All Good Things

• Posted: December 2, 2008
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• Author: Shéamus
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• Filed under: Uncategorized
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• Tags: No tags set for this entry.

It’s been almost a month since my last update, and it’s for good reason - I stopped running pretty much around that time.

I’m not especially proud of it. I’d hoped to continue my streak, but the week of November 9 I had a hell of time. First of all, the weather was beyond tolerable. I actually ran on November 10 - or started to, at least - but the wind that day was 70mph. Seventy miles per hour! This is England, isn’t it? After five minutes of basically running on the spot I turned around and went back home.

I’d planned to try again later that same day but found myself instead spending several hours with my bank manager trying to track down my lost salary cheque. I was beyond broke at this stage and when the cheque was finally located and cleared it was after 5pm. The wind had not ceased.

I figured losing one day wasn’t the end of the world; sure, the streak was over, but it was pretty much unavoidable on that day. I’d just pick myself up the next day and start over.

This was also my birthday week. Whilst out celebrating with my brother - and any sentence that starts that way never ends well - I took a nasty tumble whilst not paying much attention to my feet (somewhat ironically) and ended up smashing my face up pretty badly. This left me somewhat dazed for 48 hours or so. Running was not advisable.

So: my streak came to a crashing end at 161 days and 627.41 miles.

I can make all the excuses in the world: I didn’t get it done. All things considered, I didn’t run 365.

It’s still a pretty good effort. A good innings, if you will. But it’s also a disappointment, inasmuch as when I began this all those months ago I assumed at the time it was a done deal. That simply because I had started I would finish.

What I hadn’t factored in was the Great British Weather, which on my return from the USA just got worse and worse each week.

And I also hadn’t given any consideration to the fact that having to run each and every day would eventually cause me to start to loathe running. It became a chore: an irritant. Pretty much every day in the last 3-4 weeks was a miserable experience, often compounded by the bad weather. It was like a job you hated. You knew you had to do it, and that made it worse.

I  haven’t ran since day 161. And to be honest, it’s been pretty great. A massive relief. It had become, as said, work. I’d gone from absolutely loving my runs to absolutely hating them.

I wouldn’t advise anybody to do this, but maybe someone will go out there and document a year-long streak. It’s something that I think needs to be done. Just not by me. Many fellow runners warned me off from attempting such a challenge. Turns out they were right!

Will I run again? Definitely. Will it be anytime soon? Probably not. I might get out there from time to time but I’m in no rush. It’s back to the gym for me, I think, and the cosy confines of the treadmill, four walls and a roof. Sure, it’s a pretty dull workout, but there’s only so many days in a row you can come home freezing cold and soaked to the skin before you start to question your own sanity.

I’d like to give a big thank you to all the people who supported me over the last five months or so, and for all your great comments and ideas.

I wish you the best of luck with your own endeavours. I won’t be posting on this blog again (outside of the comments area where appropriate), but will leave it open for the foreseeable future. I didn’t get the job done -while I hate saying stuff like this, I failed - but I gave it a pretty good go.

All the best,

Sheamus

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