Slothlete

Two things have happened since I was last here. Well, maybe four. Let's count them as we go. A nice easy one first. Last Friday I got out in my shoes and completed a half marathon to cover Southampton Half, yet another event cancelled and changed to a virtual. Fifteen quid for a medal and a T-shirt sold me, though. Bargain. I've been in regular touch with the Lullaby Trust who had places for the London Marathon in October, although they had a £1,850 fundraising target. The LM has since been changed to a virtual event and, fortunately, places will be £20 so charities have offered their places for the cut price of £100 in fundraising, a very achievable amount. So achievable that, last night, after setting up a Justgiving page, it took about an hour to entice some very generous sponsors to donate. I am now IN for the London Marathon, albeit a virtual around Helston. This got me thinking about how achievable a virtual marathon would be given that I've seen everything in Helston...

 Target - 250km Achieved - 250km Remaining - One half marathon, two marathons. This is it. The end of the road. I'm not going to sing but I am going to have a beer tonight. I've also got enough cuts of meat for a mixed grill. I knew I was running towards something. Although I have now completed Ultra Race Romania after 18 gruelling days of high intensity, low checking-the-map running, I'll likely update this blog once a week or so to keep posting my intentions for future events. I have Southampton half marathon to do, Newport marathon and I am now all but confirmed for London's virtual event on October the 4th. I hope you'll stick with me. I know running the same 10km route over and over again can be a bit dull but if I learn anything on the way I'll be sure to let you know. Marathons generally provide aid stations but there'll be no such thing when I'm going alone so I have a few ideas for how to execute the events as and when they appear. Watch this sp...

 Target - 250km Achieved - 236km (sort of...) Remaining - 14km (but not really...) I don't want you all to think I've been lying to you so I'm going to be straight from the beginning. With every run, I've generally achieved numbers like 12.687km and 13.429km and so, over the days, I've accumulated a few odd parts of kms while rounding down for the blog. Since the start, I've racked up 2km of extras, meaning yesterday's total according to the URR official standings was actually 222km. I did a little maths and, wouldn't you know it, instead of 3 x 12.5km runs which puts me well over the target, I could afford 2 x 14km runs to put me almost exactly on it. I couldn't resist a day off, I'm a lazy sort in reality, and so I set out today with a plan. As per the rest of the event, I overshot a touch and finished at the ten mile mark, or 16km. With adjustments, this leaves a 12km run tomorrow after which I can celebrate with an entire beer. Better than th...

 Target - 250km Achieved - 220km Remaining - 30km https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Taylertoons One thing I forgot to mention at the start of all this is how I rely on visual representation to get me through the big numbers. Ultra Run Romania have a map showing where we all are, but it's not updated immediately and can be hard to find where you are on it. Instead, I've been using colouring in. I split the total into four, unequal weeks but with three consistent to begin with. Each week has a separate colour and this has been useful during the actual runs, knowing that I'm finishing blue week for example. My original target of 11km a day can be seen here, although I've never actually done 11km for one reason or another...

 Target - 250km Achieved - 207km Remaining - 43km I knew today's run was going to be tough after 21km yesterday, but the first mile felt like Bambi on ice. I was in two minds as to whether I could make it, deciding to just carry on anyway to see what would happen. Fortunately, after the first mile, I felt strong enough to pick up and run as normal, a welcome circumstance. During my run I noticed a few hot spots, areas that haven't been troubling me to date. I know they would have arisen from the extra distance yesterday and so I treated them with moisturising lotion as soon as I got home, a feeling of relief sweeping through me as though I'd put ice on a barbecue. I'll likely treat them again before the end of the night so they're hopefully in a better condition tomorrow. The short runs have definitely been the way to go for this challenge as I've found myself looking forward to the next one every day. Only four more to go.

 Target - 250km Achieved - 194.5km Remaining - 55.5km To save me trying to work out whether or not this challenge is harder than a half marathon, I put in a half marathon. It was partly my coach's fault as I now have to be at home on Wednesday afternoon, which is likely to be the day of my final run. I was going to go out on a half in the morning yet don't want to be rushing and so I extended my ten miler for today with a few extra loops here and there. It still felt superb the whole way round, I never thought 'why am I doing this?' At one point I had a weather report from a D A Giles employee, who advised me it was 'far too hot to be doing that'. He wasn't wrong, it was a scorcher. Getting back, I needed plenty of fluids. Recent daily runs haven't affected me much; today I also needed some energy from a gel and to graze on a light lunch of just about everything. For those following the numbers closely, a half is 13.1 miles or 21km, not quite double my a...

