One month to go until my 100km challenge

OH BOY.

In one month, I hike 62 miles non stop. Aiming to do it in 24 hours.

I start at 08:20am on June 29th.

Being me, I’ve built a spreadsheet with predicted pace, stoppage times etc. Realistically, 22-24 hours is potentially achievable if I really don’t stop much at all and keep my pace up. There’s some logistics to be covered at rest stops, which will slow me down, so I’ve tried to build that into my predictions. So my probable finish time is 06:20am-08:20am or later, the following day. It would be very surprising if I can get in earlier than that. Some people take 30 hours, which is unbearable sounding.

Here’s a sneaky peak at the spreadsheet. I’ve left the key parts of it blurred, as I’m still thinking on it.

It’s hard to predict how I’ll feel after 12, 16, 20 hours – my pace may plummet, blisters may wipe me out, and darkness may grind me down. I’m genuinely a little concerned that it will be quite scary in the woods at night. That fear might make me go a little quicker though, I suppose!

I haven’t done any night time training, and I don’t plan on doing any, so it will be the biggest unknown aspect of this event. Some people love the night section, but it makes some people literally vomit and cry constantly as their body isn’t prepared to exercise strenuously continuously after dark. We’ll soon see which camp I fit into!

The other main unknown of this event is this: I’ve only ever done 42k in one go before.

I did 64km this weekend, but that was split into 2 days, of around 32k per day. 3 days later I’m still physically and mentally knackered from that. 100km still seems entirely ridiculous, despite all of this training. In training I hit 10 hours, feel absolutely beaten down. And then I remember.. just 14 more hours to go. :-O

I am now at my training peak. I’ve done the double 30k+ day, and that will be the most I train in one weekend until the big day. From here on it will be shorter walks or runs, continued strength training, and mentally preparing for what’s to come!

If you’d like to support me, by sponsoring my challenge for Youth Adventure Trust – visit my JustGiving page.

THANK YOU!