Tougher than the rest ?

I'm not one for blogging,I once was but then I guess I got lazy & didn't see the point ? as a friend of mine said about blogs "never has so much been written by so many & read by so few !" & he's right, so why am I blogging ? what's the purpose ? a good question given my opening statement. Why do people blog is it for attention ? sponsorship or maybe a personal therapy ? for me it's probably a bit of therapy, the chance to be honest with how I feel about what I'm doing & to justify that to myself.


The last week & a half I challenged myself to something physically tougher than I have ever done before, however the true challenge was within my head, a battle with myself to not given in,not to quit when it would have been so easy to do just that. Had I not hit my goals & comeback from the US having done what I set out to do the mental scarring would have been too much for me to bare, I have been there before.


In 2013 I went out to North Carolina to run the Graveyard 100 miler & I failed. I got to 72 miles & injured my groin forcing me to pull out, my first ever DNF in a race. I had failed for the first time & it really hurt me mentally. Two weeks later I completed a 100 miler back in the UK pulling my other groin but refusing to quit, three weeks later the groin was fixed but the mental anguish of that DNF stayed with me for 2 years until I went back & completed the event in 2015 just to heal me mentally.


The most recent challenge was something I had concocted in my head & in some respects I am not really sure why although as with many things in life money paid a part.(more race for the flight money !!) I enjoy running in case you hadn't noticed ? I need a challenge though I can't just run for the sake of running there has to be goals whether that be a number of miles in training, number of races, times etc ... there always has to be something. Sometimes that something really is too much ? Last week the challenge was to complete 5 x 50km races & 5 x 5km races plus a marathon. The races would take place across 6 different US States & why was I doing this ? a great question & the answer might seem a strange one but I was doing it to colour in a box on a virtual map. My mental maths also told me I had the chance to do something I had never done before & run 200 miles within one week.


I have some multi day marathon experience having completed the Brathay 10 in 10 (10 marathons in 10 days) on 6 Occasions, plus a handful of 7 in 7's, 5 in 5's etc..... even for me to go out & do 5 ultra marathons in 5 days & follow them up with 5kms was frankly a bit stupid.


On day one in Indiana I went out at a stupid pace, I wanted to see how my legs felt good after running a marathon in Vermont 48 hours earlier, flying in from Boston & finally reaching Portage, IN with just 5 hours sleep & the legs felt great, in fact they felt too good & went out at 7.30 mile pace which is 3.15 pace for a marathon (I haven't run a marathon in that sort if time for over 2 years & my closest in that period is 26 minutes slower, a whole minute per mile.) I worked hard, faded badly but hung on to win in 4.57. With 5 miles to go I decided against the 5km as I had done the hard part what was the point ? but after a 5 minute break I got out there & did it. An almost 3 hour drive then lay ahead for me to stiffen up on & I paid for that on day two in Illinois on a beautiful course in Fulton, IL.I had zero energy,I had woken up at 3am drank some water & left 30 minutes later for the start in the dark along the banks of the Mississippi, I struggled & almost quit the 50km but I'm just too stupid to quit at times as I know how much that would play with my mind so I battled on taking an additional 2 & a half hours but finally made it home & only avoided a last place finish catching another runner in the final mile, not that finishing last will ever be an issue for me as long as I can finish. The joy of finishing also came with the relief of not having to travel as the following day would see us cross the river to run on the other banks of the Mississippi overlooking the previous days course. Another tough day taking 2 minutes longer to complete the 50km but bouncing back to record the fastest 5km time of the day, a small victory before a 3.5 hour drive to Sparta, WI.


The course in Sparta was beautiful featuring covered bridges & a huge penny farthing statue (Sparta is known as the bicycle capital of the USA). It was a hot one & one of the ladies picked up heat stroke & she was from California !! I got through again & next it was on to Minnesota & my inspiration to perform better in MN was simply a logistical one to get to the airport to catch a plane.


I had made it I had run 5 x 50km & 5 x 5km in 5 days - total recorded distance including a Monday jog around Boston was 179 miles, I was so close, all I had to do was finish one marathon in Philadelphia & I would hit all my goals, after 34 miles a day the thought of "just" a marathon was an exciting one & I ran reasonably well (especially the first half) I met some great guys on the course & came in at 4.43 on the clock - job done.


Now a few of you out there are thinking how can that 6 days have been harder than running 10 days in a row ? firstly my 10 in 10 was based in one location, with massage provided day & night, running on GMT rather than a time zone that moved between 5 & 6 hours different to the one I am used to, that event also didn't include 4 flights including 2 transatlantic, stay

ing in the worst motels America has to offer & it didn't include 1000 miles sat in a car driving through 10 different states, it didn't involve early starts with no breakfast & not even coffee or tea to start the day, I lost 8 lbs & in the 30 hours I have been home I have been on a seefood diet - see food & eat it !!!


The experience leaves me with so many more questions.Why did I do it ? what do I do next ? & will whatever I do ever be enough for me ? but coloured in lots of squares on my map, I really need a hobby !!!


I do know the people I got to meet & the people I got to run with were instrumental in getting me round, So grateful for the support of so many people even just a "good Jawb" or "You got this" really helped when the going got tough.


Am I tougher than the rest ? No.


Am I more stupid ? maybe.


Thank you all


Foxy x