Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
Ready For Anything
by Russell Turner - 17:13 on 14 May 2021
It’s a red letter day – I’m now fully Covid vaccinated and ready for an exciting, busy and social future.
Cromarty Surgery clearly has its routine down to a fine art. I was met at the door and in and out within a minute; the longest part of the procedure was the 15mins I was required to wait in Grandson of Seat to ensure I could drive home without endangering myself or others following any unfortunate reaction.
Matchgirl, whose invitation to attend the surgery arrived in the post today, should be seen to next week, leaving us both free to shop till we drop, hit the pubs and rave until dawn without a care in the world. Or maybe not.
I’d marked the milestone of my freedom from disease a day in advance, following a chat yesterday with Mr Postman – a sub-3hr marathon runner – who drew my attention to the Dava Way 50k Ultra, from Grantown-on-Spey to Forres. A remarkably short time later I’d alerted marathoneer-in-waiting Squirrel James, who was also enthused, and we’d signed up for the event, in November, 31 miles, four weeks after the Yorkshire Marathon. I may live to regret it.
Matchgirl is considering joining us, if her dodgy heel improves, which would make the day even better. Advice from her coach (she’s a serious athlete) will also be considered.
My thinking is that free weekends will be at a premium once the band is back in action so I should make the most of them while I can. What was in James’s head, considering his longest distance so far is 20 miles, I don’t know. We can discuss it tomorrow when we run an easy 13 miles together, if I can slow him down.
The Dava Way could be a good introduction to ultra running. Most is along a former railway line, which means that although it rises 1,000 feet to its halfway high point, it does it so gradually that we should be able to cope. After that it’s downhill to the coast. We should easily be there inside the eight-hour cut-off. I hope. That’s all we want – to complete. No aspirational finish times will be set.
Now I really need to find the perfect hydration backpack. And I may have to look at trail shoes. Whoever said running is a cheap sport knows nothing.
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