2nd April – Days to go on 100 days dry: 11. Days until the Dartmoor Way: 44

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Buddha

The trouble with setting targets with a fixed date and then working hard to get there is that now I am itching to get going. My training has settled to a cadence that I am both enjoying and seeing results from. To the point that on my rest days, (which I know are essential,) I am itching to get outside and run or walk to burn off the abundance of energy that I seem to be blessed with.

My mind has inevitably wandered to the next challenges, the Silverstone 10k at the beginning of September and the Bristol half marathon at the end of the same month. But I have to caution myself not to get too far ahead. I still have the mini challenge of my first 5k, which I am convinced will be an eye opener. I’m not kidding, I haven’t run with other people since my track days at school, some 40 years ago, so I am not underestimating how tough it’s going to be.

And then of course, Dartmoor. 6 days of relentless pace, with a good friend and another who has volunteered to drive our bags from one stop to another. This has been on my to-do list since I heard that the Dartmoor Way had been completed some years ago. I am ridiculously excited to see and feel Dartmoor in this way.

I have been joking with friends that when I get back I will eat nothing but Pizza for a week. As a one liner it works well, as a goal, not so much. I am going to give myself a few days off from running, but then I need to be straight back onto the training plan for the Bristol Half. It is a 16 week plan, so I need to start it at the beginning of June. The timing has worked out well.

The way my mind is working at the moment is to try to set at least two major challenges a year. Dartmoor108 and the Bristol Half this year, next year? Well, there is the Brighton Marathon in April 2023 and then, who knows? Walking the Wainwright Way, Coast to Coast? The Lisbon Marathon?

All I know is that I want to keep at this. The benefits have been huge. Simple things like not groaning when I get out of the car. Feeling stronger when I run up the stairs to my office. My resting heart rate is now around 48 – 50 bpm and I am no longer clinically obese with a BMI that I haven’t seen for over a decade.

“You get out of life what you put into it. I think you need a bit of luck, but you also make a bit of luck. I think that if you’re a pretty decent person you’ll get back what you put in.” John Key