Broken :-(

Well after more than two weeks of total rest, lots of stretching and icing, I laced up my trainers and skipped out the door, surely that will have sorted it!

Nope.

Still the same old problem.

Been back to physio. She thinks that it might be a stress fracture, so need to get referral from GP to get a scan to find out, or rule it out (what I'm hoping for, obv).... soooo ....rather than being at the end of the road of this, it seems that I'm still at the start! Gutted doesn't even come close.

Naturally having being told this, I immediately fired up Google and became an expert on stress fractures within minutes. I don't even know for sure that I have one, but now I know all about them, and I have confirmed that even if I don't have one, I am definitely at a high risk, as http://health.ucsd.edu/ says "runners, women and people with a low BMI are at highest risk of stress factors".Tick, tick, tick. So, there's another thing to add to the list of things that I might need to worry about.

A hip is a bad place to have one. Continuing to run on it is bad and can make it into a proper fracture. So just as well I haven't run anymore marathons since then, or any long weekend runs. Oh, apart from that other marathon I did last month where I fell over again (but at least on the other side), and then those two weekends when I ran 30 miles each time along Hadrian's Wall. Oooooh. Ooops. Not ideal that.

On the plus side, it's December I suppose....and I am uncomfortably remembering back over who knows how many Decembers, when I have cursed (loudly) of having to run in this weather, this cold, this dark. Oh! To be running outside even in this storm, in fact, especially in this storm, I LOVE storms - I would give anything! 

But I can't because it would be stupid, and I am many useless things, but I won't be that. My physio said it's OK to cycle, because I've been doing that without any pain, and to try swimming, which should be OK too. So, there you go. Maybe I could even be a triathlete by the end of this.

Also spent a lot of the last couple of days working on the orthopedic ward, which seems like some kind of a premonition.

But basically, I currently feel like this: 

Frozen peas, dreams and philosophy

No running at all since my last blog...

Exactly 2 weeks today!

I know, that lots of people think that I go on about running a lot, and really who cares, it's not that big a deal? There are loads of other things to be doing. And they are right! Of course there are. But I did some quick calculations, which once having realised the answer I wished I hadn't thought about it, at all - but anyway, I worked out that running has been a part of my life for 19 years (HOW OLD AM I?!?! yikes), and so when it's not a part of my life, it just feels WRONG!

I've had a few sports massages now, have sat for many evenings with frozen peas strapped to the bad hip, spent lots of boring time stretching (although this got a lot better once I realised I could do it at the same time as brushing my teeth - love a good multi-task), took anti-inflammatories for a few days, and bought a foam roller, which I used a few times, but I've gone off it because it's too painful, so if anyone wants one, there is one going free here.

All for some bruised ligaments and/or psoas muscle.

At the last beating up session from the physio, she said that it all felt a lot looser, which I think is a compliment, and tomorrow I'm allowed to try a short run to test it out! Feeling nervous! At all other times apart from running time, I don't feel anything wrong with it at all, so no idea if it's any better or not. Have had two dreams the last two nights that I have been for runs and everything was fine, so I'm hoping I've become psychic, and not just hopeful.  

Well, if there's one thing I've learnt from this it is to stop taking things for granted. I never think twice about being able to do something I love pretty much whenever I want to do it, but actually when you stop and think about that, that's a pretty lucky thing to be able to say. But I'd never really thought about it before. And the next time that I do lace up my trainers and hit the trail, I'll remember that I'm lucky to have a body that lets me do this, and to live somewhere that I can go out and do what I want, and have the time to do it, and friends and family to share it with.

 xxx

Coast to Coast along the Wall of Hadrian: Weekend #2

A picture says a thousand words. I will convey this weekend through the medium of contemporary art.

That's enough. Let's use photos.

House for the weekend: The Secret Garden

Fuelled up on Friday night with lovely homemade lasagne made by my Mum, which she found time to do even though has been away all week looking after my Granny and Great Aunty. Quite amazing.

Saturday: from Harlow Hill to Housesteads Roman Fort, 21.3 miles
The weather was misty, so nothing to report until we found a tea room. It's the last weekend that it's open before winter, and if that's not a sign that you should stop and partake in some light refreshment, then I don't know what is.

During the tea break the mist cleared and we soon saw the first part of the proper Roman Wall, hurrah! 

Saw a lot of cows and sheep. Some of them quite confrontational. Also saw my parents after about 14 miles, who were not confrontational, but who were walking in the opposite direction (this is planned, they're not lost).

