The challenge is on (Week 1 - 30 to go)

Ok it’s a silly idea but it’s been buzzing around my head for a couple of years and let’s be honest, I’m not getting any younger and the hills not getting lower!  And then I said it out loud – sounded even more ridiculous and before I knew it the challenge is now a reality.

Rory and me on top of Longridge Fell

When I first mentioned it to my son, his response was not quite what I expected – oh I fully expected support and encouragement, but he has decided to do it to.  No we won’t run together, he’s young, male and a dam sight faster than me, but we did go up Longridge fell when I visited him last week.  I was having one of those days when I felt like I was running through treacle and he was quite patient waiting for me to catch up. 

The second person I mentioned it to was my running coach, Laura.  Now that sounds like I’m some sort of athlete – let me dispel that myth straight away. A couple of years ago I joined a beginners running group on the Island (Jog Scotland).  We walked more than ran with an aim of running for 15 minutes after 10 weeks of training – and I had to work really hard to achieve this – but I persevered and kept going.  Laura has been a great source of encouragement, especially after I suffered a bad injury after falling a massive 4” off a curb, which put me out of action for over 6 months. Laura’s reaction when I mentioned the challenge was simple ‘you can do that’ she said.

I’ve never run more than 10km and although I love climbing the mountains, running uphill is proving more difficult than plaiting fog.

So this middle aged, slowest of slow, non-athletic woman with a few health issues, is going to do her best to fulfil the challenge.  My aims are simple, train without injury and finish the race without breaking anything (I use the term ‘race’ very loosely).

The blog is part of my motivation techniques, i.e  I have to train to be able to blog something. 

Weeks activity 10th - 16th October:

Saturday – No training

Sunday – Trail run with running group – hilly 8.04km, height gain 289m

Monday – No training

Tuesday – Mountain bike ride – 50 minutes hilly

Wednesday – Short Bike ride – flat 30 minutes (not part of the plan!)

Thursday – Trail run – hilly 9.65km, height gain 173m

Friday - No training 

(Goatfell Race 15.5km / 870m)