Off-season 2015

[marathondan]

Hey, I went for a run. Third one since the marathon. Just 3 miles pre-work around the arse end of Bracknell - a term which encompasses most of the town. But it's something.

Last night I was reading a GCSE science textbook (more of which later), looking at the heart, the lungs, cell respiration, and so on. I looked down and considered my own under-utilised organs (stop it) and felt that it might be time to blow the dust off the old cardio-pulmonary system.

I posted yesterday about the excuse of not having free lunchtimes, hence not getting out for short daytime runs. So the only answer was to carve out a similar patch of time at one end of the day, and set the alarm half an hour earlier. I've spent months banging on about just getting up and and getting out before I've had time to change my mind, and this worked a treat. It helped that it was a clear, bright June morning, rather than dark and pouring with rain.

I can't help thinking that, even when there are no goals and no plans on the table, 2-3 outings a week would be a great boost to physical and mental health.

[glaconman]

kudos.

Agreed. It's a good habit. I notice on strava that some of the best fell runners will run daily. Even if it's only a couple of easy miles with the dog.

[marathondan]

I hear that the new thing for beginning runners is 100 miles in 100 days. A meme to replace couch-to-5K. Seems like a good challenge for someone who's just starting out. Then the other day, I nearly posted that I might try and tick over through the summer, on 5-10 miles per week. Split the difference between 5 and 10, and you get 7, which is an average of one mile per day. So I'm going to have a crack at averaging 100 miles over a 100 day period. I've made a spreadsheet, of course. I've backdated it a bit, so that it finishes at the end of August, the end of the school summer holidays. Which means I'm already a bit behind schedule, but I don't mind a spot of catch-up.

It'll be the easiest challenge I've ever set myself. But it's an exercise in moderation. Just for health, 365 miles a year seems like a pretty good target.

   

[El Gordo]

Och, what the hell. I'll join you --  if you don't mind a bit of megatherine or cancrine company. (I was seeking a brainy word for snail-like, but had to settle for these, discovered here.)

Er, anyway. Why not, eh? I've had 2 weeks off my rowing machine because [reminder - list some plausible excuses here before posting] , so it would be good to get back into it and throw in an extra ingredient.

Given my legendary time management skills, I suspect I'll end up seeking a 100-mile race around the end of September. 

In the official version, I will aim to get out there this weekend to get at least 2 or 3 points on the board. 

[marathondan]

Crikey, I didn't expect that to happen.

Yes, welcome aboard. Just so long as your slothfulness doesn't make you crabby. Of course you could have settled for the adjective of the homeless snail... sluggish.

I look forward to the 100 mile race. Brings a new meaning to "pulling an all-nighter" to meet a deadline. But assuming you don't take that option, the question is whether it's better to run a single mile every day, or 2-3 miles 2-3 times a week. I certainly favour the latter. I also really like the idea of having a slack week and then a heavy week to catch up.

And do let us know why you're off the rowing, when you think of the reasons. We were all rather excited about that. I do hope that "running 100 miles in 100 days" isn't added to the list, or I will feel very bad.

By the way, graphical presentation of results is compulsory. Bonus points for highly obscure Excel functionality.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

What the hell, I'll dive in as well, although I'm not convinced that the "160 kilometres in 100 days" challenge is as catchy a title as "couch to 5k", but hey, I have to overcome my pedantry some time I suppose.

I do like the challenge of obscure Excel functionality. That does excite me.

[glaconman]

One of my first jobs after uni was developing forecasting models in Excel/VBA. Does this make me exempt from the spreadsheet challenge?

[marathondan]

What the hell, I'll dive in as well

Marvellous!

[glaconman]

I thought that might give me some geek kudos around here.

[marathondan]

One of my first jobs after uni was developing forecasting models in Excel/VBA. Does this make me exempt from the spreadsheet challenge?

Nope. The fancier the better. But I guess you're running 100 miles a month at the moment?

[marathondan]

I thought that might give me some geek kudos around here.

Sorry, I edited my previous post to make it clear that I was replying to MLCMM's post

[glaconman]

I thought that might give me some geek kudos around here.

Sorry, I edited my previous post to make it clear that I was replying to MLCMM's post

Well, it wasn't out of character for you to be thrilled about a spreadsheet related post. 

