I’d been watching a few documentaries about some amazing Ultra runners and was feeling distinctly left behind, what with just two months of running remaining before I needed to rest before my challenge.
I was basically struck by a kind of panic that I’d left it all far too late and that I was never going to make it, that I simply wouldn’t have done enough and I’d surely fail. This feeling hit me really, really, hard, and I knew I would have to do something about it both physically and mentally, immediately. The only thing I could do was to tweak my training plan, so tweak it I did.
It was only a week since I’d first run with a pack on my back, and that had been hard. But I knew that I’d had to keep it on from now on (it’s not an option in the race!) So I set myself a target I knew would be really challenging at this point in my schedule, but one I knew I could achieve, but not without considerable effort. And so my first back to back runs were put in place.
Saturday 9 September and Sunday 10 September would each be a weighted half marathon. What I had not reckoned on was that summer would arrive that weekend with temperatures, for the first time in 2023, up in the 30’s. It was bloody hot. I was slow.
Saturday’s half took me 2 hours and 29 minutes, Sunday (the exact same route) 2 hours 30 minutes. I even noticed as each mile ticked by that I was keeping an incredibly consistent speed every mile, not varying more that about 30 seconds up or down from the 11:30 average all the way, uphill, flat or downhill. This was just what I was aiming for, and I felt like I’d nailed it.
Not only had this rapid change in plan proved that my body was better prepared for further challenges than I thought it might be, but my mind was given a massive boost. I was capable of more, and now I knew it.
So, having watched these TV shows, I am so thankful I did. TV is such a rare thing in my life – I think my training is leaving me too drained even to read as much as I did, and I needed some energy to write too, so I found myself flopping in from of the TV a bit more. Hell, I’d earned it, hadn’t I?
And I’ll tell you another thing I discovered on those two runs which is that, in the words of The Antipoet – “Most People are Nice”. I’ve had folk shout encouragement from cars, hold gates open for me, stop their cars early at junctions so I can run across without stopping, or simply step aside to give me more room on the pavement. Having had a couple of run ins with folk in my earlier training days, my faith in humanity was being restored.
Sometimes people just smile as I go past, sweat dripping, as if to say “go on, you can do it”, whilst I’m sure they are asking themselves “Why is he doing THAT?” But I didn’t care, a smile goes such a long way.
These back-to-back halves have been such a boost. The very next day I hit the gym for a weights session (NO running) and then had a rest day before slipping back into my trainers, donning the pack, and heading out to pound the streets once more. I then re-looked at my plan and added in a few more such challenges to keep me going. Oh, I’d also up my weekly mileage and make sure NO run from then on was less than 10 miles, meaning I’d need my head torch for every evening outing.
Onwards it was.