What have I been upto? Well I have been applying for a lot
of jobs and I have been doing a lot of thinking.
I have also been going to the gym quite a lot and have lost
a bit of weight; not majorly but noticeably to me. It seems strange that not
running such long distances could equate to weight loss, but I think our bodies
just reach a certain point, perhaps, where we get used to the exercise we are
doing & become more economical and fuel efficient/ our body almost goes
into some sort of shock or safety mode and hangs onto some of the weight for
fear of what may happen to it. Well,
this is what I can imagine my body doing whilst pounding out a lot of marathons
and ultra’s. I can picture it, with a persona of its own, shaking its head
stubbornly and going ‘Er, no, I will not burn that fat because basically I feel
like you’re abusing me…’
But essentially, I have also just been breaking up my
exercise and doing it more consistently throughout the week, with lots of
weight work in there too. I do think
that would be an interesting study, if it hasn’t already been done, which I’m
sure it must have on some scale: get someone to do a huge block of exercise in
one go Vs. subject breaking up the same quota of exercise into smaller chunks
throughout the week. Of course, stuff would be hard to figure out conclusively,
but it’d make a sort of interesting case study. You could throw all sorts of
variables into the equation. Also, I feel like I’ve not been eating as much
which I think is due to not having so
many big events to run. I don’t feel the need to fuel up quite so much. And I
haven’t been feeling as hungry. However, I think that’s a sensible approach. It
makes sense to me that if you don’t need to fuel up for a lot of long steady
miles then you shouldn’t.
The other night I had an awesome run down some pretty dark
country roads. I love it. And at the same time it is slightly creepy. But how I
have missed those early dark evenings and being able to run off and get your
head torch out (held in my hand, because I feel silly). I thought I would be
sensible and took my OMM waist pack with me – ensuring I looked like a real
weirdo – and shoved a gel in there & my mobi, just in case I ended up
falling into a bush or attacked by wild animals or something :p It
would be most entertaining to do an off-road ultra in America when I’m so ‘concerned’
about the prospect of animals here haha…
Ultimately I managed to get in just over 8 sweaty miles. The
sweaty bit is important. I felt I worked pretty hard out there the other night
and it was fun. It was all on paved bits, but in the dark it almost feels like
trail running because you’re out there in the countryside and constantly trying
to dodge things and I like that. I do miss trail running. I need to get my
trail shoes out and go get properly muddy. I’m thinking this weekend I may
indeed get in a much overdue off-road run.
And I need to remind myself constantly that this slight
hiccup in me being able to run lots of things I would like to run (but can’t;
silly money) won’t be there forever. It really makes you appreciate the events
you do get to do. I feel that next year there will be a big adventure in there
somewhere. I don’t know what yet. I don’t know where. But there will be a big
adventure and it’s out there somewhere…
The power
of imagination makes us infinite. - John Muir
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