Keep Fit Club - ALL exercise types!

[CMcK]

Did the Edinburgh Spartan Race today. I actually enjoyed it but it was quite different from what team mates who had run it last year had told me.

Mainly the hills.

With all the rain lately it was really muddy underfoot and water hazards were deeper than they probably should have been.
The terrain and layout also lead to a lot of bottlenecks which hurt your time and made it harder to get past slower participants but did give you a chance to rest a bit.
I flunked a few obstacles though. The tall walls were never going to happen with my wonky left arm but I just slipped off the climbing wall and incurred another thirty burpee penalty. I took the penalty on the last wall without attempting it but was later told there was actually a couple of ha nd holds on it.
A few of the lads reckoned it was tougher than Tough Mudder but I'm not convinced. Might try that one next year. Or the Men's Health 10k obstacle thingy is on in Edinburgh next year apparently. Easier to get there and put for a pint afterwards!

[charlesr]

Sounds mental to me. Well done.

I did the once in a lifetime "race the deer" event this evening.

Sometimes I've wondered how fast I could run if I needed to. Like if I was being chased by something. Today I found out. The answer is bloody fast. I had just done my 5th 1k interval at 3:40/km pace (not flat out, but pretty fast) and as I cruised back to jogging speed, I heard a crazy noise behind me. It sounded just like hooves on the road behind me. I turned my head to see..... hooves on the road behind me attached to a deer, with its head down and charging. Later I wondered "Where the heck did that come from?", but at the time there was no thought, just surge. I accelerated up to about 300mph in the blink of an eye and kept it behind me for about 20m before I vaulted over a low wall into someone's garden.

After a bit of a stand-off with me on one side and deer on the other, both looking as menacing as we could, the deer took a few steps back, scraped the ground with its hooves a few times and then went for the jump. The only thing I could think of was to jump to one side and then jump back over the wall. So now I'm stood in the road and the deer is in this garden and I'm shouting obscenities at the deer and it's pawing the ground and flexing its "let's have it" muscles. The people in the house turned on the lights and stood in the safety of their kitchen to watch the show.

If I took a few steps back, it would do the same. If I didn't move it would paw the ground, tearing up the turf. If I stepped towards the wall, it would too. It felt like some sort of crazy adrenaline fueled nightmare. I pretended to turn around and peg it to see what it did - it was clearly trying the jump the wall again, something I was keen to avoid, so I turned back and ran towards it. Then I spotted the wall ended and a higher fence started - too high to jump over and not enough gap between horizontal boards to jump through. So I ran to that. It followed and then got confused by the fence thankfully. It had a go at a tree trunk - at this point I was pretty glad I wasn't the tree - and then attacked some of the foliage for good measure. After watching it turn away and lose eye contact, I went back up to 300mph along the road for as long as I could. My legs are going to hurt tomorrow.

After that, every little bunny or hare leaping out of the grass, every fox on sidetracks (2 of them) and every bird rustling in a bush... pretty much assumed they were all out to get me

On the plus side, I beat the sun - got back before too dark to see - no head torch

[Taka]

Wow Charles, what a story.

I'm glad the only annoyances I have to contend with are cyclists and other selfish canal towpath users that don't leave me with enough room.

[JazzFunk]

Quick tip needed: best tip for getting moobs down at home, with no equipment, we're talking pressupy-type stuff if poss.

Overindulged recently, food, booze, overdone it. Kebabs. Girlfriend kinda likes 'em, I don't.

[charlesr]

Eat less, exercise more. Otherwise even if you cane the press ups, it will still be lard over bigger muscles

[JazzFunk]

Yeah, ain't been exercising really, just loads of walking but not much else. Large XL Bacon Double Cheeses from Burger King once a week. Beer again. Bacon n' eggs.

[charlesr]

Sorry chaps, bit of a delay to my 4x800 attempt. Really mashed up my shin, slipping off the pedal on my trials bike. Pedal pins into the bone. Flesh flapping about. Lol. Tried to run through the pain for 18k but ended up with a really tight calf (must have adjusted gait due to pain) so have taken a couple of days off. Might need some more.

[Taka]

Don't sweat it, Charles. I injured myself too by accidentally pouring hot oil on my leg. Teaches me to cook a Sunday roast whilst wearing shorts... Second degree burn, but running is unaffected. Looks ghastly...

[Taka]

Had the Magor Marsh 10k yesterday, which was also part of the British Masters Championship. Still a couple of years away from that category myself, but it was impressive to see so many older runners with such strength - the top 50 only had 6x finishers that were not classed as vets and all were sub-39.

Bagged myself a 22 second PB for 39:16 in awfully wet and windy conditions. Possibly could have dipped under 39 given I wasn't feeling too bad afterwards, but you never know how badly the elements could impact you. Over the moon nonetheless!

[charlesr]

Good work dude!

[Terry Tibbs]

Taka, that is so awesome. Many congrats!!

[Taka]

Thanks guys! Really was a morning that only ducks or crazies would venture outside, given how wet and miserable it was.

Got my eyes set on attempting a sub-39 at a 10k in early September. A bit of 10k specific focus, a little weight loss, a calm day, the right course, and the right people around me in the race - it could happen!

[charlesr]

It will happen. Bet you could do it today without wind

[charlesr]

2:32
2:32
2:34
2:29
(90s)
After the 3rd one, thought I had no hope of a 4th at that speed, but it ended up quicker! I could have done another I'm sure. Note: on road so exact distance isn't certain. GPS and mapmyrun.

[Taka]

Very, very nice.

Fastest 800s I ever managed were 2:37s and that was just 3x reps to leave me shagged.