A mile or a marathon a day?

I watched the first of half of the documentary "Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man" on television last night.

Last summer Eddie ran 43 consecutive marathons around England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, having never run before, on less than 6 weeks training.

It certainly put my 1 mile each day into perspective. The only thing is that I believe that what I'm doing adds to my daily life, whereas what Eddie Izzard did obviously took over his entire life and was his life, at least for the period of his adventure.

Still, it was very impressive and also inspiring.

I do seem drawn somehow to these acts of endurance that go beyond what we commonly believe can be done, Rosie Swale Pope's run around the world being another example.

For me it was a case of just another day, another mile (and a bit).

Oh, and was yesterday the best day of my life? Only time will tell, but setting the intention definitely made it more enjoyable, and who knows, maybe seeds were planted that will grow into something bigger than ever imagined.

The best day of my life

I heard the story of a football manager (don't know his name) who started each day by saying "today is the best day of my life". Apparently the story was told by this manager's chairman, who went on to say that everyone loved this guy because he was so positive and so uplifting to be around. He was always open to new possibilities and opportunities.

I thought of this story and quote in the shower this morning and decided to take on the intention that today is the best day of my life.

I've run my mile, with Nicky, which was my 70th consecutive day of running and Im just preparing to go up to London to meet a couple of friends, who are ex clients and ex colleagues respectively.

I'm intrigued to know what the day might bring and know that it is completely up to me to be open to it being the best day of my life.

Celebrate small achievements

Back to a mile and a bit a day. My right heel feels fine again and the run felt quite easy and smooth this morning.

I'm reading Rosie Swale-Pope's "Just a Little Run Around the World" at the moment. Apparently she woke up in her bivvy tent in Poland one morning with 5 foot of snow on top of her and the tent. She then had to burrow her way out. I can't believe how pragmatic some people can be in such extreme conditions, although I guess you don't have a lot of choice in those circumstances.

There are vague rumours that it might even warm up a few degrees in a few days time. I'll believe it when I feel it!

It's funny how the day numbers become meaningless now after nearly 70 days. The milestones are now in number of months or in hundreds of days.

In my coaching experience we take our small step achievements for granted and far too lightly and only notice when we fail. I have to remind myself that I'm still running my mile every day and have done so now consistently since 1st January.

I think Im going to celebrate and brew myself a large cafetiere of coffee and have a couple of biscuits. Yay!

Day 67 - and all's well

Nothing much to report today.

Another sunny morning. Another very cold morning. Spring can't be that far over the horizon now, surely?

My right heel is very slightly sore today. Nothing to worry about but something just to observe.

I'm wondering how long I'll have to wait to try some barefoot running, although I will definitely have to adjust the route to go completely barefoot. All my current favourite routes involve some quite rocky, uneven and stony parts.

Day 66 - another extra mile

Although I didn't post to my blog yesterday, I did still run my mile.

Today I ran a mile with Nicky and then did an extra couple myself, so I completed just over three and a half in total, my highest for a good couple of months.

Another absolutely gorgeous morning, cold but glorious. There was a bird in our back garden, just as I was waiting for my GPS device to find a signal, doing the most beautiful singing. It really did lift both our spirits even higher than they were.

Very pleased that we knuckled down yesterday morning and cleared most of the rubble from under our floor to allow it to dry. Three sorties to the tip then followed, and then a warm glow of satisfaction from a job well done.

My Rosie Swale Pope book arrived from Amazon yesterday and I've already read the first two chapters. What an amazing, inspiring and yet ordinary (I guess that's where extra- ordinary comes from) woman she is.

I'm dumbfounded as to how little publicity she received for such an incredible feat!