I've spent some time this week wondering about how best to describe the distance I need to run to myself, not least because I need to manage the conversion between miles (my preferred currency) to kilometres (this years FRA Calendar has finally decided to use new money). Does using kilometre speak make it sound (1) more impressive or (2) more achievable? How best should I break down the annual total to be achievable but not too daunting on a daily / weekly / monthly basis? How will I make sure I'm not going to get to the middle of December and find myself with 100 miles missing?
Miles to Kilometres
1000 miles = 1609.344km - round it up so let's say 1610km .... Sounds Great! As long as I remind myself it's still 'only' 1000 miles.
Aiming over on a weekly basis allows for some slippage (injury, rest, illness) 35km pw x 50 weeks = 1750km (too high!)
Or, if I average 30 - 32km pw x 50 weeks = 1500km - 1600km - this risks leaving me with a deficit come December, perhaps not!
Or, 4.41km per day x 365days - I could have the leap day off! Less than 5km per day sounds good but what about days I can't run?
So, 322days @ 5km per day = 44 days off (it is a leap year). Psychologically this is perhaps the one that sounds the best - more than a month off! Plus given most of my runs are now between 7 - 10km I can bank some credit to earn more days off.
Alternatively, I could just revert to using old money - 20 miles a week for 50 weeks. Some weeks will be a bit more, some a little less, 2 weeks spare for injury / illness / can'tbebotheredness. It's great what your mind chooses to think about when you're slogging through the dark in the howling gales, bouncing hail, floods and a little bit of rain.
Darkness
It's been a bit of a dark and weathery week. Rain, hail and gales causing havoc with the travel network. All trains to London were cancelled on Tuesday. The 6:35am from Shipley was turned back at Doncaster to go back to Leeds - that was a waste of my 5am alarm. However, it did mean that I got to run on the moors rather than London streets on Tuesday evening.
A few people have asked me about how I will fit in this 'challenge'. I don't get home until 7pm (when I'm not away), it's pitch black by 4:30/5:00pm. Answer - winter nightrunning. Headtorches are a fantastic invention. It's a bit like having your own mini street light on your head. My family generously bought me an 'alpkit gamma' headtorch for Christmas - it's brilliant! The moors up above my house where I routinely run with Blue are very uneven and 'undulating' so you do have to be a bit careful about where your feet go else you risk a broken / sprained ankle. Night running for me isn't fast, I have to concentrate hard on where my feet are going, not missing the path turns, not falling into the bogs or pools that look disconcertingly like solid ground by torchlight. But it is really peaceful. It's very rare that I meet anyone else, there's almost no noise funnelling up from the road down in the valley, on a clear evening the starry night sky and fluorescent moon can be truly stunning.
If you haven't tried it I can only recommend giving it a go - makes me smile (even in the gales)!
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| Christmas Headtorch - thanks family! |
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| Wasn't there a song about this? Night Swimming? |
"The photograph reflects, every streetlight a reminder. Nightswimming deserves a quiet night, deserves a quiet night." REM Night Swimming 1993
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