2020km Challenge for Alzheimer's Society
I can see why my friends decided not to join me on this quite frankly audacious challenge I set myself but when you like an idea, it kinda sticks and then you become the embodiment of that idea. That's exactly what happened with this 2,020km Challenge and it has really taken on an adventure of it's own!
Take for example, here on Hive, @livinguktaiwan helped raise £85 (which I matched) with her Hive Forest where loads of awesome sponsors came together and donated for the cause. This togetherness and positive spirit on Hive are things we should really be shouting from the rooftops (well, I did actually, we lost a few roof tiles in the process but it was worth it), particularly in the times we are in now.
Other things such as the monthly reports I put out showing the progress have turned into a beast! They are more for me to stop being a lazy ass and keep up with it but also gives a chance to show off share some nerdy stats for the data crunchers and sports fanatics among us!
800 km out of 2,020 km
Earlier, I managed to eek out an 8 km run which pushed me over the milestone of 800 km out of 2,020 km for the year. In old money, that's about 500 miles!
The great news is that I'm really close to being above the required daily average now and only 5km behind where I should be so, for the first time since Jan 14th when I was struck down by illness and the gap widened, it's taken 4 and a half months to climb back up and you'll see this in those graphs in a few days time. Question is... can I make it above by the end of the month?!
Half Broken...
This is coming at a slight cost of course. I mentioned a couple of days ago about a horrendous calf spasm/cramp that had me worried. Thankfully, it seemed to be OK yesterday and obviously, managed to do today's run but took care not to go too fast and went cross-country for softer ground. It's a little bit more forgiving on the knees!
However, I feel like now that I'm never too far away from totally shredding my shins and as the challenge goes on, I suspect foam rollers, tennis ball massages, ankle, knee and various forms of pilates and flexibility exercises are going to take up the bulk of my days 😄
Have any of you exercise folk got any recovery tips for that (other than stop whinging about it 😂)?
Here's a track I made which is ironically called Broken, thought you might like to hear it as well, kinda creating a tension that my body is feeling right now haha:
https://soundcloud.com/nickyhavey/nicky-havey-broken-clip-forthcoming-20th-december-2018
Positive Effects of Exercise
I have noticed my concentration levels for sustained periods of time improve markedly with this challenge and do feel mentally, a lot better. Even through the winter months when it's dark really early. Usually I get affected by S.A.D. but this time... didn't happen. I guess having that goal to aim for as well has helped motivation.
Obviously, not saying you need to do something like this of course haha! But even 20/30 minutes (fast) walk per day for a month... give it a go. Make it a routine. It's funny how you miss doing it if you forget a day...
Anyway, that's enough rambling for now - just another 5 days left of the "post a day for a month" challenge and then I'll be trimming back to probably 2-3 posts per week just to give myself some breathing space. Even with all this exercise and fun projects that are going on, burnout is still very much an issue and I can feel it's spindly fingers climbing up my back and ready to grip me around the chest at any given moment.
Everyone has their limits I guess so look after yourselves hey!
Take care, catch you tomorrow!
Nicky