I saw a friend on facebook attempt something last month, he made it to day 23, I thought I'll have a go at that !And so #RunOctober #RunTheDate was born, on the 1st October you run 1k, on the 2nd October you run 2k, on the 3rd you run 3k and so on, all the way to the 31st October when you run 31k.
The total distance is 496k (308 miles) over 31 consecutative days of running, as a coach definitely something I would advise against, recovery is an important part of any training programme & I would even at my most determined have atleast 1 rest day each week, but this is something I really want to have a go at, to really test my body & mind ...... let's see how it rolls out!
I normally run at anything from sub 6 min pace to 8:20 minutes per mile, depending on distance. I really didn't know what pace I was going to end up running in the later stages of the month, so decided to run on feel, and then as the longer runs approached start really slowing my pace down so that I could last the distance and not stiffen up for the next days's run.
I'd also changed my garmin to record distance in km's so that I can be as accuarte as possible but I've kept pace in minutes per mile as thats how I normally train.
Day 1
Quickest training session I've ever done, out & back in under 5 minutes. Had to laugh when I got back home.
Day 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7
My friend who tried this last month, started off the first 5 days doing 5k per day, I'm going to stick to running the actually date in km & no further, not sure if it will help or hinder but that's the plan.
It's actually quite hard to motivate to go out for these shorter runs to be honest, it takes longer to get ready & showered than it does to train. I squeezed a 60 mile sunday group bike ride in for good measure at the weekend though. I've also just started running with a work colleague, he wants to get fitter, so we've started running upto 8k two or three lunchtimes a week. Sneaky extra training for me, love it. Lunch time runs have been about 8:40 pace & evening runs sub 8 min pace.
Week 1 done - total 28km - 2 hours 40 mins (ish)
Day 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
All pretty uneventful to be fair, I'm enjoying getting the longer runs in, but now the challenge really starts in week 3 & 4, and trying to fit all this running in with a full time job & over 3 hours travelling every day. On day 14, I got out early for the run so I could join the Club ride, another 60 miler, but I shouldn't have done so much village sign sprinting, legs feeling a bit tired now.
Week 2 - 77km - 6 hours 50 mins.
Day 15
7.6k lunch time run left me with 7.4k to do that night, felt ok. Pace is steady at around 8:40 pace now for all runs..
Day 16
Finished work late, so 16k to do, I decided to just do 1.7 km loops around the village, didn't finish until gone 9pm, cold & tired, beginning to wish I hadn't done the club ride on sunday.
Day 17
Did a run to the outskirts of town tonight, and a friend joined me for a few km's, which was great.
Day 18
Up at 5am to get a few km's in before work, only finished 17k run a few hours ago, seem to be hitting a bit of a low patch, legs really stiff, very slow 5.4k, but less to do tonight. Had company on my run again tonight, which made it little easier. Time to get the compression gear out I think!
Day 19
Lunch time 7.6k felt a little better, then 2 friends joined me for the evening run which was great, only problem was I miscalulated the route and ended up running 12.6k, totalling 20.2k on day 19, didn't really want to do that, I might be half way on days but I'm not half way on distance until day 22.
Day 20
Saturday & I decided to have a day time run and head out south towards the other villages, I had 4 club members join me today, I set off a bit late & was feeling quite good so pushed the pace up for the first 3 miles to meet them on time, I averaged 7:50 mins per mile, way too fast for #RunTheDate.
Cracking company & a decent more appropriate pace, around 8:30 minute miles.
Day 21
Sunday run, no bike ride today, I've learnt my lesson, felt really good for first half but then started to feel very tired and legs aching. Pace dropped to just over 9 min miles, this is getting quite hard now!
Week 3 - 127.4km - 11 hours 36 mins
Day 22
A hard day at work & not home till nearly 7:30pm, really didn't feel like going out for a long run, but Sarah kicked me out with my new #runthedate playlist on my ipod & off I went. Ran into Bottesford to meet a friend running back from track session, ran back to Messingham with him but that was only 8k. So I started laps of the village. Pace felt pedestrian at 9 min miling, I was tired but I was also planning ahead still a long way to go, and I needed to make my legs last as long as I could. Ice bath, protein shake & compression tights on.
Day 23
Not enjoying running in dark. The village I live in is a few miles from town, if you want to stay safe & run in street lights you need to stay in the village. I've normally lapped the village on night runs, but thats only a 1.7km lap & can get quite repetative, that doesn't bother me really but tonight I added out & backs at each of the 4 corners to the end of the street lights, it works out at 6.65km laps, and seemed to work well for me until I tweaked my calf with 5k to go. Is this where Run The Date could end !
Day 24
I tweeted the previous nights run & calf niggle on the short walk into work, had some amusing replies, even some challenging me to #RunNovember !! Anyhow, I went for a steady 8k lunch time run with my calf guards on, I could feel the calf niggle but it wasn't as bad as the night before. So game on. Just as I'm about to go out in the evening for the final 16k of the day, a good friend turned up at my door to nurse me round, great company & good conversation, the run was over before I knew it & calf felt ok. Cheers Hinchy.
