion, I had learnt the lessons I needed to learn.

You always have more.

So there it is, my first marathon turned out to be a double, and I survived!

I am using a stick to walk today, but as someone very knowledgeable on the subject once told me. “Pain is Temporary, Pride is Permenant”