01/09/2024
The body decided to call it a day… 😱😱😱
I was running for about 16 days and a small quad issue just turned into a MAJOR issue …. 😱😱
It was sore when I got into the car to drive to next stage ….
But stepping out into the Kerry twilight zone ….
Things very quickly disintegrated
With my first step my left leg gave a jolt of pain right up through my body….
I was accustomed to slow and painful starts over the previous 15 days …
it was almost an expectancy at this stage … the need for an hour to ‘warm up’
But this time was different …..
The pain was unbearable ….
I sat back into the car …. And Niall and Alicja paced around outside … trying to find solutions
They wanted to call it a night and opt for rest before making any rash decisions…
There were murmurs from Niall that this may well be THE END …
Alicjia did shave my leg and tape me up to see if that would help….
I tried again ….. and took to the trail ….
The short test on the road was ok and could be managed but anything downhill was very painful …
and to think I could do a few peaks and 16km at nighttime in those conditions was disillusional
So we drove back to Killarney….. in silence
It was a big day :
Big kms were eaten for breakfast and lunch
But it was not big enough
I had a few big failures :
> not being able to descend onto Faha ridge from Brandon due to wet and windy conditions (setting me back 1/2 day)
> not being able to do the planned 16km stage (setting me back ANOTHER 1/2 day)
> my quad injury (possibly ending everything)
I knew that in such a long challenge just one thing going wrong could result in the end …and when we are dealing with all of Ireland’s highest and most technical mountains … the risk was sky high…..
And whereas it seemed the body was giving up … the mind was certainly not….
I started this to finish … but the clock was ticking…
Both myself and Alicja are ultimate solution orientated people (due to what we do in the south of France) ….
and Alicja was not accepting any premature finish...
NEXT MORNING…
After strapping … hydrating … massaging … MANIFESTING … things felt considerably better so we head for that AMAZING Faha Ridge …
It was time to toughen the f*ck up…
It was time to take control back …
I truly did believe that this was a mind vs body challenge and the mind was not giving in so easily .....