February 15th - 15 miles
Around the waterways of East London - 15.1 miles / 1:52:29
It took two cups of coffee to light my fire this morning. Once I'm out on a run, I'm totally switched on but it can take time for me to gather my mojo and get my ass out the door. That's also the case with work, shopping, actually everything. Even picking up a parcel from the concierge. I must learn to seize the day!
Alas, I did venture out to tick off my miles. What I love about RUYD is its prescriptive nature. Each day, run 'x' miles. Blogging about my progress also adds a layer of accountability, should I fail, then I'll have to broadcast my reasons for bowing out. Whilst no cause for embarrassment, it is not something I want to have to explain. Those that know me, know me as someone 'who runs a bit' and therefore I think the expectation is that Craig'll do it. It's really not that simple. The last six days of the challenge require the same amount of mileage as the Marathon Des Sables. Fortunately it won't cost the same though - £3,650 - to run the 'Corporate Ultra'.
Today I ran my usual 'couple o' loops' down at Limehouse Basin to get some miles in the bag, before following the canal round to the Olympic Park and further along past Hackney Marshes before the turn-a-round for home. I kept a good pace, and the legs start week 3 in tip-top condition. Praise the Lord (or the Atheist equivalent).
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| Sticking with it |
The miles creep up to a 'remember to pack a Snickers' level this week. This means carrying fluids and you guessed it, a Snickers. Yet more logistics to my working day.
FATIGUE FACTOR (1 'A walk in the park' - 10 'Send help') = 2
DAILY DISRUPTION (1 'All in my stride' - 10 'Skipping sleep') = 1
February 16th - 16 miles
West to Hyde Park before a meander home - 16.3 miles / 2:01:11
Wasn't it just the most delightful evening? Any other month, faced with such a downpour, I'd opt for a date with the pool but there are no points for swimming in this game. It was on with the waterproof and out into the dreary drizzle for a rather convoluted commute.
To build the mileage I decided to start with a loop of Hyde Park - 'oh that'll be nice'. So pleasant in the day, a maze of paths around picnicking lovers but at night its periphery is a death-zone of cyclists zooming in all directions. To escape with my life I moved to an inner path that looked quiet, and quiet for a reason. Leaping into its waterlogged sandy surface was not a great start to the run, filling my trainers with wet grit. Brilliant. I limped out to the roadside and pathetically tapped out my trainers before soldiering on. Worse things have happened at sea.
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| Wellington Arch - Plenty of headroom |
There is certainly a tiredness in my legs (raising the 'Fatigue Factor' to 3) and I'm yawning like a child, the morning after a friend's sleepover but the run home tonight (sand or no sand) just felt strong and automatic. Things change after 20 miles, the body asks for more help, I know this, but I really could have kept on running tonight with little thought. I'll save that bravado for next week.
This week should be quite pleasant, after having fears that the wheels might fall off at this stage, I now see next Monday (23rd - aka February 23 miles) as the target to get to before it all gets a little head-down (ooh matron!).
FATIGUE FACTOR (1 'A walk in the park' - 10 'Send help') = 3
DAILY DISRUPTION (1 'All in my stride' - 10 'Skipping sleep') = 1
February 17th - 17 miles
Same as the day before with an extra loop of parkland - 17.4 miles / 2:16:45
We are approaching what I like to call 'bring a pack-lunch' territory. That distance marker when the body says "come on I need a little fuel in the fire if you want me to keep plodding along". From hereon I will need to carry a bar or two about my person, and keep the fluids topped up. I had a lovely Snickers and High-5 gel pit-stop tonight in the surrounds of St. Katherine's Dock whilst the bourgeoisie dined in the warmth of the waterfront restaurants. I know how to spoil myself.
The route deserves no particular mention, I ran the same path as yesterday with an extra loop of St. James' thrown in to account for the additional mile. I'm thinking I could keep this up for the rest of the working week, each day adding yet another loop. Exciting.
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| Lights and London sights |
I had initially thought that the nature of the challenge was cruel, what with its incremental mileage day after day, but I'm kind of thinking that the opposite is true. Albeit the distance is not yet astronomic, the gradual increase calls for a familiar effort from the day prior whilst upping the ante. It's all rather enjoyable. Shame February isn't a 31 day month!
FATIGUE FACTOR (1 'A walk in the park' - 10 'Send help') = 3
DAILY DISRUPTION (1 'All in my stride' - 10 'Skipping sleep') = 1
February 18th - 18 miles
Around Hyde Park then east to Greenwich - 18.1 miles / 2:25:13
She's leaving me. Can you blame her?
It's ok, RUYD has not caused a rift amongst us, rather work (in Sydney - lucky thing) beckons for the girlfriend and as from tomorrow it'll be just me and my trainers for the remainder of February. Obviously, it goes without saying that I'll miss her soooo much, but this might not be all tears and tantrums. Over the next ten days I've 235 miles left to run, so I actually feel better knowing that she'll have engaging (and awake) folk around her to conversate with.
