Challenge completed! 4 miles in 29m and 58 seconds with a 3 minute walk at start.
So my last few blogs have all been about stagnant and sometimes backwards progress but this one is much better! Although not all plain sailing!
I was supposed to go for a long run on Thursday with a friend but he had to cancel so I went back to my treadmill challenge. Now I’ve entered for endure24, time to get back in shape and start beating challenges! So I jumped on the treadmill and went for it – as soon as the 3min walk finished I was straight up to 8.2 mph breezing along. It was easy! I was smiling, imagining myself as Rocky Balboa cresting the steps in Philadelphia – I was a machine, I was on fire, pretty much an Olympic athlete. Then, 15 minutes and 2 miles in I threw up in my mouth and aborted the run. In hindsight the McDonald’s at lunch time probably wasn’t ideal preparation and I had possibly set off a little fast! The thing about this challenge is you have to do a negative split because of the 3 min walk so to be up at 2 miles after 15 mins was way faster than I’m used to and simply not necessary.
However, despite this catastrophic failure – I did now realise that I’d been limiting myself – I am run a lot faster and further than I think. So I took a rest day and then went back again. This time I only flicked up to 8mph after the walk and 8.2 at the half way mark. By my calculations this should get me to about 4 miles in 30 mins. I soon realised that maths whilst running is not easy and of course that was completely wrong. With 7 minutes to go, sweaty and grumpy I realised I was going to miss my target again! So annoying!!! But then I just decided to go for it, cranked up the music and the speed little by little (I was 9.5 for the last minute!) I ran/stumbled/wobbled/flailed my way along the treadmill as fast as I could until finally at 29 minutes and 58 seconds the distance clicked over to the magic 4.0 miles! I did it!!! At last – so happy!!!!
Now in hindsight, this is a silly challenge that means nothing to anyone else but I set my self a goal and I’ve achieved it so to me it’s like finishing a marathon.
So on to the next challenge!! I’m running endure24 next June and really want to try and get 100 miles in 24 hours – which will be very very hard. This mean I need to start building up my distances again so I need I run a 50 miler in sub 10 hours by March. Watch this space!!!
18 August – 2m in 15 abort
20 August – 4m 29:58 – BOOM