Today was a frustrating day, no reason but it felt harder than normal. We had to run a little further than we thought, 44.5 miles instead of 42. No big deal I guess.

The first 12 miles were horrid though, we started at 6 as the road was too dangerous to run in the dark. It was a busy road with no shoulder and we were told to stop when cars came and step into the side. It was uphill (again) too and the uneven surface of the ground just off the road was making it a real hard slog.

Run – walk – skip – run – step – run – stop. It was horrible. The cars would give plenty of space but my mind wandered and thought about what would happen if their cargo just fell off the back and into me, or if a lorry just jack-knifed and batted me back like a cricket ball.

I think I was more tired than normal, I need more sleep. I can’t get it though. After the 12 there was a great few miles of downhill with a large shoulder to get the legs moving a bit. They just did not want to move.

I ate a lot yesterday but not a lot this morning. My stomach does not tell me anymore when I am hungry. The only signal I get now is when my bones ache, telling me I am too hungry. I try to force feed myself at nights but it does not give me much energy.

Today though at half way there was a McDonalds and I thought it would be rude not to, Jenni stopped there too. Bigmac and fries and a drink that went into my camelpack. I have eaten in McDonalds in the UK plenty of times when in the middle of a long run but I forgot that the BigMacs over there are snack sized whereas here they are much larger. I tried to force it down but have spent the rest of the day feeling sick. I had to walk for many miles after that and I don’t really think I recovered. I saw a dead fox which nearly made me spew.

Anyway this blog is going to have to be short because I am struggling to stay awake and I feel sick again. The sun got to me today and I am paying for it. I finished the stage in about 10.30 which is not horrific but not great. I had a bad day, does not mean that tomorrow must be one too.

I am in El Rancho now where I stay for 2 nights which is good as I don’t have to faff with bags tomorrow. I really should try to get more ground floor rooms though. I fit in nicely here, with a beard and a look like I am about to fall over.

[In writing this in the lobby I just had to run to the toilet to be sick. I was actually sat down on the toilet and puked into the bin. It seems to have knocked the tiredness on the head for a minute and I don’t feel sick anymore but need to be careful tomorrow as I will now be quite calorie deficient. – Laure is here telling me to write a shorter blog and go to bed which I will do.]

Good Night x

RunningandStuff