Mission to Morocco - MDS 2011 by Birdypie

I’ve been a very bad blogger but have been super busy with the end of the crazy autumn racing schedule. True to form I picked up a bit of a cold post Beachy but it did force me to rest up ahead of the next major challenge – the Druid Ridgeway run. This is another 3 day race covering about 83 miles from Tring down to near Swindon on the ancient ridgeway path. It’s not as extreme as the coastal ultras I’ve done but the challenges came in different directions this time. Firstly the weather – it being November the first day was pretty awful - cold and wet with mist coming down in the afternoon.  And of course the dark – day one was a long challenge at 30 miles and we had a bit of a struggle round. The last four miles was completed sloshing through puddles in the pitch black back to race HQ and a delightful night on a school hall (not). Sadly running buddy Jannine was really ill for this one and was forced out after the first day.

The rest of our little team pushed on through days two and three which were much easier but still a challenge on little sleep. The brilliant company really helped though and we chatted, run/jogged and walked our way to a successful finish on day 3.

I only had four days to rest and recover in time for the next challenge – the Brecons ultra. MdS buddy Nicky was along for this one as well and we met in Brecon at the bunkhouse Friday night before the event. The bunkhouse was totally occupied by MdS competitors and vets. It was a great atmosphere with a lovely cooked chilli being shared by everyone on the Friday night. We also met up with a new buddy James (uglyjes!) and agreed that the three of us would embark on the event together the following morning with the aim to complete both of the 22 mile laps. It was a tough ask on the day. The laps contained one 500m mountain to climb plus a long slow climb up to the ‘gap’ high in the brecons. The conditions were OK but there was hill fog early on which became worse as the day progressed. We run/jog/walked through the first lap getting into the CP ahead of the close so pushed on for lap 2. It very quickly became dark and we found ourselves scrabbling up to the gap in the pitch dark and fog. Visibility was awful as headtorches just reflected off the mist. Thankfully we made it to the top and down to the final CP before the finish. It was then just a question of keeping our spirits up and staggering to the finish....which we did in just over 13 hours. It s not the worlds greatest time but on the back of Druids it was a real achievement and we actually had  a good time doing it!

So quite a fortnight. I’ve had a good rest this week and lots of time in the sauna. I managed a nice gentle five miles in the woods today but legs still feel like lead – I think its going to take a while to recover. Thankfully December is pretty much party time – I’ve got lots on and no races so I think the legs will have a bit of time off. Then in January its time for the final push. Gulp.