Ultra Hike no.6

If you were chatting to me pre-Ultra no.6 you’d probably have heard me refer to it as “just 50km”…

It never occurred to me that after completing 100km on Ultra no.5 that I would fail to achieve a 50km. But on the day it just wasn’t meant to be.

Ultra no. 6 took place down on the Somerset/Deven border, beginning at Dunster Castle and taking in some of the Exmoor national park.

As it was the school holidays, we decided to take the kids down to stay for the week, and my hope was that they would see me finish one of my hikes. Unfortunately after a week of fun, I entered the Ultra with an ear infection.

My little cheerleaders

I persevered for 25km (just over 15miles) but the steep climbs and descents were too much, leaving me so dizzy that I could barely see and my heart racing in a way that it’s never done on any of my previous hikes.

The ascent/descent graph showed me that the second half of the hike would be even more hilly than the first half, so it just seemed irresponsible for me to head off into the second half even though I felt okay sat, resting, in the lunch stop.

I felt and still feel quite unphased by that decision. I would have expected to feel far more disappointment with myself, but honestly you just have to accept that some days are not your day to complete an endurance activity.

During our holiday we made sure to take the kids on some mini hikes which included wild swimming and it was such a glorious thing to do as a family - I’m so glad that training for the Ultra Hikes has increased my confidence in taking the kids for mini-hikes, something we probably just wouldn’t have gotten round to otherwise.

I’ve also made the decision to ‘make-up’ my lost km from the Ultra Hikes. This includes 23km from the Isle of Wight, 25km from the Lake District, and 25km from the South West Coast.

I’ve completed a 25km hike, kindly accompanied by my sister’s partner, along the beach to Cromer and back along the cliff path.

I’ve also completed both a 12km and 11km hike to make up another 23km. One taking in the beach to Walcott at low tide, and one along the longer of the cake and hike routes we used earlier in the year.

This weekend I’m going to be tackling the final of my official Ultra Challenges and despite the knowledge that I’ve already done a 100km before, there is no knowing whether I’ll be capable of completing another!

This is absolutely the toughest thing I have ever attempted both mentally and physically and I wanted to thank everyone who has supported me, whether by donating to the cause, or by supporting me on a hike (whether in person or via text) - I honestly would not have gotten to this point without the amazing support.

Thank you!

If you’d still like to donate you can do so using this link here! I’d also be so grateful if you could share this with those you know to help me get closer to my fundraising goal over this last week or two.