I'm ready

In 7 days I’ll be standing on the start line at the Commonwealth Championship 24 hour race and I am ready. My training has gone well, apart from a wee blip of a week off with a strained back last month, (its fine now). I’ve been alcohol free for a month, I haven’t ate any rubbish, I’ve even curtailed my chocolate intake which has been amazingly easy, with one thought “This piece of chocolate or 200k!” That just proves what this means to me, I’m even a couple of pounds lighter than my usual fighting weight. My ipod is loaded with a playlist of the inspirational, the loud and lively, the fast and furious to keep me going in the wee sma’ oors. My theme tune from Perth, Clash of the Ash by Runrig is there and Born to Run from the Boss will probably find itself on repeat for a while too but here’s my opening number, give it full volume and I bet it’ll wake you up, if it doesn’t yer deid a’ready!



My food box is loaded with mega calories and inspiration. My vest was at first too wee, then too big but with some small alterations it’s now just right! Even Rabbit the Bruce’s vest has had some alterations.



My goal. I’m aiming high, 200km 13 km further than I got at Perth, and with the words of Dario’s encouragement “i was bursting with pride for you in Perth when you qualified. as for 200 k, you got to have targets, without them you would never have made it to ft william all those years ago. you aim for it, you never know what you might get.”
One thing I know for sure, it’s going to be the best effort of my life and at no point will I stop. In 23 years of running I have never DNF’d and there is now way I’ll do it in a Scottish vest, if I have problems, I can slow down, if I spew, I’ll spread my feet wide and keep going, I will finish on my feet whatever distance I get.
Yesterday noticed that a list of athletes is now on the website, http://www.cumbriacommonwealthchampionships.org/ there are some strong teams with world class athlete entered. But there’s one thing that I have that they don’t, the heart and soul of a Rampant Lion. ROOAAAR!!