pickupthepacepaul

Happy Easter. On 9 April 2023, Easter Sunday, I ran my 9th marathon in 9 days. I woke up extra early to get an early start, and try to finish before the path got busy with the inevitable Easter Sunday walkers. Surprisingly I felt pretty good as I woke up this morning, and was raring to go. Catch up on the 10 in 10 so far: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8.

Today’s theme was Unbreakable: not liable to break or able to be broken easily. I physically felt good as I got started, and began the first couple of miles at sub 4 pace. But very quickly I just didn’t feel like putting the effort in. I felt lazy, and that is the theme for you to listen to whilst you read my blog.

As I approached the turn for the first lap, there was an outdoor sermon, a lovely celebration of Easter. I didn’t feel too bad, but equally, I definitely didn’t feel like pushing for sub 4. I wanted to keep myself below 4:30, and so I kept my pace between 9 and 10 min miles.

As always, it was great to see all the familiar faces as we past each other. There were also more single day runners who turned up for the event. My focus for the day was knowing that my boy was planning to come and run the final lap with me. Phoenix Running is a timed event. When Rik used to do a mass start event he would give a briefing, and I remember him saying: 8 laps for a marathon,  4 laps for a half, 9 or more is an ultra, complete 1 lap and you are a finisher and a winner in our eyes. There are plenty of people that come and do 1 lap and are a finisher. Benjamin ran a lap with me the other day, but today, I paid for an entry so he could get an official medal for taking part, making it a special day for him.

The rest of my run, I just took steady, counting down the laps until I would be joined by my boy. Nothing hurt today, but my calves are very tight. The last few days, I’ve used my Pulseroll minigun on my calves, and they have been so tender and sore. I just need to look after them now and make it through the final day.

Finally I made it to my last lap and my boy was waiting for me. He was counted down, and then we were off. I asked Benjamin to set the pace for us because I wanted this to be enjoyable for him. It was nice to be able to just run with him and chat. I love this quality time with him.

We ran at his pace, so this was naturally a little faster than what I was running. But it felt easier than before, I had been looking forward to this lap. I was careful not to push him too hard, and I eased off a little halfway through as he seemed to be struggling a little. Towards the end, he said we should speed up for the finish. I agreed, but as soon as we could see the finish line, that was it, he sprinted off. Before I knew it, he was a few metres ahead of me, so I had to pick up the pace to try and keep up. He easily beat me to the finish line, and it was great to collect our medals together.

Tomorrow is the finish. It was originally the plan for Benjamin to run tomorrow with me, but it is supposed to be raining and that is why he did today with me instead. That is 9 out of 10 marathons done, and I’ve hit 43% of my fundraising target. If you can please help me to hit the target for Cancer Research.

Today I finished in 4:19:25 which I’m really happy with. When I think back to day 1, I finished in 4:16 after really struggling in the last lap, and on day 2, I took it more steadily and finished in 4:26. So getting a solid sub 4:20 on day 9, the day after a 3:52, is really good progress. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.