Hip is sore on and off. But lots of scenery to distract.

Getting quite hilly towards the end of the day. Happy to (finally) see Housteads Fort come into view

Although if think about the hills in the background we will have to do tomorrow, my face feels like this

No matter. Back to the house for beef goulash al la Mum, apple crumble, vino tinto and a tense game of cards. 

My Dad has fallen down a stile and now has his finger in a splint. Exercise seems to be dangerous.

Sunday: Housesteads Roman Fort to Roman Army Museum at Greenhead, 9.4 miles
Hip hurts and I have a hole in my shoe

But going to do it. Start

So so beautiful up on the wall! Worth sacrificing Sunday morning lie in, for sure.

 

 

 

Nice and hilly all the way. Proud moment of the day - some American tourists called us brave for running! Fed up of hip pain. Stupid hip. Looking like will have to replan next part and take an extra weekend to get to the end of the wall. Going to get there though! Oh well, suppose it just means an extra weekend away. Not such a bad thing then.

Thanks to all for fab weekend :-)

Thames Meander Marathon....just one of those days

This is a diary of one of those runs, where just everything goes wrong.......

Not 100% sure should be doing it. Hip been hurting (following falling over at this marathon in August). Had physio in week. Hurt even more. But given go ahead to try the race and see how it goes. So...

Traveled down from Newcastle on Friday night. Went to bed late and got up at 6.  Not hungry, so made small bowl of porridge. Realised used out of date milk, so started again. Began again by using the same out of date milk. Started again. Third time lucky.

Traveled by a train, a tube, and a train to the start. Unusually for a bad day, or any day for that matter, public transport went according to plan. Flat white coffee - rocket fuel might help the tiredness! 

Walked to start. Started to rain. Checked in. Rain stopped. Went outside and ate a banana. Don't like very hard non-bananary bananas, nor very soft too-bananary bananas. This one too non-bananary. Didn't eat it all. 

I chose the wrong queue for the loo and made it to the start with 2 minutes to spare. Bagpipes playing Chariots of Fire. Yeah! "I'll show you universe" I thought! Nothing can stop me! 

Started off running other way to the last time I did the race. Realised haven't checked course map. At least it's essentially a straight line, although in which direction the straight line goes is uncertain at this point. Felt good (i.e: nothing) for 2 miles, then the feeling in my hip returned, as usual, and stayed, alternating at random between not very much, and pretty downright painful for the next 24 miles. 

I was hungry (as usual) almost straight away. Therefore, logically, I didn't get any food at the first aid station, for no other reason I can explain except that I don't usually have anything at the first stop. Made it to the second aid station at about 8 miles and ate two jelly babies and grabbed a vanilla bean energy gel for the road.

Attempted to eat vanilla bean energy gel while running. There are many, all of them good, reasons why I hate gels, and all of them illustrated by the next few minutes, which in summary were spent battling to open the packet, gel explosion over face/ top/ both hands/ water bottle, small amount of gel left to actually eat, horrid taste, internal (mostly) swearing, and the realisation that after all that I had consumed approx 25 calories, which would get me through approx 1/4 of a mile. Arrived at next station with energy levels hovering somewhere just beneath the floor. Ate a brownie bite too fast, which made me feel sick.

I overtook a man. Less than one minute later he re-overtook me. OK, fine. We're about 11 miles in. In my head, I know, I should ignore what other people are doing and run my own race. Also, far too early to start doing fast bits. But seriously? He has now slowed down again, and I'm having to slow down to stay behind him. So, I decide to overtake again. THEN! One minute later he's back in front! And then slows down again! What is his point?! Two can play at this. This happens FIVE times! Before finally he must get bored.

Next few miles approaching Putney interesting. Boat race on today. Hundreds, no, thousands of people rowing, and their teams on the banks shouting and doing boaty stuff, which mostly seems to involve shouting and waving arms a lot. Got to Putney. Chaos. Rowers carrying boats from the boat houses to the river and back, people carrying oars over their shoulders and taking people out with them as they walk around, cars backing up with boats on the back, dogs, bikes..... And the race went slap bang right through the middle of it all. AND THEN, after the half way point had to turn straight round and come back through it again. A rowing team taking their boat out of the water looked right at me as I was about to nip across in front of them, and then continued to walk right in my path. Thanks guys, thanks a lot. Ran around the back of them and their boat, put my foot without thinking on the slippery slope down to the river and ended up on the floor. Again. This race is cursed. I suppose it's the other leg and I landed on my bum, so it was a soft landing at least. And a runner stopped to check I was OK, which was nice of him and cheered me up a bit. 

