Day 10 @ the Oval!!!!

AMAZING day all round…. having run almost 20 miles from the Staines area and had some lovely company along the way including the fantastic Paul Jones [family friend for almost 30 years]!! We arrived!

Orlando then, as ever the professional actor, whipped into the loos, changed into jeans, watched 2 overs and sprinted off for a TV casting!! Let’s hope its his lucky break 🙂

Met @runningactress bearing cake and other goodies and settled down to watch the match!!

Aside from it being freezing cold…. Seriously – JUNE???? felt more like February! We were frozen to the bone. But very happy as England and Sri Lanka both had cracking games!

And then off again to run another half marathon before kipping down under the stars? or rather the dripping wet trees….

Day 9 – still going strong…

We had a really welcome bit of company today. Uncle Mike popped along to run with us for a few miles from Devizes. Always helps having someone different to talk to! Oh, and more cake 🙂

Clocked up a handy 49 miles today. Beautiful bivvy spot on a hill overlooking a valley… And finally the relentless rain has eased…. Well on target for the Oval 2pm on Wednesday!

Day 7 & 8 – rolled into 1…

Or so it felt. Lack of sleep, couple of wrong turns, long grass meaning some paths almost impossible to run along… But still we made it with 10 mins to spare before the start of the Bristol game!!!

And who was there to meet us but the lovely @runningactress and mummy Brooke!! Bearing cake and other yummies.

Had a lovely mention on the radio from the @tms lot – thank you!! And met some cool people at the game – including a couple of Cricket coaches from Cardiff.

Shame the match was stopped due to rain :(. Good innings from Sri Lanka!

Also an awesome naval dude going by the name of “Fred Perry” sponsored us a tenner!! @lordstaverners – bring it on!!!

Finished on 275 miles today – and 3 matches down!

I did also try to snog this lovely lady in my sleep, #‎sexyslugfuntimes‬

Day 6 – Edgbaston!!

Wowser… Little one sided…. but what a fab match!!!! And the running continues….

Beautiful bivvy spot tonight. Little canapé to protect from the rain. Score!!!

Except the night gods were against us… The slope we were lying on continued to get steeper – or so it felt and we didn’t get wink.. Still onward somewhat bleary eyed and a little foot sore… South south south towards Bristol!!!

 

Day 5 – spoilt rotten

Luckily we were spoilt rotten last night. Having run a very manageable 28.5 miles our lovely friends gave us a bed for the night in Sutton Coldfield. Bed and food. Catch up on some much needed zzzzss  before hitting the road again and heading to Friday’s ODI!

Nice to have a leisurely few days – before the miles start to increase again

According to trusty garmin we have reached 195 miles since leaving at 4pm on Sunday [not bad all things considered!] – average of 43.333 not that we’re counting!

Day 4 – taking it easy like…

Wednesday has been rather more leisurely. After the swimming through the canal debacles of Monday!

Cake and views

Oh and Dorset’s Man of Steel [aka Nick Brooke] shows the youth of today how it is done….

Poor Orlando struggling to keep up 🙂

That is all… Oh apart from our lovely bed field – ah the joys of 5* hotels

Day 3 [not in the BB house!]

Wow what a match!!! Made all the aches and pains and niggles worth it…

Dream come true – we had a shout out from the TMS box…. Maybe we can pop by for tea and cake… Thanks to @runningactress for her fab tweets…

Go Team Brooke.

Oh yeah, and Monday was WET! Swimming through the canal more apposite than running. Perhaps we should have made this challenge a duathlon

 

Almost forgot we met lovely Stu and Nate along the way on Sunday – any little hellos like that are really good. So come find us along the canal, or at a match [but only if you come bearing cake…]

The long time in coming – Kit analysis!!

I promised I would write up about the kit we took with us – how it fared, what worked, didn’t etc… Sorry the delay! I forgot how daily life gets in the way. Running in the mountains was so much more relaxing :)…. So here is a starter for 10… And I will try and write more soon

1 x Runbreeze shorts – lightweight, dry quickly, perfect kit – apparently they no longer sell them 😦

1 x Runderwear Women’s brief – dry quickly, comfortable, don’t rub. However for the type of trip I was doing I would actually have take 2 pairs of runderwear boxers – see below!!! I am thinking maybe a women’s boxer needs to be the next addition to their fabulous selection of pants.

1 x Runderwear Men’s boxers – these were the best piece of kit I took with me! I know they are mens. But they were ridiculously comfortable and even though I often didn’t wash them for 3 or 4 days running – I think they might be self-cleaning, if that is at all possible – they didn’t chafe nor feel like they were dirty. And when I did wash them – they were dry within 20 minutes [either on me, or hanging off my bag!]. They didn’t shift about during running, and they didn’t feel horrible after 10 – 12 hours of running day in day out in a mixture of conditions – some very hot days, and some very wet days.

2 x Runderwear Women’s crop tops – very comfortable, and no rubbing at all [I was carrying a rucksack weighing between 8-11kg and I didn’t get pain from straps or anything]. Would highly recommend – probably not for anyone over C-cup though as it is more a crop top than a supportive bra. I wore it during the daytime and at nighttime – and if I got wet during the day, it was usually dry within an hour when I wore it to sleep in

1 x Nike Pegasus 32 trainers – amazing! Like a glove, and very comfortable. Ordered my next pair already. Only downside is the grip. I know they are designed for running in the mountains! But they are far and away better and more comfortable than any trail / off-road shoe I have ever used… If only there was a way of getting better grip but the same level of softness, padding etc… [hint hint Nike….]

1 x Kathmandu silk sleeping bag liner – so silky and soft and light. Made up for the lack of change of clothes!!

First run post Pyrenean adventure…

In typical Sophie style I decided to run two 5ks in the space of one morning!

To be fair – one was a parkrun pacing my mum. The second was a tough fell 5k [short 5k, but very steep!] in the Isle of Wight [where I was only 35 seconds down on my previous time a couple of years ago – I should have been quicker but lack of running has made that difficult!]

And I did debate doing an 8 miler that same afternoon….. But I am learning when to listen to my body!

The racing felt good. The knee not so. It was fine when I was running faster, but slower paced running, and walking is still aggravating it a little. Still massive improvement on 2 weeks ago!

And I have the bit between my teeth again… 2 races lined up already for October!

 

The LONG wait….

After the aborted mission to Barcelona – which didn’t help either mentally or physically – I headed to La Jonquera to meet Nick on route and join him again.

I knew I would rather keep going injured, and sick than hang around waiting. The mountains have this uncanny ability to make you yearn to be in them. I knew it would be tough, as I was still fairly weak from the noro-virus and my achilles still hurt, but I didn’t want to hang around anymore

The only catch – Nick’s mobile was no longer working… Somehow we made it work. Though I did wait for 8 hours in the scorching heat with little water and no food right by a motorway in order to meet him!