UNCOMMON Challenge Series — Q2
Challenge: Run 1 mile every hour for 24 hours without sleeping. On the 24th hour, run 3.2 miles to finish at full marathon distance.
THIS. WAS. TOUGH.
Imagine not going to sleep and having to run every single hour for 24 hours; ya, that thought you just had was exactly how it felt while I was doing it.
It was mentally and physically, it didn’t start to get tough until the darkness began to set in. Other distractions like my daily schedule, wifey being at work, my son Maximus having a soccer game, etc., ya those didn’t go away so I had to FIND A WAY to make it happen…just like everything else in life:
If it’s a priority, we’ll find a way. If it’s not, we’ll find an excuse.
I do these challenges for many reasons as I’ve wrote about before, but one of the big reasons is for what I call “the breakthrough”. This is a point where I’m overwhelmed with emotions, I ACTUALLY FEEL the pain, the suffering, the love and hate, the intense passion and drive, the connectedness to myself and my loved ones…I FEEL ALL OF IT.
Now, if you know me, you know I’ve been through a lot in my 38 years of existence. My journey through mental, physical, and emotional trauma has been laced with it’s problematic times and what’s more is that the journey isn’t over. However, my new reality is that while I’m on this journey:
I’M STEERING THE FUCKING SHIP.
The breakthrough happened really late in the game for this challenge. I suffered for a while overnight with blisters, aches and pains, thoughts of quitting, wanting to sleep, before it set in and I was overcome with a rush of emotions — things I don’t FEEL on a daily basis but that I’m trying my hardest to drive the numbness out of my life and feel again.
So you see, the breakthrough is my drug. The breakthrough is what I’m seeking when I do these challenges. It’s never about going through the motions or doing it to say I did it — it’s all for the breakthrough.
This time’round, that breakthrough feeling lasted for a few weeks after the event and THAT is how I know I’m making progress. It was harder to get to and it lasted longer after the event was done. That’s my measurement, that’s what I’m chasing, and that’s what is going to drown out the numbness in my life and allow me to FEEL fully and wholly once again in the very near future.
HOUR BY HOUR BREAKDOWN
Hour 1: Started at 7am. Easy 10:00/mile pace.
Hour 2: Easy day. No issues.
Hour 3: No gripes or complaints. Smooth sailing.
Hour 4/5/6: Tricky due to Maximus’ soccer game. I had to game it myself and run back to back miles, then come home and run the 6th mile at the tail end of the 6th hour.
Hour 7: Back on track. I rested a bit after running the 6th mile and then ran the 7th mile around 30 minutes into this hour.
Hour 8: Easy day.
Hour 9: Easy day.
Hour 10: Easy day.
Hour 11: Easy day.
Hour 12: Easy day.
Hour 13: Easy day.
Hour 14: Easy day.
Hour 15: 10pm and wifey was going to bed, all the kids were already sleeping and from here on out, it’s just me vs. me while half the world is sleeping. She helped out and rubbed my feet which were aching at this point. Love her to pieces.
Hour 16: 11pm. It’s completely pitch black outside. No moon. It’s pouring down rain. Lightning and thunder. No excuses. Mile 16 got done.
Hour 17: 12am. I’m tired at this point, but that’s not enough to stop me. It hurts to get up from my lying or seated position. Whole body aches, feet are sore, but my mind is still strong.
Hour 18: 1am. I start to game a little bit like I did earlier with the soccer game. I needed more rest than usual at this point to give my feet a break. So I run this mile at the end of the hour, then take a short break, and go right into the mile 19.
Hour 19: 2am. After I run mile 19 at the beginning of the hour, I won’t run again until the end of hour 20 which gives me 1.5hrs to rest…much, much needed rest. Still no sleeping though, just relaxing the feet and stretching.
Hour 20: 3am. Ran this mile at the end of the hour, then took another short break and right back into mile 21 to give me another extended 1.5 hour break. My feet have blisters, I’m walking on my heels only at this point, and it is painful to even start moving on the treadmill for each mile.
*BREAKTHROUGH HOUR*
Hour 21: 4am. Picked back up running at the top of the hour for the rest of the challenge. In pain.
Hour 22: 5am. LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL! The sun is rising. I’m in a great deal of pain, but the breakthrough is coursing through my veins.
Hour 23: 6am. LET’S FUCKING GO! I’m fired up at this point and no amount of pain, suffering, or literally fucking ANYTHING can keep me from finishing this challenge.
Hour 24: 7am. Family is up and they came out to help me finish. I loved this so much — both Maximus and wifey came out to help me finish and we alternated running on the treadmill to finish it out at home.
It took me 21 hours to hit the breakthrough. I thought it wasn’t going to happen this time. It did. Just gotta have faith and trust in my ability to suffer through to the breakthrough.
Key takeaway: If there’s something you’re working towards in life and you haven’t SUFFERED enough for the breakthrough:
KEEP. FUCKING. GOING.
#TheDillonBurnsMethod
