Moving on...

Well, apart from suffering from a sore right foot and a general feeling of exhaustion, my post Atacama recovery seems to be ok. I only have myself to blame for the first (right foot) problem. I promised myself that I would visit a Chiropodist on my return to the UK. However, I have taken it upon myself to be my own foot expert and with the use of a razor blade seem to have inflicted more damage to my heel and little toe! I'll never learn.

The second problem (exhaustion) is a consequence of throwing myself back into work, home life and the need to make up for almost 3 months worth of alcohol intake/non intake pre Chile. Since crossing the finish line in San Pedro Chile, I have given it my best shot in trying to make up for lost consumption! I think it's time to reign it in and protect what fitness I have left before undoing 12-18 months worth of hard work and having to start all over again.

I have managed 3 runs since AC11. One 4 mile, an 8.5 mile run home from work (The City - London Wall - St Paul's cathedral - The Thames Embankment - Trafalgar Sq - The Mall - The Queen's House - Eaton Sq - Sloane Sq - King's Road - over Putney Bridge. An impressive list of sights? Quite a trot home!) and a couple of miles on the treadmill. I'm going to try and run 30 to 40 miles this week.

I'm pretty determined (well my current mindset) to continue running, even if it is to tick over and maintain my current fitness level. The Atacama was going to be a 'one off' event but I kind of knew that I would be rather keen to continue running afterwards and the 'run in the desert' has certainly whetted my appetite for further adventure and endurance endeavour.

I've started to work on a list of Ultra events (I'll post soon) I would like to commit myself to over the next 3 to 4 years. The aim is to get myself to a position where competing in races becomes training for much larger events. I would like to compete in a number of 50 to 100 mile single stage/day races, initially in the UK and then USA. A short to medium term objective/desire is to enter the UTDMB Aug 2012 (I need to complete a couple of qualifying races this year to top up the points gained from the Atacama Crossing) and then may be compete in Racing The Planet's Sahara desert race Oct 2012. A longer term target will be to attempt to get a place in, race and complete The Badwater in 2014.

Clearly, I have the rest of my life to fit in around this but I'm pretty confident that with the right sort of commitment and organisation it's going to be doable.

Although the Atacama experience is relatively fresh, I have moved on, become  a little more forward focussed, started to plan the future and excited about competing in other endurance challenges. Now is the time to harness the euphoria of Chile, maintain the momentum, review life/work and incorporate my new passion into the rest of my life.

Ian