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A simple longer run this morning to start Xmas. Happy and surprised to do sub 9 minute miling for 10k of the run; the power of company. Dodged the rain.

The time of year when you start assessing the training effort so far [especially a year into a three year challenge cycle]. I must have completed the base phase? Though it feels behind the same point of the previous 1,000 day challenge; I must do a deep dive to compare. I keep forgetting though, that I still have 2 1/2 years to hit my stride of peak fitness for summer 2026.

I have certainly fallen behind [as haven’t be focussing on] the Citystrides logging. Gone to 277th in world from a height of 150th? Laughing that I did parts of 80 new roads yesterday, but completed none.

I also realise I hadn’t updated my smashrun data since October; run streak now 298 days [at least a mile walked each day]. My current best is 438 days. I hope to do all 366 days of 2024 leap year, to better that streak.

It is funny to look back and be shocked that I did nothing on 30 days in 2021. I have only missed one day [March 1st 2023] since 17th December 2021.

3709 miles (R2377 W1332)

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A 7 mile day with 6 mile jog/walk home. Falling down the Citystrides global rankings. I’ll need to do specific bagging runs to get new roads now.. 

1517 miles (R1191 W326)

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Another decent longer run at 22 miles. Jog along canal and then some Citystrides bashing before stops to watch Ride London, and sit on beach. Warm day again.

1383 miles (R1078 W305)

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Another easy day [will be all week] of 9 miles, knocking off some Newham Citystrides roads. Had only planned 4-6 miles, but hey.

929 miles (R733 W196)

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A citystrides 14 mile road collecting recovery day and supporting  runners at a race. Lovely warm day.

867 miles (R682 W185)

burning rubber

I thought I should complete my St Helier Citystrides distance today; before it gets seriously hot this weekend. All done in a morning [apart from the ‘bogus’ three streets; a parade ground in a fee paying tourist attraction castle, a no public access Police dog training ground, a road gone building site] 10 mile jog/walk.

Laughing that a completion message sent states ‘There are 406 streets in St. Helier, totaling 67.28 miles. Your first activity to complete a street in St. Helier was on October 27, 2013. It took a total of 48 activities to finish, totaling 515.34 miles’. Well most of that time I was just being a local. A lot of the time I was getting back to a missed/overlooked road. Also there are 406 roads maintained by Jersey Gov, but an awful lot of private roads seemingly not included in that total?

Walked another 21 miles in the afternoon/evening. Seems 20 ish mile days are not too taxing [albeit mostly walking]. The soles of both of my pairs of running shoes however have started to come unstuck. The heat?

Read my third doorstop 400+ page book in a week, A Man in a Hurry about early pedestrianist E. P. Weston. When these guys could walk 9.30-11 minute miles in the clobber that they wore in the late 19th Century [and for huge distances on rubbish roads], you wonder how? Interesting to read that he used whisky on his feet to harden the skin. I had always assumed that Johnnie Walker whisky was associated with pedestrianism, but I can’t find any connection. Shame.

2902miles (R1450 W1452)

not marathon XVI

Thought I should try that marathon this week, even though I have started working harder [and am therefore more tired] again. Also pretty warm today even very early in the morning! Walk/jog and only 14 miles till I rested. Quiet slow but still very tiring!?

A few miles stroll in the afternoon as a stretch out and take in the ‘carnival’ atmosphere of the Jersey Battle of Flowers festival. Closing in on the St Helier Citystrides completion; should be tomorrow? Only 2% to go; though there are three ‘non-roads’ I need to get removed by the system [I don’t fancy getting eaten by Police dogs].

2870miles (R1443 W1427)

sums

A 5,000 mile year for the first time was a 2022 goal. Going into August that left 2,310 miles for the remaining 5 months of the year. With a minimum of 465 miles needed to complete the Movember Milo Miles challenge in November, and therefore at least 475 miles needed for December to get my digital ‘Towering Stairs‘ badge, that left 1,370 miles for the three months Aug-Oct. But this is about 460 miles for each of those months!!

I guess I will have to start at 400 miles or more this month and build from there? I have to be careful I don’t go too far beyond 400 miles this month however, as I will just need to top that for the remaining months and I don’t want to miss the digital badge [7 months work] by 2 weeks again!

Perhaps then something like 440, 450, 460 for the next three months? That would put this month at not far below where I tailed off in May [445 miles]. So far on about 15 miles a day average, so slightly ahead of schedule for August.

This morning an early jog, met a friend at the track and we paced my father on another short interval workout [mile in 9.20 and 400 x 2 in 1.50s] and I tried a faster mile in 7.20 [first on track in years?], then walk cool down for 11 miles. I also thought I would try to complete more Citystrides miles in St Helier on a 13 mile walk in the afternoon.

I ended up reducing the challenge to only 11% with a 24 mile day. I have a query out, as one of the ‘roads’ is actually the parade ground of a castle; inside a fee paying tourist attraction. Laughing that I received a message stating I had finished the City of London [yes months ago] and would I like to purchase a certificate to celebrate the fact [showing all the roads covered]? Good marketing angle!

Interesting facts [I wasn’t covering these streets just for this challenge, as I have been walking across London before I even knew the challenge existed] are that the 48 miles of the City of London took me 947 miles to complete over about 8 years!?

2848miles (R1436 W1412)

recovery

An easy day to recover from … not much. Perhaps a bit depressed after reading some running books, Becoming Forrest by Rob Pope and Running the World by Nick Butter; what place the rest of us?

An early morning jog/walk before it got too warm and a stroll to town, before another afternoon short walk. Had to hold myself back from walking longer miles today [to get the whole St Helier Citystrides mini-challenge wrapped up; still 14% to go] as I need to ration my journeys, else I feel I will have nothing to do for the remaining week in Jersey [though there are plenty of other mini-challenges I could do].

Strangely, going through local newspapers from a month ago I found that someone else is doing a ‘cover all the roads’ type of venture!? Though it is for the whole island, I can only find 122 of 600 miles claimed on his Strava? Always a trouble when charity fundraising is involved?

2824miles (R1427 W1397)

back on track

Jog warm up, then another pacing run with my father at the track [1.54, 1.50, 1.54 not bad for nearly 80 years old], and a jog cool down, for nearly 12 miles in the morning. Hopefully I am now back to regular running? An afternoon walk to complete more Citystrides distance in St Helier; now down to only 16% remaining. Somehow therefore a 20 mile day?

2811miles (R1425 W1386)