I love it when a plan comes together

I've plotted a wonderful route around Ireland. Now I just have to run it.

“Everyone has a plan, until they’re punched in the face” - Mike Tyson, former world heavyweight boxing champion

The Cliffs of Moher - part of the plan!

The circle has been completed: I’ve been slowly plotting my daily schedule for my run around Ireland, and a few days ago I finally made it back - on paper - to Dublin. The total route is just over 1,500 miles (just under 2,500km), and will take me just under 10 weeks, running an average of 23 miles (37km) a day. That’s a lot of running.

Of course, plotting it on a map is one thing. On a map you can get a vague sense of the terrain, the distance and the places along the way. But that’s it. I have no idea, at this stage, how I will be feeling each day after running that far, or what the weather will be like, or how often I’ll get lost, of whether I’ll want to stop repeatedly (either from tiredness, or because I’m passing through such interesting places). So it’s a plan, but the reality may end up looking very different. 

Except, of course, it can’t be that different. We’ll need to book our ferry home on a certain date. Along the way we may need to book ourselves in to campsites, hotels, restaurants etc. Some of those will need arranging in advance. So the schedule, while intended as a rough framework, will also demand some punctuality. How will that work? 

Then there is the meeting points with my campervan-driving crew. Where will we meet? How often? What if they’re not there? What will they do while I’m slogging around out on the boggy trails? 

So it’s exciting to have a plan, but it’s also a little daunting, and unnerving, because at this point I’m just making it up out of thin air. It’s a bit like when you sign up to a 100-mile ultra marathon. It’s so easy to sign up. You just click “enter”, pay your money and you’re in. You can do it sitting in bed. But then, five hours in to the actual race, and you still have 20 hours or more running to go, the reality of it suddenly hits you. “WHAT. WAS. I. THINKING!?”