The Running and General Exercise Thread

[Yevrah]

Well done Baz.

I've never stretched before or after running and don't think it's made much difference, but maybe I should be.

[Baz]

What you’re saying is there’s no hope for my leg.

[Yevrah]

Nah, it’ll be fine.

I get pains now and again too. They go away pretty quickly.

[Yevrah]

You’ll be fine when your body gets used to it.

[Danny]

Maybe you will get used to it :lol:

In all seriousness though, what part is bothering you? Some of it may genuinely be adjusting to running again but could also be something that can be worked through with exercises/stretches.


I finally got back to running the 3 mile loops in my area a couple of weeks ago. Knee is holding up ok, lungs not so much after 4+ months off. Though it gets stiff the day after. Current expectation is being able to play football again after a year (June 25), so I am happy to be running and doing ladders/ball work again already.

[Baz]

Maybe you will get used to it :lol:

In all seriousness though, what part is bothering you? Some of it may genuinely be adjusting to running again but could also be something that can be worked through with exercises/stretches.
Left knee. Just feels like it’s seizing up and hurts to bend and put pressure on it, which is not ideal when you’re running.

[Danny]

Have a look at patella tendonitis and see if it covers what you are feeling. You should be able to do exercises to alleviate it.

[Boydy]

Maybe ease off a bit and don't run the full 5k when you're only two thirds of the way through the programme.

[Kikó]

Plus I'd recommend working on strengthening your knee. There's probably some weakness in your legs which is being exposed to you running as well. Knees over toes on YouTube is good to get some ideas.

[Baz]

All good advice, cheers.

Was hoping this could sort it:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/A1jJwaS06WE/maxresdefault.jpg

But alas I guess I’ll look up additional exercises to get me doing this instead:

https://prowrestlingstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/word-image-74337-9.gif

My mates suggested doing a 10k together next year but I’ve politely declined for now. This was after he predicted it would take me “31 to 35 minutes” to do 5k cos, quote, I “haven’t exercised since dropping PE at 15.” :moop:

[Danny]

Pretty sure those are ACL braces and they aren’t fun.

[Kikó]

Went for my first longer distance run in a long time with the aim of keeping a steady state pace. I think listening to an audio book makes it easier to maintain a slower pace than the usual death metal.

https://strava.app.link/XQ5Vyo0Z1Nb

[Shindig]

In honour of those about to run the Frankfurt Marathon

It's not gonna kill them. :D

[Kikó]

That's what they said before Boston. Rip.

[Yevrah]

5k in 25:01. Needless to say I did not have the last laugh. Still, that’s something like 45 seconds off the this time running PB.

[Luke Emia]

5k in 25:01. Needless to say I did not have the last laugh. Still, that’s something like 45 seconds off the this time running PB.

Have you been and run Parkrun? That’s a good way to knock some time off your PB because you will always run faster in a race/crowd environment.

[Yevrah]

Nah, not yet. This is all treadmill at the moment. When I can do 10k everytime and 5k in 25 mins every time I'll get out there.

There's a local 10k here in May, which is the aim, hopefully in something close to 50 mins.

[Boydy]

Are you not bored running for that long on a treadmill?

I find I tend to run faster outside without really noticing.

[Yevrah]

Nah, not really. It was a bit boring when it took longer, but now I've got the 5k down to a faster time it's pretty much fine and I'm generally too knackered while running to worry about being bored.

[Kikó]

I've signed up for a half marathon on the first of December. It's at Heaton Park so full of hills. Rip.

[Yevrah]

Started doubling up now and again, with today being the best double effort so far. 6k in 31:58 at lunchtime, followed by a 27:23 5k just now. It's crazy how much easier this all is compared to 6 months ago. Tonight's run barely touched the sides and now I can go and get some shit to much through during tonight's lolfest.

[Boydy]

Have you ever been checked out for bipolar disorder, Yev?

[niko_cee]

:D

[Yevrah]

Have you ever been checked out for bipolar disorder, Yev?

What? :D

[Yevrah]

10k in 54:19, which is my fastest for 10 years. Feels a bit cheaty as I walked for 90 seconds at the 7k mark. Left the timer running obviously, but always feels a bit hollow doing a run when you don't actually run the whole way.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Walking is famously slower than running, so I'd say it's the opposite of cheating.

