Yesterday, I completed my third "Miles For Mind" challenge. My first, in 2019, was the month that I completed Couch to 5K and my total of 66.75 km/41.5 miles, while modest by the distances I cover today was, not surprisingly, the most I had ever run cumulatively in a single month at that point. It was a month that, not only did I graduate the C25K programme, I also ran my first 5k and my first Parkrun.
Skip forward to 2020. Lockdown was upon us and the distances I was covering during my 3/4 weekly runs was increasing. My target was an achievable 50 miles for the month. I started strongly, bringing my half-marathon time under 2 hours 15 and, over the course of the month, I totaled 122.75 km/76.25 miles.
In October, runr also set the "Leave Nothing But Footprints" challenge. That month was also the month that I turned 50, so I had a fairly obvious target to aim at. Another half-marathon brought my time below 2 hours 10. A 10 mile run later in the month took my time for that distance under 1 hour 45. My halloween run took me beyond 100 miles for a single month for the first time ever and I finished with a new cumulative highest ever monthly total of 174.5 km/108.4 miles.
So, that brings us to this year. There was the spring challenge in February. My total of 147 km/91.5 miles was quite a bit down on recent months, but this was still achieved against the backdrop of one of the worst winters in over a decade and running in snow and ice which, I discovered, is not fun. Because February is a short month, I'd deliberately "aimed low" and only set myself a target of 75 miles so, weather and a bad fall (not running related) not withstanding, I hit that target comfortably; including a snowy half-marathon, ran in just under 2 hours 25.
So that brings us back to this month. Having run 185 km/115 miles in April (another new highest cumulative monthly total), I was interested to see how far I could push it but I didn't have a fixed target in mind; just "see if I could beat last month". As the month proceeded, the runs just ticked along. The runs included an almost inevitable 10 mile and another half-marathon but neither were anything special in terms of pace; they were simply just me out there putting miles in the legs while enjoying the countryside around the village I live in. The most notable thing of any of the runs was being strafed by a bad-tempered buzzard. Eventually, I got to the final run, and I knew exactly what I was doing. I'd already beaten last month's total and the 200 km mark was in sight. So that's what I did; my final run of the month took me to 200.5 km/124.5 miles. As I mentioned, none of the runs (buzzard attack aside) had been noteworthy, but cumulatively they'd taken me to a total distance that I could not have imagined back in 2019, and even last year would have seemed a stretch.
There are the summer (August) and autumn (November) challenges still to complete. It'll be ineresting (to me, if no one else) to see what results they produce.
2019 goals and events.
Half-Marathon ....Maybe
Last Run of 2020 – Roll On 2021!
