The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner

[chelseaboy]

I have just stumbled upon this thread reading through the numerous blogs on here that I read on a daily basis. I tried to start one myself about my poker sometime ago but unfortunately failed and went bust in no time at all.

I have however over the last few months been running 5km a day to raise money for my cousin who has been born with Down Syndrome. I am currently on day 78 without a rest day

Take a look on http://www.justgiving.com/Sean-Clarke1

Its not been easy but I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am going to run for 104 days which is the day I go on holiday to Egypt for a week.

GL to all and to all Happy Running

[kinboshi]

Brooks Adrenaline GTS13

They are bought and paid for now so no point in you telling me I got the wrong ones!

Off out for Day 2 of the Couch to 10k now. GL me!

Don't really think anyone could say you've picked the wrong pair. Just interested really as I'm a nosey bugger.

[Steve Swift]

Nice to read about a bit of running, might tempt me out on the roads again.  God is so a grind starting from scratch and every time its a little bit worse than the last time.

In my day we certainly did criticise others shoes, much as Kids would today with mobiles.  I always loved New Balance most others didn't

[craigbetts]

Not posted or run in a while!! Well the latter is not entirely true but my mileage is v poor for preparation. Have been having a series of appointments and visits to the hospital which left me sidelined for a while. Last 2 weeks I have managed 2 runs, I can hear the ringleader Boshi sighing.

On the upside I have still been in the gym, smashing the rowing and last week partook in a 24 hour rowing challenge where I was in a team of 3. We rowed for 30 mins then had the next hour off, rinse and repeat 16 times, managing 60+ miles in my efforts and 1.5k collected for a worthy charity. This was a decent prep as it was tiredness 20 hours in which proved to be the main challenge (nobody slept at all!)

So it's now 50 mile weeks on the roads/trails with a build up do two 10k's, then three 10k's on the same day. I doubt I'll be fast come the end of July but I should have some level in the bag.

[kinboshi]

Don't worry fella.  It's all about beating our own personal targets for the run, so I won't be expecting anything - other than 6 x 40-minute 10Ks on the day

[kinboshi]

That rowing challenge sounds fun. How did the lack of sleep feel whilst you were doing that?  What about eating, how did you manage that and what did you eat?

[craigbetts]

That rowing challenge sounds fun. How did the lack of sleep feel whilst you were doing that?  What about eating, how did you manage that and what did you eat?

Loaded up with cereals, fruit and electrolyte drink for breakfast then I just grazed in between rows, nuts, sweets, cereal bars, bananas were enough to keep topped up. Had a small bowl of pasta at lunch and dinner times ( this was tasted in the row after) and having anything you desired under one roof was nice, ice cream crunchies were eaten at 2am for example.

As for sleep, we started at 10am, so it was 5-6am next morning where I struggled, I thought the sun coming up would pick me up but I was really struggling. Post row you were still hyper although with 20 mins to go to get back on the test was on in these early hours. We all looked like crap but having brews kept us awake. I remember in those early hours thinking 'this is a test', thinking why on earth have I signed up for the tr24, however, after a day or so recovery I felt fine. So good I smashed out a lengthy run and now it's very much focus that.

[Claw75]

and some under-layer shorts help stop any chafing in the thigh area (you'll thank me for that bit of advice).

I wear a girl's version of these - they're brill

http://www.sportsdirect.com/nike-7-inch-2in1-running-shorts-mens-453392

[kinboshi]

One of our team members for the TR24 just ran a 17-minute 5K.  That's pretty rapid and a good 2-3 minutes quicker than I can run 5K.

I'm hoping surrounding myself with decent runners will turn me into one

[kinboshi]

Dan (gatso), who is one of our Thunder Run team, posted on FB that he'd done four runs today in preparation for the TR24. 

I, on the other hand, went out for a 10K run yesterday along the Devon coast near Westward Ho! (the only town in the UK with an exclamation mark) and nearly died.  It was a hot one, and I was running at 11am, and I uploaded my run from my Garmin and now I realise why it felt so hard at about the 5K mark:

[Jon MW]

You're not going from zero though are you Jon?  You do other exercise with your swimming and stuff, so you'll at least have a base level to start from.

I've been mainly sitting on a sofa eating ice cream for a couple of months - but no, in terms of a base level of fitness it still won't 100% be from scratch.

If it comes down to it I'll just rely on my stubborn refusal to quit and my miserly compunction to not let the entry fee go to waste

Stubborness and pride are essential attributes for a runner.  Being tight doesn't harm in this situation either

Oh God, it's less than a fortnight now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   


I have been very carefully avoiding any injuries while doing my last minute/month training   
 - but I am at least up to being able to run 3 miles  2 miles  1 mile  1 kilometre, and run-walking 4km.  I think I'll be concentrating on this and aiming for around the hour mark.

There are quite a few things to take a photo of going around the course (taking my phone) which I have to be walking for, and at least the cut-off time for the run is 2 hours so at least I'm confident that they'll let me finish - now just for the secondary aim of not coming last 

[kinboshi]

Click to see full-size image.

The South West Coast Path in North Devon has some amazing scenery, and is a joy to walk along in the weather we're having this week.  Bloody hard work to run along in bits though.  Which is exactly how I felt after today's run.  My calves feel battered, but hopefully it's all good training as there's barely a fortnight before the Thunder Run.

This is a far more relaxing way to spend the days:

[craigbetts]

Next week is fast approaching and today sees me doing some last min training.

10k anti clockwise at 11am, 46:30.

10k clockwise at 3pm, 46:07.

I am planning on going out at 7pm for one more. Need the motivation to do it! Then I plan on one 10k tomorrow and two on Sunday. Next week will see me on the inclines on the treadmill and take thurs, fri off before the 24hours of fear on sat.

The weather forecast looks horrible for running, but good for sun bathing.

[kinboshi]

Good work fella. Yeah, the weather forecast was more promising last week, but now isn't as pleasant:

http://www.accuweather.com/en/gb/alrewas/de13-7/daily-weather-forecast/717482?day=9

Craig, have you seen the email I sent with the proposed schedule?  How does it look?

[craigbetts]

Good work fella. Yeah, the weather forecast was more promising last week, but now isn't as pleasant:

http://www.accuweather.com/en/gb/alrewas/de13-7/daily-weather-forecast/717482?day=9

Craig, have you seen the email I sent with the proposed schedule?  How does it look?

Wowsers, that has changed from the first one. Guess it is the luck of the draw.

If everybody else is happy then so am I.