Sat Jan 14, 2017 @ 06:41

Day 2. 28 miles. 56/643 complete.

Waking up to daylight usually causes me some concern. Having wild/stealth camped for the last 30 years my golden rule is "pitch late, pack early" to avoid any problems with landowners.

This morning I knew I was OK as I'd found a lovely secluded spot in woodland well away from roads and footpaths, so I listened to the morning birdsong for a while before packing up in mild frost.

A few miles of road walking completed the diversion round the firing ranges and I was back on the SWCP and glorious sunshine. Even though the sun was mostly behind me all day I still ended up with mild sunburn from the intensity as it reflected off the sea.

Today's trails were taking me along the course of my first Ultra; the Dorset Doddle in 2012. Back then I was a distance walker, regularly taking on 40-50 mile hikes on a Sunday (in competition with others using GPX tracking app Endomondo). I hiked the first half then realised I was feeling OK with the hills so ran the second, my first and last negative split :)

Passing Durdle Door I took 30 to enjoy the view and realised I was still in ultra race mode.. I was in a hurry to get moving and begrudged talking any downtime. The ethos used to be "constant forward motion". It's going to take some time to learn to slow down and smell the roses.

Rain finally caught up with me as I approached Weymouth so as tradition dictates I found a pub and sat it out with a pint. It soon cleared and I continued down the causeway to Portland Bill, finding a spot behind the visitors centre by the fort.

Just as I was settling down I was treated to a 10 minute firework display, which was nice, but my birthday was yesterday. Appreciate the sentiment through Portland, and thanks for the welcome ;)