So, it was the final day! At last!

I was feeling much more positive before the race start than the previous day. This may have been helped by the fact that it was the last day, but also because I had a ‘better’ night’s sleep than previous nights and I didn’t wake up feeling sick. So far, so much better!

I ditched my usual breakfast and instead had a freeze dried breakfast of Granola with blueberries which was much nicer and I wondered why I hadn’t had these for breakfast all week!

I checked the leaderboard to see who I needed to race today. It was highly unlikely that I could catch Richard for 2nd overall, unless he got injured or got majorly lost. Mark was also a bit out of reach in third place but I could catch him if he had a bad day or got lost. I was in fourth overall and only one minute ahead of Danny in fifth.

It was obvious that myself and Mark would be Danny’s main targets . My main plan had to be to finish ahead of Danny and keep my fourth position, but he had been getting stronger each day and I was sure he still had plenty left for the last day. It wasn’t going to be easy.

The course started with a fairly long uphill section on trail where I took it easy to start and then slowly started to work my way past a few people. The course headed onto an uphill tarmac section where I passed another guy and then caught up and passed Danny. Good start!

Back on the trail, I caught up with Victor and passed him as the trail headed downhill. No pain from the quads and much, much quicker than yesterday – I was feeling pretty good!  I got through CP1 as quickly as possible and caught a glimpse of Mark not too far ahead. I set off in pursuit. However, as the trail got more technical, I couldn’t maintain my pace and Danny was soon back with me. He passed me and I managed to stay within about 15 metres of him, until we started to head back uphill. There was a switchback on the hill and there I saw Richard, probably 400 metres ahead. I guessed that Mark must also have been a few hundred metres ahead but I couldn’t see very well because of the trees. There were some very steep and rocky sections over the next mile or so where I could only manage a walk. I was still lacking a bit of power in the legs and the guys started to pull away from me.

When I reached CP2, I was told that Mark and Danny were a couple of minutes ahead of me. I could make up that amount of time if I worked hard. But it is difficult when running alone to maintain the motivation, especially after having to do it for many hours day after day.

I knew the next section had a very steep downhill and also a very steep uphill. Both were going to lose me time so I worked as hard as I could on the slightly ‘easier’ sections. Although I was now resigning myself to the fact that I was likely to finish in fifth place overall. I would still be happy with this I decided and knew I might have done better had I not been ill yesterday. I reached the steep downhill and although it was long, it wasn’t as technical as I had expected. As it was the last day, I took a few more risks with the descent and got through it pretty quickly. Not long after I could see a steep incline ahead of me and towards the top I could see two or three other runners. I was sure I was catching them and I ran as much of the steep hill as possible before resorting to power walking up. At the top, there was a right hand turn onto a smaller trail which led up to CP3.

My aim was to get through the checkpoint as quickly as possible. I did have a brief sit in the shade but only whilst filling my camelbak. I poured water on my neck and asked how far ahead Danny was. ‘We’ve not had Danny through here’ was the reply. I asked if they were sure. They checked the list, they were sure. I asked about Mark and Richard. Again, the answer was that they had not been to the checkpoint. ‘They must be lost then, I think they were all quite close together. They must have all gone the wrong way’.

I left the checkpoint wondering how they got lost. There had been no point on the trail where I had been unsure which direction to take and all turnings had been well marked. However, Richard and Danny had both taken wrong turnings on previous days. If they were running together or within sight of each other, they may just have all followed one another.  This kind of race is more than just a test of running endurance, it also requires an ability to stay focused on what you are doing and look out for course markings. It’s easy to go off into your own little world and not pay attention especially when you are fatigued.

I had about 10km to run to the finish, mildly undulating at worst with a bit of an uphill drag to the finish. I was sure that they couldn’t have gone too far wrong and would easily catch me before the end. I just maintained my steady pace and the kilometres ticked by quite nicely. The route went through a small town and in contrast to most of the sleepy towns I had run through, this one was quite busy. I had to dodge several vehicles and then I passed some men working on a building...cue shouting and whistling. I have no idea what they were saying – my Spanish knowledge doesn’t extend to being able to translate the kind of comments dished out by workmen. So I just smiled and shouted ‘hola’ before having to quickly jump out of the way of an oncoming tractor which took up nearly the entire width of the street!

