Yeah I checked last night. I have this week to withdraw and get 70% back. I don’t think I’m doing any favours by just throwing my body at these things. I need the experience but needs to be done wisely.
My other issue is, I don’t practice the silly little things that add up on a weekend like we just had. Navigating by watch/phone when tired, running in the night rain with a torch, looking up/down. I nearly tripped over a cow that was lying down. 
Yep, as with every other aspects, they’re as much of a learned skill but people do forget about it. Before a big race i will always do at least one big night run, tough terrain, preferably horrible weather on my own. I try to make it a really horrible session, that draws on a lot of strength and mental reserve. I think that then gives me the confidence (and the training) to draw upon on race day. I think the day i fail at one of these big training sessions will be the day my body is telling me it wants out (unless it’s a legitimate injury or something).
Keep at it though. Get the body fixed - get a yoga routine on the go!!! I see @tunster is back on the YWA Breath programme. I need to sort my own motivation and get back into the yoga. I can feel the niggles starting to gather momentum and they need to be stopped!
A cycling computer like a Garmin 1000 is pretty good for navigating these kind of events. I watched my mate use one for the Bob Graham and have since done the same myself. Always on display, long battery life & easy to see your on the track.
Good tip, thanks. I use my 935 for everything, haven’t had a separate bike head unit for getting on 15yrs. However, I’m getting more interested in XC riding these days, so may invest in one of trail cycling options soon. 
Is that you at 1.25 @FatPom
haha yep, smiling there! Good to see Matt in the yellow jacket at the start of the 56km. He picked me up in the bus then I was handed over to ‘soon to be Dad’ Mike.
It’s weird to see the faces of people that you didn’t know before the day started and then became your ‘night buddies’. There really is a strong bond that forms quickly at night.
Yeah Matt is the right hand man. An absolutely unshakeable rock. Top, top bloke. Mike is a very good friend, another top guy, but in a very different way. Have run many, many miles with Mike.
Yeah it’s a very ‘humanising’ experience. I imagine when you do stuff like MDS that there’s a good chance you become long term buddies with your tent mates after that week.
Yeah both great guys. My DNFs are hard to swallow but I’m staying positive and hopefully putting little pieces together at each race that are adding to my experience.
Easy to say of course but i wonder if you learn more from a DNF than you do a finish?
51km is nothing to be sneezed at!
Use the winter to reboot and consolidate. Do you have a massage gun? Great bits of kit for freeing-up various body areas.
Cheers mate. Yes I have a massage gun, I bought the Sportneer one and find it really useful.
This has been me this year. 2021 pressures have been so much worse than 2020 for me and my running pace has dropped off a cliff. My very last full distance tri was horrendous. Never felt so ill. Worst performance time wise, but never have I dug so deep to finish a race before. Since then I have barely done any training. I haven’t been motivated at all, but I have caught up with friends, family and partied hard. I’ve got pretty good at that 
I’ve set myself a small goal of a half marathon at the end of November and I’ve just run 4 miles without stopping. Winning. I’m not going with any planned time, I just want to enjoy a race, which I haven’t done since last year!
Don’t beat yourself up @FatPom . You’re out there doing these races and so many uncertainties can make/break the end result. Take a break, dust yourself off, get on top of your injuries and hopefully you’ll bounce back next year. That’s what I’m telling myself anyway.
May see you at an ultra run next year. Kind of laughing hysterically as I’ve got Race to the Tower deferred from this year, and just run 4 miles!
It all starts somewhere. Loving your outlook. 
Cheers buddy, it’s a learning process! RttTower is pretty tough by all accounts, I have a mate that has done split version and straight through and he said both were tough in different ways.
Thresholds Sports own Endure 24, so will be interesting to if anything changes. They put on great races though IMO.
I have a little trip back to my old stomping grounds coming up on Saturday, if you want to watch a very slow dot crawl across the southern uplands you can watch here (from 6am Staurday), I’m in the 100.
Good luck Doug. 100 miles up there this time of year is no joke.
Fingers crossed for some decent weather
Weather today in Dumfries is dry bright and sunny. Look like showers and gales on Saturday followed by heavy rain overnight before drying up Sunday morning. A bit of everything
Good luck @doug. Don’t fancy the gales and heavy rain, but you’re made of strong stuff.
Just been up and seen him storm past at Daer resevoir about 10 mins ago, looking really strong
Nice to meet you!