pickupthepacepaul

And that’s a wrap. 10 marathons in 10 days complete. I embarked on the journey for 10 marathons in 10 days in order to raise money for Cancer Research. Over the last couple of years, my fitness has deteriorated, and so this was never going to be easy. In fact, running 1 marathon is never easy, so 10 in 10 days was always going to push me to my limits both mentally and physically. I am pleased to say that on 10 April 2023, I finished my 10th marathon in 10 days. See how each event went: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9.

Today’s theme was invincible: too powerful to be defeated or overcome. As always, this is a very fitting description of all the runners today. To continue running for 10 days, we all feel pretty invincible.

Today was all about finishing, to finish my 10 marathons in 10 days. I felt very strong coming into this, and I actually thought I could probably push to get the best time of the series. The only problem was the weather. It rained all night, and it was still raining when we started. It also rained for about 90% of my run, the skies only clearly after I had finished. To be honest, I’m not too bothered about a little bit of rain, that’s not the problem, it is the impact on the course. Of the two routes, we went on the one, which is worse when wet. It was full of mud and puddles, which only got worse throughout our run.

I started off with a sub 4 pace, and for the first lap, I thought perhaps I could get my fastest time of the 10 days. I struggled a little with the slippery ground, so I settled for a solid sub 4 and maintained this for the first 3 laps. By this time, the puddles were getting bigger, so it was useless trying to avoid them. Instead, I ran through them. But worst of all, the mud was getting really slippery. I was feeling OK, but my calves were starting to feel sensitive. Now, if we rewind to last night and the last few precious nights, my calves have been very sore and sensitive. I’ve been using my Pulseroll massage gun, which has helped but have been very painful. I didn’t want to risk injury by pushing myself and slipping, with weakened muscles that could snap. Instead, I eased back to take the pressure off. I finished the first half in sub 4 pace but then progressively slowed for the second half.

In the second half, it was nice to congratulate everyone on their final day, and I was just counting down. Just 8 laps today, but 80 laps in total over the 10 days.

It was fantastic to finally see the finish and run in with a respectable 4:11:44 to finish my 10 in 10. This was actually my 3rd fastest time of the 10 days. Most importantly, I was in one piece and felt pretty good.

It was great to see my family at the finish, and I had booked a table at the Weir Pub, where we had lovely fish and chips, and I had a few ciders. So that is the end of this challenge. I have finished just under 50% of my fundraising target and am now thinking about the next challenge. What challenges do you have coming up?