As a challenge, I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Twenty Four

Sometimes all you can say is “I did it.”

How was it? I did it.

As a challenge, I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Twenty Three

A run with Glasgow Triathlon Club around parks in the southside of Glasgow: Queens Park, Thornwood Park, Maxwell Park, Pollok Park, Auldhouse Park, the recreation ground and what would have been Hampden Park and Third Lanark’s former ground but I had to duck out before the end as I had a birthday lunch to get to in the Westend.

How was it? A longer run but also an easier one. As a club run, there’s plenty of breaks to let everyone catch up and for the group to stay together.

As a challenge, I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Twenty Two

My wife wants to use my indoor bike for some virtual spin classes so I set her up with a free subscription to the Peloton app to see if she would like it. Today, for a change, I tried a 45 minutes pre-recorded class with an instructor who was so American that all I can say is “Yea haw, yankee doodle dandy, Joe Biden stole the US election!”. I think it may need some good Scottish instructors. Like the one who, halfway through a Yoga class, mused “I’d love a Gregg’s sausage roll right now”

I can’t imagine anyone in Peloton having a pasty. The most they might say is “Who’d love a carrot baton, right now? Mmmmmm, hummus dip and celery!”

Also, I’ve have not heard the N word used so often in a playlist. I wasn’t sure if I was in spin class or a KKK Sunday cycle.

It was not for me. But, as a change, it worked. the class passed quickly as the instructor shouted nonsensical motivational phrases like “We’re not going anywhere today but hot damn you’re going to go far!!!!”

How was it? A tricky one to judge as the Peloton app only allows you to connect to a Peloton bike, not to any other bike. Instead, I had to open an app for the bike and then the Peloton app. But Apple doesn’t allow split screen for both so I had to flick between the two to see my cadence and resistance. I just had to guess how fast or slow or hard or easy I was to take it.

As a challenge, I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Twenty One

I weighed myself yesterday. I was 0.4 kg lighter than the start of the month. I’d like to say this small difference was a result of the challenge but I think it’s more to do with the fact I’ve stopped eating cake for breakfast this week.

It was my daughter’s birthday two weeks ago and we ordered a cake. In the photos it looked great, a double tier cake with a bear holding balloons. In person, it was taller that the Empire State Building and the bear was so big he’d have scared a grizzly.

I’ve been eating cake ever since. Cake for breakfast, cake for lunch, cake for dinner. It tasted delicious but it would have had to have been thrown out if I’d not eaten it quickly. So, every meal had to have a pudding course.

This week, the cake was finished and I’ve just had normal meals. The 0.4kg is just cake leaving the body.

It would be interesting to know if 31 days of exercise can have a substantial difference to your weight but I think I’ve spoiled that experiment by incorporating gluttony into my diet this month.

How was it? Some wee complaints: a pain in the ball of my foot when I landed, tightness around my knees, heavy feet but all cleared up as I ran and I wasn’t sure whether they were a result of not resting for 21 days or just standard ‘warm up’ pains. Other than that, another nice day meant it was a unseasonably warm run for January and my blesses gripe was wearing too many layers (a nice complaint to have!).

As a challenge, I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Twenty

I like all the Zwift maps except for one: New York. I don’t know why I don’t like it. I love London because it reminds me of living there and running around many of the streets it covers. Yet, despite loving New York, I don’t get the same nostalgic feeling of “I’ve been there”. Maybe it’s the floating sky bridge, which, as far as I can remember (it’s been 15 years since I was in New York), doesn’t actually float above Central Park. Maybe it’s new?

So, one of my favourite things about Zwift is the ability to chose worlds so that I can avoid New York when it appears. And, for day twenty, I could choose a tour of Japan instead of Manhattan or risk the icy pavements and roads of Glasgow. Hopefully, one day, I’ll get to see these Japanese roads in real life too. And, a floating sky bridge. Which, if it’s going to be anywhere, is sure to be somewhere in the Far East.

How was it? All good. Still feeling slightly lethargic but I was looking forward to 45 minutes of spinning my legs so while I might be fatigued I’m still keen to take on the challenge.

As a challenge, I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Nineteen

The hardest day. Not in effort. But in trying to find the time to fit anything in. I have work, after work meetings, a dog to walk and a toddler to entertain so the only choice was to try and fit a swim in before work. I could have got up earlier but this is a challenge to run, bike or swim every day and not a challenge to get up early in the morning. That would be mental! 🙂

How was it? Still tired but my pace shows that it’s not through physical effort, as while I felt tired I was still keeping a decent pace for me, but rather the mental fatigue of 19 days in a row. Today’s swim was helped by having water leaking into my goggles and having to stop at the end of a length to adjust them. I soon lost track of how many laps I had swam and ended up swimming 1k when I thought I was at 750m.

As a challenge, I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Eighteen

My pace was good but the first few minutes were a struggle. After the first couple of minutes I thought the only way to get through it was to start exploring new streets, and a few minutes after that I thought “why no start running every street in Larbert?” and now I’m running every street in Larbert.

For more on running every street see – Glasgow.

The effort to work out where I was and what streets I had to cover meant I forgot that I really didn’t want to be running. But now I have to run every street because I can’t stop now I’ve started. While I may have won the battle with my psyche I have now lost the war as while I competed today’s five miles, I now have many, many more to do in order to run every street.

How was it? Physically I felt fine, strong even, but I had to really push myself to start. The mental fatigue is getting stronger as my body says “this is good” while my mind says “can I get a break?!?”

As a challenge, I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Seventeen

When Mark Beaumont cycled the world in less than 80 days he had umpteen ‘Garmins’ to ensure he didn’t miss a single minute or mile. If one failed then another would be recording so he wouldn’t lose the record just because he forgot to press start after stopping for a comfort break.

For this challenge, I don’t have the Guinness Book of World Records checking my figures so you’ll just have to trust me when I say I swan an extra 750m. Honest. I did. Even if my watch said zero because I forgot to press start…

How was it? A swim is as good as a rest. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself as I gear up for week 3.