I was glad to be out of that chaos as I rejoined the trail at the other side of the town. I was very surprised that I had not been caught yet by the ‘lost boys’ and a little part of me was now able to start thinking that maybe they wouldn’t catch me.

As I reached the top of a short hill, a French woman, who was I believe a supporter/partner of one of the runners, said ‘cinq kilometres et deux kilometres descent’. I knew it was about 2km uphill at the end, do I guessed the next couple would be downhill. I pushed on as much as possible on the downhill trail, just wanting to get the underpass than ran under the motorway close to Loja, the finish town and the place where it all started 5 days ago. I started daydreaming about the hotel; its air conditioning, its comfy bed, its well stocked bar!!!

I could now hear motorway noise and with a quick glance up from the trail I could see the motorway and some distance beyond it the buildings of Loja, including the hotel. I was soon running in the underpass and then out onto a road than wound its way slowly uphill in the direction of the hotel and the finish. By now I was very tired but I kept a steady pace of around 8:30-9:00 min/mile and I wanted to have something left so that wasn’t crawling over the finish line!

That last 2km felt like it would never end I was still thinking I might get caught by one of the guys, but once I reached the main road and I could estimate the distance to the finish as probably less than 400 metres, I started to run a bit faster. It certainly wasn’t a sprint finish by any means but I wasn’t crawling! I crossed the line in second place for the stage. I had my finishers medal placed around my neck, drank gazpacho – which is surprisingly good after a hot race! – and waited for the next runners.

I didn’t have to wait long for the next runner. Victor was soon at the finish; I didn’t know it but he had been chasing me down over the last 2km!! A few more runners arrived a little while after Victor but we had to wait a little longer for the guys who got lost. Danny was first in, sprinting up the hill to the finish for 8th on the stage and closely followed by Mark, with Richard arriving a couple of minutes later.

So I finished in 3rd place overall and first female.  An absolutely fantastic result, especially considering that a week earlier I was questioning whether I would even have the fitness to complete the whole event! I learned that my body is much stronger than I think it is and I also learned some new mental coping strategies that I’m sure will be useful in future races.

AAUT is a tough event – no doubting that. I’m so glad that I was fit enough to go there and compete against some very experienced and talented ultra runners and to do battle against the mountains and the heat –it’s certainly made me a bit tougher!
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I awoke after a ‘good’ night’s sleep of about 6 hours.  When I finally get myself out of the tangled mess of sleeping bag and clothes that cluttered the tent, I started feeling slightly queasy. I thought I might need food and started to prepare breakfast, the same I had eaten for the previous three mornings. I had tested this breakfast before long training runs and on the South Downs Way challenge and all had been well. This morning it was a different story. Every mouthful was making me feel more sick and I couldn’t even finish it all. To make up for not eating it all, I scoffed a few mouthfuls of bread roll and a Cliff bar, washed down with my energy drink as on previous mornings.

I went through the now familiar routine of preparing for the day’s stage; putting on race kit, number, Vaseline, sun lotion, hat, sunnies, camelbak, packing away sleeping kit, handing in kit bags for onward transportation and all the time feeling queasy. Race nerves? It was the ‘long day’ after all and considering that I felt ropy after 5 hours on Tuesday, I was a bit concerned about how I was going to deal with today. Not wanting to make a mistake like Tuesday, today I was estimating that I would be out there for over 6 hours, maybe 6 and a half.

I had taken a few salt tablets from Mark which I planned to take during the run to hopefully prevent the problem I had on Tuesday. I had been putting Eletewater electrolyte solution into my water every day, but it wasn’t very high in sodium and the dry air made it hard for me to judge how much I was really sweating so I guessed that I could end up low in sodium if I was running for a long time.

Race start time approached. The slower runners had already left and so there was just a handful of runners left milling around. As I stood on the start line my stomach was not feeling good and I hoped it was just nerves and would settle down once I was running.

The very early part of this race involved a single track section and a river crossing by balancing on a tree trunk. Guys from the organisation were on hand at the river crossing to help people across. As it happens, log balancing over a river is one of those things that instantly turns my legs to useless lumps of jelly. I tried to walk on the log, honest I did, but my legs were on the verge of collapse. So I opted to sit astride the log and shuffle across on my arse, shouting ‘sorry guys‘ whilst holding up a queue of people behind me!