Felt very angry for a few miles. Not enjoying it. Dodgy hip hurts, now other leg hurts too. Both quads starting to cramp up. Feeling lightheaded from being hungry. Sat on sunglasses and getting headache from the sun. Have blisters. Know am slowing down. I had 3 aims today 1) not make hip worse 2) not fall over 3) run an OK time. Have failed in first two and the only one left to achieve is the last one, and if I can't do that might as well give up now. Get anxious when I think of times and targets when running races, and feel breathless/ tight chest when get stressed about things. 

I spent the second half mostly in this state. At least running by self mostly so no one else has to experience my most negative aspects. Constantly checking my watch for times, pace, distance left. 13 miles is a looooong way when checking every 0.01 miles.....

Eventually a man wearing a medal who had already finished called out there was only 150 m to the end. Then I heard the bagpipes. Then I saw Andrew. Taking photos. Seriously?! In this state? NO ONE is seeing this! Got overtaken in the last few minutes which completely demoralised me, as that's usually what I like to do to other people. What goes around comes around I guess.

Stumbled over finish line in a pile of blood sweat and tears. All parts of body hurt. Which I suppose confirms that nothing has fallen off during the course of the race, which is something.

Andrew sends to have sports massage. Not open to considering this at this point, but too weak to protest. It hurts, but then everything hurts, so what's a bit more. The physio said I had a very high pain threshold, which I'm quite proud of.  

Tried to have shower. Unisex showers. Hmmm. Tentatively open door. Fortunately no naked men around. Fashion bikini out of sports underwear in case said men should enter. All going well until water stops while hair conditioning and body is shower gelled. 

I think it will be best to give up for today right here. 

Let's look for positives. I finished in 3:50:15 which is less than 2 minutes slower than the August run, when I had a good run (apart from the falling over part), and on reflection, I think shows a greater mental achievement. I finished 17th in the ladies - exactly the same position as August. It was my 21st marathon. Andrew did his first half marathon since his injury in 1:55 and is back running! So not all bad :-)

I will end by passing on the wisdom that I have learnt (in theory, although clearly not in practice) from doing 21 marathons: rest well, eat properly beforehand, eat what you know works during, run your own race, enjoy the fact that you are out there doing it, don't obsess about times, make sure you have all the right kit with you, get new trainers before blisters encourage you to do this, try to stay upright. 

And my hair was well conditioned by the time I got home. 

Start at the start.....

I few days ago, I became anxious that I had become something of an ex-blogger. Weeks had passed with no update, despite some notable running moments, good and bad:
1) Another part of the 100 mile recce done
2) My 21st marathon
3) A hip injury. My first experience of sports massage. And a foam roller. All grouped together in my head as one big painful memory. Which isn't even a memory yet. But I am clinging to the hope that one day that's all it will be.

Due to the last point, I've been slightly out of action running wise since point 2, which on reflection perhaps wasn't a good idea to do, given point 3. As an openly admitted running addict, I also don't mind admitting that I have been feeling pretty low these last couple of weeks because I can't run much at all. And, I had no idea how emotionally exhausting training to be a dietitian was going to be either. Also also, it's November, so the annual winter SAD has rocked up again uninvited. Therefore, in conclusion, I am feeling emotionally fragile, lacking writing inspiration, and in actual time to find it. And I've run out of biscuits.

Don't panic. This outpouring of emotion is controlled, and there is a reason for it! Yesterday I became a godmother! To my dear friends Caroline and Malcolm's daughter Josie. At the christening I was catching up with Malcolm who mentioned my blog. I said I didn't know how to start writing again, and he said, so what - just write a sentence of explanation, and then carry on with it. 

Therefore, although slightly longer than the advised sentence, the above is my attempt at explaining.

So, I will start where I left off. At the last 100 mile recce, from Bolton-by-Bowland to Tosside to Slaidburn. 

A thoroughly cracking idea. Except, it was now over two weeks ago, and I can't remember it. All looking promising for the race then.

OK, let's try to get it together....at least I took some pictures to jog my memory.

It seems sensible to assume that we started where we left off last time. At the public toilet block in Bolton-by-Bowland. The glamour. If I will say one thing about this run, there are an unusual amount of toilets given that it's all around the back end of beyond Lancashire's countryside. 

