My 2.6 Challenge: Week 3

I’ve just finished week THREE of my 2.6 Challenge, so I wanted to write a quick blog post to document my runs over the past week.

I started the 2.6 challenge on Sunday 26th April, in a bid to raise awareness and funds for the Scoliosis Campaign Fund. Like many charities, the Scoliosis Campaign Fund has been affected by the cancellation of fundraising events due to COVID19.

The 2.6 challenge was launched to save the UK’s charities, and the idea is that people can do any challenge associated with the numbers 2 and/or 6.

As part of this challenge, I decided to run 2.6 miles every day, for 26 consecutive days.

I am now at the end of week 3.

I have completed 22 runs so far, on 22 consecutive days.

I’m not going to lie, I’m struggling quite a bit now. I thought with the distance being short it wouldn’t be as tough as it has been. But now, my shins and ankles are sore and my legs are tired and heavy. I’m just feeling generally exhausted and need a rest!

But, not long to go now. I’m determined to complete the challenge as it’s all for an important cause. If you’d like to sponsor me, you can do so here.

I’ve documented my week 3 below, you can also follow me on Strava and Instagram to keep up with my progress!

Or, you check of week 1 and week 2 of my 2.6 challenge.

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SUNDAY 10th MAY – DAY 15

As today was the weekend and I had a bit more time, I decided to do a bit extra and did 5K to add a bit onto the 2.6 miles.

I was feeling very anxious today, as this evening I knew there’d be an update from the government relating to the lockdown restrictions. I was feeling stressed about what they might say, o the run helped to clear my head a bit. It was also cooler today than the previous few days so i was able to run a bit faster than I have been doing. As my legs were sore, I followed the run with 45 minutes of full body stretch yoga.

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MONDAY 11th MAY – DAY 16

Today I struggled a lot so slowed the pace down. By this point, doing the same routes due to lockdown has started to get to me. I now dread the runs instead of looking forward to them like I did at the start of lockdown. I guess it’s my own fault for setting myself a tough challenge ha!

So tonight I really had to force myself to go out after work and get it done.

I was also feeling tired today as I didn’t sleep much after watching the government update the night before. It seems like not much changed, we are still in lockdown however can exercise as much as we want from Wednesday, rather than just once a day.

We can also see one person from another household as long as we stay 2m away and are outside. Pretty much everything else stayed the same but the messages were confusing, which caused my anxiety to trigger. Especially as they have changed the message from Stay Home to Stay Alert, which I think many people may misinterpret and think things are back to normal.

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TUESDAY 12th MAY – DAY 17

Today I was feeling REALLY unmotivated, until…. my new running sunglasses arrived! It’s amazing how little things like this can really cheer you up during lockdown!

As it’s been really sunny recently, I’ve been meaning to get some running sunglasses for a while but always put it off. I decided to get some a couple of weeks ago off Amazon and completely forgot I ordered them, as due to COVID19, the delivery times are longer than normal. So yeah, when they arrived today I was excited to try the,m out. I LOVE THEM! I did a sunny 2.6 miles 🙂

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WEDNESDAY 13th MAY – DAY 18

So today was the day the the lockdown exercise restrictions were eased slightly. People are now encouraged to go back to work if they cannot work from home, and exercise for unlimited times a day, as well as spend time outside sunbathing etc.

I was anxious to go for my run tonight as I knew there would be more people about, and I was right. I managed to get the 2.6 miles done after work though, and then after, had a virtual quiz with my running pals which was fun.

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THURSDAY 14th MAY – DAY 19

As we are now allowed out to exercise more than once a day (woo!) I went for a quick walk at lunchtime in a bit to stretch my legs. I think this helped as my 2.6 miles tonight felt easier and I managed a decent pace again. Also, on my run I spotted that the local chippy was open which caused much excitement! When i ran past I saw the people queuing outside all 2m apart. So guess what? I had chips for tea! I think, I had earned it. 🙂

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FRIDAY 15th MAY – DAY 20

It felt like a milestone to reach day 20 today, hooray! I decided to do a quick 2.6 miles in my lunch break today to get it out of the way and give me my evening free to have a few drinks and a video chat with friends. I always feel good when I get my run done earlier in the day so that it’s not hanging over me all day!

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SATURDAY 16th MAY – DAY 21

Today, my legs felt like they were seriously screwed haha. So I took it really slow. At this point now I’m a bit worried about injuring myself so I’m trying to slow it down a bit. I managed to do 3.4 miles today. Well, it would have been Parkrun day normally!

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SUNDAY 17th May – DAY 22

Today I did a slightly longer route, 4.7 miles. I planned something a bit different, still local but a different route through some countryside as I’m getting so bored now. It was nice to do something different and I ran past some lovely fields. It was fairly quiet too which was good, My shins and ankles are starting to hurt now and I’m worried about shin splints or other injuries, so I think I need to take it easy for the last few runs.

Lets hope my body can cope – only 4 more to go!!

I’d love it if you could sponsor me, every penny helps support those with scoliosis. 🙂 Remember to follow me over on Instagram and Strava if you’d like to keep up with my progress. 🙂

Stay safe and keep going!

Louise X