We left the car park before Captain Cook's Monument and headed up the path that takes you to the monument itself, not too much to see as it was pitch black but there it stood a massive imposing dark tower. We went on past it, remembering my HM55 race where we nearly went the wrong way ha ha! We were now aiming for Kildale Village Hall where Chris wasn't allowed to meet us due to restrictions and race rules which prohibited race crews from entering the village. Crossing the moors from the monument was now beginning to become more exposed which in turn meant the weather was starting to turn to the worst. A light rain in a fierce wind chilling through your bones made the going tough, head torches shining and hoods up the conversation was now limited. Approaching Kildale meant a long slow down hill into the village, and I don't mean a short track this was a few miles, putting more pressure on already tight and sore quads. The impact of each step pounding through your body, with your toes crushing at the end of your shoes made this more unpleasant than you wanted at this point in time.
On reaching the check point, I re-stocked on fluids and had a bite to eat. By this point I was craving Coca-Cola so I couldn't get enough of it, I kept apologising for asking for another cup. The sugar was getting in to my body and asking for more more more! We only stayed for 5-10 minutes before I was wanting to be on our way, I didn't want to lose to much time, Osmotherly was the target and short break was awaiting us there. All I could think about was, having stumbled down a long winding path and road in to Kildale that could only mean its going to be a long and winding road back out of it and going on my memory of the 55 this was to be the case!
This proved to be the hardest section or it was for me. We were heading towards Blowarth Crossing check point which was just a self-clip but proved to be a massive psychological point to reach. The road out of Kildale as I remembered was a long slow winding climb which on its own wouldn't be too bad, but after 65-70 miles my legs were feeling it. Having Rob there was great just a bit of banter and conversation really helps push through the tough times as helps you distract yourself. The road turned into a path that turned into a rubbley gravel track that was unforgiving, no easy footings and plenty of turned and twisted ankles. We now had a cold wind blowing hard into our faces with a light rain that just made it unpleasant and hard to look up into. Our hoods were done up tight and heads were down and we powered on regardless praying for this check point which seemed like it would never arrive! The track just kept going upwards and head on in to the wind which was by now freezing the front of my body, which actually helped numb the pain in my legs, it was relentless. I was constantly repeating myself as was so sure I knew the route and kept saying 'I think its up there', 'it can't be far now',' just round the next corner' etc, they weren't lies I think I truly believed it each time which I also think is what helped me get through that section as I was constantly giving myself mini targets to reach. We eventually got there, managed the clip just as I think Rob's hands were now frozen and off we went, soon to bump into a friendly face, one of the marshals who I recognised. He wanted us to hold up a minute whilst he took a photograph, the sun was rising and the smiles were back.
We had made the turn and the ferocious wind that had been beating us down was now gone and we were sheltered. It was such a relief, we took a moment to look at the beautiful views as oranges and pinky reds came over the hills then we pressed on towards Clay Bank were Chris and Amy would be waiting after there sneaky nap!
No comments:
Post a Comment