The power is back

It was a good day. It may have rained and the wind may have blown but that couldn't stop me in The Blorenge fell race. To be fair, the rain and wind did drop during the race, with only the occasional gust but boy did it feel good to be out there. Powering up the hill and falling back down again like a psycho - gert lush.

I ripped up the game plan within about 400m of the start. The plan was to take it nice and steady so as to not put too much stress on this frail old shell of mine. Luton was only six days ago and I've been feeling really tired this week. But you know how it is - you can't keep a good nutter down and in the end I just went for it and powered the hill as best I could - and I actually felt remarkably strong. Yes, the legs felt heavy half way up - I guess everyone's do at that point - but I just kept pushing as hard as I could until I reached the top. Then the fun part - the downhill.

After some initial caution regarding how the groin would cope I got caught up in the race and so just switched the brain off and down I went. It was very slippy underfoot and I was doing a fair bit of mud skiing but I stayed on my feet and got to the finish in, what I think, is a very creditable 8th place - yeah baby. I even had to stop twice because I forgot to double knot my shoe laces and they kept coming undone - stupid boy. I finished the last hill, through the woods, with one lace undone because I didn't want to lose any more time.

And finally, Beryl has made the blog. It looked like she'd been through the wringer but she made it home safely, and thanks for the kind words - you can come again. And Helen F won the women's race - again.

Thought for the day: Always remember to double knot your bloody shoe laces before a race.

The route of The Blorenge, with about 1,400ft of climb.