Does sitting around in fields eating, drinking and listening to bands count as tapering? If so I should be in good for me my next race on Saturday… August has been holiday season for me. Due to a serious amount of time on airplanes travelling to Latin America for work and a couple of weekends lost at festivals, August has been my lowest mileage month of the year having completed just 130.7 miles. If every month was like this I would be coming up several hundred miles short at year end. Thankfully I got some good mileage in July, now to crank up the activity in September too!
This month I have 2 races planned, including a return to the event that was my race debut – The Apperley Quarter Marathon and an event that is described as one of the world’s premier half-marathons, The Great North Run.
When I think my back to first race I remember feeling so nervous as I lined up with the other runners. Although I’d been training for just under 3 months and built up my fitness to a good level, I had no idea how I would do in race. The last race I’d been in before this would have been at school more than 20 years earlier and I probably came last. I remember wondering how I would feel as other runners past me and if it would bring back memories of being one of the least sporty kids in school. The reality was that I loved it. I ran faster than I thought I could and when I finished in 54 mins and 42 seconds I was ecstatic, even if my wife and kids thought I looked like I was about to collapse!
So far this year I have completed 9 races including my first FULL MARATHON! My races this year have included the Disney 5k, Gloucester 10k, Adidas Silverstone Half Marathon, Warwick Castle Half Marathon, Plymouth Half Marathon, Edinburgh Marathon, the Two Castles 10k, the British 10k London Run and the Isle of Wight Half Marathon.
This month I completed:
- 58.7 miles of running
- 72 miles of cycling
My total mileage for the year so far is 1,438.3 miles, broken down as follows:
- 712.8 miles of running
- 687.8 miles of cycling
- 24.8 miles of rowing
- 4.7 miles on an elliptical trainer
- 6.0 miles of walking
- 2.1 miles of swimming
Why Am I Doing 2013 Miles in 2013?
This year I am trying to complete 2013 miles self-powered miles. It is has been 10 years since my cousin’s son Adam lost his fight with Cystic Fibrosis. Adam was just 18 years old when when he lost his lifelong battle with CF, the UK’s most common life-threatening inherited disease. Despite spending large parts of his short life in hospital Adam never once complained, not even of a headache and was determined to make the most of everyday.
My 2013 miles in 2013 challenge is in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust as I have been surprised since I started fundraising for the CF Trust just how many people are unaware of this disease and so I hope my efforts will not just raise money, but also awareness of the UK’s most most common life-threatening inherited disease.
2013 Miles in 2013 – The rules
The rules for my 2013 miles in 2013 challenge are quite simple:
- All miles must be completely self powered (no motors, sails, etc)
- I must be able to evidence all miles, either via GPS or with a picture of any static gym equipment
To complete my 2013 miles I will be running, cycling, rowing and who knows, I might even try a few other self powered methods along the way.