Day 25
Another 8k lunch time run in calf guards went well, so set out on my new longer lap of the village, just 17k needed tonight, 2 laps and a 2k+ out & back and it's done. All went to plan & actually finding the new village route quite enjoyable, it helps the mind only being 2 laps and the out & backs are not too long so you turn before you know it. Think I'm going to try & stick to this route, it helps.
Day 26
Friday & my normal 8k lunch time run with a work mate, I'm really enjoying these lunch time runs.
Sarah & Georgie were out at swimming club when I got home so, changed & straight out for 18k, same route as last night, feeling quite good actually. Pace is back in 8:40's, feeling strong, even though there was a bit of a strong headwind in places last night. I've now run over 350km this month & only just less than 150km to go, I might actually finish this thing !! ...... & I'm off work all next week so 5 days left & all day to fit my run in, feeling strong, positive and ready.
Day 27
Saturday, day time run and time to get back to single runs but I planned to take it at a very steady pace, I also mixed the terrain up and took in a good off-road section, average pace was 9:21 min mile. Calf guards were helping loads, no problems with the calf at all. Long lonely run though.
Day 28
A couple friends from my local running shop joined me today for more road/ off-road action. They are quality runners & I was feeling really good this morning. Great conversation all the way round and good pace, we set out at 8:17 min miles and 17.3 miles later the pace had averaged at 8:21, I felt really strong and postive. Nice to know after all those miles you always have a bit more pace in you.
Day 29
A monday afternoon run today as I was now on holiday. Felt great, a little slower than yesterday but still around 8:40 pace, not sure why but I stuck to the longer village loop rather than heading out across the fields but glad I did, just as I was completing the a loop, at 20km, my right hamstring went, sharp pain and I had to stop & limp/ walk the final 100 metres home. Ice, compression, elevation ...... Oh dear, it's over now!
I was coaching a run session at the track that night, so thought as I jogged very steadily around on the warm up with the runners I'd record the km's on my garmin just to see if I could get a few more Km in & see how it went.
Erm ..... not great, very steady jog at 12:30 pace, just nursing my hamstring around the track below the pain threshold. I was surpised to find I'd clocked over 3km jogging up & down. Right I only need just over 5km, so I took the dog out for a slow jog, atleast I could manage to get to the end of day 29, then rest & see how it was in the morning. Day 29 complete, albeit very slowly!
Day 30
Woke up and moved around stretching and flexing, I felt ok, hamstring felt sore if I stretched it to much, but I'm so close to completing this I reckon I'm going to give this a go!. (Again not something I would recommend) So I got all Kinesio taped up on my hamstring, compression on and let's have a go. A friend from down the road offered to accompany me on his bike on todays run, which helped loads, it was a very slow run, 20k took me 2 hours, but I got back, hamstring was a little sore but I hadn't had any sharp pains like the day before.
A bit of rest then a steady 10k tonight around the village and day 30 complete. Just one day to go now!
Day 31
I wanted to get this over in one hit & get it over early in the day but not to early as I wanted to "warm" my hamstring up. I planned a double loop route that brought me back home a couple of times, fancied adopting the bike ride favourite of a coffee stop half way through my run, time wasn't important, completing but enjoying the last day was. Mark from a few doors away joined me for a lap, I've found that company on these runs really help, it takes your mind off what your doing and helps pass the time.
The first 12k loop was complete but I kept moving so that I & my hamstring didnt stiffen up I wanted to make the last day a bit of fun ...... coffee stops are good!
I didn't expect Mark to come out on the 2nd 14k loop as he hadn't run more than 10k in a long time, but there he was, ready & willing so off we went. It was a tough run for us both, but every km completed was another km closer to the end. I could feel that my hamstring wasn't that happy with going out again, and the last few km's back home were a real battle, average pace was now 9:30, but just 1 loop of the village now & it would be done.
Those last few km's were hard & easy at the same time, my whole body just started aching, & all I wanted to hear were those few beeps on my garmin to indicate 31km.
Finally ..... beep beep .... 31 km, only I hadn't finished yet, I had worked out that morning I would be 0.5km short of 500km for the month, so I had already made the decision that today's run was going to be 31.5km, just as I approached my house, the magic number appeared.
Run October - Run The Date - was complete, after 31 consecutative days and exactly 500km (310 miles) I could rest, and not have to think about running tomorrow ..... AWESOME
Good luck to anyone who has a go at this, again its not something I would recommend, rest is vital in training, but every now & then you have to attempt something crazy .... don't you ??
I had some great company & support on many of my runs, so a big thank you to Kev, Simon, Scott, Julian, Chris, Sallie, Andy, Christian, Dave, Mark & Ewan, top support!
