Flat lining

I'm finding it harder to find something different to say about running a mile each day.

Today I ran five and a half miles and I'm pretty shattered. That doesn't feel like it bodes well for bigger challenges, but then again I know that we all go through cycles of good and bad days, or even weeks. I guess today is one of my dips.

Having conversed again with coach "Mad Dog" Mike Schreiber, I also feel rather flat because he believes I need to do a lot more groundwork before considering a marathon. Mind you after this morning, I think he could well be right.

"Mad Dog"

Today I have been conversing by email with "Mad Dog" Mike Schreiber, who, I believe, is based in Mexico and was Matt Beardshall's on-line coach for his coast to coast run described in "Life on the Run".

I think he is questioning my sanity of aiming to run a marathon in October when currently on a mile a day. I'm very interested to hear what he has to say.

I do know that he thinks that barefoot running is a current fad and makes no sense, but what do I know, I haven't actually tried it yet and I'm not particularly ready to leap into something that leads to an injury.

One of my main reasons for starting the mile a day challenge was to find something sustainable, that gets me moving, which in turn gets me flowing and helps to create possibility in my world.

Hopefully I'll be in touch with "Mad Dog" again in the next few days.

Day 110

Day 110 of running a mile each day.

I ran marginally under 4 miles this morning. Nicky ran her mile and a bit in one second under her fastest time. I then ran a pretty quick (for me these days) 2.7 miles.

Once again the weather was fabulous, possibly even nicer than the past few days. It felt quite fast and I felt good this morning.

The only thing I've noticed is that if I'm pushing myself speedwise, I lose the creative thoughts and ideas that I otherwise get.

Talking to myself

Yesteray I ran 10km for the first time in many months, probably six. It wasn't easy and yet it was also really enjoyable.

There is nothing like pushing myself, stretching myself (no, not that type of stretching - I'm terrible at doing that), challenging myself, with the wind in my hair, the sun on my face and body, and the sound of birdsong in my ears (as well as my own breathing and the occasional traffic noise when I venture near roads).

I also talk to myself out loud when I run. It could be the first, or possibly more advanced, sign of madness, but is a leftover from pre-iPhone times when I used to run with my mobile phone strapped to my arm, connected by earphones, recording my thoughts and ideas.

Note to self - I really should find a device that allows me to strap my iPhone to my arm so I don't look quite as demented when I'm out running in public.

The challenge is on!

Well, I've done it now. No, not my mile, although I have done that too. I have finally bitten the bullet and entered the Beachy Head marathon scheduled for this October.

So there go all my platitudes about just enjoying running for its own sake and not needing a bigger goal to motivate me. While it's true that I DO just enjoy running for its own sake and all the benefits it gives me, I have also realised that I also love a challenge.

The mile each day was definitely a challenge when I started it, but it has now stopped being that challenge. In fact I said some days ago that I'm now more likely to miss brushing my teeth than my daily run, and yesterday I almost did exactly that. I got my run done first thing in the day as usual, and was working at home all day, suddenly realising at lunchtime that I hadn't brushed my teeth. Disgusting I know, but that's how it was.

I could feel the excitement in my stomach as I logged on to Runners World and submitted my application.

So, the challenge is on. I guess I might be running a few more longer runs than one mile over the next few months. The other challenge of course is to keep running a mile each day right up to and including Beachy Head.