Run The Date - Day 11
Date: Wednesday 11th September
Distance: 11 miles
Motivational quote: "The body achieves what the mind believes."
Sponsor: Rosie & Paul Dunning
Song: Acquiesce by Oasis
Running partner: Going solo
Weather: Dry but warm.
Fuel: Cheese rolls
Route: Three Hills Sports Park loops
Comments: The quote above is quite apt for today's route. I've always wanted to see if I could cope with a long loop run. I recently saw someone had completed 400 laps of an athletics track - a total of 100 miles. That is crazy. It is more a test of mental endurance than physical ability.
I'm not doing anything on that scale but I thought I'd try 10 miles. I chose Three Hills again as a lap of the cricket pitch is 400m like a standard track and it is grass so less impact on the joints.
I rested all day and went out in the evening. It was a half mile jog to the sports park and then I began to run in circles. I decided to go anti-clockwise as this is the standard direction in athletics. I put on my Run The Date playlist (search Spotify for runthedate) and off I went.
The wind was starting to get up as the remnants of Hurricane Dorian were due to pass over the next 24 hours. However, as I was going in circles the wind was only against me for half the lap and then behind me for the other half.
It was enjoyable singing along to Pulp, Led Zeppelin, Finley Quaye and others and counting the laps. After 20 loops I decided to turn and go the other way to even my legs up. This time the wind was more noticeable as the pavilion had been protecting me from the worst of the gusts.
I noticed that I had sped up from the 8 minute miles I started out at. At one point I was doing 7 minute miles and had to force myself to slow down to preserve my legs. It seemed to be over quite quickly as I completed my 36th lap and only had half a mile to go - the distance home.
The last time I listened to music while running was probably a couple of years ago, but I really liked having the songs to accompany my run. Going in circles wasn't as difficult as I feared either. A good session and I've now slipped below the 400 miles to go marker. 399 left.
I'm not doing anything on that scale but I thought I'd try 10 miles. I chose Three Hills again as a lap of the cricket pitch is 400m like a standard track and it is grass so less impact on the joints.
I rested all day and went out in the evening. It was a half mile jog to the sports park and then I began to run in circles. I decided to go anti-clockwise as this is the standard direction in athletics. I put on my Run The Date playlist (search Spotify for runthedate) and off I went.
The wind was starting to get up as the remnants of Hurricane Dorian were due to pass over the next 24 hours. However, as I was going in circles the wind was only against me for half the lap and then behind me for the other half.
It was enjoyable singing along to Pulp, Led Zeppelin, Finley Quaye and others and counting the laps. After 20 loops I decided to turn and go the other way to even my legs up. This time the wind was more noticeable as the pavilion had been protecting me from the worst of the gusts.
I noticed that I had sped up from the 8 minute miles I started out at. At one point I was doing 7 minute miles and had to force myself to slow down to preserve my legs. It seemed to be over quite quickly as I completed my 36th lap and only had half a mile to go - the distance home.
The last time I listened to music while running was probably a couple of years ago, but I really liked having the songs to accompany my run. Going in circles wasn't as difficult as I feared either. A good session and I've now slipped below the 400 miles to go marker. 399 left.
