But then… the fact that I’d never done anything like it before also seemed like a good reason to do it. So, I signed up. <\/p>\n
Training for the Run<\/strong><\/p>\n I didn’t have a very scientific training plan – it was basically “go for a run when I can spare time in an evening or lunch break”. My first run was in the last week of February. I managed a couple of miles around Hursley. And that was in total – I had to stop and walk a few times on the way round. <\/p>\n I recorded most of my runs in dailymile<\/a> – one of the things dailymile can give you is a total number of miles ran each month:<\/p>\n There was a blip in Apr-May – when I went to Cyprus for what was supposed to be a week, and got stuck there for a few weeks when the volcanic ash cloud grounded all flights. And when I did get home, I’d gotten out of the habit of running, so didn’t do anything for another few weeks. All in all, I ended up going six weeks without a run – putting me back almost where I’d started in February.<\/p>\n In the last week in May, I started again – and from there, I kept trying to increase my pace and my distance. <\/p>\n According to dailymile, in total my training consisted of running 152.21 miles which I spent nearly twenty seven hours doing. To be fair, that’s a pretty big investment, time-wise. <\/p>\n The big day<\/strong><\/p>\n I got ill a couple of days before the Run, so was feeling pretty rough. But I was determined not to miss the Run. <\/p>\n And I’m glad I didn’t. It was an amazing day. The feeling of joining over twenty-three thousand fellow runners, the support you get from thousands of people cheering and clapping you all on, the sense of achievement once you’ve done it… it’s indescribable. <\/p>\n And for me – it was a hell of an achievement. Back in February, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it – to run ten miles, in one go, without stopping. For me – the lazy, non-sporty geek – this was a really big deal. I’ve never done anything like this before. <\/p>\n The result<\/strong><\/p>\n All entrants get a chip to go on your trainer. The mats on the floor at the start and finish (and a few other locations for split times) record when your chip goes past. This means you get a very accurate personal race time<\/a>. <\/p>\n They even SMS it to three mobile numbers that you nominate before the run. It’s pretty cool.<\/p>\n My time was 1hr 44mins. <\/p>\n![\"number](\"http:\/\/i267.photobucket.com\/albums\/ii311\/dale_lane\/dailymile-miles.png\")
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