Day 147 was another treadmill effort completed in 03:11:52. The relentless daily habit had become work, tactical snooze, eat, run, shower and sleep. Donna had to wake me up from the sleep at 7pm. I would have slept through otherwise. It’s fair to say that I’m extremely tired.
There may be light at the end of the tunnel when I have my first full week off work soon. That will be my my chance to break this vicious cycle of late night running. For someone who is usually in bed by 2130, these constant late nights are really tough to deal with. Thankfully, I’m at my most awake once my tea has digested and I get running. It’s working for now but at a cost of having to sleep between 1 and 3 hours after work. It’s not sustainable.
All of this makes for a fascinating challenge. Finding a way to do all things all of the time while keeping the 365 campaign alive is all part of the “fun”.
Day 148 and 149 were the fourth and fifth consecutive nights of running on the treadmill and took 03:10:00 and 03:27:28 to complete respectively.
Day 150 was split into two parts in order to accommodate some brunch with Donna and Órlaith. The first section was an 8.25 mile route to The Courtyard restaurant at Pegswood. An average pace of 13 and a half minutes was powered by thoughts of the up and coming breakfast. It was a lovely warm morning. Perfect conditions for running.
I reached Pegswood just in time for Donna and Órlaith arriving in the car. I'm pleased to report that the breakfast did not disappoint. The poached egg, in particular, was simply superb.
The remaining miles were done in the early evening. I headed west towards the end of Stannington Station Road then back home. I felt very heavy legged and had to walk some of it. I used it as an active recovery in the end. A final time of 03:30:27 for the day was a bit of a disaster given the quicker first session.
Day 151, 152 and 153 were treadmill efforts in 03:28:45, 03:27:51 and 03:26:14.
Day 154 was a run home from work. My usual tactic was put into action - a slow start up the Great North Road, then a lift in pace through Wideopen followed by top speed to Stannington.
I usually enjoy the quiet stretch from Seaton Burn roundabout to Stannington. However, I noticed a large volume of traffic constantly coming my way. It's a wide road but was made narrow by the standing water caused by a sudden downpour of rain.
I assumed there was an accident somewhere on the A1 but couldn't quite figure out why there was so much oncoming traffic. All became clear when I reached the slip road onto the Northbound A1. There was an accident in the distance and the northbound traffic were using the adjoining one way ramp to turn back towards Blagdon and Seaton Burn.
As I neared the crash site I kept my eyes firmly fixed forward. I'm not sure how many vehicles were involved but the A1 was at a complete standstill in both directions. The knock on effect in Stannington and Stannington Station Road was immense. It's easily the most amount of vehicles that I've ever seen there. I was able to use it to my advantage and pick up the pace even more since the traffic was barely moving.
The traffic eased off when I reached Nedderton. I reached the finish line in 03:17:07. I summed it up on the Run Geordie Run Facebook page as "I’m battling exhaustion but there is quality to be had here and there.".
Day 155 was a run from work up to Newcastle Airport and back. My legs felt very heavy and I managed to get round in 03:35:42.
Day 156 was a slow one on the treadmill with very heavy legs which started at 8pm. A time of 03:35:11 meant that I just avoided the midnight cutoff.