[niko_cee]

Maybe that's how they could spice up the duller long distance running events, make it so walking is against the rules, no more than 1 foot on the ground at any moment or whatever the reverse of the walking rules is.

[Baz]

My left knee was absolutely killing after this mornings 5k so I’m booked in for some physio on Tuesday and some weird musculoskeletal scan thingy.

[Yevrah]

Cheers gents.

And sounds sensible Baz. If you're still getting that shit while posting a decent 5k time then something sounds amiss.

[Andrew]

10k in 54:19, which is my fastest for 10 years. Feels a bit cheaty as I walked for 90 seconds at the 7k mark. Left the timer running obviously, but always feels a bit hollow doing a run when you don't actually run the whole way.

Absolutely smashing it now Yev fair play!


Been a while since I posted in here but still going strong completed two Ultramarathons in 7 days 34 miler with 5000 feet elevation around the south wales Gower coastline which I finished 2 hours faster than the year before which was pleasing.

Seven days after the Gower romp I headed up to the. Brecon Beacons for the OTT ultra 30 miles and 4500 ft elevation with a lovely run to the top of Pen Y Fan in the middle which I managed in just over 8 hours.

Made really good time on that as I bumped into two ladies who were using this ultra as a training run for the WildHorse 200 miler at the start of next year.

Closing in on finishing the year having reached 100,000feet elevation total and 1500 miles 2 trail marathons and 7 ultras.

Hopefully going into my third year stronger than ever with the Epona100 looming around the corner!!

[Yevrah]

Cheers Andrew. Actually smashing it yourself.

5k in 24:29. Feels so damn good.

[Kikó]

I think I'm going to try and run 15-18km tomorrow or Sunday. Only a few weeks out from the HM now so this might be my last longer run before it.

[Baz]

I feel like I’m getting slower but had my knee strapped for three days, some ultrasound therapy :cab: and have been given some “strengthening exercises” to do for a fortnight until my next physio session - which was basically just chatting while having my thigh massaged until it was sore. Also only allowed to run twice a week rather than three, which I’m fine with cos it’s cold and running for longer than 5k (couch to 5k is upto 30 mins runs but I do 5k in 27) is getting boring.

[Kikó]

I think I'm going to try and run 15-18km tomorrow or Sunday. Only a few weeks out from the HM now so this might be my last longer run before it.

Reasonable warm up run for the HM - I think the 5:30-6:00 pace is pretty sustainable. I think I've got maybe one more longer run before and a couple of fast shorter ones and I'll be ready to go. Anything around 2 hours will make me happy.
https://strava.app.link/yhiAINO9AOb

[Andrew]

You got a sub 2 hour easy going by that time mate, unless the elevation is a factor.

I’ve got a trail marathon coming up 5000ft elevation organised by Ridge runners nervous about making the cut offs on this one but hopefully I’ll be ok😬

[Kikó]

Actually felt relatively ok from a lung capacity point of view. Biggest pain was the gradient on the 3km mark every lap. Happy enough with the time especially considering I wasn't overly training for it.
https://strava.app.link/Dqwwg1jlYOb

[Yevrah]

10k in 52:29. Was going for under 53 mins but realised I'd finish in about 52:40 so decided to go for the sub 52 and a half with 300m to go and did them in 79 seconds, with the last 100m at 14k p/h pace. Feels so damn good.

That was off the back of a 55:09 last night too so I think it's safe now to say that I've broken the back of 10k and can do it every time in under an hour and without stopping. Only took 9 months. :cab:

[Luke Emia]

First 5k since the first week of October after a hip injury and a chest infection over the last 10 days or so.Took me 30.11 which is unbelievably slow for where I was at before the injury that last week of September I did a 1.47 half marathon.

Gonna spend the next 3 weeks till Christmas building the base back in up and knock that 5k back under 25 mins for a comfortable run. Then blast out a quick 8 weeks or so training for a half marathon and see how I feel about doing a spring marathon after that.

[Baz]

I’ve sacked it off. It’s too cold to not hate it.

