Compton 40

Hottest April day since 1949.
Mark writes - today was going to be tough for me: just avoiding dehydration and cramps was going to be a successful result; so even though I finished in 6:27 (about an hour slower than previous races here) I was fine with the time - although naturally I felt that I should have gone at least 7 mins faster to win V50. I didn't have any major collapse, but just was slow today; my only cramps were in the final mile, and about 2 mins walking seemed to help. A 2 minute lie down in Ginge Brook (at 33 miles) also helped refresh the legs.
Most of the race I was looking to stay cool - hunting for shade, and reducing pace to avoid overheating. I had 8 Nuuns and 7 salt sachets during the race, nibbled at food, but didn't eat a lot. Julian said he'd had a cup of tea at CP6.
Maybe the week in the Lakes had affected my performance? I will see in the Marlborough 33.

Lakes April

4 days in the Lakes with the junior juniors.
This year we had a bigger van so I had a seat to myself. Much better weather this year, and lots of lambs to study.
Slept in porch of tent with Eddie, both of us keeping watch over Mark, Tim and Nick inside. At 0430 each morning I crept outside the tent to study the sheep and their lambs in the next field.

On the last day we hired some canoes; the boys seemd to spend most of the time splashing each other and the girls; Mark and I shared a canoe, and I was barking at the paddle everytime it went in the water.