Finished!

Hey cunts,

First of all, a big thank you to everyone who donated to my Mind LEJOG fundraiser. You reached my fundraising target and I’m very grateful for it. You can still donate by clicking here.

I finished the 1050 mile journey on Saturday night at 8pm. I didn’t feel elated at John O’Groats. I was relieved and happy that I didn’t have to run crazy distances again.

I was also very proud of myself for how I managed to speed through Scotland. I wanted to give as much as I could so that I had no regrets. I really did give it my best and I enjoyed 75% of it!

I can look back at the experience as a success.

Some people would describe what I did as ‘unsupported’ or ‘self supported’ but that’s bollocks. I had Google Maps to help me find my way and I had all you bastards on here, Twitter and Facebook encouraging me when things got shitty.

I didn’t have any really bad days. I was expecting to have a major meltdown somewhere in the Midlands but it never happened as I simply focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

I’m delighted that I managed an average of 27.5 miles a day for the entire trip and just over 30 miles a day if you discount my rest days. I was worried that I’d struggle to maintain a daily average of 20 miles a day.

I exceeded even my best expectations.

Feels great to be back in London.

I don’t miss being out there. The sense of desperation that sets in after realising I still had 20 miles to run each night was overwhelming at times.

My best days were the ones where I didn’t have any set place in mind to reach and I just focused on heading North. I didn’t obsess over distances. I ran in peace.

I can just relax now knowing that it’s all over. I’m thinking of doing smaller trips more regularly in future. I’d love to run all of the Thames Path over a week and bring my rucksack with me. I want to go back to Portugal and try running from Lisbon down to the Algarve and all the way across to spain. I’m limited by my own imagination and self belief.

If this trip proved anything it was that I can achieve what I want to achieve if I just persist.