Broken ….

The Finish Line ……

I returned home from the Marathon Des Sable totally exhausted, with debilitating blisters all over both my feet and a burnt stomach lining from an overdose of pain killers… almost 2 weeks later after a gallon of Gaviscon Im just about back to full health, my blisters are on the road to recovery and it looks like they will be ok to run the Scottish Ultra

finished !!

The week I arrived home was certainly an uncomfortable one, blisters so bad that the doctor had to bandage my feet and put foam heel caps to allow me to put weight on my feet and get about, on top of this the massive amount of pain killers I had consumed on top of the French medics huge Amoxicillin dose had badly burnt my stomach lining. I couldn’t eat properly and lets not discuss the other effects , although try to picture someone desperately needing the toilet on a regular basisi with huge blisters living in a house where the closest toilet is miles away from the living room , 3 toilets in my house and none of them in easy hobbling distance !!!!! #desperatetimes

I spent the first few days just lying around , ill but still glowing in my self satisfaction of completing one of the most painful and gruelling endeavours ever , it was as tough as I had hoped but maybe not in the way I had dreamt of but cest la vie , I went to be tested and I certainly was .. but the run to the toilet was testing me still… the desert ultra shuffle of the first kilometre until I zoned out the pain had followed me home to the borders!!

My main worry was being ready in time for the Scottish Ultra , another 150 mile stage race , number 2 in my hat trick and only 3 weeks away  .. but last week saw me mend quick and once I got my energy back I started to feel more positive , there is one benefit that being ultra fit brings and that is rapid recovery and healing , its the same miracle of mother nature that repairs me over night to run huge distances every day during the races , magic .. Skin is literally growing on my feet as I watch… they won’t be perfect but Ill be there ready to go… result!!  I’m really looking forward to it , enjoyable and beautiful , hopefully blister free as my Scottish hill shoes are beautifully worn in and like comfy slippers , no 50 degree heat to swell my feet either … its normally set in the Scottish Highland but I think to help the English contingent a little they are holding it here in the Borders this year, great for me as it starts over in Dumfries and Galloway but finishes in Melrose after 5 stages based roughly on the Southern Upland Way, I walked this years ago with Cameron Harvey and Butch Telfer, its a beautiful route indeed…. will I be tempted to run the extra 10 miles home from Melrsoe…. I think not!!