With only a few days of running left to complete the cross-continental challenge, I was desperate to keep going and not be held back.  But considering how much energy I had lost over the last couple of days, things weren't looking so great.

Day 86 - 0km

I woke up early this morning so that I would be able to get back to the start point for the day, and hopefully manage to get some distance under my belt.  I lay in bed and tried to figure out how I felt, if I was capable of running or not.  After quite a bit of talking to myself, attempting to bully myself or fool myself into running, I came to the decision that I just could not run.  I had no energy in my body and I probably wouldn't be going further than a few meters.  So I just lay feeling sorry for my weary body.

After having a day of rest in Lichinga, we drove back to the place where I finished running two days before.  I planned on pushing through the last few hundred kilometres of running to get to the coast with no more days off.  Thankfully the crowds of pushing and shouting people slowly decreased and the terrain changed for a few days but not all went so smoothly.  

Keep reading to learn about days 78 - 85 out of 89 (November 16 - 23rd 2014) ...

We had a lovely break in Harare, meeting local people, eating delicious food, resting, doing interviews, visiting the SEED Project office and gearing the bike up to be able to carry more equipment.  Me and Mike then set off again by ourselves while the team stayed in Harare.  Here is the next instalment, from November 2014, day 61 - 68 of the trip.

After three and a half days of unwanted rest and meetings, my legs were feeling pretty seized up.  We drove all the way back to where I was stopped running, and there we camped before starting again in the morning.  I had now (at this point in the run) been running for two months and my body had no idea what I was doing to it.  Here is my blog about day 51 - 60 (out of 89).

So, here is the next blog describing day 41 - 50 of my run across Africa (the half way point).  These were the days when I was probably at my lowest throughout the whole trip.  I really had to play all the mental games that I possibly could to get myself through it.  But this is also where the scenery started to become mind blowing.  Africa truly is a spectacular place.  Read on...

Reading over the day 40 page in my diary almost brought a tear to my eye (probably because I remember the emotions, I'm sure reading it won't make you cry).  I was going to try and pick out some key parts and condense it into a blog as I have done for the other days but I thought it really shows what you go through on such a long and intense run.  I couldn't bare to break it down so I thought I would share the whole diary entry.

I am writing these blog posts approximately 6 months after the events actually happened, and looking back through my diary I had completely forgotten how painful it all was.  It's really fortunate for me that I have a terrible memory!  This next week that I am sharing with you can only be described as 'pain-filled', oh, and slightly embarrassing!  Please enjoy my next blog of day 31 to day 39...

The 'rest' day in Rundu was not as restful as anticipated.  There was so much cleaning and sorting of equipment, and blog writing/social media updating, that there was little time to actually allow my mind and body to recuperate.  But anyway, I got back into my running shoes again after a day off, and started devouring those tarmac miles ahead of me.  Here is my blog of day 23 to day 31...

So after having a thoroughly enjoyable break at Africat, myself and the team were back on the road ready to attack some tar!  Oh, how I love to run on tar... bleugh!  It was great to see first hand what the money we raise will go toward and great to rest my legs but at the same time I felt pretty happy to get back on the road and tackle the job I was there to do.  Here is a brief run down of day 12 to day 22...