10 in 10
It's been an odd year so far. I set myself the goal of running 52 half marathons in 52 weeks. One a week. A sensible target. A year taking it a bit easier after a big year in 2020.
The first two weeks were fine. The half marathons then turned into marathons and I found myself running one every weekend. Sometimes upping the distance to an Ultra. Six in six weeks. I was loving the hours out there exploring and taking time to be by myself and unwind while seeing people.
Inevitably the wheels fell off. My right knee screamed after 20 miles of the sixth run. Out of the blue. One minute it was fine, the next I was hobbling around and rubbing it roughly - as if that would make any difference.
At this point I was at the Emirates Skyline so bought a ticket and hopped over the water so at least I was on the right side of the river. Now I still had six miles to go. I necked some ibuprofen and pushed on knowing I was only making it worse.
Result? Another marathon completed. Home in time for lunch. A knee that was swollen and too painful to run on.
This forced me to take two weeks off. Ibuprofen gel, Kinesio tape, a bag of frozen peas and a pile of paperbacks seemed to do the trick, but boy was I a miserable bugger.
A couple of short test runs confirmed the knee was better and so I planned a half. That went well so I did another. It was during that run that I let myself consider running 10 half marathons in 10 days. Why?
With me I have an idea and it won't leave until I have at least tried to achieve it. Preferably succeeded.
TEN IN TEN
So it was that the ten in ten began. Annoyingly I had already run a half on the Tuesday and then had a rest day so when I started on the Thursday I was cursing myself for not having made the Tuesday my start. Now I would be doing 11 in 12 days.
Nevertheless I managed the distance on day one. I chose a route that kept me mostly on trails to protect my knee. I headed south to Beckenham Park and basically ran in random directions until I hit 11 miles and then came home. The Strava map looked like a plate of Spaghetti.
Day two I again aimed for trails and broke out my new Asics GT-2000's for extra cushioning. This time I went east and through Eltham, Oxley Woods and back. The 30mph wind didn't help on the return.
On the third day I rose again and ran west to Brockhill Park via Dulwich Park. I don't know why but I love running here. Loads of runners, hills, green spaces and a relaxed vibe.
Time to go north to complete the compass points. I ran along the Old Kent Road, stopped for a saltena and then came back along the Thames Path. Unfortunately I had gone a bit far when I chose to turn around at London Bridge instead of Tower Bridge and ended up doing 15 miles. My knees both ached but no pain as such.
On day five I chose to go south again and headed through the lovely Kelsey Park to see the nesting herons. Dozens of them in the trees on their huge piles of sticks. When I reached Bromley I was lost so I followed another runner until I got my bearings. From there it was simply a case of following the Ravensbourne River home.
My legs were tender on day six so I again opted to run on trails. This time loops of Ladywell Park. Each loop is exactly one mile so 13 loops. Easy right? Except I twice paused my watch and forgot. Once to have a drink and stretch and the second time for a call of nature. Thankfully I noticed, but not until I had run two phantom laps. So it was another 15 mile day as I wanted Strava to show the full 13.1.
I left it late on day seven and did a night run. This time I stayed close to home and ran the streets. It soon became quite monotonous running up and down each road but I had a couple of good podcasts on - Adam Buxton Podcast featuring Kazuo Ishiguro and The Rambling Runner Podcast that kept me going.
Not much of a rest as I was out again the next morning - day eight. This time I explored the route of the Ravensbourne River from Lower Sydenham through Catford, Lewisham and Deptford. There was some great new street art by Deptford Creek and when I arrived at the Thames the tide was further out than I have seen before.
A chat with fellow Bald Monkey John Lawrence helped the miles fly by and I felt stronger than I had the last few days.
For day nine I had no idea where to run. I dropped my daughter at school and just headed off. It was a lovely spring morning and the flowers, blossom and, in particular Magnolia trees were beginning to appear. I lost count of the number of times I stopped to take a photo, but I was in no hurry.
I ended up at Beckenham Park again and then headed to Kelsey Park for more photos. This time the first duckling of the year. From there I cut through Beckenham to Penge and managed to find some new street art. I could see the radio tower at Crystal Palace and did a lap of the park before heading back.
The final day. I had started to wonder about keeping the streak going, but I didn't want to push my luck having just returned from injury. Anyway, where would it end? 13, 20, 31, 50.... For the last one I set off with a vague idea that I would run towards Kidbrooke. Don't know why. My legs felt strong and I began to pace myself at tempo speed (roughly a stride of two paving slabs at a time with my usual cadence). Before I knew it I was heading up a long hill towards Woolwich and hitting 7:30 pace.
Over the crest of the hill and down the other side and I was flying. The sweat was pouring. It felt great. I diverted through Maryon Wilson park and across the A206 to the Thames Barrier and onto the Thames Path. I headed around the Greenwich Peninsula, past the O2 Arena and into Greenwich proper. The path was packed, but I was in the zone and ploughed through. I was on for a sub 7:30 min/mile half and forced myself to keep pushing despite the pain and exhaustion.
On into Deptford and the last two miles were just a case of head down and grit it out, twisting and turning down random roads trying to keep on the flat. I finished in 1:37:11, my fifth fastest time at the distance.
Job done. 10 x 13.1 in 10 days.
