Celebrating the 50th Day of the World Run! On a sunny day and a smooth 40km run…
It’s been 50 days already… I reflected on this as I ran today, on what was a beautiful, sunny & easy run, mostly on cycling paths and rural roads.
I have been told I am not communicating enough about the physical impact of the run. The truth is I have never felt there was anything worth reporting on. But let’s look into it now. 50 days in, how does it feel to be running a marathon 6 days out of 7?
For the past 50 days, I leave the hotel every morning feeling my legs “fresh” and ready to go. I have not once experienced stiffness or pain in my legs or anywhere else in my body, as I started a run. I usually find my legs and pace pretty quickly and settle into it. Of course it depends what the run’s profile looks like. I play the cards I’m dealt!
During the run… As I run, I am very attentive to the signals I receive from my body. I don’t discard anything. There have been some signals. I once felt some tension in my heels and ankles. A change of shoes sorted out the issue! (the shoes had more than 1500km in them, that was silly of me!). Every now and then, I do feel a tension here or there. The key, for me, is to acknowledge it and act on it. Proprioception is something I’m becoming quite good at. Visualise my movement and correct what needs be corrected to get rid of the “tension”. This is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one. Mind and body working together. How often have such “tensions” occured that required me to focus on and fix something during a run? So far, about 3 or 4 times. I feel lucky.
Mind wise, mentally, where am I at? I like to let my mind roam free during the run. Sometimes it ain’t possible: I may have to pay extra attention to directions, to traffic, I may be experiencing some issues, be hungry or thirsty… even tired sometimes. But overall, the vast majority of the time, I like to let it be. I notice there is almost always a musical background. Music is an important part of my life. I have learnt to play many instruments growing up. Not really well though! But what remains is a love of music and it seems as I’m running, my mind plays like a jukebox. And on this musical background, all sorts of thoughts organise themselves.
Every day, for the past 50 days, there is not ONE day I wished I would have been somewhere else or doing something else. Every moment of the day, every part of the run. This is what I want to do, this is making me feel so alive, so connected and so happy. I have not once been woken up by the sound of the alarm clock! I wake up ahead, that’s how much I am looking forward to each day!
Another learning point in these first 50 days, is how grateful I am to all who are supporting me. I have been so overwhelmed by how much my friends and family do keep the contact and cheer me up with impromptu calls, messages, video conf. They sometimes crack me up with a silly joke as I’m running in the middle of nowhere, or a message that seems quite improbable. I fondly remember a message reading: “Sending love & sun your way” as I was in the middle of the foggiest day of the world run – I could not see one foot ahead!! The charity I’m working with (Women for Women International) also surprised me with a video message and calls that really cheered me up.
On top of that, social media is also slowly-slowly starting to relay my journey, and I am getting new contacts. I am really hoping that by the time I cross France, I will have some people joining me for a jog, a few kilometers, running, cycling, whatever… or just sharing a meal!
50 days in, I’m the happiest I could be, the healthiest and the most grateful. I also realise this is the “easiest” I will have it in my world run. The temperatures and weather are absolutely ideal (save for Gloria Storm..), the ability to find a hotel every 40km or so is incredible and the runs’ profiles so far are quite gentle. I am “settling into it” before things will start getting tougher!
Let the next 50 days be as fulfilling and happy as the first 50 ones… Wishing everyone to be as happy and healthy! Aloha!