As for tonight's running, well it can be seen that the pace has dropped. This is partly due to me taking the executive decision to run clever and conserve the legs, with the other part (a much larger part) due to an abscondence of spring in one's step. I'm starting to do that 'ultra-marathoner shuffle' in places, but the effort requirements are still pretty low. Such is the distance left to run that even the most minute of niggles will sink the ship. I'm more than happy to keep shuffling!
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| Heading home across the river |
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| Greenwich Foot Tunnel - Nobody but me |
It was a pleasant run in placid conditions, and I got to run through the tunnel again. I love that tunnel. Though at this stage, I'm not a huge fan of the spiral staircases leading down and out of it.
Onwards...
FATIGUE FACTOR (1 'A walk in the park' - 10 'Send help') = 3
DAILY DISRUPTION (1 'All in my stride' - 10 'Skipping sleep') = 1
February 19th - 19 miles
A Greenwich 'mean time' - 19.7 miles / 2:42:46
There was no let up with the rain today. Having a two and a half hour run ahead of you when it is so dismal outside hardly floods the heart with song. But knowing what a small task today's mileage would be relative to this time next week (running a marathon after work) I just accepted it and headed out. From the outset I was aware and concerned of the languishing condition of my legs and my laboured stride. I guess it's to be expected, but I couldn't help but frown from the sight of my ragged shadow alongside me under the street lights. It's starting to look ugly.
I can't get it out of my head that even though we're approaching the end of February, it won't be until tomorrow (Friday 20th) that I'll hit mile 203 and hence pass the half-way mark. Crumbs. From hereon, it's 9 days of 20+ miles. No respite.
Fortunately I came home in one piece and in good shape, after a hard day's night on the London streets, where I lost count of the number of buses that puddle-drenched me and moron/pedestrian brolly attacks! Rotherhithe (that curvy bit between mile 9 and 11 of the VLM) was tonight's 'add-on' and completely void of life. It never ceases to amaze me just how quickly one can find oneself alone in a town of 8 million. I welcomed the solitude this offered and the lack of bus traffic.
It's all rather solitary for me now. Not only will I be out running 1 in every 7 hours for the remainder of this (godforsaken) month, I'll also be arriving home to a lack of fanfare. I'll say this though, she did remember to put on the hot water before heading to the airport. That's warmth I'll hold on to!
FATIGUE FACTOR (1 'A walk in the park' - 10 'Send help') = 4
DAILY DISRUPTION (1 'All in my stride' - 10 'Skipping sleep') = 1
February 20th - 20 miles
Round Victoria Park then off to Westminster - 20.1 miles / 2:44:46
Being Friday, I took public transport (and my jackets) home for the first time this week. It's funny, two weeks back, dragging myself out for what was then a six mile ask was a real chore. Tonight though with 20 miles on the agenda, I was quite pumped to get out and didn't mince around for too long after I came through the front door.
The plan was to run around Victoria Park and head out to ten miles before simply following the route back, but Hackney is rather sketchy on any night, particularly a Friday and as I passed through I thought it safer to not return and instead run further along the river West. For all its organic bakeries, pop-up shops and attractive young things on bicycles, the streets are littered with homeless folk and junkies on crutches, staggering around. Escape the risk.
I ran on just a few sips of H2O tonight, no food intake, and didn't struggle what-so-ever. Regardless of the speed I'm running, knowing I have the fitness to knock out 20 miles au naturel is a rather cool accomplishment. Now for the weekend where I can rest up a little, ahead of the final week, and what a week indeed!
FATIGUE FACTOR (1 'A walk in the park' - 10 'Send help') = 4
DAILY DISRUPTION (1 'All in my stride' - 10 'Skipping sleep') = 1
February 21st - 21 miles
Round Victoria Park then off to Westminster - 21.6 miles / 2:51:53
On a Saturday I wake up late, not to be confused with 'get up late'. After a week of training plus the fact I never hit the sack before midnight, I am zonked come the weekend. This morning was no exception, especially after the week I've had! After coffee, toast, porridge and one more...ok, two more coffees it was early afternoon before I headed out for Day 21 of RUYD.
The route was simple, head out along the canal for ten and a half miles then turn back and retrace my footsteps. Setting off I felt a little ragged and could feel the stiffness in my legs but I managed to shake it off, and I actually had a really great run. My pace was back under an eight minute mile and again I didn't touch any food in my backpack, just water was sufficient. It was a nice change to run on the flat and softer surface of the towpath out of Central London. What wasn't a nice change was the amount of rats scurrying across it!
So now there's only the one week remaining, just 175 little miles left to run. Even if I were to average 8 minute miles, that would take me 24 hours. Holy Smokes. I'm feeling much better than I had envisaged I would at this stage. The real challenge is mental (I mean that's what ultra running is right?) knowing that I have to run three to four hours each day. Though I don't really have much on to be fair...
