If the Ice Ultra Marathon hadn’t been cancelled due to lack of entries it would have been done and (hopefully) dusted by now.

The cancellation of the Ice Ultra meant that I had to rethink my season and set new goals – which is exactly what I’ve now done.

On Thursday 18th June I will be running the 98 mile West Highland Way (WHW) with Steve Drake and Derek Stewart who I shared a bivouac with during the 2013 Marathon Des Sables along with Michael Martin. We are going to be completing the run by starting in Fort William, Highland, UK  and finishing in Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, UK. We are also adding on an extra 2 miles to get the special 100 miles in the legs.

This will be a severe test for me keeping my blood glucose (BG) levels where I like them to be for exercise but, the good thing is that with having my Animas Vibe insulin pump, which is compatible with the Dexcom continuous glucose monitoring sensor, it will make the challenge that little bit easier as with the touch of a button on my pump I’ll see my BG level and the trend arrows (which indicate the direction and rate of glucose change by colour coded arrows). This will help me with my insulin and carbohydrate intake during the run.

And I’m not stopping there. Following the WHW, I will complete in the 73 mile Great Glen Ultra Marathon on 4th July –  just over 2 weeks after we run the WHW. My main concern will be recovering sufficiently enough to get through the event, but with it finishing in my home city of Inverness I know I’ll have the added incentive of running home.