Saturday 2 May 2009

80 miles, here we come!

I must admit that anticipating the start of my running week a day earlier than usual is a little bit strange. The USA 2011 training schedule is 6 months down the line now and is close to being like a well oiled machine! The beginning of the training week has been a Monday all of that time. As of this week, though, the start of the week is Sunday. It may sound trivial but I can see already how it is going to make a big difference to my training. 

I have alternated between a week of running followed by a week in the gym followed by a week of running and so on..... The slightest change to that routine gives the week a totally different complex and I'm looking forward to being able to get out into the Pennines on day 1 tomorrow with fresh legs. Or as fresh as they can be after today's very tough Beach Bootcamp. Is it just me or is David Fairlamb making the session tougher each week lately? That's not a complaint by the way! The tide was in at Tynemouth Beach this morning which meant that the majority of the session was done on soft sand! Ouch!
 
Tomorrow's run will see me start at Stanhope Ford, run 5 very hilly miles south on the B6278 before heading back again. The summit of the run and 5 mile point is pictured. The total overall ascent for this run will be approximately 1860 ft which will be quite a challenge. The forecast doesn't look too bad for tomorrow and hopefully the wind isn't going to be anywhere near as bad as last week.

I'm going to try and post a video entry on the blog tomorrow. It may or may not work out but it could be the first of many if all goes to plan. I think for many readers, putting faces and places to names will be a nice change and hopefully it will attract a few more readers of this site.

In the meantime, tomorrow's run will hopefully get this week of to a good start as I attempt to run 80 miles over the next 7 days. I'll hopefully, be updating the blog daily to keep you posted with progress. Also, there is a lot of research and organising currently being done behind the scenes. The USA run starts in 2 years time this Monday. I'll be monitoring and recording the weather conditions at the corresponding place that I'll be on the actual run each day from Monday and the following 100 days. I'm also looking into Visa requirements, accommodation, attracting corporate sponsorship, budgets, funding etc etc etc. It's fair to say that it's all go at the minute!