Diary of a middle aged runner

[Antonio247]

Congratulations on that fantastic record you've achieved, BB! I'd love to be able to take part in it one year.

Saludos desde Almería

[Bierzo Baggie]

You'll have to head up here one year Antonio! I'd never refer to the Aquilianos as an "ultra-marathon" as that would put a lot of people off doing it. It's very much an "inclusive" sort of event with generous cut-off times and with as many walkers as runners.
Thanks for all the comments.

[Bierzo Baggie]

“The violence of the heat seemed to bruise the whole earth and turn its crust into one huge scar. One’s blood dried up and all juices vanished; the sun struck upwards, sideways and down, while the wheat went buckling across the fields like a solid sheet of copper. I kept on walking because it seemed to be the only way to agitate the air around me… till I was conscious only of the hot red dust grinding like pepper between my toes…. By mid-morning I was in a state of developing madness, possessed by pounding deliriums of thirst, my brain running and reeling through all the usual obsessions that are said to accompany the man in the desert. Fantasies of water rose up and wrapped me in cool wet leaves or pressed the thought of cucumber peel across my stinging eyes and filled my mouth with dripping moss.”

Nobody else describes the Spanish heat like Laurie Lee. He could easily have been describing the 10th edition of the rearranged Tebaida Berciana… probably the last race I’ll be doing for some time.

[Bierzo Baggie]

Only ran twice in June and both were races. 
The rearranged Tebaida Berciana came only a week after the Aqulianos so perhaps I shouldn’t have done it but it was the 10th edition and they gave me a very nice memorial mug. The event this year was intended to be an act of vindication. The scorched hillside still provided a grim reminder of the terrible forest fires in April when the race had been originally scheduled and a sad premonition of far worse tragedies to come. The race started with a spot of symbolic tree planting and ended with a terrible climb which linked two of the higher valleys that had not been affected by the flames. I suffered like a dog as the heat intensified and although I managed to descend better than expected at the end I will probably need a long break from running to sort out this niggling right knee.
https://goo.gl/photos/6Gh9ZCzBgtRhptyQ8

[marathondan]

Yes in the photos I see a lot of blue sky and a distinct lack of shade. Well done again, and hope the knee clears up soon.

[Bierzo Baggie]

Yes in the photos I see a lot of blue sky and a distinct lack of shade. Well done again, and hope the knee clears up soon.

Thanks Dan.

And another thread ends. It started with a hint of negativity and recuperated with a brief G-Men inspired flurry of optimism. Then 3 races later I was back where I started.

4 weeks have passed since the Tebaida Berciana. For the first time since Christmas I can kneel down or bend my knee back in a stretching position although it still hurts when I do this. This is going to take some time…