[18ck]

Last challenge ended badly, with me feeling despondent after two successive runs failed completely and I asked myself if i was really up to the job. 

OK, I'm exactly a month out from my marathon now and I need to keep up the long runs for a bit longer and I've decided I probably won't get an amazing time so I'm going to focus on being able to run the whole thing, so that means continuing long runs and I think rather than masking myself with too much speed training, maybe concentrate on form, so I can keep my pace up and not just collapse into the pain cave, slouching along like a zombie so

 

One long run per week 

Two shorter runs 

Daily yoga. Yes, daily! 

No bread, no cake, no booze, daily recording 

 

I'm going away with Mrs 18ck for a long weekend, leaving in a couple of hours so the food rule will be relaxed while we're away but we get back in Sunday night and it's strict rules from the start of the challenge proper. 

[18ck]

Day Minus Four 

I've already started the yoga (with Adrienne, natch) and I'm. 2 days I to a thirty day course. I didn't record calories but think I'm good despite some banana cake. 

 

My first run went well albeit not the way I planned. I tried to squeeze a long run into a work day but I knew I didn't really have time so it was going to have to be shorter than usual. Anyway ten minutes in I heard thunder followed by an absolute downpour. So I decided to just keep going anyway, but make it a shorter, faster run, 10 or 11k, with more pace and avoiding anywhere without a gritted path because it would be too slippery/claggy. 

I still owe the universe a proper long run (Monday, i suppose...) , but I really like that I kept going despite the path being basically a river which at times was over the tops of my shoes, and I kept having to wipe my glasses and my eyes without falling flat in my face. The rain lasted about 20 minutes like that. 

A couple of other runners who hadn't looked at the weather forecast were out and we had that exchange runners do when they pass each other in the rain and say "awight mate" with a smile that acknowledges the fundamental absurdity of the situation, which is the greatest moment of human solidarity that life has to offer. 

I'm glad it went well because it really rescued my confidence. It would be fatal to lose heart so close to the end, so I needed to come back from a run feeling like a proper badass. 

The Thames had taken the rainwater and the high tide as an opportunity to mess with my route home, and I had to do about 50 yards in water that was almost a foot deep. Should have brought a boat instead of a bike. 

 

Oh and my knee is still a bit tender but still not bothering me so that's fine. 

 

Oh and in the podcast I listened to ("Running Commentary") one of this hosts said he was doing Yoga With Adrienne too. An Actual Sign From The Actual Universe! 

[18ck]

Not my dog, but if someone's going to photobomb me I'm glad it was a good boi with a good stick. If you like photos of good bois living their best life like this I can recommend @Salinger's Instagram feed. It's like this all the time with added art. 

[18ck]

The title is just a reference to yoga by the way. I haven't been in a fight with Uri Geller. 

[18ck]

Oh and I had a bout of paranoia on case the Lisbon Marathon was quite an elite event and I came last. Nah, I looked up the event results from 2023 and there were people coming in at 6:30. Yeah, I can beat that. 

If i fucking turn up. ?

[Everstorm]

6 hours ago, 18ck said:

needed to come back from a run feeling like a proper badass. 

 

A good rain run will do that for you.  Now I want to find a proper downpour and get out in it.

 

7 hours ago, 18ck said:

No bread, no cake,

 

Do you consume other carb sources on long run days?  How do you fuel those?

[Waanie]

Woah, running in that weather is totally badass. Your environment looks lovely by the way, although I can imagine that running in a foot of water is annoying.

[18ck]

On 9/6/2024 at 2:08 PM, Everstorm said:

 

A good rain run will do that for you.  Now I want to find a proper downpour and get out in it.

 

 

Do you consume other carb sources on long run days?  How do you fuel those?

Do it! Come on, gods of rain, make this happen! 

 

As for the carbs, well, I've been trying to get used to those Gu gel things. They're not terrible. It's like melted haribo. And I have a camelback think with very dilute ribena in it and obviously things like risotto and pasta are a big help. 

[18ck]

Well, the weekend away turned out not to be as yogaey as expected. I had visions of myself getting up early and doing downward dogs on the grass outside the caravan in the sunshine, but there were buckets of rain all night both nights so the grass was soaking and the ground squishy. It sounded amazing in the metal roof though. Oh my god. Sleeping with that sort of blatter of rain just above you. Mmmm. And it was pretty much dry all day, so we had long walks without having to fuss about with extra waterproof layers and whatnot. 

 

Ate all the carbs, slept well, let's call it a between-challenge reset. 

 

Anyway, day 1 and I'm straight out of the gate with a long run. 20 miles, give or take. The last couple were agony but I didn't stop and i came away feeling like I'd done a good job and that maybe I could do this thing after all. 

[18ck]

Weight down 4lb since my last weigh-in too, despite all the carbs i put into my face on holiday 

[18ck]

19 hours ago, Waanie said:

Woah, running in that weather is totally badass. Your environment looks lovely by the way, although I can imagine that running in a foot of water is annoying.

Thanks. Yes, it's quite nice around here. The water wasn't a foot deep the whole time just a few places - sorry if I made it sound even more badass than it was! It was a good adventure, though. Definitely glad I didn't give up! 

[Everstorm]

On 9/9/2024 at 10:59 AM, 18ck said:

Do it! Come on, gods of rain, make this happen! 

 

I didn't manage a rain run so much as a mizzle walk, but it was enjoyable all the same.

