A million metres

So, as of last Tuesday I achieved my target.

You see, I’ve been running.

Not just running a couple of times aweek just to stay fit as in my previous job – this is serious, committed running.

A million metres.

I explained previously that the change of jobs brought about a pair of circumstances that lead to the running – firstly a more sedentary commute that eliminated my daily exercise; and secondly a lunch-hour on an industrial estate with little else to do. So I started running on my lunch. Well, that was last year when I just ran.

I don’t normally run in winter. I’m not pathetic about it; but in order to stop sweating enough to work I have to have a cold shower after my run, and that is painful enough in spring and autumn; but winter is another matter.

It also used to be more tricky in my old job as I'd run first thing in the morning and last thing at night - when it was dark in winter. Very dark. And very cold. And if it was frosty, that was really dangerous.

But we had an unseasonably mild winter and on my return to work on 2^nd January I felt fat after the Christmas break so went for a run. 4.47km. Now, to put that into context, I was ecstatic last year to run 5km for the very first time. When I first started running those few years ago back in the old job I struggled to do 2km without having to slow to a walk. Getting up to 5km was a real achievement for me. Being able to do 4.47km immediately after the Christmas break was awesome.

So, I decided that whilst it wasn’t too cold, I’d carry on. The next day I ran 5km.

About March or April time I realised that I was actually clocking up quite a bit of distance. I was running 5km or just over almost every working lunch. I didn’t run at weekends or on holiday; and I didn’t run if either I or the weather were bad, but otherwise I ran. And so I decided I’d see how far I could run in the year. Actually, not just how far, but whether I could achieve a particular distance – a million metres.

Why a million?

Well, because it’s a nice round number mostly. But I developed the plan whilst I was on one of my runs when I realised that a million metres is actually achievable.

A million metres is a thousand kilometres.

That’s two hundred 5k runs.

That’s doable?

Well, with 365 days of the year, 104 weekend days and 8 bank holidays that leaves 253 days. Then there’s holiday – nominally 23 days, but as I tend to take half-days (and don’t run on the half that I do work) that works out at around 27; and then three days work-training in London actually only left 223 days to run. That didn’t give me much leeway.

So I upped my distance. I now run 6.7km most days.

But what for?

After all, when people in the office found out about the challenge they assumed it was for charity. Because no-one does a challenge for themselves any more – it’s not about achieving a goal; it has to be all about the brass. You see – if you say you’re doing something, people ask for what cause, not reason.

And that’s the thing. I know these days everything is all about doing good – whether it’s taking a photo of yourself with no making on for #NoMakeupSelfie; a photo of yourself wearing pants to #SayPantsToHIV; or a video of you tipping water over yourself for the #ALSIceBucketChallenge – and that’s a good thing, surely? (we'll ignore here the people who couldn't even tip a bucket of cold water on themselves - one of my friends admitted to using warm water and tossing in the ice cubes last minute. Not really in the spirit).

Well, yes. Anything which highlights a particular cause is good (even if your cause is accidentally sweptup in someone else’s intentions); but does that mean that anything that happens has to highlight a particular cause? People at work couldn’t believe that I would want to run a million metres "just because" – to paraphrase George Mallory. It devalued the challenge in their eyes – to not do it for some altruistic reason.

But for me, to attach a charitable intent to it would have devalued the challenge for me. I wanted to go the distance because at school I had never been any good at running. It would have been unthinkable for me as a teenager to contemplate running even 2k, let alone 5k, let alone two hundred 5ks. I ran because I needed to prove to myself that I could. If there was any sort of charity attached, then I wouldn’t have been running for me – I’d have been running for charity. It wouldn’t have been me pushing me along, it would have been the disappointment of others. And it wouldn’t have been the achievement of a million metres, but a few hundred pounds.

I know they aren’t necessarily exclusive; however whilst the charitable association has the possibility of drawing more attention to the feat so it can also distract from it – people concentrate on the charity, rather than the challenge. Although, to be fair, it is a purely personal target – I haven’t really advertised it, it is simply me knowing that I can do something when I set my mind to it.

But then maybe I am looking at it all wrong.