[Luke Emia]

I’ve sacked it off. It’s too cold to not hate it.

Best time of the year to run. Hundred times better than when it’s fucking boiling or windy.

[Boydy]

It keeps being icy every morning I get up early to go run. :mad:

[Kikó]

Best time of the year to run. Hundred times better than when it’s fucking boiling or windy.

Agree with this. As long as it's not icey then you can run longer and your body stays a nice temperature.

[CJay]

It keeps being icy every morning I get up early to go run. :mad:

I have a pair of trail shoes with decent sized lugs (pimples on the bottom) and they deal very well with icy conditions. Might be worth a try.

[Kikó]

I managed to hit my target of 400km running this year today and walked over 500km (or I just tracked it this time) . Apparently last year I only ran (recorded) less than 40km so I'm pretty happy. I think I'm going to push that to 500km next year and see how close I get to it.

[Yevrah]

Took 2/3 weeks off over Christmas, but did the first 10k of the year last week in under 54 minutes and then posted a 24:35 for 5k last night.

Booked into a 10k in May, target is sub 50 which I'd be ecstatic with.

[Yevrah]

Attempted the first 10k under 50 mins on the treadmill tonight and failed miserably. First 2k and all was going well clocking in about 9:50 and then a stitch/weird stomach pain hit. Tried to fight through it to no avail so had to drop the pace before walking for a bit then sticking it back up to 12.1k p/h. This repeated about 3 times before I finally caved and decided to run the final 4k at a sensible pace to stop the pain returning. Somehow still finished in 53:28, which is miraculous given how much time I spent walking, so overall I'll take it as a win.

[phonics]

Im not allowed to carry a phone at work. According to Apple Health I’m currently averaging 13 thousand steps a day. I am also 700% above the recommended level on audio exposure.

The ears of a pensioner but the calf’s of A GOD.

[Ben]

Im not allowed to carry a phone at work..

Do you work for the MoD or something?

[phonics]

Nah boss is just old school and doesn’t want people pissing around on their phone instead of working.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That really is quite old school, unless you're on an assembly line or a warehouse or somewhere with dangerous machinery in play.

[Andrew]

First ultramarathon this year Brecon to Cardiff 45 miles felt really strong all the way round and at the end of a big week of activity.

Ended the week close to 70 miles in total and 4 hours strength training which is really paying off now legs and body really starting to deal with the miles well now legs were a little stiff walking up the following morning but nothing a little walk helped with.

My first 100 miler is close approaching less than 20 weeks to go now so nerves are slowly creeping in.

We only live once so may as well push myself and see what I’m truly capable of before I get to an age where the body’s unable to no matter how much my mind is willing.

[Luke Emia]

Genuine question how do you push on through? Longest I have ever run is 16 miles. The biggest issue I have after that is having the time to train to do the longer runs. Then it gets in my head and I just can’t be arsed to go out and run for 3 and a half hours.

I did a sub 1.50 half marathon at the end of last September then I had a groin issue and basically couldn’t run for 3 months. Just now starting to build some fitness up again now but I’m already dreading the longer than half marathon runs even though I really want to do a marathon.

[Andrew]

It’s more of a mental test than physical.

You wouldn’t have lost much over 3 months so a few weeks you wouldn’t be back up to a two hour half easy.

Ultras usually tend to have a lot of elevation the 52 miler I did over the Brecon Beacons was something like 10k elevation so training for that wasn’t really a case of long runs but runs with loads of elevation 6 mile runs with 1000feet elevation etc.

It is weird when I think about it but I can quite easily go out and run a marathon now without needing to actually train for it but it helps that I wouldn’t run it at speed either if quite easily maintain a 10 minute mile for ever now really but ask me to spring a 5km and I’m dead at the end 🤣

But in regards to pushing through sometimes you end up with another runner and you pull each other along I think that’s why there’s such a community spirit in trail running as it’s the same people usually at the events so you get to know everyone etc.

[Pepe]

Signed up my older daughter to Taekwondo and now I'm seriously considering enrolling myself. Kicking ten year olds. :drool:

[Raoul Duke]

Any recommended brands and/or things to look out for when picking up some new running shoes? Mostly for indoor at the gym, rarely outside with them. I had some Karrimor ones which are on their last legs.

