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Hiking tales from an injured runner – part 2

Reacquainting myself with the Pennine Way My recent little backpacking trip along the Dales Way gave me a taste for more. I might as well get good use out of my new tent! I quickly decided that my next project could be a re-recce of parts of the Pennine Way Read more

By Petra, 3 monthsJune 30, 2026 ago
Hiking Long distance walking Running Thru hiking

Hiking tales of an injured runner – part 1

The Dales Way As I start to write this post (mid June) I have just started to run again, and am currently in week 3 of a self-prescribed Couch to 5K programme, rebuilding my running fitness. But I spent more than 3 months not running due to a knee problem Read more

By Petra, 3 monthsJune 23, 2026 ago
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backyard ultra ballot camping CCC Centurion Running Chamonix Cheviot Goat Cheviots christmas Coast to Coast Courmayeur Cumbria Eryri fast packing handicap Hardmoors Hardraw hiking long distance walking marathon eryri Montane Spine Race mountain running mud Nav4 North Downs Way Northern Traverse Northumberland Ourea Events Pennine Way Punk Panther road running Robin Hood's Bay running Snowdonia Marathon Eryri Spine Challenger North Spine Race thru hiking trail running training ultra running UTMB Wainwright Wales winter Yorkshire

petrabijs

Happily retired 😊 | Trail and ultra runner🏃‍♀️‍➡️🌳| Still runs the odd road race 🛣️ | Green Runner 🌍| Blog writer 📝

The beautiful Dingle Peninsula. My friend Sandra d The beautiful Dingle Peninsula. My friend Sandra did all the driving and made sure we stopped off at these highlights on the Slea Head Drive: Dunmore Head where we walked up to the WW2 lookout post; Dunquin Pier (Cé Dhún Chaoin) and a hike down the super steep walkway to the jetty; and finally the Blasket Centre, a hugely worthwhile exhibition about the history, culture and people of the Blasket Islands, inhabited until 1953 when a declining population made evacuation inevitable. I had known nothing about them and came away with two books, keen to read more. It’s also the most westerly point of Europe!
A grand day exploring a few places on the Yeats Tr A grand day exploring a few places on the Yeats Trail, a route with 14 locations that inspired W.B. Yeats’s poetry. 
It was rather windy with intermittent showers but I managed two walks without getting too wet: one along the beach at Rosses Point and the second one from Slish Wood to the Lake Isle of Innisfree. I also visited Yeats’s grave in the Drumcliffe churchyard, and drove to Streedagh beach to get a good view of Ben Bulben, having only seen it shrouded in mist yesterday. Due to the weather I decided against a hike to the summit, but glad to have seen this imposing landmark. 
Lovely soup and soda bread for lunch in Drumcliffe @pinkcloversligo kept me going. 
📷
1. Rosses Point beach. 
2. Art installation at Drumcliffe with the text of ‘He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven’
3. Yeats’s grave at Drumcliffe
4. View of Ben Bulben from the cemetery
5, 6. View of Ben Bulben from Streedagh beach
7, 8, 9. The Lake Isle of Innisfree in Lough Gill
#medalmonday On Saturday I ran the @26_extreme Gia #medalmonday On Saturday I ran the @26_extreme Giant’s Causeway Coast Marathon 🏃‍♀️ A group trip with Ilkley friends; we all tackled different distances, I ran the marathon. Stunning out and back coastal route with 4000ft of elevation and an 8 hour cut-off. Quite wet 💦 at times with a fairly stiff westerly 💨 which I had to battle on the way back. I reached the halfway point after 3 hours and 1 minute exactly, and was most surprised to finish under 6 hours 🤩 My first ever negative split in a marathon I am sure. No idea where that came from, especially with that wind 🤷‍♀️
Hopping over the rocks at both ends of Whitepark Bay Beach (so 4 times for me 😳) was no fun if you’re not very agile on your feet like me (think drunk baby giraffe) but the rest of the course was very runnable. Well organised low-key race which I would recommend!
I can’t say I particularly wanted to come home, bu I can’t say I particularly wanted to come home, but at least Dover seemed to welcome me with a stunning sunrise. A quick snap taken on my way down to the car deck, but came out quite well I guess #nofilter #dover #whitecliffsofdover @dfdsfrance @dfdsglobal @portofdover
After leaving Châtel on Monday I spent 72 hours in After leaving Châtel on Monday I spent 72 hours in the @aletscharena_ch in Switzerland. It was rather a last minute decision, largely driven by a wish to stay at altitude due to ongoing heat in lower lying areas. The Auvergne, my initial plan, will have to wait 😉
And it was 💯 an excellent choice. The #aletschgletscher, Europe’s largest, left me speechless with wonder. The 360 views of the mountains include the Jungfrau, Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. The whole area is car free, you leave your car in the valley and use the cable car 🚡 to reach your accommodation, I had a lovely AirBnB. I stayed in #riederalp which lies at 1915m. Within a day you have forgotten you even have a car, it’s wonderful! I did 3 walks, you can make things easier by using cable cars to go up and/or down. Also managed two short runs, it’s quite hard work at that altitude. 
I was sad to leave 😢
📷
1. Aletsch glacier from the Bettmerhorn viewpoint 
2+3. The Betterhorn mountain with its cable car station. I didn’t climb to the summit, it was described as needing a good head for heights and looked like something I didn’t need in my life. 
4. Bettmeralp lake
5. Cows on the walk from Bettmeralp back to Riederalp 
6. Info boards about the impact of climate change on the glacier
7. From the Moosfluh viewpoint
8. Grünsee in, almost, the bottom of the valley. It had been a long descent…
9. At Grünsee there were posts indicating where to sit on the rocks to have your picnic! I did as I was told. 
10. View of the glacier from Silbersand
11+12. I treated myself to a beer at Villa Cassel after the Grünsee walk. 
13. Looking down towards Riederalp. There were a lot of marmots there. 
14. Obligatory selfie.
The sun has reappeared after a heavy thunderstorm The sun has reappeared after a heavy thunderstorm ⛈️⚡️💦
My fourth year in a row at the always brilliant @r My fourth year in a row at the always brilliant @run4adventure.uk Chamonix shakeout run, this year supported by @scottrunning (free bucket hats 🙏 Perhaps not my best look ever, but very handy for those hot sunny runs) and with @filmmyrun and @alpepperruns Great to see friends old and new, and catch up with Loyd and Liga who put lots of work into organising this event. Free ☕️ at @moodycoffeeroasters as always
PS in case you wonder: not racing here, I just made a 24hour visit to Chamonix and am already happily back in Châtel enjoying the peace and quiet.
It was always going to be a tall order to cover 10 It was always going to be a tall order to cover 100 miles, having been injured since late February. I cautiously returned to running in June but my longest run to date had only been 10k 😬. Lots of very long hikes done though, before you think I was totally insane to tackle the @centurionrunning North Downs Way 100 again. And the good news is that my knee held out and really didn’t cause me any great issues for the 55 miles I covered. Which bodes well going forward. Unfortunately the fierce heat 🔥 of the day and quite likely my undeniable lack of running fitness was too much for the rest of the body. My heart rate was too high really for what was a very easy pace. Despite cooling well (ice bandana 🧊 and SPF arm sleeves were brilliant) I suffered with dizziness 😵‍💫 and nausea from about 30 miles in, nothing new for me, but I just couldn’t get on top of things. I managed to leave the halfway checkpoint at Knockholt after a bit of a rocky time there 🤮, but decided to call it 5 miles later in Otford, rather than risk fainting on the trails, as I still felt awful. 
With huge thanks to everyone at @centurionrunning Special mention must go to the volunteers 🦺 and the paramedic 🚑 at Knockholt who helped to get me back out of the door. And huge thanks to the lovely crew of a fellow runner who gave me a lift from Otford to Wrotham, and then another crew who took me all the way to the finish at Ashford to be reunited with my bags. Good to see the winners 🏆 come in on the track overnight, whilst I waited for the 1st train. 
Lovely to meet @rywebb (who I recognised from Lakeland coverage) who was cheering us on at St. Martha’s and was very encouraging to us at the back of the pack! 245 started, 136 finished, 109 didn’t make it. Summer ultra racing is becoming very challenging 🥵🔥☀️
📷 @jmruther4d
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