Target - 250km Achieved - 173.5km Remaining - 76.5km I have it on good authority that the London Marathon will be run with just elite athletes this year. It hasn't been officially announced but my sources are good. London was my first ever marathon and it was an incredible experience being cheered on by the crowds on a beautiful, April day. It literally changed my life, although I didn't know it at the time. My plan was to give up running immediately afterwards yet I felt like I didn't want to waste the training and went back to it fairly quickly after the race. To put on an event during the current pandemic would be next to impossible. How you'd keep spectators and runners two metres apart for the duration escapes me and it seems the best way of spreading a virus. I'm no expert, just a guy with a blog, mind. At this point I'm so pleased that virtual races are being offered and this one has given me such a different experience. I'm not nervous before running...

Target - 250km Achieved - 161km Remaining - 89km It feels so good to be counting down the last 100km. So, so good. I've also got a chart that's split into three weeks' worth of running and I've completed the blue and green weeks. Red week starts tomorrow, effectively two days early. This also makes me happy. I'm starting to struggle with the lack of alcohol though as there are so many opportunities to drink. Today it was my Mum's birthday and a couple of pints would have gone down lovely. As it was, I stuck to soft drinks and will celebrate properly next Friday. Maybe next Saturday too, dependent on how I'm feeling. I'm finding it hard to place where this challenge goes compared to my previous events. Although it's an ultra marathon, I'm not finding it as challenging as I've found marathons in the past due to the fact I can rest between runs. It's almost certainly harder than a half marathon, though, so I've decided to finish with a 1...

Target - 250km Achieved - 147.5km Remaining - 102.5km Yesterday was the funeral of my Nan, Marlene McClary, and so I didn't post as I wanted to spend the day with my memories of her. I know she'd have wanted me to run, or at least to get up early enough not to miss her funeral, and so I went on a slightly different path to take in places she used to take me when I was younger. The only issue with this is that the length was slightly off, as ever, and so I was struggling towards the end while not really knowing how far I'd gone. 14.5km later and I made it home in time to jump into some appropriate clothing. Today I went back to my old, faithful route and it struck me why I've been doing more than my target every day. Right back at the start, when I was adding routes, I added a long, flat section that I knew to be a mile long. My intention back then was to run half of it, seemingly finding that I may as well run the other half, too. Adding it back in today, I noticed my f...

Target - 250km Achieved - 120km Remaining - 130km I'm not one to create content on a blog just to inject some drama. This is meant to be a little rundown calculator of how long I've got left with a couple of weird incidents, such as catching a dog. However, due to my seeming inability to calculate miles on a pre-calculated route, I seem to have overdone it yet again. I promise I'm not doing the old 'whoops, silly me', routine. I decided to loop around an estate to provide the slight difference in my route and ended up going towards what was meant to be a turning point. As it came nearer, an older gentleman let me through and said to me, "your need is greater than mine". Essentially this is because I look like I've done 100 miles after doing 100 yards, yet I didn't want to then turn around and run back past him. This meant I had to recalculate my route and, low and behold, I got it wrong. 13.5km for the day. Still, it took me a whole km closer to th...

Target - 250km Achieved - 106.5km Remaining - 143.5km It feels so good to break the 100km barrier which is a little odd if I think about it. It's not much more than 1/3 of the way and isn't half way yet but somehow I'm in a state of achievement. Meh, I'll take any sense of happiness at this point. I also got the all clear from the organisers for my interrupted mileage, they're happy to take me at my word since I knew I'd pre-mapped my route and timed myself using the home clock. As I said to them, it's not as though I'm looking to break any records. While I'm pleased with my progress I know there's still a way to go and I've felt little aches and pains along the way, mainly in my thighs and shins but today I had a bit of a floater. It popped up in various places, never long or painful enough for me to really care but definitely something to keep an eye on.  Most importantly I was able to indulge in a giant T-bone steak last night. Best steak ...