Don't run, dance
Trying to fathom how I'm going to run 40km a day for 10 weeks, maybe I need to take a leaf out of Camille Herron's book and dance my way around Ireland
After my birthday double date last week - a 20km run followed the next day by a parkrun - my injury woes returned. I had been gradually, sensibly building up my training week by week, but then, wham, I overdid it, and now I’m back to daily Feldenkrais sessions and running only short distances on the flat. The clock is definitely ticking now with Ireland looming.
Confident that I’ll get better in time, I’ve started plotting my route around the emerald isle. I’m only four days in to my detailed plan, but already I’m finding some gems of places to visit. The idea behind the run is that it is a sort of pilgrimage, so it’s not just about covering the distance and completing a loop around the country, but it’s about running from holy place to holy place. These won’t all be holy places in the traditional sense - ie religious sites - but they will all be, in some way, places of communion, or wonder, or beauty - places worth visiting for some soul-stirring reason.
So far my plan is to start at the Ha’Penny Bridge in Dublin, a footbridge over the River Liffey in the centre of the capital. I’ve chosen this as my starting point as it’s one of my clearest childhood memories of Dublin - there was something slightly magical and Mary Poppins-esque about it as a child, this mini, wrought-iron bridge with no cars. Also, as the launchpad for a journey on foot, a footbridge feels sort of appropriate.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Monday Musings to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.