East Hanningfield Trail Marathon, #93

First marathon of the new year! The East Hanningfield Trail Marathon up in Essex, organised by Top Day Events, and starting from a little village called (surprisingly) East Hanningfield, which is in close proximity the Runningwell, which sounded like a good omen.....

Nice to be back out in the countryside, it's been a quite a while since I did a self navigated marathon on the trails. This was quite apparent, as my navigation skills have really taken a dip, and I really struggled. You know when you read something, then look at where you are, and they absolutely don't seem like the same place? Pretty sure it was just me having an off day, as no one else seemed to have any troubles. Although my progress was impeded slightly by this, it was a lovely route through the countryside. And considering it is January, it was really quite warm and dry. I'd gone wearing all of my winter clothes, plus water-poof socks in anticipation of it being freezing and a mud-fest, and I ended up being too hot, and my shoes were barely touched by mud. Well, ok, maybe a bit. There was a bit, that I'd been warned of quite near the end, where I was sure the socks would come in handy. But no! The farmer who owned the biggest mud-fest of a farm, was stood out in his field and directed us around the least muddy way over it, and even how to get back on track after his kind diversion. It seemed that all the stars, apart from the navigating one, were aligned for a pleasant passage along the route description today. Plus, great crowd out, and good to see plenty of folks. A top day from Top Day!

Partly to have something else to focus on after #100, partly to put off going to work for as long as possible this morning, and also partly because I hadn't had drunk my coffee yet so wasn't 100% in control of what I was doing, at breakfast today I entered a 10 in 10 (marathons in days) in April. 10 marathons at once is a bit expensive, but I thought this was a good investment. Apparently the bank manager didn't share this view, as when I went to buy lunch, my card had been blocked due to a 'suspicious transaction' earlier in the day. Outrageous! I wouldn't mind really, but I'm pretty sure most of my transactions are either for entering runs, getting to runs, buying things to wear on runs, or things to eat on runs, so I'm not sure it's all that suspicious. Maybe it is a sign that I am spending too much on running? Can you do such a thing? I shan't even acknowledge these as valid questions, and will ignore them, and instead spend my energy on getting my card unblocked so I can enter more races. Hahahahaha!