Rowing and running: a volume challenge!

Time for a major challenge. Inspired by interviewing so many amazing runners over the last few months on the Sapphire Running Zone podcasts I’ve decided it’s time I did something special and at the same time raise £10,000 for charity. So here we go:

June - I started on the Concept 2 rowing machine (my favourite piece of fitness equipment, but my most hated by the end of the month). Whatever date of the month it was I rowed that number in kilometres, all in one session. So 1km on June 1st, 10km on June 10th and 30km on June 30th etc. That’s a total of 465km, or 465,000 metres. It hurt!

August - On to running and rowing combined. Whatever date of the month it was I ran and/or rowed that number in kilometres. So 1km on August 1st, 10km on August 10th and 31km on August 31st etc. That’s a total of 496km.  Some days I did three sessions in a day and in some days one, or two. Towards the end of the month my garage flooded in the middle of a rowing session, which was a bit surreal. That was as close as I got to rowing on the river...

November - A repeat of August, except this time in miles. That’s a total of 496 miles.  I am not looking forward to that.

So we’ve got the training principle of progression, as the distance increases every day, but it doesn’t include rest days, the importance of which I’m always banging on about. And I’m not 20 years old any more, so it will be really interesting to see the impact on my body and how much weight I’ll lose. 

Then I’ll do three marathons from January to April. I've not booked the first one yet, but I have two in April, Brighton and London.

To wrap it all up I'll go back to the start and in May I'll repeat the rowing challenge that started it all in June 26.

Should keep me busy...

I’m raising money for two amazing charities, Phab and David Lewis. Phab has been working to build an inclusive world, supporting a national network of Phab Clubs and running Phab Adventures. David Lewis provides outstanding education, residential, day opportunities, medical and therapeutic support for people with learning disabilities, epilepsy and autism. These are issues with which I have strong connection and which have impacted our family.

Any support you can give will be very much appreciated!