Needless to say, this cost me a bit of time, which I tried to make up by running up the steep hill straight after the river crossing. I noticed that my heart rate was much higher than it was running the hills yesterday and I was struggling to keep the running going. I resorted to walking, no need to push it just yet. After all, it’s a long stage and the second half is much tougher than the first half.

I kept my ‘take it easy’ policy going all the way to CP1. I ran, pretty much alone, along some very pretty single track and I just occupied myself by looking around at the scenery as I jogged along. The pace was slow but I didn’t care. As I was filling my camelbak at CP1, another woman, Christine, arrived at the checkpoint. She was currently 3rd woman overall. This made me realise that I might have been taking it a bit too easy and that Sharon (2nd female) was probably very close behind. After CP1 there was a tarmac section through a town and town towards a lake. I took this opportunity to put some distance between us. If there is one strength I have, it’s being able to run well on tarmac! I shifted it up a gear but the pace still wasn’t great and it all felt a bit of an effort. I was still feeling queasy and the gel I had taken was repeating on me which doesn’t normally happen.

The section on the course around the lake was supposedly flat but it turned out to be a narrow route, with plenty of twists, turns, ups and downs. I would normally love running this kind of terrain but today the constant changes of pace and direction were just exhausting me. When I finally made it to CP2 after the lake section and not even half way into the stage, I was already feeling pretty exhausted and had only run about 13 miles! During the lake section I had taken a salt tablet and some more food but I was starting to feel like my body wasn’t really digesting things very well.

The route continued after CP2 with the first of the day’s big climbs. It was on good trail but completely in the open and sheltered from the wind. The heat was starting to get to me in a way I hadn’t felt on the other days. I still ran most of the hill when most others were walking. During the hill section I could see Victor and Karim a few hundred metres ahead of me and I was closing the gap. Running uphill made me feel less sick than running downhill (less shaking around of the guts I suppose!) and could feel confident that during a mile of uphill, if I ran it in 15 minutes and the next woman walked it in 20 minutes, I gained another five minutes on her, so I had to keep the running going as much as possible.

Towards the top of the hill and shortly before checkpoint 3 I took another salt tablet. At the checkpoint I had a sit down in the shade, put an ice cold towel on my head, filled my camelbak, added Eletewater and then drank a cup of iced water before leaving. The trail after CP3 was slightly twisty and undulating. Every downhill made me feel really sick and sure enough after one downhill, about 400 metres after the checkpoint, I had step quickly off the trail and empty the contents of my stomach behind a small shrub. I felt dizzy and needed a minute or so to compose myself before continuing at a walk. My stomach was hurting, I still felt sick and I was fighting back the tears. The salt I had taken at CP3 was now being consumed by a thorny shrub and I was in the middle of no-where with the prospect of a few more hours of pain ahead of me and a potential DNF if things got any worse.

I managed to get the legs to start jogging and if I thought I had started the stage slowly, I knew that that was fast compared to how it was going to end. I had no power at all, even on the flat and downhill sections there was nothing. Running downhill, at around 9:00 min/mile at my fastest with a dull ache in my legs and constant nausea was destroying me. The course between CP3 and CP4 should have been my best section of running as it was predominantly downhill. Instead it was pure torture and when I eventually made it into the checkpoint, I couldn’t stop the tears. I flopped into a chair and cried into a cold wet towel.

I decided to do a sensible thing and tell the checkpoint staff that I was feeling ill and that I had been sick after CP3. I was asked if I needed a doctor or if I wanted to pull out. I said I wanted to keep going. The checkpoint staff said they would advise the course doctor of my ‘condition’ and contact CP5 to advise them that I was not well but still continuing the stage.

Just as I was leaving CP4, the next runner Massimo arrived. I was so glad it wasn’t a woman and I was also sure that Massimo would soon catch me. I set off jogging slowly with the hope that when Massimo caught me I might be motivated to stay with him for a while – I really felt now that I needed to be running with someone instead of struggling through this alone. The course after CP4 was mainly flat but there was very little shade, no wind and for the first time in the whole week I was really starting to feel way too hot. I was now feeling very thirsty and I started drinking much more. I had an energy gel as I knew I was low in blood sugar and although it didn’t settle well, it thankfully stayed down. A couple of miles had gone by and there was still no sign of Massimo, I crossed a river and then ran a flat tarmac section where the best pace I could manage was 10:00–10:30 min/mile. I guess this is where it was really obvious to me that this was seriously not a good day at the running office!!

