Some 19 days ago I decided on a whim to run 10k (6.2 miles) every day in May to raise money for Versus Arthritis. Now, as I approach the two-thirds point of the challenge I thought I’d drop a little update.
Before I launch into the trials and tribulation of running 10k every day I just want to mention this blog. You would think that with all this free time that I would have been knocking out content on the daily. Actually, I thought that too. The truth is that most of my blogging energy tends to go into the captions of my Instagram posts and I have little left for this blog. That will change.
Okay, so the running…
I never for one minute thought I would sail through this challenge. If for no other reason, my mantra is that a challenge has to be challenging otherwise why bother? But maybe I didn’t expect it to be as hard as I’m finding it.
The niggles
The daily toll on my body (and by “body” I mean my “knees”) is starting to show at 19 days in. In fact, it was showing at 10 days in. Just that tell-tale sign of a slight niggle under the knee cap.
Let’s count the niggles for a moment:
- knees
- left calf
- right hip
- lower-right back
- left foot arch
- right toe
- right hamstring
- carpet burn on left knee (caused by playing with the dog)
All these body parts have experienced some sort of niggle during this challenge. Nothing that has come close to stopping me, but certainly noticeable.
My left calf was winging on today’s beautiful trail run. After some nasty little uphill sections, I could just feel the beginning of a strain. A near sprint across a field of freshly turned out young and inquisitive cows (they weren’t there last Thursday) had me stopping to stretch it out.
Niggles aside, I am tired. I realise this is a consequence of the running but it’s probably the most surprising thing to me.
The monotony
But maybe the tiredness is also linked to the monotony of the challenge. As, aside from adding on the odd mile or so to the required 10k now and then, I am running pretty much the same distance every day from our front door.
While we are lucky to live in a rural market town with so many options for road and off-road running I am finding routes a bit, well, samey.
Despite the easing of the lockdown restrictions in the UK (a blessing that means I can run outside AND walk the dogs with my family), I am not yet driving to a run location. I know that I am allowed, and there are options that would mean a car journey of fewer than 10 minutes, but it’s my choice at the moment to stay local. This self-imposed policy may well change by the end of this challenge.
The fundraising
Of course, I am taking on this challenge the raise money for Versus Arthritis. This is a charity that pushes back against arthritis, a condition that is thought to affect 10 million people in the UK – that 1/6th of the population!
At the time of writing this blog post, I have raised £115 towards my target of £500. I am grateful and thankful to all those that have donated, but I can’t deny a sense of disappointment that I am still a way off my goal.
In context, I have only used my Instagram and personal Facebook to push my fundraising. Maybe I should be trying some other avenues?
But, if it stays at £115 then that’s great because it’s £115 more than Versus Arthritis had a month ago.
The numbers so far
After my 19th run this morning I have spent a total of 18 hours and 53 minutes running over a distance of 128.5 miles (207km) with a cumulative elevation gain of 8,957 feet (2,730 metres).
To some athletes (professionals and amateurs) these numbers are still small. But to me, they represent a huge effort.
Of course, I couldn’t be doing this without my running buddy – Duke. So far he had run 15 of these 19 days with me (3 were on treadmill and 1 was where I opted to leave at home to rest). He’s racked up 103 miles of his own!.
As ever I could not be doing this without a fantastic family at home either, so thank you Helen, Lydia, Grace, Delilah and Verity.
If you would like to donate towards my fundraising target you can do so by visiting my JustGiving page – justgiving.com/fundraising/yorkshiredadof4-blackpool2020.
Thanks for reading
Dave
