Where to start? I am back home after Endure24 at Bramham Park. I’m tired and a little achey but not broken. And I’m happy. All things considered it went pretty well. Let’s see if I can summarise here – it may be a long one! We got over to Bramham Park on Friday afternoon and set up our (new) tent. I actually really like our little 2 person tent for snuggling up in but it is not the most practical so we bought a bigger one which has a separate sleeping area which meant we actually had somewhere to put things and I can almost stand in it which makes getting changed rather easier. Once sorted we were hungry and went and shared a pizza, we went back later and had a jacket potato for supper.

It was still relatively quiet but with a steady stream of people coming in and setting up. Unfortunately some teams didn’t think the rules applied to them and set up camp in the solo/pairs area which meant space was tight, in fact we met some solos who had to camp in the main area because there was no space. This made me quite cross. I just don’t understand why you’d do that. Anyway, as a result we had a solo runner with his family very very close to our tent, too close and the kids were quite whiny and not exactly quiet. We were both tired and a bit peopled out so this was a challenge. In the end we went for a little walk and the curled up in bed.

I actually slept reasonably well, I woke up a few times but felt reasonably rested. It just seemed to take ages to fully come round – lovely to just sit with coffee made using a little camping stove and kettle.

After coffee we walked to the car – although as a pair we could have kept the car with us, we decided that we might want to leave early (which we did) and there’s no guarantee that you can if you keep the car with you – you might be blocked in. Kath had left her glasses in the car so we went and got them and then were tempted by the catering tent and stopped for a bacon roll. After a slow wander round the race village we headed back, had another coffee and just sat for a bit. Then it was time to meet the #Run1000Miles lot that were also running for a quick photo together. On the way we did one of the may water bottle filling stops. It was nice to see everyone and have a little chat before we all went our ways to get sorted.

I made up our Tailwind  – the plan was to not have any actual food until we’d finished our running. I had tummy issues last year and didn’t get the food/fuelling right and really wanted to avoid a repeat of that experience. So we had two big bottles of tailwind for sipping while not running and our little soft flasks for taking with us. If tailwind delivered what it promised we should get all we need from it and feel full without feeling heavy or bloated or anything. It was fantastic. I never got sick of the taste, I never felt hungry and I felt properly fuelled and well hydrated all the way through. We also had several bottles of just water which we kept refilling, it was soooooo hot.

I started getting antsy about 11am – an hour before the start. We headed over the the start area, it was filling up. We stopped for the loos on the way – the porta potties coped pretty well for the event, they could perhaps have been serviced a little more frequently and they were quite smelly but overall there were enough toilets and never really a queue and some of them even had toilet roll in for most of the time! Bonus. The last 40 minutes or so before the start went quite quickly really and before I knew it I was on the start line ready to go. It was hot.

So did we have a plan? Well not, not really. I knew I wanted to do 6 laps because I did 5 last year. Kath wanted 25 miles to take her to 500 miles for the year. Other than that we didn’t have a plan. We wondered about doing one each and then seeing whether we should sit it out a while and go again when it cooled down a little  but we were both happy to meet back at the tent and then see. You can read about the laps in the next post which I will try and do tomorrow – too tired just now. After my first lap I stretched a bit, walked to the water station and refilled bottles and then just rested out of the sun as much as possible. Then I decided I’d go again when Kath got back so I grabbed a cooling towel and a bottle of water and walked over to the solo/pairs area to wait for her. We took our time with each change over, having a little chat before heading out. I did pretty much the same after Kath’s second lap except that I didn’t go straight out again. After a slightly longer rest I went for lap three and then Kath went and I met her at the exchange area again and went out for lap 4. Then I had a Tailwind Recovery drink and a packet of crips because I knew I was having a slightly longer break and I felt a little tired. That really helped. Kath went out for lap 4 and I put my PJs on for a bit and dozed.

When Kath came back after lap 4 we had a chat about what was best. Her feet were sore in spite of being taped up fully. The sensible thing might have been to call it a day there but she wanted her 25 miles which I completely understand so we decided that the best thing was to go again straight away rather than trying to get going again later. So that’s what she did. I dozed off while she was out and was a bit dazed and confused when she got back. It was about midnight. Part of me just wanted to be happy with my 4 laps, sleep and see if I could be bothered in the morning but I knew I wanted 6 laps and I was looking forward to running in the cool. I didn’t want to wait until I woke up in the morning – it would be hot again. So off I went.

After lap 6 I got back to the tent. I was a bit tearful – a mixture of a sense of achievement, a sense of disappointment and tiredness. I was meant to have a recovery drink but couldn’t be bothered to make it up. I stripped, got in PJs, sipped some water and tailwind and just talked at Kath for a bit, I’m not sure how awake she really was. It’s possible that I fell asleep mid sentence.

I woke up feeling a bit stiff. Nothing really hurt though. On reflection I was happy with the 6 laps and had absolutely no desire to go out again. Maybe if we weren’t flying to Australia on Tuesday I would have been tempted but I sort of felt that I’d achieved enough and I didn’t need to push it and risk not recovering  for the flight. We pulled on some clothes, did one trip to the car with stuff we wouldn’t need and then had breakfast in the catering tent – they really do do a good bacon roll! After breakfast we handed in our timing chips and collected our medals. Then we packed up and came home. We were home by 9.30am, unpacked the tent to let it dry in the sun and re-pack it properly and got some washing on. Then we had  lunch and started sorting our stuff. Then we ran out of steam so we had a couple of ours sleep and then we got going again. Still, an early night is in order!

So in summary – I had a great time. Some of it was tough, of course but it was a fabulous weekend, again I learned a lot about my running and probably about myself and I did something that challenged me and had the sense to stop before it broke me. I’m coming for 7 laps though. I think I can do 7 – even if I can’t take a selfie that gets the sign in in full.