The next section to CP5 involved another long climb. I started it running, then run-walk which then gave way to walk and by the time I could see CP5 it was well and truly a shuffle. I was still drinking a lot and estimate I had drank well over a litre since leaving CP4 and the distance between checkpoints was only 5 miles. I re-stocked with water. Told the CP5 staff that I wasn’t feeling any worse than when I left CP4 and set off on the last five miles. And still no sign of Massimo.

I now decided that the game was not to let Massimo (or anyone else) catch me. I started counting my steps, a technique I use when racing to distract myself. Until now I hadn’t felt the need to use it on this race. The scenery and concentrating on foot placement on the trail had been enough of a distraction. I counted for a mile, then had a counting free mile, counted for a mile. Three miles gone. Not all running, but mostly running. But you have to understand that what I’m calling ‘running’ here was only running in the sense that only just slightly faster than a walk by this point. Mile four involved a bit of concentration following the trail (my head was feeling ‘foggy’ and I had to ensure I didn’t miss a turning) and then some more counting. I started now to look at the time on my watch; 5 hrs and 43. I could do a 15 min last mile and still be under 6 hours and no-one else had so far caught up with me.

The trail undulated through some farmland and then in the distance I could see buildings…surely this is the town where the finish is. I worked hard to get my legs moving faster. The trail ended and I joined a tarmac road leading into the town. From here I was determined not to walk. I ran downhill and then uphill and soon I could see people on the street and noise and then the finish was finally in sight. I ran into the finish. Had my chip scanned, checked my watch (5 hours 53), and promptly collapsed on the floor and burst into tears

I was taken inside the town hall building where it was much cooler and laid on the floor with my feet in the air. Someone came to take my blood pressure and heart rate. I had a glass of Coke and a plate of crisps. About 10-15 minutes after I finished running and after more crisps and Coke I was feeling much better. No shaking, no dizziness, no nausea and about an hour later I was happily tucking into a burger and chips.

I have no obvious answer why I felt so awful all day and the only conclusion I can come up with is that I may have not eaten enough food after the previous day’s running and had therefore not fully replaced fuel and electrolytes and I may have had a slightly upset stomach which caused the nausea. I went to bed feeling happy that tomorrow was the final stage and confident that the 2 hour 30 minute lead that I now had meant that, unless I had to walk the entire last stage, I would be first female. So tomorrow would be all about racing the boys for overall positioning!

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The previous night had been another night of broken minimal sleep. The DOMS had not miraculously disappeared liked I’d hoped for, but on the positive side, it wasn’t any worse and I had an hour and 20 minute lead over the second woman. Today was the first of the stages with a staggered start with slower runners going first and the faster runners half an hour later. Today was also the ‘easy day’; 'just' 37km, no technical stuff, a couple of long climbs but also a fair amount of downhill.

My plan was to take the whole thing very easy, especially the downhills, so that my quads could recover a bit or at least not get any worse before the next day – the long day. I soon discovered that running downhill was so painful on the quads that I was never going to be running any fast downhills today. This meant that to increase or maintain my lead over the next woman I really needed to make sure I ran all the uphills, which was much less painful for the quads.

I came into checkpoint one with a group of guys, plus a number of the slower runners were still there, milling around. I decided it was too chaotic to stop for water, I hadn’t taken on much water in the first 10km so I was sure I had enough to make it to CP2 which was about 8km away and after the first long hill.

I was soon questioning my plan of running all the uphill when I saw the gradient of the hill! The trail was pretty good, but it was very, very steep. I put my head down and plodded up there with tiny steps – still running...just. I was soon past the guys who were walking and once I was into a steady rhythm the ‘running’ was easy to maintain. Mark was the only guy who had stayed and ran the hill with me and towards the top where the trail was less steep with plenty of twists and turns, we kept thinking we had reached the top only to turn a corner and see the trail still climbing!

Eventually the hill was over and a short flat section brought us to CP2. I wasted too much time here. I was completely unorganised going into the checkpoint, forgetting to remove my backpack and start opening it before I got there, I couldn’t find my bottle of Eletewater, then I misplaced the ‘thingy’ that seals the bladder. By the time I left, Mark had about 300m metres on me and I then realised I was also going to need a toilet stop. After that, he was out of sight and Karim had also passed me.