Then it was....ahem.....ummm......errmm....through some fields, over some stiles...errrr.....across a stream....up a hill? No, don't worry, I've found the instructions! And it's all come back! 

If there's one thing I've learnt from the four stages we've recce'ed, it's this - if in doubt, look for Pendle Hill. If you can't see it, anywhere, you're lost.

Highlight alert! Both of my parents tried jogging during this walk! My Dad has been muttering about this for some time. The only obstacle that now seems to be between him and a run is a suitable pair of running shorts. I am unsure if this is a genuine fashion concern, or an excuse. There is one way to find out. Guess what will be in your Christmas stocking! Lack of proper attire aside, they both did really well! Certainly better at running in hiking boots than me. Like running with rocks tied to both ankles. 

Lunch stop at Tosside, which is where a real life checkpoint will be. There is also a pub, should all go wrong. 

Right on the Yorkshire border. Dangerous lands!  

Sweet - Lancashire's so welcoming. Interpretation of sign: "Come in, come in! It's so nice you're visiting! But you can stop with all your dangerous driving and thieving now you're here. Or you can turn right back round and go back to Yorkshire (North). As you will see from their sign, they have no such objections there." 

Careful to give the impression of being law abiding, and walking on the correct side of the road, we headed back into Lancashire. 

The next stage of the route goes from Tosside to Slaidburn, through Gisburn Forest, which was the best part so far! Was a bit worried about this stage, as the paths in the forest aren't well marked on the map, and let's face it, even if they were, it would still be a struggle. But the instructions and the ground matched up perfectly and there were lots of pointers (that I have now remembered) to use to keep to track. My favourite instruction: "Cyclists abound in these parts and they may emerge on to your path from all sorts of odd angles. Beware." 

Having bewared of cyclists we navigated through the forest to Stokes Reservoir.

The weather finally perked up, and came out all sunny for the last part over the reservoir, past Dalehead Church, and then through some fields alongside the reservoir, back to Slaidburn.

Cream tea time, obviously.

And a nice poem to bear in mind during the night time section of the route. Which looks like it might be over Pendle Hill.

 Oooh err.

I have checked the event website and so far there are 417 people on the pre-registration list and still 2 weeks to go before entries close, so looks like it might not be definite will get a place on it anyway. Sad times.

But at least won't be chased by the devil's dog at daybreak, which is a plus I suppose, although would be guaranteed a PB, in that situation.

Anyway, back to the foam roller. Won't be running anywhere, even if chased by the devil's dog, unless can get this hip sorted. 

Oww. 

Coast to Coast along the Wall of Hadrian: Weekend #1

I have found myself in the North East for a few months. Just down the road is where Emperor Hadrian decided to begin building his Wall (or rather, where he instructed lots of other people to start building his wall, at the imaginably named 'Wallsend') which stretches all the way across to the other side of the country. There is a path to follow. Opportunities like this should not be passed by.

In order to complete a coast to coast crossing of the country, we decided to start 7 miles further east, at the beach at Tynemouth. An opportunity for a mini break should also never be passed by, and although Tynemouth is a mere 2.5 miles for my glamorous hospital accommodation, a B&B sounded a more desirable option for Friday night digs. Tapas, pink fizzy wine (which always reminds me of my Auntie Earrinks*, who I credit with getting me started on multiple marathons/ ultras) and a good view are always a good set-up to a weekend (B&B: No 61 Guesthouse, and restaurant: Lui's = recommend!):

I awoke in the night to stormy sounding weather. My mood darkened darker than the night. When dawn broke, it was raining. At the same time a dilemma was encountered: would a big B&B breakfast interfere with running? After a careful, although swift, deliberation, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon won. Then it was off, and in a rare, but appreciated, reversal of Sod's Law, the rain stopped just as we stepped out the door: 

Preparations for The Start began. The North Sea was touched:

The start line drawn:

And it was off:

No wait, no, stop! Running, not swimming! But check out the man on the left HE IS IN THE SEA! The NORTH SEA IN OCTOBER in only a SMALL PAIR OF PANTS!!!!

Set off quickly, then slowed, as we wet up the cliff. Ran for a couple of miles, from Tynemouth, past the castle and pier, and then down the River Tyne along past the promenade and the Fish Quay (fishy) and to the Shields Ferry, where we made a quick detour to South Shields and back, because why not?

Back on the right side of the river, we carried on. It was quite easy to work out where to go, even though the Hadrian's Wall walking path hasn't started yet, if you cycle it, apparently you have to go further, as there is a cycle path out this way. Clearly marked. Can't take credit for not getting lost!

