“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of you doing it.

The time will pass anyway; you might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” – Earl Nightingale

 

 

Monday 11/02.

Last week delivered me a bit of a curveball with not feeling 100% right and impacted a couple of training runs quite heavily so rest day Sunday was a great relief.

Early (ish) night and good sleep appeared to be what I needed and woke up feeling OK.

The plan was always to use Monday’s as my long one and make a serious dent the weekly total so 18 miles was the target.

Finally, it was shorts weather and even managed to swap the woolly hat for a Buff bandanna, but that’s little comfort when you need to carry & wear the rest of the kit I’ll be lumping through the jungle which today weighed in at `13.kg with fluid.

The first 3 miles were really slow and tbh, I felt a little stiff but as the cliff tops came into view it was all good.

What’d I’d planned to do was crack on with a loop that took me through Hook Village and then head towards home, pass my start point and do another 1.5 miles out and back (sounds confusing but it was clear to me) however, popping out on the road to Hook I had a brainstorm and wondered how far it was to Warsash. No time like the present, took a right turn and plodded on. By the time I’d hit 10 miles I kinda knew that I didn’t need to do the extra 3 mile route I’d originally planned.

What I stupidly forgot was that, when you clear Warsash and hit the costal, the path actually comes to an abrupt end and then it’s shingle for a couple of miles before the path reconnects!

Yep, you guessed it, HARD GRAFT.

 

 

12 miles brought me back to the cliff top again and if I’m honest, it wasn’t a bad route that I’ll probably do again.

I took the time on this run to pretend I was on a 26 miler in terms of nutrition & fluid intake so, making a conscious effort to eat (which I really struggle to do whilst running) I stopped occasionally and topped up before heading back along the final route home.

Run done, 18 miles in the bank and actually felt OK. Roll on Wednesday for a small 5 miles and then Thursday for another med-long one.

 

 

Wednesday 13/02.

Compared to last week I felt worlds apart. Up, focussed on work and thinking about the run to and from the dojo later this evening.

I knew it was only a little over 5 miles but started wondering if I could squish in a little more and still be able to get all those usual life things done too.

Only downside with the out run was that it’s only 2½ miles and tbh, that’s almost as long as it takes me to get warmed up. In essence, it was really slow and just as I got into the routine I was there!

Still, it was a great warm up in preparation for teaching and by the time I’d finished teaching I was good to get in a better return run.

All in all it was pretty uneventful. The only regret was wearing shorts. Was sunny and 10 degrees when I left but dark and 7 degrees on the way back. A good little 5 and great end to the day.

 

 

Thursday 14/02.

Went to bed last night and planned today’s route in my head (yeah yeah, I know it’s sad OK?!?!?)

I always find that, having a route and distance works for me mentally and providing I don’t deviate I’m usually pretty driven to get it done.

Waking up feeling full of the joys, I actually had to routes for tonight. First is the Hook loop but if all goes OK I’ll do the Warsash one I did on Monday again. Main thoughts for taking the second of the routes was, Monday it was more about working out where the hell I was going and didn’t really get a chance to take in the surroundings. Now I know where to go, I’ll have a chance to enjoy it a bit more.

Either way, I’m defo taking food and plenty of fluid to get used to the while eat, drink run routine.

Kit for the run will be, ASICS trail shoes, Injinji socks, 3 layers, Buff headgear, headtorch and gonna give the shorts another bash despite the temp dropping to around 7 degs. Oh and the 13kg lump!

Also going to give the new Nike lycra shorts a go too. We’re advised to wear lycra running / cycling shorts in the jungle. I’m guessing it’s to keep nasties out from places you’d rather not have them.

Steady plod for the first three miles wasn’t the plan but tbh, it takes me that long to get my legs working properly and breathing right.

It was a cracking evening. Sun shining and around 10 degrees it was pretty much perfect running conditions.

Along the seafront, top of the cliffs and through the wooded area before coming to that fork in the route. Left turn and I’d be in for 15 miles, right turn and it’d be 18.

 

 

Took the right. Not only because I felt OK, had nothing else to do for the evening and it was still daylight but more curious to see how much light was left before I had to don the headtorch.

Monday I was lighting up the route at the fork in the route. Today it was almost another 6 miles before I had to see where I was going.

18 miles done, new shorts were all good (no chaffing) and surprisingly, the pack hasn’t shifted or been uncomfortable for the entire week – winner!

 

 

Friday 15/02.

Between work, vet visits and general life stuff, a run simply didn’t happen. The saddest part of that whole pattern is the fear of missing out (FOMO). Thought that if I rushed about like a loon then I’d have squeeze one in but then I find I’m not really doing what I’m supposed to so just resided to not going and having done with it and that’s pretty much how it was.

 

Saturday 16/02.

Knowing that I had a longish one tomorrow I’d planned to treat today as the scheduled rest day although that FOMO feeling was back as soon as I woke up.

Figured we’d (me and the dogs) would start the day by heading down to support the Park Runners even if we weren’t taking part this week.

Part reason for not doing a run today (besides having one planned for tomorrow was that if I’d done one, I’d then be doing a long one Sunday and then an even longer one Monday before the weekly ramp up. Anyway, a decent long walk with the two nutty hounds was sufficient.

 

Sunday 17/02.

The planned one for the day was with a couple of mates that are also doing the Jungle. We’ve run together historically but never as a trio.

We met in the New Forrest in a place I had no idea even existed.

Steady plod out through the somewhat boggy terrain chatting & swapping notes about our Jungle prep-work.

 

 

Interesting to hear how far apart our training regimes are and have been in the last few months. Just goes to reconfirm that what works for one may not work for another.

That aside, when it comes to kit, I think we all had agreements on the main essential item but when it came to the nutrition side, I think we’ll all end up with a completely different bag of consumables.

One takeaway for me was to crack on a practise putting up and getting in / out of the hammock construction. One of us had done it already (and had some great tips) whereas the other two of us clearly hadn’t. Next decent weather day, I’m on it!!

Great day of running followed by a pub snack and a proper swapping of notes and then home.

Mileage came in at 11½ miles is a slightly slower time than I normally do but that’s totally cool. Time on feet and just enjoying the run was just what was needed.

 

 

Weekly total mileage came in at a fairly respectable 52½ miles. Slightly less that I’d been aiming for but hey, a new week starts tomorrow and an 18 miler is straight on the cards even if it is forecast to be a wet one.

Keep smilin’, chin up, one foot in front of the other !

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