Funny stuff Elton

I think were all in the same boat....

Blisters.... please heal quicker. Back..... please heal quicker, legs... please hold out and pray that niggle in mi right foot buggers off!

Excellent stuff Elton, I think that sums it up for a lot of people, myself included

At this time of year the Hundred, usually too far ahead to be of concern, appears on the horizon and, like a mountain, looms larger and larger in my consciousness as the event approaches. And I start worrying: Am I fit enough? How are my injuries: Will my toes have recovered from the battering of the last 30? Are my blisters sufficiently healed from the last 50? Is my gear adequate for the terrain and the weather? Have I removed every last piece of ‘just in case’ equipment from my rucksack to cut down weight? Are the shoes I’m planning on wearing broken in but not broken down? What footwear should I send to the breakfast stop and what criteria am I going to use to decide whether or not to change? Does my first aid kit comply with the rules?

I find myself studying the map and thinking: all that distance and I felt knackered after 50 miles a month ago. And all those contour lines the route crosses, both the number of them and their closeness to one another: It all looks dauntingly long, hilly and steep.

But then I look at the checkpoint spacing: 5 miles, 12 miles, 17 miles, 23 miles… not too far apart, and all staffed by friendly, efficient LDWAers, eager to welcome us, to feed and water us, and to speed us on our way just as quickly as we choose. And the checkpoint photos show village halls with a comfortable, homely look about them, with backdrops showing terrain no more hilly than usual.

So maybe we’ll be all right after all.