[Baz]

Did the St Helens 10K this morning.

Considering I’d never ran further than 6K before, and only started Couch To 5K in September having never done any running before, I’m pretty pleased to a) have not stopped to walk any and b) finish under an hour with a time of 56:33.

I strapped my knee up which was basically like a cheat code, considering they usually hurt after 10 minutes and were absolutely fine today and I even managed a sprint finish.

Also not sure if switching from some well used On Cloudmonsters to some 90s style Puma Magmax Nitro a few weeks ago has helped, or if it’s all placebo.

[Manc]

Who are you, and what have you done with Baz?

[Waffdon]

The secretary really changed his life

[Giggles]

If he wasn't in fancy dress for EPICBANTZ then I refuse to believe it. Or maybe a sponsorship scam.

[Yevrah]

Well done Baz!

Running still going well for me. Think I’ve done at least 5k every day for the last two weeks and hit a this time running PB over 5k this afternoon in 24:19.

Keep trying to do 10k in under 50 mins and failing. Closest was 8k in 40:15 and I then hit the wall, but it’s definitely coming. 10k street run near me is 10 weeks today I think. Would love to hit sub 50 in that but think it’ll be too soon.

[Shindig]

I have walked 62 miles in the last five days. Unsurprisingly, my legs are feeling it.

[Andrew]

Getting closer to my first 100 mile ultramarathon now,

Last two weeks mileage has been ramped up close to 60 miles and 3000feet elevation week before and 70 miles and 4000ft elevation last week.

Both weeks had back to back long runs of 20 miles and 8 miles following day

This week 24 miles and a 10 mile run the following day.

Body weight is coming down nicely now close to 1 stone 7lbs lost since January and weight training is paying off really well feeling stronger and recovering quicker from runs.

Got my 2nd ultra of the year in 2 weeks Newport to Brecon along the old Monmouthshire canals so basically constantly running up a gradient for 40 miles.

This week is a recovery run with some strength training and low mileage of 25 miles in total.

If anyone would like to follow my training and runs leading up to the Epona100

I post all my updates here

https://www.instagram.com/andrewjjames79?igsh=azI1emN5YmRvbHNy&utm_source=qr

[Kikó]

Great work Andrew as always. The distances you're achieving is ridiculous.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

100 miles is fucking insane.

[SvN]

I get knackered driving 100 miles.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://epona100.com/epona-100-2024-results/

Aiming to beat Mark Smith's time from last year?

What sort of time are you aiming to hit? Are you planning to take many breaks for sleep or just push through with as little as possible?

[Andrew]

There’s a 50 hour cut off and I believe there’s a sleep station around mile 70.

If I can keep a pace of 2 miles an hour that maxes out the full time allowance, I don’t think I’m going to be fast enough to really stop for to long anywhere never mind sleep so I’m just going to push on as best as I can.

Ive run with Sarah Skuse and a lady called Catherine Thompson who completed it last year.

Sarah didn’t sleep and started hallucinating she said it was manageable to a point she knew she was seeing things and that they weren’t real but found she was getting confused trying to navigate her way round at one point near the lonely shepherd in Llangattock 70 ish miles in she stopped at the top to eat something then couldn’t remember if she had run up the mountain or down and started going the wrong way.

Luckily enough another runner was coming up and turned her round!!

Catherine Thompson finished it in 49 hours and said she had 20 mins sleep and it did her the world of good so I guess I’ll just have to see how it goes.

Making sure I eat enough and constantly is the key im told to completing these so on my long runs now I constantly scuff 400 calories every hour and take a salt tablet etc.

Last weekend I run 24 miles on the Saturday and 10 miles through and up and down Wentwood forest lots of hills etc the following day and felt really fresh legs didn’t feel like I had done anything over the weekend my stomach muscles felt sore more than anything.

It’s the fact of Running a 40 mile ultramarathon 2 weeks before the Epona100 and then another one 2 weeks after is going to be brutal I think.

But I see pictures of how big I was 2 years ago to know and it just spurs me on to be better.

