An undertaking is only a challenge if success is not inevitable.
I love running, that’s nothing new. Occasionally, I look for something to aim for (beyond the boring cliché of going for a time at a race/distance). This May I found myself running what’s been coined an Accumulator.
I don’t know if it was the original, but I first heard of The Accumulator from Cockbain Events back in 2020. The idea is pretty simple; in a month you run the number of miles for the date in that month, i.e. on the 1st you run 1 mile, 2 miles on the 2nd rinse and repeat until you get to the end of the month where you run marathons day after day culminating in a 50k (31 miles in old money) on the 31st of the month covering a total of 496 miles in a month. This isn’t difficult at the start but with each day you run a mile more than the day before; in fact, for a seasoned runner, the first week is easy but the subsequent weeks get harder and harder.
I’m no stranger to running an Accumulator. The original event ran when lockdown restrictions were getting relaxed but, for various reasons, I couldn’t do it. I decided I’d do it myself with the support of my pal Allie and other friends in August 2020. Back then life for me was quite different, obviously, I was three years younger but I was working in a school, so August was in the school summer holidays. Covid restrictions were still in place but out of strict lockdowns, so I asked on social media if anyone wanted to join me, I was fortunate to meet up with some wonderful people who ran with me throughout the month.
Why do it again? Yes, that is a good question. This wasn’t planned, well not at the start! My running club, the wonderful Bad Boy Running Club, recently ran a group ‘Bingo’ activity and one of the tasks was to run an accumulator 1-7. I’m a bit of a geek and a massive pedant so waited until the first month that started on a Monday – May 2023!
I came to the end of the club bingo (aka the first week) and decided to keep it going, still not committed to the whole month just seeing how it went. To be honest, even in week 2 it quickly became clear that the logistics were going to be tough to impossible.
My biggest driver for why I carried on, and subsequently, committed to it was just because I wanted to. I had a bit of a knock on my confidence earlier in the year after not meeting my expectations at a race when a physio told me a strain to my hamstring was age-related muscle atrophy. I took their advice on board and since then I’ve been doing more strength and stability, but the biggest take home was the more active I am, with the groundwork of core exercise, the more resilient I will be and the healthier I will be as I get older.
I decided I wasn’t going to renege on my life’s responsibilities; my son, dogs and work come first.
Roll out the spreadsheet! Yes, of course, I did plan it all out on a spreadsheet.
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My son is at his mum’s house on Monday and Wednesday evenings, but he comes home from school before she picks him up. I realised as he gets the dogs out after school, I could run after work on Monday/Wednesday and then run first thing on Tuesday/Friday mornings. Weekends are easier as can run any time of the day (or night) to fit it in.
This all sounds manageable… Well, sure, for week 2 the runs are from 8 to 14 miles so didn’t really affect my normal schedule. What about week 3, then 4 then the final days in week five? Well…
It gets serious by the end of week 2. Consecutive running daily takes its toll, but it’s week 3 when it all changes. Week 3 starts with a 15-mile run. No problem I can run home from work (even if I do make it harder by forgetting all of my kit)! Sure, but Tuesday Oscar’s at mine so I must run to work. Getting home near to 9 pm and then having all the chores to do knowing that a 5 am run is on the cards the next day is bonkers. Extend this through the week and that sleep window disappears.
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Truth is, and this happened last time, physically the most difficult period is not the latter part. It hits around mile/day 13-20, it’s brutal; after that, there’s this ‘that’s just what I’m doing’ phase kicks in….
After making some mistakes at the end of week 3, I managed to get a few more double days in; half term was coming up and Oscar was going away with his mum. The thing is I quickly found myself only able to get to bed by midnight and with a 3am alarm sleep is sorely lacking.
Sleep: Sleep is so important, it’s where we recover and rest!
It isn’t until day 22 that you actually hit the halfway mark for the total miles to go with 243 miles to cover in just 9 days!
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The 25th was the last day I did a morning run, I wanted to have a normal evening with Oscar before he went on holiday. Setting off at 03:45 there was an odd sense of relief; even knowing I was about to run multiple marathons not thinking about waking in the dark made all the difference.
Marathon day hit on a Friday. While I’ve run loads, and am often flippant about them, it’s such a long distance that can go south very quickly… I knew I would need to eat at 5 pm as would be home too late but a busy day at work and I forgot… The run was fine, I have all the running food sorted due to my love of the long run and ultramarathons but eating just before bed and my plan to run early on Saturday came back to bite me.
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I decided, and offered, to run to my nearest parkrun, volunteer and run back, at 6 am and I set off after some breakfast. The run there was fine, but it was hot; not a cloud in the sky and then an hour standing around in the open sun left me feeling pickled and I still had 14 miles to get back home.
Sunday/day 28 was a delight. Brad had decided to come and run with me; we did a looped run of 4.2 miles on the hour from my house. With home as a base, I didn’t need to carry anything and had great company plus we could take the dogs every few laps and was just a brilliant day: Bliss!
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Bank Holiday Monday should have been perfect; I’d planned a collection of my favourite runs from home. Like the day before I took the dogs out on loops, and it was glorious weather. My head just wasn’t in the game, full of self-criticism and was unable to find the usual calm that running gives me.
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This left just two days to go. 30 miles on Tuesday and then again 31 on Wednesday. I ran directly home so I could get back to the dogs (no Oscar to get them out) and then could run with them. Surely it was in the bag?
I woke up on Tuesday and I could barely move my left leg; I thought it was the end. There was no way that I was going to run a 5k let alone 30 miles. I got my kit together and hobbled to the train station, the 1.5-mile walk was painful; a walk around the block at lunch was easier but still not moving properly.
It wasn’t happening… the game was up…
Even though I was sure it was all over after work, I put on my running kit and thought I’d start and if after a mile there was any pain I’d be heading back home on the train. I couldn’t believe it as I started to shuffle and step by step it got easier and I was running; no pain and everything was back to normal. I took the dogs out for the final 10 miles, I don’t think old Toby was so keen by the end of the run!
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Still really worried about the day before I got out of bed on Wednesday, but everything was working, tired for sure but no pain no problem!
Trains were on strike so I’d decided to take the bus so I could run home again. Typically, my renegade bus driver had no intention of keeping to the timetable so when I checked and found the bus was 20 minutes early, I was less than impressed. Much like the final morning run I had that sense of relief. I knew that I’d finish this, it might be one of the slowest runs I’ve done but nothing was going to stop me now.
I got home to the dogs, like the day before to get them out, I was greeted enthusiastically but the moment I picked up their leads they got into bed… I got the message and set off for the final part of the run and the month! With 10k to go I lost sense of reality and started running fast, well fast for the final part of a 50k run.
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I can’t put into the pride I have in myself for this, it’s a massive physical challenge but it’s more than that. Being present and productive for my work, my son, and my dogs throughout was the priority and with that, I managed to do it. Would I do it again? Nope, no change… Wellllll….
