Everest Challenge week 2: 20 laps of 5.4 miles and 2400m of ascent

This week was substantially harder than last. I managed to cover 2 laps of 5.4 miles on Wednesday and Thursday followed by a three-peat of 4 laps on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. My pace and enthusiasm had all but dissappeared by part way through lap 1 on Sunday but I showed some perseverance and still managed to finish them. One of the locals enjoying a pint of beer on his front step just after 10am certainly brightened my mood.

I found yesterday and today’s 2 lap sessions more comfortable and although my pace didn’t really get any better, I was quite content to get the miles in. This brings me to just under half the total elevation for the challenge with 16 days remaining. I do like the idea of trying to improve my weekly total to 22-24 laps on the next fortnight but this will be something I’ll have to try to manage carefully as the priority is finishing the challenge. Even if I don’t have to increase it this much to reach the total, it will be good practice for me to be able to build up mileage quicker.

I enjoyed listening to a podcast called Sugar Calling this week, this involves Cheryl Strayed phoning authors she admires. Her guest from the first podcast had a great letter he read that was emailed to his graduate students. This was also published in the New Yorker and can be read using the link below

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/a-letter-to-my-students-as-we-face-the-pandemic