Category: Juneathon

#juneathon day 3

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 5 Comments

Tonight, on day 3 of Juneathon, we welcome another form of poetry: the triolet.

“Juneathon is in full swing”

And so far everything's alright.

I feel like I want to sing:

“Juneathon is in full swing!”

I want to do the highland fling,

The weather's warm the evenings light.

“Juneathon is in full swing!”

And so far everything's alright.

Day 3 mileage = 5.03

Total Juneathon mileage = 16.22

 

Juneathon Day 1

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 12 Comments

So, here we go again….a month of running every day.

Day 1 is done: 5.81 miles at the woods. It was a lovely morning.

But more importantly how about a limerick to kick off the month:

There was a young man named Phil,

Who decided to run up a hill.

Juneathon is here,

So he's dropping the beer,

And his mantra is, “Keepin' it real”.

Day 1 mileage = 5.81

Total Juneathon mileage = 5.81

 

What you’ll need for a successful Juneathon….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 3 Comments

Having taken part in both Janathon and Juneathon for the past three or so years, and with the 'annual festival of activity and excuses' only a few days away, I thought I would impart my knowledge on what you need to complete a successful Juneathon:

  • A plan. Your plan could come in one of three guises: a target mileage/exercise routine, written down and stuck to despite everything else; or a more laissez-faire attitude, one of, run if you want, or not if you don't feel like it; or maybe your plan will be somewhere in between. Whatever you choose be happy and comfortable with the plan – knowing that, in the end the plan can always be chucked out the window. To conclude, you probably don't actually need a plan.
  • Running kit. Running or exercising for 30 days in a row puts an awful lot of pressure on your kit. There are a few things you can do to ensure you've always got kit to wear: tell the missus to keep on top of the washing (a risky strategy); or hit the shops and buy more stuff; or struggle on with what you have got, with the understanding that at some stage you will be wearing mouldy kit that has been dug out from the bottom of the wash basket. Therefore, you probably don't actually really need loads of running kit.
  • Hot water. Juneathon very quickly becomes showerathon. So ensure the boiler is in tip top condition and you have loads of hot water. Unless you are a bit skanky, in which case you don't even need hot water.
  • Time. If you are not one to do lots of exercise, be prepared to watch the month of June disappear quicker than Usain Bolt on speed. What with work, exercising, showering and complaining you'll find you won't have much time for anything else. Unless of course you don't actually have a life – in which case time is not an issue.
  • Creativity. One of the 'rules' of Juneathon is to blog everyday. People will not want to read blogs that say, 'went for a run today', or 'feel tired after today's exercise' – you need to try to entertain – include pictures – write poems – tell jokes – anything that will make people want to return and follow you on your journey through Juneathon. However, I think it is now acceptable to micro-blog – just posting 'I ran' on Twitter may be enough to suffice – so, creatively may not be required either.

In conclusion, this 'What you need for a successful Juneathon' post is clearly nonsense. Just sign-up and have a go.

 

Rain. Rain. Rain. #juneathon

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 3 Comments

Day 20….

The other day I posted about why I take part in Juneathon, one of the reasons was for the challenge. Tonight was definitely a challenge.

Left work and drove home in the rain, light rain, but rain all the same. Amazingly this was the first night that the chances of running in the rain looked on the cards. I wasn't too concerned, it actually looked like it was brightening up as I pulled up at home. How wrong could I be?

By 8pm, when I was ready for the run, rain was in the air, but it was still very light. In fact, I arrived at the woods and things didn't look too bad….

Half a mile into the run things changed….the heavens opened and it chucked it down. I don't quite know what it is, but running in the rain is really hard work. Tonight was just over 3 miles but it felt like 30. Either it is the fact that your t-shirt suddenly becomes a sponge and seems to absorb 5000 pints of water, or the mind begins to play tricks on you and every step seems to feel like you've just completed a marathon.

Made it back to the car absolutely soaked and well and truly ready for a hot shower, cup of tea, sit down and relax…..

Today's mileage = 3.29

Total Juneathon mileage = 95.95

Mojo level = low

And how about a map of the route……just because I can….