The other side

I’ve done a long video about yesterday’s running challenge…

(though you’ll have to wait till tomorrow for the video, as it’s soooo long it’s taking forever to upload to YouTube!)

(UPDATE: here it is!)

…and I honestly didn’t expect to feel quite so flat today. The whole thing was incredibly intense and I think it’s going to take me a good few days to recover both physically and mentally. I’ll blog about it once I’ve had some time to reflect, in about a week or so.

I expected I’d sleep all day today but I was awake at 7:45am – probably for the best as some urgent day job work had come in, and I was able to get it done nice and quickly. I didn’t intend to do my daily run until the evening as I thought my legs would be too sore, but by mid-afternoon I was climbing the walls and just wanted to get out there. My legs complained a lot, but surprisingly I managed my usual pace, pretty much. I had to find a new mile-ish route as I couldn’t face the usual one after doing it 24 times yesterday!

Tomorrow I’m heading to Timpsons first thing, as a slight bit of misadventure during the 24-hour challenge meant that my phone screen got smashed and I need to get it fixed. Other than that, I think I’m just going to try and enjoy some free time, as it looks like I might actually have some this week!

Pre-marathon
A picture from just before the challenge started, when I was still marginally sane.

Today’s earworm playlist:

U2 – ‘Elevation’
Idina Menzel – ‘Into The Unknown’

Very nearly ready to go

One final practice mile in the rain today before my 24-hour challenge / Virtual London Marathon, which starts at midnight tonight…

…and it looks like the rain will be continuing through the night, so that will provide a bit of a distraction for the first few laps as Geth and I try to keep dry in between runs!

I’ve done just about everything I can to prepare, and at least I still have time in between laps if I find I’ve forgotten anything before I get started.

Here’s the link to my JustGiving page again – I just need a few more donations to hit my fundraising target of £300 for the RNLI, so any spare pennies will be gratefully received!

Keep an eye on my social media feeds (links at top of blog) for updates during the challenge. I may also post a couple of unrelated blogs tomorrow, as I hopefully will have a bit of time between runs for getting them written!

Otherwise, see you on the other side…

Running endurance snack table
I very much doubt we’ll eat all of this stuff in one day, but it’s best to be prepared. This gives me lots of options so that I can go by what my body feels it needs in between runs.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Queen – ‘Bicycle Race’
Sacre – ‘The London Marathon [Theme From The Trap]’

Marathon weekend has landed!

Another rest day mile today…

…and there’s just one more to go tomorrow morning/lunchtime (depending on how well my sleep preparation goes) before the big challenge starts at midnight! I’m so excited and so nervous ?

I spent today finishing off all my day job work for the week, and then this evening I drove to Asda with Geth to pick up all the stuff needed for Sunday. I can’t eat big meals during the 24-hour challenge as it gives me a bad stitch if I eat too much just before running, but I still need to make sure I have enough fuel on board during the day. As such, I will be carefully grazing throughout the day, aiming for about 200 calories worth of snacks between each run (as I will burn 150 on each 1.2-mile lap). I have lots of boxes of small bakery bites (flapjacks and so on), protein bars, energy gels, crisps for when I need something savoury, bananas, berries… and an absolute ton of coffee and Pepsi Max to keep me awake haha!

The last time I experienced a marathon weekend was a very different type of London Marathon. Though the way I’m running the marathon couldn’t be more different, I’m equally excited! I also had the confirmation email today that they’ve successfully deferred my ‘real’ London Marathon place to October 2021, so a year from now I will be back doing it traditionally (assuming this awful pandemic has retreated by then!).

I usually only post running vlogs over the weekend, but I expect I’ll have lots to say tomorrow so will probably update as normal.

Dinosaur bobble
I order a lot of Lucy Locket Loves leggings at the moment (they’re brightly coloured and I have found they are a very effective way of cheering myself up during this awful year) and they often put free gifts in the packages. This mini dinosaur has got detached from his hair bobble, so I think I might turn him into a brooch at some point.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Cast of Pocahontas – ‘Colours Of The Wind’
Fifth Harmony and Ty Dolla Sign – ‘Work From Home’
Limahl – ‘Neverending Story’

One of my favourite months

Just a mile today…

…as I’m still resting in preparation for Sunday. Creeping ever closer…

I’m very excited about it being October as I can now eat Hallowe’en goodies all month long. M&S didn’t have any Hallowe’en ‘Colin the Caterpillar’ sweets in yesterday, which was a bit disappointing as I wanted them for between-run snacks on Sunday, but I managed to find some seasonal chocolate in Asda for celebrating the start of spooky month tonight 🙂

Still pushing my sleep pattern forward in preparation for the weekend. Will stay up late doing a bit of work tonight and try and sleep late again tomorrow.

Hallowe'en chocolate coins
First spooky goodies of the season!

Today’s earworm playlist:

Pointer Sisters – ‘Automatic’
Duran Duran – ‘The Chauffeur’

Phone Box Thursday: Willoughby Street, Muthill

Here’s another Scottish phone box found by Mum and Dad while out on their travels.

Red phone box
Red phone box, Willoughby Street, Muthill, 31st July 2020.

(Coordinates 56°33’19.5″N, 3°83’23.1″W.)

This one seems to be being used as a library/donations point. There are books and household supplies and jigsaw puzzles and all sorts in there.

I like to see phone boxes being reused by communities now that they are no longer needed for phones. Hopefully this one will escape the chop now that it’s been adopted.