Weets

The weather had been awful all morning and it was sure to prove tricky underfoot. I know that I'm pretty terrible at descending on the fells, so I stuck with my usual plan of going hard on the uphills. It was working well, and after a pretty relaxed start I made it to the trig point in good time.

But rather than coming back the way we'd run up, we were directed to the steep drop down the side of the trig point. Here we go, girl. Don't hold back too much. Be brave!! I let myself go as much as I could. I put all thoughts of breaking my neck to one side and kept the foot off the brake. Don't get me wrong, I was still pretty pathetic, but it was a vast improvement on past fell running performances. And I only screamed once!

Then it was back up to the top of the hill again. The jelly legs were wobbling and my back was starting to ache. But upwards we trudged, doing our best to avoid the bogs. Once we'd reached the top for the second time I began to relax a little more. I was much further up the field than I expected to be at this point, and although I knew there was still a steep climb to come, I really was starting to enjoy myself.

I pushed on along the grassy, muddy trods and began working my way through the gears. Get me, enjoying a tough fell race! I flew down the grass and then it was a sharp turn back onto the tarmac. This was the final challenge. The last, long, steep climb. It was all tarmac, but after all the climb our legs had just endured it was tough going. A few people started to walk but I wouldn't let myself. I was determined to keep up the rhythm of small, light steps. Tippy toes. Tiny strides. My head wanted to drop down but I held it up and tried to keep my back as straight as possible. Here we go, it's all downhill from here!!

The final downhill to the finish was superb and I was grinning ear to ear. I knew I'd put in a good performance. I tapped my hand on my heart as I crossed the finish line. Today was the day I felt that I'd truly earned my fell racing stripes.