I have never been a particularly good runner but it’s something I enjoy doing and I’ve run a handful of marathons over the years (nothing particularly fast so don’t be too impressed!). This year, though, is a little different. I have set myself a running challenge that will really test me: to run at least 10K every day throughout 2016 in a bid to raise money for St. Mary’s Hospice. St Mary’s Hospice provides specialised supportive and palliative care for people with life limiting conditions throughout South Cumbria where I live.
Regardless of the aches and pains, regardless of my travels, regardless of the weather and regardless of my work commitments, I’ll be doing my utmost to keep to my goal of running at least 10K each and every day of the year, and will be looking to raise 10K (£10,000) for charity in the process. The distance itself isn’t so bad, but doing it ‘day in, day out’ is going to be really challenging. It means that I’m running the equivalent of around a marathon every 4 days – throughout the year.
I’m preferring to run off-road most of the time, to minimise impact on my joints, often accompanied by our dog, George, who loves coming out with me but must be covering about five times the distance I am doing due to the amount he runs back and forth. It’s quite hilly where I live and already I’ve clocked over 300 miles and completed more than 30,000 feet of ascent (that’s higher than Everest is from sea level!).
And it has already been testing at times. When in Turkey recently, I knew I was going to be busy all day (attending the World Tourism Forum, followed by a blogger event in the evening), so got up at around 6am in order to pound the streets of Istanbul in darkness before the long day ahead. I did at least get to see a lovely sunrise on that occasion.
I’ve also suffered with Achilles tendonitis a little, but am managing to keep those pains at bay by rolling the backs of my calf muscles over a rolling pin (sounds odd, I know, but it was a tip I picked up on YouTube and it seems pretty effective should any fellow sufferers wish to know!). And just a couple of days ago, I fell whilst out on my run, hurting my knee and a rib (I’m wondering if I’ve cracked a rib), so yesterday’s run proved to be particularly challenging… but I’m pleased to say I made it despite the discomfort!
I’ll be reporting on my progress from time to time, primarily on my justgiving page, so please follow me there. If you could be so kind as to make a donation, that would be really appreciated – your money will go to a great cause. If you aren’t able to donate, if you could simply share this page with friends or on your social media channels, that would be fantastic also. Thank you for your support!
You can make a donation by visiting my JustGiving page at http://www.justgiving.com/notanother10k – thank you!
