It occurred to me, as I tied up my running laces, that the vast majority of my running challenges have been decided in the pub. I’m not saying it’s a coincidence, but I appear to have agreed to a “Run 100 miles in one month” challenge at some point during last night’s pub quiz. At the time (two fruity ciders in and a 10k PB at the weekend being proudly waved about) it had seemed perfectly feasible that, having only managed 55 miles this year, I would easily run 100 miles in one month. Not just that, but I would actually run those miles before the person training for a marathon would.
And so my heart sank, when I realised that I would pretty much need to run at least an average of 3 miles a day for the next 30 days. I would have attempted to run longer runs at the weekend but as I was (very loosely) following a training schedule to try and beat my Blaydon Race PB it was highly unlikely that I would be running further than 6 miles at any point in the next month.
I duly sent a text to my running buddies that “We” would be running 100 miles in May. The replies were not as positive as I had expected them to be. Perhaps I should have waited until after the first few glasses of wine on Friday evening to announce this as it now looked as though I would be doing this by myself. As someone who struggles with running on my own, this was probably going to be the biggest hurdle to overcome, I find it very easy to find a reason not to run. Luckily my husband volunteered to cycle alongside me shouting motivational comments…
So, I’m now one run and 4.5 miles in. I’m planning on getting up early tomorrow and running before work with a longish run at the weekend to try and get to 13 miles by Monday. If I can hit 75 miles in the next 30 days, I will be more than delighted. I think I’ve already decided 100 miles may be slightly outside of my grasp at this moment, it may be something I come back to during training for the Great North Run and the glory of the limitless runs during the six week holiday. However, this isn’t going to stop me trying to get as close to 100 club as I possibly can and of course I haven’t admitted this next time I’m two fruity ciders in.
About Sarah Williams
I ran quite a bit in my early years, mostly the Nike Run in Durham but the occasional cross country school event. Fast forward a few years and a friend suggested I join her on a short 2.5 mile run. The rest as you say, is history!