If I can post a link here of how I started to now then the difference is startling.

24 stone down to 16 hoping to be as close to 15 as possible by June

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHHaouet76Y/?igsh=ejhodjgwNTBuaG40

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I've managed to come down from 165.6KG (touch over 26 stones) to 94KG (little under 15 stones) in just over 2 years with diet and strength training.

When you find something that works and you can stick with it the results are incredible.

Hope you smash the 100 miles.

[Pepe]

I found riding 100+ miles on my bike to be quite boring. No way I would do it running. Good job lad. You too, 'how.

[Yevrah]

I’ll post more later but this is genuinely insane reading and anyone that can pull 100 miles of running off is on a level well above mere mortals.

Kudos.

[Kikó]

Did a mini hyrox in the gym today. 5*1k intervals, 1000m row, sled push 40kg *50 metres, 50*10kg medicine ball throw, 100m Burpee/broad jump. There's still another 3k plus stations to go in a real one and I wanted to die.

[Ben]

Sounds dreadful.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

That's a mini? lol.

[Kikó]

Well only that there's still another 3k to go. Not mini in effort.

[Manc]

Sounds dreadful.

Think of the networking opportunities.

[Kikó]

I was doing it alone in the gym :cab:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Bought some new running shoes the other week (Asics Gel Kayano 31s) and they're fucking up my left heel which now has a fairly big blister which just keeps getting worse.

I was using some Brooks Adrealine GTS 21s (IIRC) but my right heel started hurting when using those, I then put in a plantar fasciitis insole in them but the inside ball of my foot just under my big toe was getting fucked up.

:moop:

Seems I just can't get my footwear right which is annoying, I've done 15-20k steps almost every day (I had one day where I was sick and only did 2k :() this month and my average, despite the 2k day, should hit 15k for March.

[Andrew]

Bought some new running shoes the other week (Asics Gel Kayano 31s) and they're fucking up my left heel which now has a fairly big blister which just keeps getting worse.

I was using some Brooks Adrealine GTS 21s (IIRC) but my right heel started hurting when using those, I then put in a plantar fasciitis insole in them but the inside ball of my foot just under my big toe was getting fucked up.

:moop:

Seems I just can't get my footwear right which is annoying, I've done 15-20k steps almost every day (I had one day where I was sick and only did 2k :() this month and my average, despite the 2k day, should hit 15k for March.

Altra solved any foot problems for me have you tried them?

Altra Torin are a lovely road shoe bought them beginning of this month and done close to 200 miles in them from park run to Brecon to Cardiff 40 odd miles and were perfect.

Toe boxes are really wide but zero drop on the heel which might be an issue if you never worn Altras before.

Personally I just went from a normal running shoe to these and never noticed any difference besides the lack of blisters that I used to suffer really badly from.

[Yevrah]

Been a while since I updated, so here we go.

My treadmill efforts to break 50 mins for 10k and 24 mins for 5k continued to be close, but no cigar and back in early March with the road 10k I'm doing only 2 months away I thought it was time to get out into the park again. Joining me was my Sister, who can do sub two hour half marathons and off we went to the park. She knew roughly how fast I was doing 10k on the treadmill so set off like a tornado under the false pretence that I'd be quicker than her. I wasn't. We did the first 1k in 4:57 and by the time we hit the 2k mark in just over 10 minutes I knew there was no way I was finishing 10k at all, let alone in early 50 minute time.

It was at this point two things struck me. Firstly, running on the road is about 10% harder than on a treadmill. 8% for time and I'm rounding up to the 10% because every step brings a mild tweak/pain/whatever that just isn't there on a treadmill. Secondly, I'm still a fat bastard. Now when I started this a year ago a combination of working like a Japanese prisoner of war and eating what the fuck I like and in excessive quantities had led me to be about 15 stone 4lbs, which for 5" 10' I think was morbidly obese. A year on and I was under 14 stone, something around 13st 11lbs, fluctuating from 13 and a half to 14, but that's still fat and I'd plateaued at that weight for what felt like ages. Only conclusion I could draw was that I was still eating too much shit.

