The Bigger Picture

Well, even though I promised myself there would be no more prolonged absences, I am being forced to impose one on myself. Remember the collateral ligament trouble I was having at the back end of September? Well it has flared up again and is not showing any signs of easing off.

Rather than shrugging it off and train through it, I have decided to do the sensible thing and rest. It looks as though I'm going to need about a month so I have written off April and will (hopefully) resume in May. I've ordered a support and will turn to Andy the physio for some rehab exercises. In the downtime I am going to put together a (seated) upper body programme and give that sadly neglected part of me a bit of a shock!

Obviously I've missed the March date for my 100km treadmill run but I still intend to do this at some point when I'm back amongst it. I will likely bin the 24hr treadmill as I have the Marmot race still on the calendar and I may still find time to do the lap of Anglesey, which I've been putting off for about 3 years!

As with all cloudy things there are positives lined in silver. Resuming in May still gives me 4 months of decent training so I've no worries about making the start line in decent shape. I also plan to use the time to work on my kit and nutrition lists. These were a big success in my MdS preparation because I was anally meticulous and by this amount of time before the race they were 90% complete. As it stands, I've done next to bugger all.

My Just Giving page is up and running now so I would be grateful for donations of any size on there. A good friend has verbally pledge a decent chunk of cash so I look forward to that appearing. To avoid any confusion whatsoever, here is the link. Go on, give it a click :)

Dan’s Just Giving Page

It’s a bit of a concern for me that haven’t put many visuals on this blog so here’s one I found of the Pink Cliffs at a place called Bryce Canyon. Not sure if this is actually part of the run to the top but the steepness looks a bit ominous!!

Ominously steep! Gulp!!

I’ll sign off this post with an apology. During and after MdS, I was not very complimentary about my Raidlight packs. It is true that the stitching let me down badly but rather than just moan, I have now done something about it and strengthened critical areas. Despite this appalling flaw, the packs themselves have many redeeming features. They are extremely light and comfortable and have tons of pockets and space for kit. So once I have put my handiwork to the test, the packs will likely find themselves in action once more come September.