BAREFOOT BRITAIN_ Episode 7

Good morning! I'm actually doing this from the outskirts of the city of Inverness because I had to get up and out quite quickly to get going today and I've had two days of rest and I'm a little bit nervous about getting back out there because when I ran into the city I was a broken woman. My feet were in bits, mentally I was done but this morning I feel good. A little bit tentative but I know that all I've got to do is get through today. I've been staying with Jenny Graham who's been absolutely phenomenal and I think staying with someone who really gets it so we can just have some no-nonsense chat has really helped me out as well. So excited to run halfway to Aviemore today. Let's go! It's just about lunchtime now on the very quiet bike path away from Inverness and I've decided to get out what I am calling my croissant of kindness. A croissant that was bought for me by Shona this morning. Oh Shona, you and your croissant of kindness. Coming up to a tunnel and I never get tired of making stupid noises in the tunnel. Wait for it, wait for it. Never gets old. Oh no, they've re-chipped the road. When did they do that? I was just running along, it was going so well, they've re-chipped the freaking road. Why would you do that? It might not last very long, it might not last very long, might not last very long. That's what I'm telling myself. Phew, it was only a few hundred meters of it, it ends up here. Oh hallelujah, what an emotional roller coaster. And that is the end of today's run. I thought I'd run 20 miles but I've checked and I've run 21 miles today, my second ever biggest day. I'm a bit ruined but pleased to be back on the road and another day down, isn't it? Just another day down, beautiful blue skies. Now all I've got to do is go home and eat some dinner. Oh, I hope there's broccoli. I am back in Inverness at Jenny's house. Lovely Jenny, we love Jenny. And she is about to take me back to where I finished running at Tomartin yesterday and then I'm running into Aviemore, about another 20 miles. Bit sore from yesterday, my feet are quite raw from the tarmac even though it was a beautiful run, no dramas. Feeling sad about leaving Jenny, she's been amazing. It's been so incredible to stay with someone who just gets it. I've got Jenny with me for the final time. Sad to be leaving. We are, we're parting ways, aren't we? On a nice day though. Yeah, that's true. And Jenny's gonna run with me for a tiny little bit. About 50 meters? About 50 meters more probably and then she's gonna leave me to head off to Aviemore by myself. Tell us about Barry. Oh, Barry is this big yellow bag and unfortunately I can't run with him because Barry's a bit of a beast but he needs to get from Aviemore to Aberdeen at the moment. So if anyone's driving from Aviemore to Aberdeen, Barry needs a ride. One of the things I was chatting to Jenny about when I was staying with her was that some people when you tell them what I'm doing, some people get it and some people just really can't even compute what I've just said to them and I think it's just because it's so outside of people's sphere of understanding. I mean it is bonkers, it's absolutely bonkers. But I do quite like saying I'm running to London when I'm up here. So because it kind of affirms it in my mind, oh yeah, I'm running to London. That's it, I'm not stopping till I get to London. Wow, just come around the bend and got my first proper view of the Cairngorms. Man, there's snow up there, that is so cool. I've read about them so much, I've never actually visited them properly. So I'm so excited to be running into Aviemore and to be looking out on this for the next few days. It's just going to be stunning. Six miles to go to Aviemore now and I'm running through this beautiful little forest. My feet are tired, my brain's a bit tired. So it's slow going but what a way to spend the final few miles of today. It's just stunning. Now into the fourth week of running and I feel like I'm starting to control my thoughts better. I still have the thought pretty much every day of how on earth am I going to make it to London? How on earth am I going to keep doing this for the next few months? But I'm now able to just shove it aside really quickly or not listen to it and it just feels like all the time the thoughts that could make me fall apart are just sitting here and all I'm thinking is just do today. Just focus on the five miles, the ten miles I've got to do today. So that makes me feel a bit calmer. So I just need to keep those thoughts here and not listen to them. This is so lovely. So my host Anna has brought me down to the local lock for a picnic in the evening. Oh it's just so nice. It's beautiful. There's this massive forest behind us of Caledonian Pines, a sandy beach and a pristine lock lake. Beautiful. Feels really nice on my feet as well.