By the canal again

It would seem that the 45 miler a couple of weeks ago really took it out of me. Must get fitter before trying to run so much!

I went to the Northampton to Tring ULTRArace, a pleasant canal side 47 miler the following week. (A brilliant event, as all of ULTRArace's runs are.) Within the first twenty minutes I realised I didn't have much energy so figured it would make a nice enough walk, with the occasional bout of jogging. I was very fortunate to meet up with Ian at the first checkpoint. He's training to run JOGLE (John O'Groats to Lands End) in April and was using the day as practice at moving very slowly for a prolonged time. It was great to chat to him (for hours) as he's got lots of great stories from the faster end of running (2:39 marathon, pacing at NY and Brighton for the 3:30 groups, lots of ultra and multi-day wins) and tales of his partner's adventures running with huskies. We took well over 10 hours, but it was a brilliant day. Usually I'd have run back to N'ton on the Sunday, but there was no way I'm up for a double yet. I spent the following day relaxing with Jim, which is what I've been doing both days this weekend. Just watched Midnight in Paris - fantastic!

My feet seem to be gradually getting better, though still very sore at times. Breathing properly remains a skill I haven't been able to master for well over a month now. Trying various medication but nothing that appears to have helped yet.

February soon and they say it's going to be cold this week. Nice.