Attempting a 1,030 mile run is just as much a mental challenge as it is physical, and so it is important to have a mental approach.
I am particularly fascinated by the concept that fatigue is linked to perception of effort and I've been using this notion to build to build a "mental narrative" or what my brain will be communicating to my legs in an effort to convince them that this is not hard...😂
This exercise started with me acquiring a map of Britain showing many of the long-distance paths. The first thing I did was add 4 stars, which I placed on Bristol, Preston, Abington & Fort Augustus, marking the rest days and also the divisions between the 5 weeks. And thus the mental narrative starts - I'm now not running 1,030 miles, instead I am doing 5 week-long runs of about 200 miles (and I've been doing up to 185 in training).
Then, as I've done training runs, I've marked the significant ones on the map. So the yellow dots & dashes mark the "Wales in a week" run. The green dots & dashes show the days I've done on the actual Run Brit route I've completed, including all of the days (per the Run Brit splits) between Carlisle and Fort William. The yellow dots between Peebles & Jedburgh mark a 44 mile run (equivalent to the longest on Run Brit) and the full Blue Peter effect is completed with some bling & photos from both the November Nightmare (7 marathons in 7 days) and the Tanzanian week, which reinforce some of those bigger training weeks. It thus become something of a map of self-belief.
Week 1 - We will come back to...
Week 2 - Is basically running the length of Wales. "So legs, you've done this before", sure this time it will be slightly further and in 6 rather than 7 days, BUT this time there will be a support crew, they will provide water & goodies every 10 miles or so. There will be no snow or freezing fog this time and there will nice long days, not getting dark at 4.30pm. "So week 2 is easy legs - no fatigue should be expected..."
Plus bonus - I get to see Helen at the end of week 2.
Week 3 - This is the shortest week of the trip. Much of it on roads, making for faster going and more recovery time. There will be many familiar places and landmarks this week:
- Day 1 - Pass through Garstang where my sister & nephew live, who I hope to see, and I've done a marathon on the canal towpath there
- Day 2 - Get to Kendal - halfway & familiar from when my folks had a holiday cottage near there
- Day 3 - High Street (the hill!) which is the highest point of the run & I've done it before inc on a MTB
- Day 4 - In to Carlisle where I hope to be joined by Pete from the Moorfoots
- Day 5 - We are then on to the 7 days of the route I have recce'd, plus we complete running the length of England and enter Scotland. [At this point if injury forces retirement then one has at least run the length of England which is a decent effort]
- Day 6 - Closest section of the route to home and thus the possibility of some support. It's a straightforward 53k plod up the B7076.
Week 4 - 5 of the 6 days of this week I've recce'd and while there are some tough mental bits (alongside M74 for hours) the reward is an interesting route through Glasgow and then on to the West Highland Way which will feel very familiar "home turf". The only day I haven't done is the last day which is fairly flat up the Great Glen.
Week 5 - After the rest day there is just one day of running before you start to see road signs showing "Inverness and the South". At that point you have to believe!
So this all really comes back to week 1. The feedback from the 2023 cohort is if you can handle the milage of week 1, then you can do this (injury aside). We should be fresh and adrenalin will be high. I will be telling myself that I've done 185 mile weeks in training so no need to be concerned about the first 185 miles. And when we get to that point in the week it will pretty much be the last 44 mile day where the narrative will switch to "You've done a 44 mile day before legs & it was much hillier than this".
In truth the one aspect I am slightly anxious about is the first 3 days where there is some running along cliff-tops on the South West Coastal Path. I don't particularly enjoy running (or walking) near precipitous drops and so I've been working with a performance hypnotherapist (Ryan Scott) on that. Getting to Boscastle and the end of the exposed costal sections is thus an early but significant point in the run for me.
Aside from the vertigo challenge, the first 3 days are big days with lots of ups & downs on the coastal path with all days in the 57-59km range. So no gentle intro here - need to be on my "A Game" from the off.
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