Interesting running along this part of the route - such big contrasts between areas which are very deprived, and other parts where a lot of investment has taken place. Soon enough we made it to Wallsend and the Segedunum, where Rome's Great Frontier begins, with some interesting 60s-esque architecture:

And some reassuringly Roman looking bits:

 

Apart from this sign, which says this is the eastern end of the Hadrian's Trail, there isn't much fanfare. So we had demure snack of half a scone by a derelict warehouse, and continued on the way.

Soon though we made it to Newcastle! And some more exciting looking signage!

 

The next part along the river was FULL of fishermen, starting shortly after a signpost that said "do not enter the water, it is polluted by the local tar-works". Fish and chips anyone? Soon made it to the city center - quite a sight coming around the curve of the river to see all of the bridges come into view:

Then it was past the city and through a few miles of business park, which wasn't that exciting to be honest, but for distraction I read a lot of information signs, and it turns out that pretty much tonnes of important people in the engineering/ naval world came from Newcastle - George Stephenson, Robert Stephenson, Lord Armstrong, Lord Collingwood. And Byker Grove was from here.

Things started to get a bit more countrified after that. Although, there was a LOT of dog poo. Cleaning up after your dog is not fashionable here.  On the plus side I suppose, there were some very cute dogs. And some which clearly had ASBOs stamped all over them. Bet it was their poo everywhere. 

Anyway. We had run out of water, despite running through a city. Survival in the wilderness would be brief for us. Happily, we happened upon a Sri Lankan restaurant, which despite not selling lemonade in bottles, or in glasses, eventually turned out to sell it in cans. Hurrah, we will survive! Three boys rocked up and had a similar conversation. Turned out they were walking the wall too! To raise money for Buddhist monks in China. Bamboozled as to how they were going to get along the whole wall as they only had one small rucksack, which looked suspiciously empty, and apparently no money, between them. 

After a couple more miles we reached a rowing club on the river, and all of a sudden, we were in the countryside:

 

And just one more hop, skip and a jump to the stop-over for the night - a BREWERY!!!!

After 19.35 miles on the road, beer was called for:

I do not like beer. But I like the Big Lamp Brewers Prince Bishop Ale! http://biglampbrewers.co.uk/ 

Cake followed (there had been a lack of it all day):

The next day was a shorter run, I estimated about 8.5 miles, which turned out to be 10.5, but hey, what's a couple of miles in the grand scheme of things. The route got much prettier. There was only one navigational mishap. And after that things pretty much carried on in a straight line so it was quite easy, although already much hillier! The weather was kind again (bit concerned, like it's saving all the bad stuff up for some thing REALLY bad for the next weekends), only a few drops of rain, which could have been much worse, given that a hurricane is forecast after all.

Lack of wall today. Only some signs where it used to be. Looking forward to seeing some proper wall next time! Got excited when thought saw a sign for a vindaloo in the middle of a field, but closer reading showed this was a defense device, not a spice! 

We made it to Harrow Hill, and from there turned south off the wall path and a couple of miles to Horsley, Sunday lunch at the Lion and Lamb pub, and then the bus back to Newcastle. Almost 30 miles of the route done. Top weekend! Back in a few weeks for the next bit......


*for those not familiar: Auntie Earrinks is an unusual name, it's true. She was my Auntie who passed away a couple of years ago, and who was the reason that I decided to do '13 in 2013' in memory of, and to raise money for charities she supported. She was a crazy lady, and had crazy earrings to match (think neon parrots kind of thing). Apparently, when I was very small I wasn't able to pronounce 'earrings' properly, and I used to shouts 'earrinks!' whenever I saw her, and it stuck!

Recce #1: Mist Over Pendle

Right. 

After being inducted into ultra marathons this year, and still having full use of all body parts, I have decided now is the time to entertain the idea of a 100 mile race.

I am going to enter the Red Rose 100, an event next May that is organised by the LDWA (long Distance Walkers Association). It starts and finishes in Rivington which is near my home, and goes around and about the area for, well, 100 miles I suppose. There is no guarantee that I'll get a place on it, it's a bit like the London Marathon, you throw your name into a hat, and hopefully someone pulls it out. 

So, in the absence of the option of bribing someone in authority to give me a place, I am pinning my hopes on influencing Fate, so I am hoping really really really hard, so hard that it hurts, that I get a place, and am demonstrating to Fate my commitment to the idea by practicing on the course already. 

