The Loire Valley and finishing line

Sorry for the delay in getting this blog out. I’ve been very busy lying on the couch and drinking beer.

Day 17 – Dreux to Chartres: The run route went through small country towns with no shops or cafes. I really struggled to find enough water to get me through this one. Normally I would refill my water bottles at a cafe along the route as there is a limit to how much water I can carry in my rucksack but on this occasion it was not possible. Luckily I managed to persuade a couple of locals who were out in their gardens to refill them.

That night I stayed in an Abbey in Chartres. Really beautiful town with an amazing cathedral and canal system. I ate a massive pizza to celebrate catching up on the 8 miles lost on day 11. That was a great feeling.

Day 18: Ran along fairly flat country roads. The fields were full of rapeseed oil plants which absolutely stank. Very pretty though. The run went well until mile 18 when again I was hit with dehydration problems. The weather was far too hot for someone accustomed to Scottish weather. Had to stop and force myself to drink lots of water to get back on track. Luckily, the first rain in 2 1/2 weeks fell at this point and cooled me down. This immediately relieved the symptoms and I could continue the remaining 8 miles no problem. I must have looked like a loony to the locals as I had a beaming grin on my face running drenched in the thunder storm.

Day 19 – Rambouillet to Versailles: Another hot one and quite hilly. Really beautiful stretch which went through a forrest. I had an incentive to finish this one quickly though. Not only was the boyfriend waiting for me at the hotel, he had hinted that he had brought a pork pie with him. Glorious! No irn bru though 😦

Day 20: This was by far the most enjoyable run. Could not wait to get going. The roads leaving Versailles were shaded by rows and rows of trees which meant it was a nice and cool run. I ran this one much quicker than previous runs until mile 19 when I pulled a muscle in my left thigh. At first I managed to relieve the pain with my knee strap but by mile 21 it was really hard to bend at all. I had to hobble run the last 5 miles but there was no danger of me not finishing it. Far too close to the finishing line to quit.

I had problems in the morning with the hand held sat nav so had to guesstimate how far the Arc de Triomphe was from my starting point. I overestimated by 1 mile, which led me to (by complete coincidence) end up finishing by the Eiffel Tower. I couldnt believe my luck when I glanced at the running watch and it showed that I was due to finish the 26.2 next to this world famous landmark.

I had a big smile on my face when I finished and sat on the steps next to the Seine waiting for the boyfriend to make his way from the Arc de Triomphe to the new finishing line. He brought champagne with him which made up for the missing irn bru.

Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way. Could not have done it without you. Special thanks go to the following people:

Evonne (sister) – Cycle support for the first 5 days. She carried my food and water, set up Camp Pasquill each night and helped motivate me through the first 5 killer days.

Parents – Support for days 6-9. Big thanks to my homeopathic mum who gave me lots of medical and nutritional advice to help prevent injuries and illnesses.

Oliver (boyfriend) – Google in human form. Found all of my accommodation, found the run shop in Rouen, updated my blogs and took me on a fab tour of Paris when I finished.

Iain Campbell – Posted most of my twitter comments and provided lots of support in the planning stages.

Mark Cooper – Very kindly met up with me before the challenge to provide advice having previously ran 50 marathons in 56 days from Amsterdam to Barcelona. Continued to provide advice and motivational support during the challenge.