UPDATE 11/21: I finished! After a grueling last day of running 8+ hours, and barely being able to walk, I reached Galway and concluded the 5-day, 126 mile run. It was an experience I won't soon forget - and appreciate all the texts and calls along the way. It was the fuel that kept me going! We've also raised almost €1,200 for charity, which is an awesome achievement. Thanks to everyone for helping to make it happen.
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The last bit of good weather is still hanging around Dublin, so I've decided to take advantage and go for a run. Tomorrow I'm going to try and run across the country. It'll be a five-day journey, starting in Dublin tomorrow morning at 7:30AM and finishing in Galway. Google Maps has it at around 130 miles total, or five marathons in five days.
And I'm raising money for a local charity - so be sure to donate here!
I'll be taking side roads to avoid traffic, and staying in hotels each night (I dropped off packages at each hotel in advance so I don't have to carry five days worth of clothes/food). I'll wear a small backpack for food/drink, spare socks, and Advil.
Here's the route:
Why am I doing this? Part of it is probably some sick/misplaced level of curiosity, I suppose. I'm genuinely interested in seeing if I can finish -- and if I can't, at what point my body tells me to stop. My hypothesis is that 80% of this run is mental...but time will tell. Another reason is related to the charity I'm running for. I visited Saint Joseph's a few months ago for a Google volunteering project. I toured the facility and met some of the residents living there with dementia. It was crazy to see people that were physically healthy, but mentally gone. I looked at them and wondered how much they'd give to just have one day of normalcy back. In some way, I feel like I owe something to those residents at Saint Joseph's...I owe it to them to get out and go on adventures. Don't waste the good years!
I'm excited to get outside and take in the Irish countryside...judging from the map, it looks like I'll be passing by quite a few sheep. Who knows how far I'll get, but we'll see how it goes! I'll try and post about it as I go...if I have good cell reception you can follow on snapchat (username: benglatt).
And here's a video of me running on the beach for one of my training sessions: