Catching up

It's been a wee while since I was last here - 2 months** and a fair bit has happened in that time.  I tried once more and failed once more to complete the WHW race at the end of June.  I had trained hard for this and felt confident that although I'd be one of the last finishers and would be pushing the cutoffs at least in the early stages, I was in the right place physically and mentally to make it to Fort William.  39miles in, the path gave way and I slipped - feet first towards the loch!  It all happened really quickly and I instinctively turned my body towards the wall of rock and grabbed for a handhold!  Luckily I got one so didn't end up making a big splash!  I climbed back up onto the path, a bit shaken but determined to keep going, I felt like I had a dead leg and it slowed me down more than I wanted which meant that I didn't make the cutoff at Beinglas Farm :-(  I was absolutely devastated and sore, I still feel badly about my selfless and amazing support crew and everyone else who was wishing me well and wanting to see me make it...
sorry xx
I was lucky that the weather was kind to me and the biblical rain and gales didn't come in until about an hour after I'd stopped.  Then boy did it come in!  I will confess to lying in bed at 0230 listening to the storms raging and offering up a wee prayer of thanks that I wasn't out in it!  Utmost respect to those who were and ultimately yes, I would rather have been there too.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me with their best wishes since then too, you know who you are and it means a lot.
My next goal is Loch Ness marathon at the end of September so it's been right back into training and was really enjoying it and ticking of the workouts until Friday morning when I was almost finished my hill-reps and 'ouch' it felt like someone had stabbed me in the back of my right ankle!  A very painful and numb ankle for the rest of the day gradually easing off over the weekend.  I tried to run a little on Sunday but only got 1.2miles done before it was really aching again, then last night I set off to run home from work and 1.8 miles in I got stabbed again :-(
We had massage sessions booked for last night so I got plenty of work done on my legs and specifically my ankle, ouchy but helped with the movement so hoping after another couple of rest days I will be back on the trails at the weekend.
Since WHW, we have marshalled at the Great Glen Ultra and the Clyde Stride, in between we have been exploring the Southern Upland Way, St Cuthbert's Way and a little of the Borders Abbey Way, all good fun.  This weekend we are off on a Mystery Tour, then it's the Devil of the Higlands a weekend off Speyside Way, then off to Chamonix for another adventure.
** UPDATE - it's now mid September!!
I had saved this as a draft at the end of July and never got back to it...it's probably not worth publishing it but hey ho I'll stick it on the list and think about the next one :)
Our Mystery Tour was fun, as was the Devil, Speyside and our trip to Chamonix.  I am going to try to write a little about that while it's still fresh in my mind and before we head off on the next Grand Adventure!
I am currently on the injury bench though not technically injured, just enforced rest to try to let me body recover from the after effects of a particularly nasty virus which floored me for the month of August and won't be running at Loch Ness - so I will be climbing the walls shortly!