So, this Saturday I went on a recconaisance of 3 of the stages with my Mum and Dad, who have been really kind and totally taken the idea on board, sacrificing a leisurely Saturday morning, and printing out instructions, packing picnics and organising complicated transport details so that we don't walk 17 miles in one direction and then realize we don't have a car/ the right keys for the right car/ any keys/ other misfortunes. 

We started at Spring Woods Picnic Site in Whalley, and began the first mile uphill through a golf course through the early morning dew and flying golf balls. The next couple of miles I successfully navigated, aided greatly by them being in a straight line, then we headed up onto the Nick of Pendle, where the first navigational mishap befell us. As a poor workman blames his tools, I will blame my instructions, which mysteriously stated there were several paths all going in the same direction, so take whichever you like the look of, and then after the second pile of stones on your right, take the path on the right. Piece of cake. Thus instructed, we contentedly trekked on our way in search of stones. On and on, and on a bit more, until we did find some stones and turned right down a path. But no! These stones had been on our left! And we were now heading way off route! Sigh. To cut a long detour short, using my Dad's GPS and some resourcefulness we found the proper path, took it, and stopped for cake at the 2 hour point, and all was well with the world again.

 

Revived by fruit cake we started the next bit, which said 'head across the moor'. In the absence of any further help, such as a direction, I followed a runner, who has waved at us and looked like he knew where he was going. He did, and we were headed the right way. Ah ha - always trust a runner!

Rather bizarrely, we then ran into a big group of walkers who my parents started shouting 'Hello! Fancy seeing you here!' at. Honestly, in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere they still know everyone. It was actually a group of LDWA people, so I suppose given that, it wasn't all that surprising they should all know each other given they are in their natural habitat, but still.

Then it was on, downhill (hurrah!) to Newchurch in Pendle, where the famous Witches Galore Shop is to be found. For those of you not au fait in the tale of Pendle and it's witches, think back to 1612, and look at this: http://www.visitlancashire.com/inspire-me/pendle-witches/the-story-of-the-lancashire-witches

All this discussion of witchcraft, and having made it to the end of the first stage of instructions signaled lunch time, and we pitched up at a handy bench in Barley for sandwiches and crisps. The LDWA group reappeared and shouted some witty banter at us on seeing us sat down and having refreshment. I always had an idea that walkers were a polite and well mannered bunch. Apparently not. 

Roused by this interruption to a pleasant lunch, we hit the road for stage 2 of the walk. Then it was up onto Pendle Hill for the second time, but this time all the way to the top. Perhaps there is something about the place - it's true that whenever my Mum and I go up Pendle Hill it it is always awful weather! Sure enough, after a sunny morning, as we arrive at the bottom of the hill, the mist rolls in and it starts to rain....

 

And then it's back down the other side, and immediately it stops raining. Just as well because the view coming down is cracking! Still not sure what the view from the top is actually like, but this is what it looks like from the bottom in the sunshine.

 

Conversation turned to tea and scones, and if we would be back at the car in time to make it to the village tea room next to the car park. There were some doubters among us. The mood dipped. We walked a little further. Into my Mum's mind sprang a memory of a tea room in Downham; the end of this stage of the walk. The mood lifted. A field or two was even jogged! And we were rewarded by tea, a scone and the confidently claimed 'best apple pie in the world'.

Now everything seemed mighty fine, as we started the last stage, which looked the easiest - short and flat. Shortly after leaving Downham, we crossed a field that was home to hundreds of cows, who all abandoned their grass chewing, and headed straight for us, at a relaxed, yet sinister, pace. Each time we turned to look behind, they would be another few meters closer.... eyes still fixed on us in a beady stare. Like they were under a spell. How disconcerting. The instructions stated to 'head for the gate in the fence 200 yards away.' It was unclear if we would make it. At the gate we all tried to be polite and let the others through first, while hopping up and down and glancing nervously at advancing cows and resisting the urge to panic and scream and flatten each other in our eagerness to jump over the fence. We made it to the other side. As to the cows, I couldn't say, I paid them not another thought once I was through that gate. I hope they've gone by next time. 

Then it was up and down another hill and here we were - Sawley Abbey no less, where Katie and Seb got married less than 2 months ago!

Then it was over the River Ribble and the last couple of miles were lovely, and easy and flat along the fields by the side of the river. We made it back to the car park, and picked up a brew from the village shop and finished up the chocolate brownies. 17 miles in 7 and a bit hours. Champion!