The trail started climbing again and soon, another guy, Danny, had closed the gap on me. Through the next section which was undulating I managed to get ahead of him again and I almost caught up with Mark and Karim. Checkpoint 3 was part way up the second long climb and as I left there, Mark and Karim were about 200m ahead and Danny was just arriving at the checkpoint.

I carried on climbing the hill which was now a twisty path in a pine forest. There was a lovely smell of pines and the trees offered brief areas of shade. I didn’t make any ground on Mark and Karim and a quick glance behind me showed that Danny was not in sight. On reaching the top of the hill, Mark and Karim turned up the pace as the trail headed downhill. My quads were hurting too much for me to chase them. It was more important that I got back down the mountain without causing too much more muscle damage. I had about 5 miles left to run and pretty much all downhill and should have been really easy going...and fast; But not for me today! ‘5 mile recovery run’ I kept telling myself. Although, back home, under normal circumstances if my quads hurt as much as this, I wouldn’t have even run a step!

With just over a mile left to run, the course turned onto a narrow, wooded single track which was quite tricky to negotiate on my tired legs and once I was free of that, I thought it would be easy running all the way to the campsite. However, there was one more surprise; the trail suddenly dropped away in front of me with a near vertical drop of about 10 metres. All loose sand and rock. I inched my way down it ‘don’t fall...don’t fall...ouch...ouch’ and then resumed jogging.

With less than a mile to go I heard footsteps behind me...Danny again! He passed me running really fast and shouting ‘I think the finish is really close’. Well it’s nearly a mile, I thought, it’s not that close! I thought I might catch him nearer the end and I gradually increased my pace. I got closer to him but the run into the campsite was slightly uphill and I decided I really couldn’t be bothered sprinting uphill just to gain a few seconds!

After finishing, my legs weren’t feeling any worse than when I had set off which was much better than I expected. I know I could have run this stage much quicker but taking it easy was the right thing to do and I had still managed to increase my lead by another 28 minutes. I was sure the next day was going to be tough. I didn’t know then just how tough it was going to be...

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The route for stage 2 was about 45km and over some quite mountainous and technical terrain – or so we had been advised at the briefing. The previous day had taken me 3hrs 30min and with an extra 7km and more technical terrain, I estimated about another hour of running and expected to finish in around 4:30 – 4:45.

The course started with a slightly technical but runnable single track section inside a gorge. A stunning area to run and at the end of it, I turned to see the view back down the whole of the gorge that I had just run; spectacular! Some easy trail and even a bit of tarmac (though uphill) followed until checkpoint 2...and then the ‘fun’ started. At this time I was running with a Canadian guy called Mark, and at the checkpoint we were pointed in the direction of the nearest mountain! At the bottom of the mountain the terrain was not too bad but it soon got steeper and then almost vertical. It was very rocky and narrow with plenty of loose stones to reduce your traction and increase the likelihood of you falling down the mountainside!

It took what seemed like an eternity to climb the mountain, the temperature was increasing rapidly, my legs were very tired and I generally wasn’t a happy bunny! On reaching the top of the mountain, the course took us straight back down the other side, which was just as technical and almost as slow as the climb. Tired legs going downhill fast on loose rock would not have been a good combination. The most important thing was not to get an injury, so I slowly made my way back down.

A little while later, the downhill ended and the route went back up another mountainside, through a wooded area. The track here was better underfoot, but very twisty, very step in places and very overgrown with vicious spiky plants. My motivation plummeted as I made my way slowly upwards. Mark had started to leave me behind and soon I was alone, swearing as thorns ripped at my legs and arms every time I attempted to run.

Eventually the narrow path joined a wider track which started to head gradually downhill. It had been ages since I left CP2 but not much distance had been covered in that time, so I tried to make up for it on the easier section of trail. As I got close to CP3, I saw that Mark was also just arriving at the checkpoint and I was pleased to have closed the gap again. After the leaving the checkpoint, I soon caught up with Mark and then passed him. I was enjoying running on my own for a while although I knew I was not too far ahead of Mark and I was sure he would soon catch me. Sure enough, after I had slowed to re-apply suntan lotion and then got slightly confused about the route, Mark was back with me. We ran together and about a mile later heard another runner behind us. We were surprised to see Richard come past us, who had been ahead of us at CP2. He said that both he and Danny (who were in 2nd & third place) had got lost before CP3. Richard was on a mission to make up some time but he said that Danny was now quite a way behind having lost motivation after getting lost.

