In the quest to integrate longer runs into everyday life, this weekend I will be running to lunch at a friend’s house.

It’s roughly 12 miles plus parkrun and couple before so it will easily keep me on course for my training plan.

This is the first time I have run to an event and I’m a bit worried about the state I’ll arrive in.

If you’re a seasoned ultrarunner like Dean Karnazes, running to meetings or family occasions is no big deal.

He talks about setting off a couple of hours early while the family go in the car and he meets them at the final destination.

This is all very well for a man who probably doesn’t even break a sweat until at least 50 miles but I am in my running infancy and start to sweat just opening running for the bus.

Instead of a journey sat on a combination of bus and train, I will be rocking up probably late, after being lost and thoroughly exhausted.

Rather than bearing a bottle of wine and snacks, I’ll be carrying Lucozade and carb gels.

Luckily I’ve known these friends for a long time and the sight of me desperately needing a shower is nothing new, in fact previously probably the norm.

So hopefully I’ll be get there, get clean and stay awake rather than take my usual post run nap.

It also seems like a suitably challenging way to end the WalkandRun31 challenge.

If I blog that evening, I will have done both for 31 consecutive days.

If I don’t blog, I’ll be lost somewhere in deepest, darkest zone 4.

As with all great dramas, it comes down to the very last scene.

Will our protagonist make it? Tune in Saturday to find out!

Day 27 (written on my phone for some reason)

Total words: 8,918
Total miles: 143.3 (230.6k)

#writeandrun31