Day 5

HI,
Hard run today. My shins are very, very sore.
But on the positive side a friend and work collegue from the UK, Raife and his partner Victoria arrived today. They have a tandam bike and cycled along with me a good part of the day. It's really great to have the company. We will meet up for dinner tonight and they plan to stay with the race for a few days cycling along as I run. The best part, Victoria is a Physiotherapist, she massaged my legs and assisted with the icing. The ice supply is slim to none, France is not big on ice and it is Sunday so almost everything is closed.
Today was a long day 70k, my time 8hr 33 mins, 11th place today. I had to walk quite a bit on the hills. Tomorrow is a shorter day 55k. At this stage last year 4 people had dropped out. I am not sure if anyone has dropped out yet. At least 50% of us are experiencing very sore legs. All trying to keep off the legs and ice.