Work Hard, Train Hard & Enjoy Rest Day!
 

 
Kit update:

Finally gotten round to ordering a fair amount of the compulsory kit. Survival knife (although not sure it’s man enough to take on a Jaguar if I meet one!), compass, fire flint, meals for 5 days (there’s a lot), expandable wipes, spork & long life glowsticks.

Still need to acquire the medical items & sleeping bag/s but hey, we’re on it.

 
Whilst I appreciate I’m still a few months away from going, there’s so much kit to get, leaving it to the last minute would only add to unnecessary redirection of focus so, sooner I get it all the better.

 

Monday 14/01 was a 5 consecutive day back to back session so a relaxed run of 8 miles. Tbh although I felt OK and probably could’ve added more, I’m trying to listen to my body more these days.

Taking in the odd easy one is apparently the recommended way if we’re to avoid injury, burn out and general fatigue.

 
Teaching tomorrow & Wednesday doesn’t mean rest days by any stretch so backing off is the right thing.

On the flip side, I need to be making sure I hit the 50 miles a week schedule if I’m to remain on track and not feel like I’m underachieving.

 
Positively thinking tho’, I’m not feeling muscle aches at all these days, even with the total miles increasing week on week, it doesn’t seem to matter at all. Either that or I’m just oblivious to them.

 
On the downside, the pack seems to be giving the most grief. Even the slightest shift in position rubs away skin and can be a total pain in the butt making the next day’s run uncomfortable.

I’ve racked my brains to figure out how to overcome the damage caused and my guess is that, because I’m using sacks of rice to get the weight up it’ll be different come Jungle time.

The rice is sat in “blocks” whereas the kit I’ll be taking will be more spread out. This will overcome two things. The lighter softer kit will be placed near the bottom which should allow some cushioning. Additionally, the pack will increase in height, bringing the weight distribution shoulder height meaning it won’t gnaw away at my lower back.

Trial and error I guess but nearer the time we’ll give it a crack and see if the theories work out.

 

 

Thursday 17/01 started off with 10 miles in mind but felt OK and with the weather being close to perfect, trekked on for a wee while longer setting for 11 miles.

 
Pace was considerably faster than I wanted but figured that feeling good, I’d make the most of it and treated the run as a speed run.

Even with the odd photo snap and stop to chat to friends the average pace was 8:16 which is way quicker than what I need for the big day/s.

 
The pack was surprisingly comfortable having found that if I released a couple of height straps by and couple of inches it wasn’t wearing away skin.

 
Best part was setting out at 4pm and not having to use the headtorch! Amazing what a difference a few days can make to British Summer time weirdness. Roll on the Spring!

 

Friday 18/01 was chilly but hardly any headwind. Knew I needed to hit at least 15 miles if I was going to keep on track for the weekly cumulative distance.

 
All pretty uneventful, plodded, chatted to friends en route, enjoyed being out training during the afternoon and not having to worry about daylight fading.

Didn’t quite make the intended 15 miles but was reasonably happy with 14 miles by the end.

 
One HUGE mistake I made was adjusting my trainers.

They say to stick with what works for you but I thought I was being a smart arse when I researched what the two extra holes were for on my trainers. Yep, we all know they’re there but do we really know why???.

Anyway seems there for adding extra heel tightness. Basically, if you make a loop through the hole and feed the lace back, when you tie the knot it adds tension to the heel of the shoe.

Sure they felt loads more stable / supportive and quite honestly, really good. I’ve done it before so hey what’s to lose right?

BIG mistake!! When I got home I found a massive blister on my second toe! I’ve been training for almost 5 months now, old trainers replaced with new, wet & dry weather etc and never encountered any blisters (shame I can’t say that about the blackened toe nails) so the only thing I can put it down to is the lace-up.

Reset them back to the original configuration and chalked it up to experience.

 

Saturday 19/01 was challenging. Physically I knew I needed a rest day. Just felt drained and like there was nothing in the tank. Getting the kit on was a struggle if I’m honest BUT figured I’d do the local Park Run (5k) and then see if it put a spark into me.

Headed to the local sea front and met a good mate of mine.
 
Quite literally plodded the 5k chatting and not thinking about time.

The pack was proper playing up and where I’d worn the skin away at the bottom of my lower back on Friday it needed sorting as soon as the 5k was done.

 
Crossed the line and unpacked, adjusted and reset the bag. Loads better and that kinda made my mind up to crack on, man up and get done what needed doing.

Said my farewells to Jonny Leask and headed off to the cliffs.

Quite a cold day but at least the rain held off. Only downer was the headwind at the return point.
 
Met up with a couple of lovely ladies training for the London Marathon. Chatted, swapped training plans and past experiences, all of which makes the time & mileage fly by and of course, great meeting new people espcially when you have something in common.
 
Apart from the pack incidnet earlier, all was OK & more time on feet coming in at 12 miles (which wasn’t bad considering I felt done in when I walked out the front door).

 
On a bigger positive, although the blister was still sore from Friday, it wasn’t worse and runnable so, the laces incident isn’t going to be repeated.

 
Total for the week we 45 miles.

Rest day Sunday (phew!!) and then back on it on Monday.

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