So, I was sitting on my couch at the end of 2011, and I was thinking to myself about the things taking place in my life, and I thought that the one area of improvement could be my mental strength. I've had a lot of challenges in my life, but I am sure that I will need to face more and more. So I thought, "What is the best way to really challenge myself? Well, why don't I run 365 days this year, but then I remembered that this year is a leap year, so crap, I have to run 366 days this year!"
So basically I hope that I have a strong commitment and running when you are really tired, when you don't want to go, when it's pouring rain, when you prefer to sit on the couch and watch tv, will make me mentally much stronger. At the end of the day, the final goal, I know this sounds crazy, is to compete in the Marathon de Sables in 2014, and this will be the pinnacle of my challenges. So, having said that, these are the basic steps that I've taken in my challenge:
1. For the first month, just try to build my endurance and adapt my body to 7 days of running without rest.
2. When my body will be strong enough to tolerate 7 days of training, start to increase the number of kilometres and do speed exercises as well.
3. The goal is to have a normal competing season in road races and triathlons without renouncing to this challenge.
4. The only exceptions are I am going to run only 3km the days before a race, and probably between 5-10mins (just a symbolic run) the day that my little girl will be born (any day now!). Minimum distance to stick to for this challenge is 5km.
The first phase of the challenge has started and so far I feel good. So far, I've run 7-8km/day, apart from today where I did only 5km.
This Sunday, Jan 8th will be my first long run - 15km. Gradually I will arrive to my classic 36km.
For today, I think this is enough. If you care to follow me, please do, it will be fun.
- Crazy Francesco