Join me tomorrow for the start of Week 4 (on a new blog post).
FATIGUE FACTOR (1 'A walk in the park' - 10 'Send help') = 4
DAILY DISRUPTION (1 'All in my stride' - 10 'Skipping sleep') = 1
DAILY DISRUPTION (1 'All in my stride' - 10 'Skipping sleep') = 1
February 19th - 19 miles
A Greenwich 'mean time' - 19.7 miles / 2:42:46
There was no let up with the rain today. Having a two and a half hour run ahead of you when it is so dismal outside hardly floods the heart with song. But knowing what a small task today's mileage would be relative to this time next week (running a marathon after work) I just accepted it and headed out. From the outset I was aware and concerned of the languishing condition of my legs and my laboured stride. I guess it's to be expected, but I couldn't help but frown from the sight of my ragged shadow alongside me under the street lights. It's starting to look ugly.
I can't get it out of my head that even though we're approaching the end of February, it won't be until tomorrow (Friday 20th) that I'll hit mile 203 and hence pass the half-way mark. Crumbs. From hereon, it's 9 days of 20+ miles. No respite.
Fortunately I came home in one piece and in good shape, after a hard day's night on the London streets, where I lost count of the number of buses that puddle-drenched me and moron/pedestrian brolly attacks! Rotherhithe (that curvy bit between mile 9 and 11 of the VLM) was tonight's 'add-on' and completely void of life. It never ceases to amaze me just how quickly one can find oneself alone in a town of 8 million. I welcomed the solitude this offered and the lack of bus traffic.
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| Searching for light at the end of the tunnel |
It's all rather solitary for me now. Not only will I be out running 1 in every 7 hours for the remainder of this (godforsaken) month, I'll also be arriving home to a lack of fanfare. I'll say this though, she did remember to put on the hot water before heading to the airport. That's warmth I'll hold on to!
FATIGUE FACTOR (1 'A walk in the park' - 10 'Send help') = 4
DAILY DISRUPTION (1 'All in my stride' - 10 'Skipping sleep') = 1
February 20th - 20 miles
Round Victoria Park then off to Westminster - 20.1 miles / 2:44:46
Being Friday, I took public transport (and my jackets) home for the first time this week. It's funny, two weeks back, dragging myself out for what was then a six mile ask was a real chore. Tonight though with 20 miles on the agenda, I was quite pumped to get out and didn't mince around for too long after I came through the front door.
The plan was to run around Victoria Park and head out to ten miles before simply following the route back, but Hackney is rather sketchy on any night, particularly a Friday and as I passed through I thought it safer to not return and instead run further along the river West. For all its organic bakeries, pop-up shops and attractive young things on bicycles, the streets are littered with homeless folk and junkies on crutches, staggering around. Escape the risk.
I ran on just a few sips of H2O tonight, no food intake, and didn't struggle what-so-ever. Regardless of the speed I'm running, knowing I have the fitness to knock out 20 miles au naturel is a rather cool accomplishment. Now for the weekend where I can rest up a little, ahead of the final week, and what a week indeed!
.JPG) |
| Home sweet home |
FATIGUE FACTOR (1 'A walk in the park' - 10 'Send help') = 4
DAILY DISRUPTION (1 'All in my stride' - 10 'Skipping sleep') = 1
February 21st - 21 miles
Round Victoria Park then off to Westminster - 21.6 miles / 2:51:53
On a Saturday I wake up late, not to be confused with 'get up late'. After a week of training plus the fact I never hit the sack before midnight, I am zonked come the weekend. This morning was no exception, especially after the week I've had! After coffee, toast, porridge and one more...ok, two more coffees it was early afternoon before I headed out for Day 21 of RUYD.
The route was simple, head out along the canal for ten and a half miles then turn back and retrace my footsteps. Setting off I felt a little ragged and could feel the stiffness in my legs but I managed to shake it off, and I actually had a really great run. My pace was back under an eight minute mile and again I didn't touch any food in my backpack, just water was sufficient. It was a nice change to run on the flat and softer surface of the towpath out of Central London. What wasn't a nice change was the amount of rats scurrying across it!
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| Reflective at half way |
So now there's only the one week remaining, just 175 little miles left to run. Even if I were to average 8 minute miles, that would take me 24 hours. Holy Smokes. I'm feeling much better than I had envisaged I would at this stage. The real challenge is mental (I mean that's what ultra running is right?) knowing that I have to run three to four hours each day. Though I don't really have much on to be fair...
Join me tomorrow for the start of Week 4 (on a new blog post).
FATIGUE FACTOR (1 'A walk in the park' - 10 'Send help') = 4
DAILY DISRUPTION (1 'All in my stride' - 10 'Skipping sleep') = 1
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