Actually Dan I'm not a heavy mileage man. 15-25 miles a week running and 25-50 miles a week on the bike at the mo. I guess the thing is to combine easy and hard and cut-out the middle stuff.

[Charliecat5]

What the hell, I'll dive in as well

Marvellous!

Before BGG throws his grubby hat into this particular ring... I just want to point out that he needs to be doing more than a mile a day, if he's going to be carrying my scrawny arse around the Jog Shop 20.

[marathondan]

Before BGG throws his grubby hat into this particular ring... I just want to point out that he needs to be doing more than a mile a day, if he's going to be carrying my scrawny arse around the Jog Shop 20.

Yep, you two are banned. There's no place here for anyone seriously preparing for an event.

[marathondan]

Well, it wasn't out of character for you to be thrilled about a spreadsheet related post. 

Well actually, what you said was pretty marvellous too.

[Charliecat5]

Before BGG throws his grubby hat into this particular ring... I just want to point out that he needs to be doing more than a mile a day, if he's going to be carrying my scrawny arse around the Jog Shop 20.

Yep, you two are banned. There's no place here for anyone seriously preparing for an event.

Define "seriously preparing".  Does this include scoffing a bar of chocolate and a packet of nuts, before going to the pub for tea?  

[marathondan]

Define "seriously preparing".  Does this include scoffing a bar of chocolate and a packet of nuts, before going to the pub for tea?  

Hydrating and consuming energy bars? All sounds above board to me.

[El Gordo]

One of my first jobs after uni was developing forecasting models in Excel/VBA. Does this make me exempt from the spreadsheet challenge?

On the contrary, you will be a particularly welcome participant.

It's a lovely sunny afternoon here, so I had better get to one of those lakeside bars to plan out my strategy for the weeks ahead.

The sooner I start.....

Cheers!

[El Gordo]

And do let us know why you're off the rowing, when you think of the reasons. We were all rather excited about that. I do hope that "running 100 miles in 100 days" isn't added to the list, or I will feel very bad.

By the way, graphical presentation of results is compulsory. Bonus points for highly obscure Excel functionality.

I'm not "off the rowing" at all. It's the worst excuse of the lot, but I've been incredibly busy at work for the last 2 or 3 weeks. I'm not saying I've not had the time because you can always find time for 15 or 20 minutes. More that I'd slipped into a different mental groove. Early starts, eating late, weekend working. Erratic routine. But yeah -- as I said -- excuses really.

So anyway, I'll add 100 miles of plodditry to 100 miles of rowing. The latter works quite well actually. You may or may not know but 2,000 metres is a standard basic rowing session, and the usual length for the competitions. For the average new rower, it's only 8 or 9 minutes but you'd be amazed how much of a workout you feel you've had. One or two of those a day does one the power of good. What I've not yet strayed into is the longer, less intensive sessions. Needless to say, the target of most enthusiasts is the marathon -- same distance as running. This is almost certainly beyond me, but who knows. My initial target is to knock out a regular weekend 10K. If I can get a few of those under my belt, we'll see.

Graphical results - aye. That's the real challenge.

As for 1 mile a day vs other configurations, I was reminded of my old friend Mark, whose running regime I mentioned in this post:  "Apparently he runs exactly one mile — never more, never less — every morning, seven days a week, 364 days a year. And on the 365th day? On the 365th day, he runs the Oxford 10K."


Oh well. I had better stop or I'll be tempted to add even more imaginary athletic objectives.

[El Gordo]

OK, ta Dan -- my first 'rowing mile' now added. Actually 2K metres as mentioned, so I guess my 100 rowing miles will actually be 200,000 metres, or 124 miles or so. Probably won't make it out for my plodding mile today, but tomorrow should be ok. 

In the ideal world in which I do not reside (charming though the yachts on the lake look on this summer afternoon), a decent 10 minutes or so of rowing would make a good warm up for an immediate run. Maybe I'll be able to inch towards that regime over the next few weeks. 

Early excuse: will be in Italy for a week or so shortly, which I will see as an excellent opportunity to carbo-load in preparation for the rest of the period.

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Edited -- er, maybe I'm over-egging this pudding. But a starving man will... tend to over-egg his pudding. Mmm. Time for a spot of brunch, I think.