This weekend I continued my run of the South Downs Way and the training for my race with my longest ever run of 26.4 miles.
'im outdoors dropped me off at QECP and I joined the path where I had stopped last time, and followed it all the way to Amberley where he picked me up 6 hours later.
It was a cold start and I thought it would be another one like last week, however by mile 5 my jumper was off and I was starting to wish I was wearing shorts rather than leggings and as I started to run on chalk paths I also wished for my sunglasses to deal with the glare.
It was a beautiful day and a great day to be running this famous path. It helped that there was about 99% less mud than last week!
While there had been some big hills in the first part, there were some monsters on this one. The sort where you have to be careful going down then have to walk back up the other side. But the countryside was stunning. A mix of woodland and farmland and towards the end hazy views out to the sea.
The other thing I really enjoyed was crossing roads that I know quite well, to finally find out where the path goes. I've looked at those signs saying South Downs Way for years and promised myself I would do it one day and here I am doing it.
Compared with many of the trails I've done there were a lot more people on this one. Many bikes and walkers and the odd runner. I'd have loved to be able to ask each one where they had come from and where they were going. Some I'm sure were just walking their dog on their local track, but others were obviously doing the same as me, but I wanted to know details. Did they have a whole week to do it or were they using their weekends like me? So many questions.
In theory 2 more long runs will finish it, but the start and end points will be much further from home now, so I will have to speak very nicely to 'im outdoors to see if he's willing to drive that far and spend hours waiting for me. Fingers crossed.
You can read what happened on part three here.
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