Day 5 - Richmond to Swainby
28.88 miles
8 hours 10 mins
1,886 ft ascent
Today was meant to be the flattest, easiest day of the whole attempt and had the option of taking mileage from the start of tomorrow if things were going well, it should have been that.
This morning was the first time I felt stiffness in my muscles, I guess the distance and spurt of speed at the end of yesterday had caught up with me. The morning routine of cleaning and taping up my feet, sorting hydration, food and bag took a little longer than previously, along with the 30 min drive from campsite back to Richmond to start meant I didn’t get going until a little late today. A stumblingly slow start from the obelisk down the hill led me to a path following the river east through farmers fields and footpaths. I didn’t feel fast but I was still moving, enjoying the small climbs more than the flats, as I had the last few days. After the crossing underneath the (falsely represented as empty) A1(M), I introduced myself to a highland cow who took little notice of my existence, then Pa met me on his bike to accompany for approximately 11 miles of road section and path. This should have been fast easy mileage, I should have been doing 9:30 min/miles conserving energy for tomorrow. Every step hurt in my left knee and my right shin, I couldn’t really maintain any speed for long, and the impact of the road on shuffling feet was wearing. Eventually the cycling trails ended and Pa headed back to the van as I continued on, with the aim to meet at Ingleby Cross, the infamous dash across the A19. I was now only slightly quicker than walkers, catching up and falling into step with a few and hearing of their stories and where they were heading. By the time I got to the A19 I was feeling pretty uncomfortable, I could no longer run on flat ground at all, and was just maintaining 3.5mph. I dropped off the drone to save some weight, had a coffee, some food, 5 minutes sitting in the van and picked up my poles to support the short climb up the moor for the final 3 miles of the day through pretty heavy rain with a shamefully slow awkward descent to the stream just before the end.
The energy to take photos and lift my head to enjoy the surroundings felt harder as I kept grinding on, aiming for the end of the day, calculating when I last had any medical relief, how far the next turning was, how my shin was feeling.
I should have done today in 3 hours less than I did, and should be feeling fresh as a daisy for it too. I was conscious of the mileage over the North Yorkshire Moors tomorrow and wanted to slice a further 3 miles off the start of the day but I had nothing left by the time I got to the meeting point at Swainby. The feeling of being so close with no obstacles in my way, has been replaced by a very real sense of how slow and painful every day is becoming.
