Virtual Ultra Race Romania - race report so far

From my last few posts you'll know that I wasn't that confident about being at the start line for this race, my "A race" for the year.  But I was going to give it my best effort, even if that meant limping round and taking the 25 days available to complete it.
My training had gone well in the week before the race - I even put in a fast 12 k 2 days before the race which increased my confidence as I'd been doing a series of slow runs up until then.  There are different ways of approaching this race; my nephew Colin is running 12 km per day which will be an awesome achievement.  I want to put in some big runs and finish is 7-10 days depending on my foot holding up.
On Friday night I went to bed excited about my race.  It's been a while since I've felt like this but before drifting off to sleep I was going through my running checklist and the route, half of which was new to me.  The good news is I had three of my running mates to accompany me for part of the way and that was a real boost.  We set off at an easy pace, after all this was only the first leg of a 250 km race so no point in racing ahead.  Genevieve my coach and her husband Colin stayed for the first 8k and Michael, who is also doing the race, managed to 20 k but had done 5 k before he joined in.  Considering this was his first long run after an enforced lay off then it was a fantastic effort.  It also meant I didn't run too fast which is easy to do at the beginning.  I completed the last 6 km on my own and think I took a wrong turn as the last 1.5 km was on tarmac but it didn't matter.  My wife arrived at the same time as me and drove me home - I was tired and looking forward to a bath and some food.  Early night for me but 26 km done.
On Sunday I got up at 5.45 am to fuel up.  Today was 42 km.  I was going to run to where Michael had stopped then turn and head back.  My coach said she'd meet me on the way back and this gave me something to look forward to as I had targeted 5 hours due to the terrain and being all on your own isn't easy.  When I reached Crossford, 20 km in, I found the local store and got a bottle of coke - rocket fuel.  I'm so glad I did that as the tanks would be on empty on the way home.  The scenery along the Clyde Valley is beautiful and it was so good not to be stomping on tarmac.  I met Genevieve on the return route and the time flew by.  We even passed her husband coming the other way as he got a run in as well.  With about 6 km to go, the euphoric feeling of running in lovely countryside had left me and my speed was slowing down.  I had a tightness at the back of my right knee and I just wanted to nurse it back to the car while getting under 5 hours.  Having Genevieve there to encourage me along made all the difference and when I got home it was straight into the bath then a foam roller.  It was my son's birthday so no time to waste as dinner needed to be prepared.  I managed not to go too mad with the beer and had another bath before bed as my knee wasn't good.
Monday, day 3 and again Genevieve & Colin decided to join me for the best part of 21 km on the roads.  I pissed down the whole time but was warm which gives you the dilemma of what to wear.  We all wore light rain jackets but probably ended up as wet with sweat!  My knee was niggly especially going up hills but surprisingly after 10 km my legs felt good.  We had to run through some roadworks only to discover our shoes were caked in tar as were our legs - we'll see tomorrow if I've managed to get most of it off otherwise that's one pair of ruined shoes.
3 days in and I'm feeling good.  89 km done and 161 km to go.  A multi-day ultra takes a certain kind of mental discipline.  You know you can run faster and you don't like seeing slower speeds but go too fast and you won't finish.  Plan well and execute the plan.  I've got another 21 km to do tomorrow before my sports massage and then a day off to recover.  That should set me up nicely as the miles build.