 

On 9/9/2024 at 10:59 AM, 18ck said:

for the carbs, well, I've been trying to get used to those Gu gel things. They're not terrible. It's like melted haribo. And I have a camelback think with very dilute ribena in it and obviously things like risotto and pasta are a big help. 

 

Ah okay.  I had wondered if maybe the flat long runs were due to insufficient carb-loading, but it sounds like you have that well in hand.  Congrats on the 20-miler!

[18ck]

3 hours ago, Everstorm said:

 

I didn't manage a rain run so much as a mizzle walk, but it was enjoyable all the same.

 

 

Ah okay.  I had wondered if maybe the flat long runs were due to insufficient carb-loading, but it sounds like you have that well in hand.  Congrats on the 20-miler!

Thank you! ?

[18ck]

Day 2

 

Ugh

 

Well, never mind, I was busy. I can't do everything. Need to get my shit together tomorrow though. 

[18ck]

My shit is semi-together. I've done another medium-length run, 7 miles at a reasonably snippy pace, and yoga on the non-running days. The run was great. End of work on Friday and the sun was setting. I did the last mile or so in near darkness, which made me a not nervous about the uneven ground since I have no desire to trip over again. 

Today Flyer and I were planning to do an epic walk into town - which is like 15 miles or something, I don't know. We've done it a couple of times before. She kept getting stitches though. I don't know why because we were only walking, but she wasn't enjoying it so we found a tube station and took a train the rest of the way. Bit disappointed, but what can you do? And we still clocked up 26 thousand steps, which is more than a half marathon distance, between that and walking around town, visiting 3 bookshops and chit chatting and then traipsing home with our backpaxks full of loot. 

I havent been eating well at all and the whole recording side of things has gone pout of the window really.

Tomorrow is a big sitting on my arse day, but I will do some yoga at least. 

[Everstorm]

Sounds like it was a great trip, even if a tad shorter than planned.

[18ck]

On 9/14/2024 at 11:38 PM, Everstorm said:

Sounds like it was a great trip, even if a tad shorter than planned.

It really was. Poor flyer is in a terrible state and not very well but in the plus side she's stayed in here a few extra days as a result. 

[18ck]

How do you do, fellow nerds? 

 

Hm, it's not going well over here. It's been a bit hectic since my last update and my routine has been all over the place. I managed one yoga session on Monday but my calories have been pretty terrible. 

 

Today has been decent at least. A short run, calories recorded and on point, but even the short run should have been a long run and I found I had no energy to keep going. 

 

@Everstorm asked a few days ago if there was some reason behind the bad run days. I'm actually starting to wonder if maybe drinks make the difference. I had some coffee and mint tea before the run but hadn't really drunk much the night before and I wonder if that made me feel listless. I'm going to make sure I am properly moist before bed today and try again tomorrow afternoon.

 

Went to see Mariza (a portuguese fado singer) yesterday and it was hard to turn down the customary concert drinky but I managed that, at least. 

 

After tomorrow's afternoon run I'm going up north to stay with my mum for the weekend and sort a few things out so it'll be interesting if I manage to stay on target. The eating and drinking regime in place there is a bit different from here. Toast is all there is for breakfast, and beer and dessert with dinner are all pretty normal so I might just have to get my Londoner face on and bring my own supplies of mint tea, fruit and coconut yoghurt. The air will be all smokey too but not much I can do about that! 

[18ck]

Monday? Sunday? Definitely Sunday, Both days? Actually, I can't remember. Maybe both. Yeah, maybe the yoga situation is better than I thought.

[18ck]

Oh and I GOT NEW RUNNING SHOES!!! 

[18ck]

Oh and I RAN OVER THIS TODAY AND FULLY EXPECT THE MAGIC TO BE ANSORBED THROUGH MY FEET AND MAKE ME A BETTER RUNNER 

 

 

[Everstorm]

Yay new shoes!  Smart to get them early enough to break them in before race day.

[18ck]

On 9/19/2024 at 2:54 PM, Everstorm said:

Yay new shoes!  Smart to get them early enough to break them in before race day.

Yep! They're nice. I actually tend not to have trouble with new shoes chafing or whatever it definitely wanted to get a sense of whether they were comfortable and stable in genderal. I could fall back on the old ones if need be but they're trail shoes and not really designed for hard surfaces. 

[18ck]

Well the next days run was even worse. I knew it would be. I was not in the right space mentally at all. Might as well not have bothered. The new shoes are great but I did a lot of it on concrete and cobble stones along the river path, and I found them nuch more slippery than my old ones when the ground was wet. Assuming this is just because they are new and that when the soles are abraded a bit that'll be less of a problem. Hope so anyway. 

 

OK, mentally reconfiguring the last week before taper. I'm thinking long run on Monday, early, short run on Wednesday, long run on Saturday (but maybe less long - say a half marathon?) 

 

I'm at the ancestral home now. Beer successfully avoided and I have some extra food with me to avoid things like marmalade on toast for breakfast. I did a yoga session in my room (well, my brother's old room actually, but that's another story!) first thing. Very hard on the abs, Jesus. And I'm doing some hard-mode gardening. Moving 4 hydrangea bushes to a new location. Those buggers don't want to come out of the ground. Burning calories like a fiend. 

 

 

[Everstorm]

2 hours ago, 18ck said:

the next days run was even worse. I knew it would be. I was not in the right space mentally at all. Might as well not have bothered.

 

On the contrary, running when you aren't feeling it is great mental training, especially for pushing past The Wall that generally hits around mile 20.