The hardest thing in the world

I had a secret running aim this year. It's time to go public. I entered the London marathon and thought, after all the training and the fitness it'll result in, I want to have a good crack at some real long fell races afterwards. At Christmas time the ladies of my club talked drunkenly about the Old County Tops race and trying to field a few ladies in that, and my secret goal was set. I remember how I felt when I first signed up for a marathon and thought 'this will be the hardest thing in the world, but I want to complete it and that desire will push me along, and I WILL do it'
Here I am again. The Old County Tops is 36 miles and god knows how many metres of ascent, suffice to say helvellyn, scafell pike and the old man of coniston all have to be summitted. The hardest thing in the world looms before me but I Want to do it, and my preparation,
my ticking off points, have been passed. First of all I decided that post London, I would race the Three Yorkshire Peaks race which at 23 miles and three reasonable sized hills would test me and prove whether I had strength still left after a fast marathon. If I failed, I'd not enter the OCT. If I succeeded, it'd be more of a reality. I also agreed to a weekend's worth of training and racing in the Lakes to acquaint me with routes and general Lakesness. Both events passed without incident and with some enjoyable days. The final hurdle was finding a partner with similar abilities as me on the hill, foolhardy enough to run with a novice. I really wanted a lady but my first choice had to withdraw due to family events, so enter stage left John H. A veteran of two OCT events, so an asset on the route finding aspect, and a good friend to boot.
Nervous? yes. Confident? Quite. Willing to accept failure? Yes. I think I'm in the right place physically and mentally. Once faced, the expected next move would be to escalate to longer, tougher events but I think I'll be content and just happy to join friends and clubmates at other races and expeditions. I'll post a race report on the 18th or 19th. I'm wondering already what tall tales I'll have to share...