I decided to run with Richard for a while as the course was mostly downhill and I was feeling pretty good. In the distance we could see another runner Karim, who was now in second place. I knew the end of this stage was predominantly uphill, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. There was another checkpoint to go through, but a couple of miles went by with no sign of it. Eventually, with my watch showing slightly over 26 miles, we crossed a small river and then there was the checkpoint.

At the checkpoint we were told that there was about 5km left to run. I thought there should be less than 2 miles. What was left of my enthusiasm drained from me. It might not seem much, but an extra mile of steep uphill when you have already been out in the sun for almost 5 hours, you are exhausted, feeling nauseous and to cap it all you now have soggy socks and trainers to add a bit of extra weight to your legs! I ran and walked along the baking hot trail after the checkpoint and tried to eat something but it just made me feel more sick. Soon I turned a corner to be faced with a near vertical climb. I walked it, slowly. It went for what seemed like forever. On the less steep sections, I tried to run, but whenever I did I felt sick.

As the track levelled out at the top of the hill, I tried to run but I was nearly sick. I kept bending over retching after every running attempt. Mark caught up with me and asked me what was wrong. He thought I was low in salts and gave me a salt tablet and told me to run slowly with him. I started jogging and after about four minutes the nausea started to subside and I was able to run with slightly more effort . A short downhill section brought us to another river crossing where a supporter said we had about 1km to go but it was all very steep! We walked up the steep road from the river and jogged easier sections through the town to the campsite, finishing with a time of 5 hours and 21 minutes - somewhat outside my prediction and totally exhausted! A much tougher day than anticipated! However, we finished 3rd and 4th on the stage as Karim had also got lost in the final few miles.

My quads felt destroyed and as I sat with my feet in iced water with an ice cold towel on my head, I contemplated how on earth I was going to get my legs working again the next day. DOMS from all the downhill was kicking in big time and walking had been replaced by a shuffle.  I had just completed the hardest run I had ever done and there was still plenty more of the same (or harder!) to come.

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The race would start and finish at the Hotel Manzanil in Loja and I arrived there on the Saturday evening.  The staff from the race organisers, Team Axarsport and the staff at the hotel were all very friendly and helpful and I tried to relax as much as possible and eat as much as possible before the race start on Monday morning.  We were given a race kit bag that you had to put all your kit in that you needed to be transported to the campsites during the race.  The weight limit was 10kg and fitting everything there was a bit tricky, especially when I wanted to take two sleeping mats with me!  Books had to be left behind along with the less important toiletries (perfume, body lotion, make up – though I did squeeze in my mascara!) and I had to limit myself to two sets of running kit; the one I would start the race in and the other in the race kit bag.  So I was really hoping I could wash the clothes at the campsites.

On Monday morning I was surprisingly calm.  I felt like I was just getting ready to gout on a long training run.  However, once I lined up at the start the butterflies were there big time and as I set off and ran away from Loja and towards the first hill I was seriously questioning my sanity.

The race starts with a gradual uphill section which quickly becomes steeper and steeper. It’s not long before some of the guys ahead of me are walking but I keep ‘running’ with baby steps up the hill. Eventually I can’t run anymore and switch to power walking, overtaking another guy. As the climb become less steep at the top of the mountain I switch to a run-walk and pass Spanish runner Victor – he had been with a group of four that were leading the race initially. He is walking and he immediately adopts my run-walk strategy and we run into checkpoint 1 almost together. Victor is faster through the checkpoint as he has just water bottles and I have a camelbak to fill…but I have a plan! From checkpoint one to checkpoint 2 is about 10km downhill. I know I am strong downhill and I’m soon getting closer again to Victor. Also in the distance I can now see another runner.

