Double shift

Last week was a light weeks training, apart from this weekend.  The reason was that I was attending a wedding in Marrakesh,with my wife, of a good friend.  Sometimes life takes over, which isn't a bad thing, and with my coach we had known about this for some time so planned accordingly.  While it was scheduled as an easy week, Monday was spent travelling all day as we had a couple of flights. That was tiring but the following day I was up at 6.30am and out for a 1 hour run before it got too hot.  It was hot enough but my focus was on trying not to go over on my ankle ofn the rubble that was meant to be the footpath or wiped out by the moped riders who had "livestock" on their back/saddle and were texting on their phone at the same time!
Tuesday was the wedding which was amazing.  Plenty of fizz and we called it a night at 12.30 having danced the night away - should have been wearing my Garmin and I could have claimed it was training.  Wednesday continued the celebrations and Thursday we left the hotel at 7am and got home at 12.30am on Friday - knackered.  I had a 40 minute recovery run on Friday in Z1 & Z2 which felt like a gentle massage but this was the "calm before the storm".
I had to run 38km on Saturday and had nobody interested in joining me.  But I got a last minute offer from a real ultra nutter, Craig Hamilton and Donald MacLean.  They had a 38km planned for me but what I didn't realise was that after 11km we headed off-road to a very tough 16km route with some very big climbs.  I don't like, although know it's good for me, this track due to the big climbs but we walked some of the hills which is what you do in ultras.  The terrain was perfect as it will be similar to the Great Glen Ultra.  On the way back the heavens opened so I got to test my running gear in monsoon conditions - important to know there isn't any chaffing when running in wet shorts.  In total it was 39km and I spent the rest of the day eating like a horse and resting.  I'd lost over 4 lbs in weight and burned 2,700 calories.  But this was a double shift and the real test was Sunday - running on tired legs.
Having almost run a marathon, when I woke up on Sunday I felt reasonably good but I had a wee niggle behind my right knee coming off the calf.  I took precautions with extra mineral hydration before I went out and compression socks to help support my calf.  My trusty running mate Stuart joined me and the start of the 29km run involves a hill - calf felt tight and legs were tired.  In fact the first 41 minutes are uphill so it's a tough start.  After that I settled into a good rhythm walking the occasional hill and hydrating and eating at the same time - good practise.
It didn't help that I took the wrong road which added another 3km onto our route but we just had to get on with it.  We finished strong with the last 3km getting faster.
As soon as we stopped I could feel the stiffness setting in so hydration and protein drink were consumed followed by a bath and food.  The rest of the day will be rest and recovery but I'm pleased with my stats over the weekend.  Tomorrow is a rest day before it all starts again.  It's amazing what your body can do when you train it, and your mind, properly.  Double shifts do have benefits.