“BEEP, BEEP BEEP...” meant the morning had arrived earlier than was reasonably acceptable; it was 6:30 am and a training run in preparation for my 10k everyday challenge. I am not a morning person, I love my pillows and snuggling in the warmth of my bed, especially when its cold and they'd predict snow Friday 18 December.
My eyes stayed closed, not wanting to accept it was time to get up or what my body was doing; which was navigating around the bedroom in the dark. It was surprising how easy I found collecting the clothes I'd need: shorts, jogging bottoms, T-shirt, sweat-shirt and socks. I could tell by the texture which of my cloths I'd chosen but had to open my eyes to get the right socks.
Once dressed and properly stretched, I ventured outside on my run. The run was part of a training plan to enable me to run 10k everyday. I've been building up consecutive days running with a few rest days, like 3 on and then 3 off, then 4 on and 2 off, now 5 on and 2 off. The distances weren't the focus or an issue but getting my body used to the repetitive exercise; though I have been running between 6 & 8km each time.
Despite all this pre-conditioning training before my challenge I knew soon after committing to it I was going have to be innovative, clever and smart about how, when and what pace I ran to complete 365 consecutive days.
This run was part of that plan, I'd figured that if I ran one day at 8pm the next day at 6am and the following day at 8pm, I'd get 38 hours rest from day 2 to day 3; and that if I did that twice a week, I'd only be getting up early twice a week, with the 7th run being when I like as it should be the weekend!
The next challenge in my running routine was the exercise style, how & what pace would I be running? During my conditioning runs I'd thought hard about exercise style, realising pace was generally the average “distance over time” and I needed to complete each run in 50 to 55 minutes; making an average pace of 5 to 6mins per km, for 10km which if executed that simply was an extremely bad idea.
Time is a critical element to this challenge as well as being able to do it again the next day; being clever about how I ran was another requirement. Warming up, therefore, would need to be brief (heavy emphasis on stretching) and build the pace in the run slowly, gradually warming the muscles further during the exercise. A reverse strategy would be needed at the other end of the exercise so I could have a brief cool down (heavy emphasis on stretching again) and in doing so burn off the lactic build up. This strategy would mean running at a faster pace in the middle so the average pace equalled 5 to 6mins per km.
Tonight marks the 3rd week since the conception of the Challenge and although a media entourage, my focus on making the challenge happen and achieving the funds for Cancer Research is absolute. This blog was about sharing what was going on behind the scenes in making 10k everyday a reality.
That's it for now, not long until the first run. Please take the time to click and follow, share the 10k-everyday idea and encouraging others to following is as good as donating.
You can find micro blogging of this challenge at:
www.facebook.com/tbridle, www.linkedin.com/in/tbridle & www.twitter.com/timbridle
Send a friend request with 10k-everyday in it and I'll accept.
Have a good day and be well, Tim
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