Draycote Water
Woke about 6:30 where I had a bowl of porridge waiting for me! Spent the next hour and a bit getting ready, checking and double checking various bags before leaving for Draycote Water around 7:45. Managed to get there in plenty of time for me to change and panic. J, T and I got cold for a bit before I had to start running at spot on 9:30.
A loop was incorporated into the first lap, making it 6.5 miles, followed by a further 6 laps of the 4.75 mile lake. Felt really good for the first 2 laps and managed to chat to a few of the other runners, maintaining a pace a little slower than 9 minutes / mile. Over the next 2 laps I started to notice I was tightening up and by the end of lap 4 (>20 miles) I was really starting to feel it. At this point T stripped off into his running kit and ran with me for the final 3 
I’d already talked myself into being allowed to walk in the last to laps. “Completing the distance is what’s important, not how you do it” having company stopped me from giving in – I’m so very grateful for this! The penultimate lap being the hardest. By this point I was really disappearing into myself, almost oblivious of everything around me, I was running roughly 11 minutes / mile by now. In fact there was a real battle raging in my head, forcing myself through pain to keep moving and not give up! My final lap felt a lot easier, ticking off each of the tricky spots for the last time!
So, I did it! Ran 35 miles – further than I ever have in my life!
6 hours 5 minutes 38 seconds (by my watch – no official results yet)
