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22. 3000 miles of advice

I had some good news from my recent webinar with the crew and participants for the run in June.  The longest day is shorter than I thought!  40 miles rather than 44.  That will make a huge difference.  That made me smile.  Also, I'm not sure whether this is good news or not, but with all the mileage I'm doing, everything else but my knee hurts! How to prevent injuries and treat anything that does occur has been part of my learning. With this in mind, a while ago I had a chat with Chris Finill (thanks for the introduction Graham).  Google 'The 3000 mile men' and watch on youtube.  'Wow' is all I could say.  He got me to read James Shapiro - Meditations from the Breakdown Lane: Running Across America - the book that inspired Chris to run across USA in 2011.  3100 miles in just under 80 days.   Not that this is Chris's only achievement.  He is no ordinary runner.  He's the Guinness World Record holder for consecutive sub 3 ho...
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2. Why not?

The doubts subside and I'm sleeping better and getting excited.  Telling more people makes it real.   "Why are you doing this?" asks just about anyone* I've already bored with my plan, with a look of pained perplexion on their faces. (*Ultrarunners I know excepted - they just want to know more) So I've been reminding myself that running is actually quite enjoyable.  Yes it's hard, and yes there are times that I'd rather be sat relaxing in front of the wood-burning stove/drinking aperol spritz in the summer sun (delete as applicable depending on what time of the year you're reading this).  But never after I've done a run - I'm always thankful I did it.  And this type of ultra running is slow and it's ok to walk up hills. If you're out of breath you're running too fast. That sounds good, no?  The challenge on a really long run is how much you can eat to keep fuelled up. I love food.  It's just how my body reacts to it during the r...
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1. Thanks Matt

So, let's start.    Rewind 7 months to the daily dot-watching. My friend Matt is doing Lands End to John O'Groats (LEJOG). Running. 1000+ miles on trails. Averaging 33 miles a day. Every day. One day off a week. For 5 weeks. The dot from his satellite tracker on the app moves slowly but surely. He's a pro.  Childhood memories of pictures in the Guinness Book of Records. A sense of completing the impossible. Glorious summer weather. Pictures of the group completing it together. I’m hooked.  A congratulatory discussion on his triumphant return.  Me: ‘I've got to do this’  Matt: ‘You can do this - but one step at a time. Do an ultra first’  Me: ‘Ah…fair point. I'd better try one then’.  2 months later, the 30 mile Minster to Minster ultra completed. And a further 6 weeks later, 35 mile Ripon Ultra completed. I can do this! But every day for 5 weeks solid? There's places on the same LEJOG run for June 2025. I couldn't, could I? I'm a newbie, a noo...
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