Challenge

Tuesday 22nd June 2010

My 8 year old son Zac - who has severe autism - needs one-to-one attention at all times, and can't feed or dress himself. So we have a care-worker come in every school morning to help him get ready, as it is impossible for one person alone to do this whilst also getting 6 year old Luca and 1 year old Lily-Rose dressed and fed. (Trust me, it IS impossible!)

The care-worker is usually my mum, Sue, but she had to take dad to hospital this morning for heart tests, so my great friend Moby came instead. (Zac is unable to pronounce her real name, Rosemary, and has called her "Moby" since he was about 3... and it stuck!)

Anyway, what has all this got to do with running? Moby very kindly offered to look after sweet Lily-Rose once the boys were at school, so that I could go for a run. I knew this was probably the only chance I would get until Friday, so I jumped at the offer, totally against the advice of Katie Bertie, who is still concerned about my knee pain and recommended that I swim instead.

But my knees were feeling good after the frozen bean treatment on Sunday evening, so I decided to go ahead anyway, as I had a challenge in mind...

I have recently progressed to running 10K, but have never managed it in less than 70 minutes. Today, being beautifully sunny, calm and not-too-hot, seemed ideal for trying to improve my time. Also, I had on my iPhone a shiny new episode of my favourite podcast, Imprint, just waiting to be listened to, and it just happened to be 71 minutes long! So, if I could complete the distance before my podcast finished, I would win! (I am a HUGE fan of the Twilight saga, by Stephanie Meyer, and Imprint is the best Twilight fandom podcast out there - in my opinion! Check it out here.)

My chosen route was the Millenium Walkway, St Mary's Island, Chatham - a beautiful mile-long stretch along the River Medway. Running to the end and back 3 times (plus a tiny bit more) equates to 10K, according to the running app (using GPS) on my iPhone.

So, podcast on, I pressed start on my running app and set off, aiming for the sculpture of a ship's sail at the end of the walkway. I tried to aim for roughly 10 minute miles, and found this hard going and a slightly faster pace than I'm used to on road (treadmill is faster, but more tedious).

I made it to the end and back 3 times (plus the extra 4 lamp-posts to make it up to 10K!) and my podcast was still running! Checking my time, I was delighted to find I'd completed the distance in 64.46 - a new personal best! Not a great time admittedly, but for me it was a real achievement.

My knees were definitely protesting now - so straight on with the bags of frozen beans when I got back home. No chance to run till Friday now, but hopefully it will be long enough for them to recover!

Distance run (in miles): 6.2
Total distance this week: 9.3
Total since starting blog: 9.3