Only 68 days….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

….until the Rat Race Dirty Weekend at Burghley House in Stamford. Just to remind you, actually it may be just to remind myself: 20 miles. 200 obstacles. You did indeed read that right. 20 miles. 200 obstacles. Apparently, “It's bigger, bolder and badder than ever!” I think the time has come to put in a bit extra work.

Since Janathon I've been taking it a bit easy. Completed about a dozen runs, the longest around 10 miles. So with the spectre of the Rat Race Dirty Weekend on the horizon, plus the Newton's Fraction Half-Marathon just round the corner, tonight's run was to include obstacles. When I say obstacles, I actually mean just one obstacle. It may not look like much, but it's an obstacle all the same…

You may look at it and say: call that an obstacle? Granted, it is only 2 feet high, and when I approached it for the first time I sailed over it like a salmon swimming upstream on it's impossibly long migration to its spawning grounds. However, after 4 miles of trail running through the woods at a pretty brisk pace, when I reached it for the second time, it looked more like this….

Suffice to say I cleared it. I'm ready.

 

A world famous star thinks I’m fabulous….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 7 Comments

Having recently been converted to the Nike+ running app I was presently surprised when the world famous Trey Hardee had a personal message for me at the end of tonight's run. What did you say? You've never heard of Trey Hardee? You've never heard of the remarkable Trey Hardee? Well to be totally honest, I hadn't heard of the fella either. Although a quick internet search and I am now fully conversed in the ways of the Trey Hardee: an all American decathlon star. But the important thing is that he has heard of me and he was very happy with my run tonight…..

So, the penultimate day of Janathon is complete, and after tonight's 3 mile run in the rain I am on the verge of cracking the 100 miles. Lovely jubbly.

Total Janathon mileage = 98.69

 

It’s all a load of b*****ks…..

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

Ok….today was day 28 of Janathon. Day 28!

I've been sitting and staring at the screen for a while now. My mind has gone completely blank. It's Janathon right…which means running every day. That I can do. But Janathon means blogging every day. That is the real issue. So….what load of b*****ks am I going to write tonight? It could be about tonight's run? But the run was just a run; nothing unusual happened. It could be about my day in general? But the day was just a regular day; nothing amazing happened. It could be about how my legs are feeling after 28 days of running? But you can probably guess how they're feeling. Ok….b*****ks it is then!

Tonight's mileage = 3.37

Total Janathon mileage = 92.38

 

It is my destiny…

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 8 Comments

Day 27 of Janathon and I'm actually still enjoying it. Over the past couple of years I have been taking part in both Janathon and Juneathon and by this stage I'm normally beginning to flag a bit. This time it feels different. I think this is due to the fact that I'm not chasing a final mileage figure; I've definitely been a bit more relaxed about the whole thing. Don't get me wrong, I still feel the pressure to get the run in, but once the trainers are on I just run until I feel I've had enough. Sometimes it's short and fast, sometimes it's long and slow, sometimes it's somewhere in between. Whatever.

As we enter the final stretch I've started thinking about putting all this running to good use. Over the last six months I have eased up on the number of races I've been doing. A couple of reasons for that I suppose. Firstly, I'm not particularly chasing PBs, I generally head into races looking for a decent time. I'm not putting in enough time training to be breaking records and I'm cool with that. Secondly, I think I've just got a bit bored with the whole road running scene. I've thought about triathlons, but I'm pretty crap at swimming and can't be bothered with all the rigmarole that getting and maintaining a bike involves – I hate repairing punctures!

Therefore, time to join the obstacle race bandwagon.

I've read plenty of blogs lately, as well as first hand accounts, of how great they are. Plus, in Runner's World magazine there was an article about them.

It was meant to be. It is my destiny.

About a year or so ago I was part of a select band of men who took part in Zombie Evacuation, you can read more about it here, and it was great fun. At the time we were up for doing something similar but we never quite got round to sorting it out. That is about to change.

So here is my provisional list:

  • Newton's Fraction – March – a great half-marathon with two massive hills – good for a challenge.
  • Rat Race Dirty Weekend – May – 20 miles, 200 obstacles – enough said.
  • Tough Mudder – July – I really fancy this! I love running in mud!
  • Men's Health Survival of the Fittest – October – 10k urban assault course.

As for day 27 of Janathon….3.27 miles around the woods…after the list above it looks a bit pathetic…..although it was in the dark!

Total Janathon mileage = 89.01 (the .01 is important)