pickupthepacepaul

On 10th May 2021 I took part in my 2nd of 11 marathons in 11 days. The challenge starts today. I concentrated on recovery yesterday, where I would often usually neglect this part. This morning, Day 2, I was surprised how good I felt. My muscles were a little tired, but honestly they always are. I didn’t feel much different than I usually would, and I guess that’s down to my recovery and pacing yesterday. I did have a few aches but that is to be expected.

I started off today with the same aim as Day 1, to run in 3:59. I actually wanted to get it as close as possible to yesterday’s official time of 3:59:27 and see how long I can keep the consistency. A sub 4 is usually 9:09 min miles, but on this trail it always comes up a little long and so I try and average around 8:59.

It was good to see lots of familiar faces. My 11 in 11 may be unique, in that I added an extra one because I was trying to run Richmond Marathon and Ten in Ten (TiT). But today I was surrounded by people doing a combination of personal challenges, including some doing 10 in 10, but also a few doing 20 in 20. Running is a great sport when you can leave the ego at the door and enjoy being surrounded by a whole range of people. Some turn up and complete just inside the time limit, others fly by lapping me. Whilst I’m taking on the hugest multi day challenge I’ve ever considered, others are there with me doing double.

It is important to stick to your own challenge. As people ran past me today, I kept a controlled pace and tried to stay as consistent as possible, with an unofficial time of 3:59:29. Tomorrow is uncharted territory for me. Today I felt good, but my legs are obviously tired, but tomorrow I want to do the same again. I may have just had so much McDonald’s that I feel dirty, but when I get home it will be time to rest and recover.

Rik has said he is sending us out in the other route, in the other direction. This is slightly tighter in places, the ground is less even, and there will be muddy puddles, and a blue bridge I will have to go over 16 times. So it will be more difficult, and I will have to work out length of the course as it won’t be identical to the last 2 days.

I am happy that I’ve raised over £2,300 for Cancer Research. Thank you for your generosity. I also still have 35 medals left for the #FunbusMarathon For you to complete your own virtual challenge and get one of my amazing medals, so it’s not to late to get involved.