So that morning I set my sights on finishing 5k, which I did, dying home at something like 27 mins 30 seconds. Apologised to my Sister for her coming all this way to do what for her must be a light stroll and then set about making some changes. I'd still run, but now the focus would be on food, with the plan to get to 12 and a half stone as quickly as possible through a combination of the running, cutting out the crap and having (at most) one healthy, but decent sized meal per day and nothing else. With the plan put into action immediately we went out the next weekend and I managed to finish 10k this time in 55 mins, 30 seconds, which after the previous week I was quite pleased with.

Fast forward nearly a month and I've maintained the running (mostly treadmill) and cut all shit out of my diet (bar three exceptions - a work meal out, a Dominos Pizza when I came home pissed one night and three quarters of a small packet of cheddar that I annoyingly discovered in my fridge). Most days I'll have the one decent meal, but some I won't bother and, in just over three weeks, the results have been staggering.

I have lost 15 lbs in 3 weeks and as I type this I'm now 12 stone 10lbs.
Sometimes I feel a bit weak, the 5k I did just now was particularly hard to finish, but completing that meant I'd done 40k since Monday, which must be up there with my most ever during the working week, so I still clearly have loads of energy.
Times are no worse and in fact I got my fastest 10k without walking any of it this week in sub 52 minutes.
I'm sweating a lot more when I do run but my sweat feels like spring water cascading off an angels body rather than the oil and detritus from the bottom of a Dominos box sliming down a middle aged obese man about to die of a heart attack.

I'm going to aim for losing another half a stone and then I think I'll build up the food intake to give me more energy to get faster times, but on the downside this has made me realise I don't actually give a shit about running outside. It's harder, more annoying (dog walkers are genuine morons and up there with cyclists in their misguided belief that they and their bike/shitty little animal ALWAYS owns whatever piece of land they're walking/cycling on) and just generally not worth the bother when I have a treadmill sat there by my back door.

I'll still do the 10k run outside as I'd originally agreed to do it with my Sister, but I think that'll be it and it'll be treadmill until I can no longer run anymore.

[Pepe]

Good job Yev.

The cheddar :D

[Yevrah]

Good job Yev.

The cheddar :D

:D I discovered it last night and knew as soon as I had that it was getting eaten. Held out for three hours but in the end it made the perfect accompaniment for Question Time.

[niko_cee]

What a write up.

:D

Superb.

[Spikey M]

The key to eating too much of something (cheddar, ham, your child's Halloween haul), is to do it in frequent trips, rather than one binge. That way you can lie to yourself about what a mess you are, rather than feeling like you have to do something about it.

[Kikó]

If you can't eat the odd block of cheddar every now and again, what's the point of exercising?

[Spikey M]

Using the Spikey Method, you can eat the cheese and skip the run.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The problem with diet - I find, at least, as I continue my perennial effort to stay on/reach the right side of the overweight / fat cunt line - is that when one lives a normal life, it's hard work. I mean, our lives all vary to some degree - I don't have kids, some of you do, I go out to the office every day, others work from home, or whatever - but all of us are basically trapped in some sort of cycle of mild or extreme drudgery, laden with huge amounts of obligations just to keep the show on the road, with only fleeting moments of payoff. How does one get through that sort of life? By giving yourself frequent mini-respite. A beer, two beers, a glass of wine, a joint, a cigarette, this and that in the bedroom, and, let's face it, food. Food in western countries in this particular era is abundant and varied and delicious, and by historical standards probably not that expensive, so even without being Mr Creosote, it's one of the easiest ways to take the pain and dread and fear and terrible boredom away for a few minutes.

You can call it a vice or you can call it relief, but either way, the amount of willpower and mental strength involved in fending it off over a long period of time is considerable, so I truly applaud anyone from the working masses who can actually pull it off, as some of you are managing to. I'm going off for a four-hour walk this morning and told myself all I'll eat today is a bit of chicken, some coleslaw and salad that are in the fridge. I tell this to myself most days and succeed about a third of the time, which is just about enough to stay acceptable as a human being. Can I do any better? I don't know, maybe, in short bursts, but fucking hell.

[Yevrah]

The thing that’s kept me going for the last year and for the three weeks since I’ve kicked on a gear is that being fat is, well, fucking horrendous.

