A week of lows and highs
It’s the halfway point between my races – 44 days since the Chiltern Wonderland, and 44 days until the Winter Downs 200. The planning has intensified, with lots of map work and the timing spreadsheet is becoming a thing of beauty with night and day coloured sections. However, I am always aware of the saying “no battle plan ever survives the first encounter with the enemy” so the idea is to enjoy the journey and adapt as necessary!
The week started with a bit of a downer – but one that has played on my mind for a while. The common statement about Parkinson’s is that “you don’t die from Parkinson’s, you die with it”. To simplify, your life expectancy doesn’t shrink but you die from the other ailments that Parkinson’s brings. Yay, what a bonus that is.
However, when you follow the social media groups, something doesn’t ring quite true about the situation, and a new report in nature.com shows that the younger you are, the shorter your life expectancy. (Link to the report is here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41531-023-00588-9). For someone aged 55 who would normally expect, on average, to live another 25 years this is shortened to 14 years with PD. Happy Days, but to repeat myself, the plan is to enjoy the journey and adapt as necessary!
Making the most of what’s left, it was another recce of the Winter Downs 200 (fundraising link: https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/puckfarkinsons200/) with Budgie and Steve, who are part of my support crew. We travelled the southern half of the Vanguard Way, which links the North Downs and South Downs Way.
It was a wet day, and the amount of rain that has fallen recently became clear when we came across several flooded sections, and had to wade thigh deep at a couple of points. Hopefully we will get a dry spell of weather in the lead up to the race.
We did have a laugh as we splashed along which helped raise the spirits, and encountered some unexpected wildlife as a pig had escaped from its field. We also rescued two sheep who were trapped in a bramble hedge.
The route was twisty and definitely needs me to be on the top of my map reading game to avoid wasting time and unnecessary miles for the legs.
Facebook reminded me that 10 years ago I was taking part in the Original Mountain Marathon in the Cheviots, splashing around in muddy puddles. Some things don’t change…
Heading could be a week of high and low tides, certainly very wet! Keep up the good work, hope all the training will pay off. Sending lots of love and support.
Nice photo, impressed that you’re not only running but practically swimming and rescuing sheep into the bargain. Keep going 🙌🙌🙌
Well Done Twig Awesome effort as usual. Talk about multi terrain ! Keep doing what you’re doing…Kick its ass my friend. #puckfarkinsons 👏💪