Fed up with ordinaryExtra ordinary is where it's at

Last night I went out for my first real run.

I went through the local parks and according to Google Maps I ran about 3 miles in 35 minutes. I say ran, but there was a bit of walking in there too.

So how did it feel? I’d love to be able to say I feel great and after a while the endorphins kicked in and made it easy, but that would be a big fat lie. It was hard. Not in the way I was expecting though.

I’ve not done any real exercise for a good while now, probably years, and I thought that I would get horribly out of breath and my heart would stop. It didn’t. The hardest thing was stopping all the mental screaming that my body was doing.

No sooner as I started to run my body complained loudly. It was as though my thoughts were ambushed by screaming children. “Do you know your legs are sore? You are aware that you’re getting out of breath? All this running is making me hurt!”

Resisting those shouts and the demands to stop was really hard. In the end I started tricking myself to stop them. I’d say, “I’ll just run to that bench” but then run passed it and snigger. Then I’d say, “Just to the next road, then I’ll stop” and still keep going. Strangely this seemed to work. The voices died down and I started to realise that my body was coping pretty well actually.

Then the burps and farts started. Why is it that when you run you burp and fart? Or is it just me? It was quite embarrassing to be honest. After about a mile they too stopped.

The other major difficulty I found was pace setting. Because I’m not used to running, finding a pace that was right proved difficult. I started off with a pace that was way too fast. I got to the end of the first park in about 4 minutes. I was expecting it to take closer to 7. That was why I was so knackered! I walked for about 100 meters to catch my breath and set off again, slower. Much slower.

I built up speed to a pace that felt easy and the rest of the run was pretty good.

By the time I was back where I started I’d done the 3 miles and started my warm down walk home. Strangely walking felt wrong and so I ran back home too. Only another few hundred meters but they all count.

Getting in I realised I had no real idea of what to do now. I’d eaten tea already and it was 8:30pm but I was hungry. Should I eat after a run? If so, what? I drank lots of water and opted to eat a handful of nuts and a plum. Much more research is needed into pre and post running foods and diet in general.

This morning I don’t feel too bad. I ache less than I imagined but it still hurts. I’m starting to realise there is a lot I don’t know about running. I’ve no idea if I should run again today or rest until it doesn’t hurt?

But all that will have to wait for a day at least. Real life is calling and I’ve work that needs to be done. I’m in London tomorrow and so this stuff I can read about on the train on the way there and back.

Okay, so I’m signed up to this and my wife is too. It’s just the goal I need to get into shape and challenge myself.

But reality is slowly starting to hit. Did I really say we’d run the whole way? Can we walk? And do it in two weeks? Can we drive some of the way?

Crap. I’ve got to get fit. Properly fit.

I went for a “test run” this morning to the shops for some milk and to see what sort of shape I was in. I took the long way round so it was, ooh, half a mile and I was knackered. Worse than that was the fact that  it was mentally hard! As soon as I started I’m fighting the voice in my head saying, just walk, go on you don’t need to run, you’ve plenty of time to get fit…

I was pleased that I fought on for my half a mile and didn’t stop. That’s good news I guess. The bad news is that I’ll need to be able to run 52 times that far, every day for 6 days.

Shit!

I’ve been watching Eddie Izzard’s mammoth marathon marathon since it started. I’d started following him on Twitter a week or so previously and wasn’t sure what he was doing but I knew he was doing a lot of running.

Life continued as normal…

After about a week it hit me – Eddie Izzard is running a marathon a day, with one day off a week, for seven weeks. Hang on, did you say Eddie Izzard? The comedian and actor? The, and he would agree I think, not very fit, normal man on the street? But that’s insane. It can’t be done. Surely.

I’d read about crazy ultra marathon runners like Dean Karnazes before, but he’s a nutter! The man runs a marathon each day before breakfast! He’s not human. But Eddie Izzard, well, he’s a bit out of shape, like me. He’s a normal bloke, like me. And he’s older than me!

But day in, day out, come rain or shine Eddie has kept going. Mostly by himself, without fanfare or mass public knowledge, just painful, boring running.

Then the other day, perhaps it was as Eddie drew close to Sheffield, something happened to me. I wanted to run. To do something crazy like Eddie. Not for charity, not for a good cause, just for me. I’m fed up of ordinary. I’m fed up with the mindset that says you can’t run like Forest Gump without years of training.

Suddenly the idea hit me – let’s run the coast to coast in a week. That’s about a marathon a day for 6 days with a day to spare!

I ran the idea past a good mate and he’s in too. So, next spring we’re running coast to coast or we’ll die trying… but hopefully we’ll live!