In January this year I set a mileage total on Fetch of 1000 miles. Easy I thought, 20 miles a week should do it. At the end of January, having done my 40 mile Birthday run, I was already 45miles ahead of target. This was one goal I wouldn't have a problem achieving. I was confident, perhaps overly so. Now I know I'm always harping on about my broken ankle, it was a big deal after all so give me a break right? (perhaps not a literal one......) Well, when that happened I slowly saw the extra miles being eaten away to the point where I was about 120 miles behind. Even after the ankle was all better, the numbers of miles I was running hardly touched the deficit.
As "luck" would have it, I had already entered Loch Ness Marathon in December 2008. This gave me the perfect opportunity to ramp up the miles and claw my way back. By December I was ahead of target again by about 30 miles. When Fiona introduced me to the Marcothon (running every day in December minimum of 3 miles/25mins whichever came first) getting to 1000 was going to be a breeze.
Funny how life has a nasty habit of throwing crap at you just when you least expect it. This time it came in the form of a chest infection which knocked me for six for a week or so and stopped me in my tracks for 12 days. The Marcothon challenge was a gonner and the 1000 mile target was heading in a similar direction. That, coupled with the stupidest weather the Fife Riviera has seen in a long time (snow, ice, snow, ice, ice and more ice....) was making this a challenge to be fought to the bitter end.
So nothing like cutting it fine, after trudging through the snow, squelching through the slush and skating around the ice this last week, it came down to the final run on the final day of the year to put it in the bag. A social run with a few club members initially organised for Dalmeny estate was altered about half a mile in due to more stupid ice, making conditions underfoot treacherous to say the least. We headed instead towards Hopeton House, mainly along the cleared and gritted roads (Fife Council take note.....) and celebrated on the return journey with hugs and congratulations as my watch read 4.4miles, the balance due, with an extra 1.5 at the end for good measure.
Phew!
As "luck" would have it, I had already entered Loch Ness Marathon in December 2008. This gave me the perfect opportunity to ramp up the miles and claw my way back. By December I was ahead of target again by about 30 miles. When Fiona introduced me to the Marcothon (running every day in December minimum of 3 miles/25mins whichever came first) getting to 1000 was going to be a breeze.
Funny how life has a nasty habit of throwing crap at you just when you least expect it. This time it came in the form of a chest infection which knocked me for six for a week or so and stopped me in my tracks for 12 days. The Marcothon challenge was a gonner and the 1000 mile target was heading in a similar direction. That, coupled with the stupidest weather the Fife Riviera has seen in a long time (snow, ice, snow, ice, ice and more ice....) was making this a challenge to be fought to the bitter end.
So nothing like cutting it fine, after trudging through the snow, squelching through the slush and skating around the ice this last week, it came down to the final run on the final day of the year to put it in the bag. A social run with a few club members initially organised for Dalmeny estate was altered about half a mile in due to more stupid ice, making conditions underfoot treacherous to say the least. We headed instead towards Hopeton House, mainly along the cleared and gritted roads (Fife Council take note.....) and celebrated on the return journey with hugs and congratulations as my watch read 4.4miles, the balance due, with an extra 1.5 at the end for good measure.
Phew!
Well done for finishing the year on a high! Hope 2010 is kinder to you :-)
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