Decided to run the Cape to Cape with very little planning or preparation (or training).
Wanted to run unsupported, carried my food (Tailwind and Clif bars) and used streams, creeks and rainwater for hydration... pack started heavy as the forecast was for 6 degrees overnight.
The first of many naive mistakes was that the creeks were mostly dry despite being winter and, using Tailwind, this immediately got me into trouble as I didn't have enough water or food resulting in calorie deficit. To add to the fun, a brand new UD bottle sprung a leak and I lost a whole bottle.
Thankfully a stream past Moses Rock and Margaret River had plenty of water, I used Aquatabs to sterilise the water which worked great.
Started at a slow pace I would be able to maintain throughout but as I got hungrier and thirstier, had to start rationing what I had. This slowed me down and as a result, started running out of Tailwind. Then, due to being dehydrated I couldn't get down a Clif bar either which had me gagging trying to swallow.
Not all doom and gloom, the scenery was amazing in the first half but since I did so little research I didn't realise MOST of the track is sand :( killer! The last approx 10km of sand was soul destroying.
As it got dark I started daydreaming a bit and missed a couple of obvious turns so had to head back but no drama.
Also started to not enjoy the second half, the technical rocky parts on the Southern portion required very slow and steady progress and in retrospect, South to North might be more fun.
Did think about quitting but also having no plans for rescue, that wasn't an option so pushed on. Ended up doing the last 30km with only a litre of water and finished starving, dehydrated and much wiser!
Pretty much a guide if what not to do but still happy to have finished unsupported.