Location: Mwaza
Distance: 42km
Time: 4hrs 39, Pace: 6:38m/km
Altitude: 840m
Thought of the day:
I am so lucky to have such an amazing support network, I had messages of encouragement from 11 countries today!
What I learnt:
There are many different reasons for hitting a wall during a marathon, but there is only 1 way to get through it. That is to simply keep going.
Song of the day:
The grits- my life be like (oh ah)
Thankyou’s:
– everyone who sent messages of support today
– Ally for putting up with grumpy Dave
– God
Note:
I had a nice and early start today, I love running in the dark before the traffic gets up. Everything was going great even though it was a continuous uphill climb. At the half marathon mark I met Ally for some snacks and drinks and swapped my shoes. I was feeling ok but my knees were giving me a lot of pain. There was still cloud cover so I said to meet me at 30km and continued running. I believe it was somewhere around 26km when I met the great wall of china! I just saw a massive straight hill and did not feel like continuing, plus i had forgotten to take anything for pain this morning, but being in the middle of no where and the cloud cover gone I knew I had to push on. When I finally reached Ally I was completely over it and knew I still had 12km to go. Then I was read some words of encouragement from you guys and the grits song came on and I was good to go again. With a new lease on life I smashed the last 12km out in an hour and did my fastest time yet with the largest altitude gain. I am sorry for getting my fishing rod out today but I am so overwhelmed with all the kind words that I could run another 7! (slight hyperbole)
After I finished we found a quiet jungle town of Usangi and met a lovely women called Glory who invited us over for dinner. It was our first time in a local house with a home cooked meal. It was an amazing experience being away from a hostel and to witness true Tanzanian hospitality. Overall, this day was one to remember.
Quote:
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which they have overcome.
Booker T. Washington
Wow keep strong Dave and lots of love to you also Ally take care lol from us both xx