Day 6 - The Pennines, Manchester tomorrow - The Pain continues

33.11 miles Running total - 182.32 (? ish my brain not working) Today was the hardest day of my life both mentally and physically, a nice run over the Pennines turned into a complete war of attrition with nearly 5000m of ascent and descent taking their toll on already tired legs and the shin that had been hurting since yesterday. To say I was in pain would be an understatement and more than once I questioned whether I could continue the challenge, to be honest if the pain doesn't subside in my shin on tomorrows hopefully easier route I will have to ask the question much more seriously, I do NOT want to drop out and do not intend to but I made a promise to myself and Laura that I wouldn't risk long term damage and I have no intention of breaking the promise. So let me talk you through the day, we, myslef, Monsenb and John, were away from Sheffield Wednesday before 8 and although the shin was sore it was more than bearable even with the hills out into the Pennines, it was not until we passed the first reservoir and hit the trails that the real problems started. Roads and trails that should have been there were buried under, and this is not an exaggeration, 7 metre snow drifts which we seemed to spend most of the morning clambering up and down. When we weren't clambering we were on very uneven rocky trails and every twist and turn seemed to exacberate the pain in my shin, the uphills weren't so bad, the downhills torturous. That Jacob's Ladder was the highlight of my day sort of sums up how bad I found it. I say that and it wasn't actually the highlight, the igloo someone had dug into a snow drift was, another thinked ticked off my bucket list. Stopping at around 23 miles for a pre-ordered lunch in Haywood was nice, steak baguette and chips, but by that time the damage had been done and by mile 29 I made the decision that another 13 to the Etihad would be folly so I contacted Elle and arranged pick up in Marple which was another 4 miles away and meant I had been on the move for 9 and a half hours. At this point, and at the risk of disappointing some but it is tough, I have decided that I will start from the Etihad tomorrow which means I am missing out just under 9 miles, whether I will do an extra 9 somewhere along the line I don't know but I do know that adding them on to tomorrows run, at this point, is not an option. I will need to grind out the miles to Blackburn tomorrow and then have what is a well needed sports massage off my host for tomorrow night. Have been spoilt properly by Elle and her partner tonight, a beuatiful home made lasagne, golden syrup roly poly, some nice beer and a specially bought for me lush bath bomb soak in the bath so am feeling a huge amount better already. Looking forward to meeting more new people tomorrow, must say thankyou for the company today to Monsenb and John and once again thank you for all your support, sharing and donations, I really couldn't do it without you. Please don't stop :-) One last thing, and I will ask elsewhere too, I am not going to carry my full kitbag tomorrow, I think it is a major contributor to my sin woes so am looking for ways to get it from Newton-Le-Willows to either Blackburn by tomorrow or Liverpool Travel Inn by Thursday. If you think you can help please let me know. x