I know we live in an age where one shouldn’t say this, but that age also somehow gives me a free-er pass to do so because I am fat and…. It’s just horrible. Everything takes more effort, you’re always dragging yourself out of bed and you look and feel utterly disgusting.

Food is delicious and there’s never been a better time to be alive in that regard, I’ll give you that though.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The company I bought the Asics from wouldn't accept a return/exchange (it was a long shot) but they did suggest using the RUNNERS KNOT.

I tried it this morning before an hours walk and it worked a treat, zero heel pain which was pretty nice. Hopefully that continues.

[Dquincy]

I have walked 62 miles in the last five days. Unsurprisingly, my legs are feeling it.

How come? Specifically for exercise or on some hiking trip?

[Shindig]

I was in London and most of the stuff I was going to was within an hour's walk. Plus my sense of direction failed me a couple of times. :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

London is a great walking city. You should rarely use the tube unless you really are going cross city, and you should never use the bus network.

[hfswjyr]

The problem with diet - I find, at least, as I continue my perennial effort to stay on/reach the right side of the overweight / fat cunt line - is that when one lives a normal life, it's hard work. I mean, our lives all vary to some degree - I don't have kids, some of you do, I go out to the office every day, others work from home, or whatever - but all of us are basically trapped in some sort of cycle of mild or extreme drudgery, laden with huge amounts of obligations just to keep the show on the road, with only fleeting moments of payoff. How does one get through that sort of life? By giving yourself frequent mini-respite. A beer, two beers, a glass of wine, a joint, a cigarette, this and that in the bedroom, and, let's face it, food. Food in western countries in this particular era is abundant and varied and delicious, and by historical standards probably not that expensive, so even without being Mr Creosote, it's one of the easiest ways to take the pain and dread and fear and terrible boredom away for a few minutes.

You can call it a vice or you can call it relief, but either way, the amount of willpower and mental strength involved in fending it off over a long period of time is considerable, so I truly applaud anyone from the working masses who can actually pull it off, as some of you are managing to. I'm going off for a four-hour walk this morning and told myself all I'll eat today is a bit of chicken, some coleslaw and salad that are in the fridge. I tell this to myself most days and succeed about a third of the time, which is just about enough to stay acceptable as a human being. Can I do any better? I don't know, maybe, in short bursts, but fucking hell.

This is just general willpower isn't it?
Some people are able to summon more of it and maintain discipline, while others just don't seem to be able to resist taking the easy road every time.
From what I've seen around me, your upbringing plays a huge role in determining if you have this life-long discipline or not. Yes, there will be people who suddenly one day transform their attitude, but that feels few and far between.

[Shindig]

Yep, really flat and pedestrianised. I only used the tube to get over to Wembley/Heathrow. I honestly think the cost of the tube is a great deterrent. You can use the entire NY subway with a weekly pass and all it'll cost you is £25-£30. Something similar on the tube is £116.

[niko_cee]

Jimmy is dead wrong about the buses not least because 95% of the chump tourists are afraid to use them. Best way to get about if you aren't walking.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

10k steps a day is for pussies.

https://i.imgur.com/SgWtC57.png

[Shindig]

Most I managed during the trip was 38,000 in a day.

[Spikey M]

10k steps a day is for pussies.

https://i.imgur.com/SgWtC57.png

*the employed.

[Yevrah]

That is insane Mahow. I've just hit 9k for a full month for the first time and I was pleased enough with that.

[Shindig]

Yeah, I can only do those numbers when I've got time off work. 10k is like 90 minutes.

[Manc]

That is insane Mahow.

It really isn't

[Kikó]

This hotel has a ski erg machine and it reminded me how fucking hard they are. Horrible bastards that make you feel like you smoke 50 a day.

[Kikó]

Most I managed during the trip was 38,000 in a day.

71k walking to Naples from Salerno.

[Lewis]

*the employed.

:lol:

I was rolling out of bed for a four/five hour walk every morning during lockdown and could happily have that as my routine.

[Dquincy]

Cycled 60 miles to the south east coast yesterday. Was a good ride, albeit into a head wind for most of it.
Legs are somewhat fatigued today.