Gradually, Victor, followed by myself, get closer and closer to this runner (Mark) and overtake him. Then I step it up a gear and go after Victor. I pass him a few hundred metres from checkpoint 2, but having fully filled the bladder at checkpoint one, I don’t stop for water and get through the checkpoint much quicker than Victor. I know that I am now in third place. My Achilles is starting to complain which is hardly surprising after 10km of downhill. The next section is undulating, so less stressful for the Achilles and I maintain the gap between myself and Victor. At one point I take a quick glance behind and estimate that I’m about 600m ahead and that is the last I see of him during the race. As I head towards checkpoint 3, the temperature has started to soar. My plan of not taking water at CP2 is starting to worry me as I know there is very little left in the bladder. I drink very little for about 2 miles, until I see the checkpoint. When I’m about 300m from the checkpoint, I notice a runner leaving the checkpoint. However, my race instinct is lacking. I decide to sit for a short while in the shade at the checkpoint, fill my bladder and pour water on my head before leaving. When I finally leave, I have no intention of racing after the guy who just left; I think the gap is just too much to overcome with only 6km left to race.

The heat now is almost unbearable. My lack of water intake in the last few miles is starting to show and I feel the beginnings of a headache. There is no wind, no shade and the end seems far away. I plough on, head down, drinking as much as possible and I take my last energy gel. As I twist and turn through a single track section, I glance up and see a runner about 30 metres ahead….walking up a hill. He looks behind him; I’m very tired, but maybe not as tired as him! A quick glance at the Garmin tells me I have about a mile left to run. Slowly, slowly, I get closer, then I’m alongside him. Then, painted on the side of the trail I’m running on is a ½ km to go sign and as luck would have it it’s a downhill finish. I start to race and soon I’ve opened up a gap which gives me second place overall by a few seconds!

I fall on the floor in exhaustion and request ice for my battered Achilles. I hope it will be OK for tomorrow. The stage ends at a leisure centre and I want to change and head to the swimming pool but there is an interview to do and photos to be taken with the mayor! 

Eventually, I get to the pool and get some time to relax but the headache is getting worse. I check the results as they come in. Second woman was Sharon Gayter about 25 minutes behind me - a good lead for the second stage. We eat pasta in the town and then comes the most difficult task of the day; trying to get some sleep. I still have a headache and feel really dehydrated as I have been unable to escape the heat all afternoon. The heat inside the leisure centre is unbearable and I try to sleep outside. But after an hour and a half I decide it’s not working for me and head back to the tent inside the leisure centre. I estimate that I get about 4 hours of very interrupted, sweaty sleep; not the best for the recovery...

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After a good number of years of road running, I had decided that this year I needed a bit of a change and that I’d try some trail running.  I really wanted to do multi-stage event but I was looking for one that was semi-supported so that I wouldn’t need to carry all my kit with me.  I came across the Al Andlaus Ultra Trail (AAUT) (www.alandalus-ut.com), 220km over 5 days in the mountains of Andalucia in July.

I really set my heart on doing this but I couldn’t enter it until almost the last minute as I had a minor operation scheduled for the end of March and would be unable to run for a month afterwards.  So, I needed to make sure that I recovered OK from the operation and that I could get in sufficient training in May and June to feel that I could complete the race.

I restarted running just about 3 miles a day at the end of April and during May I had to increase the mileage I was running pretty drastically.  I was running high mileage, doing hill training and often two long runs at the weekend. I knew it wasn’t ideal and that there was a high injury risk with such a strategy, but I was determined to do everything I could to be on the Al Andalus start line. 

By early June, I felt ready to test my fitness with the South Downs Way Marathon.  I ran it as a hard training run and was very happy to finish in 3:28, fifteen minutes inside my target and second female.

The next big test was the South Downs Way Challenge, 100 miles over 3 days and camping overnight as I would be at AAUT.  I performed way better than expected, finishing 3rd overall and first female.  However, the event did take quite a bit out of me and I was a little bit concerned about whether I would recover in time for AAUT which was just two weeks later.

The things that had been concerning me most about AAUT was running uphill (not my strong point!) and coping with the heat which was likely to be around 35-40 degrees.  I had addressed the first concern as much as possible my doing hilly training runs plus running on a treadmill at 10% gradient for up to 40 minutes once a week.  To try and prepare for the heat, I booked 4 one hour heat chamber sessions at St Mary’s University College, running in around 35-37 degrees.  One hour of running was much less than I would be in the heat at AAUT but it would provide some acclimation benefits and would be much better than not preparing at all.

I flew to Spain two days before the event start, knowing that I had done everything I could to prepare in the short time that had been available to me but still wishing I had a few more weeks!  I was nervous about the event and had no idea whether my body could run that far in the heat and the mountains for five consecutive days without breaking down.  I knew this was going to be the most challenging thing I had ever done.

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