Ape Man!

Thursday 18th November 2010: Day 3

3.36 Miles. 24 Mins, 11 Secs.

After yesterdays run of eight and half miles I decided todays run would only be no more then three and half miles. Eight and half miles is a distance that I can do without much hardship but with this Sundays 10k race lined up I thought it would be best to keep the milage low. Two reasons for this is as I am in the first two weeks of my running streak it would be sensible to ease my legs into it and also I am keen to aim for a personal best at this Sundays 10k race held in Brighton. I did this 10k race last year and enjoyed it so much I signed up again for this years race.

For todays run, I ran a route that I was more then familiar with. This route was my first regular running route that I used to run when I first took up running.

To run this route I traveled to my parents house to pay them a visit and of course had packed my running gear as I knew I wanted to revisit this route that I had enjoyed running so much in the past.

On the way to my parents I stopped by at the local library to see what books of interest I might want to pick up. On my arrival I soon found a book with a subject matter that I had become more interested in since becoming a runner. The title of the book was, "Ape Man." It is a book about the story of human evolution. I have become interested in this subject because it ties in with the running man hypothesis. The idea that early man used to run his prey to death. These ideas always makes me think that us humans are far better runners then we think! For early man there was no mordern sports drinks or gels. Early man did not own a training diary where he could pencil in rest days. It was just a matter of life and death for him! If he and his family were hungry they had to go out and hunt and they had no idea how long they would spend the day on their feet to catch their prey. Running for early man was a skill that he had to take care of. It was something that was very valuable to him and his family.

Whilst running my old running route that day I couldn't help but think of these ideas and wonder if what I'm doing is somehow tapping into that same endurance that early man had to use on a daily basis.

There Is No Stopping An Old Man!

Wednesday 17th November 2010: Day 2.

8.78 Miles, 1 Hr 10 Mins.



Day two of my four hundred day marathon and it being a Wednesday ment that my local running club, Plumstead runners meet for their weekly training run. Having only moved recently to my new flat I am a new member of this club, tonight was my second attendance. One thing that strikes me about this club seems to be the average age of this club. Alot of the runners seem to be of a 50+ age. Younger runners tend to be the minority at this club.

Tonights run consisted of an eight and half mile route through Welling, Shooters Hill, running down onto Herbert Road(the road I grew up on), and then onto Plumstead and back to the club HQ. This route also took in two steep hills! One of the runners who caught my attention was a man named Guy. By looking at him I can only guess he must of been in his late seventies perhaps in his eighth decade? He completed the eight and half mile run as well as the hills with relative ease and came in with everyone else at the end. Clearly he is an experienced runner but to me it also confirms that when it comes to running, age is no barrier.

I believe running is a skill and more of a fine art rather then just another sport. Regardless of your age if you practise it enough and enjoy it for all the benefits it can give you then you should be able to run right up into late life.

Meeting someone like Guy at this early stage of my streak gave me a thought to keep in mind for those tough moments that will arise sooner or later. If someone can run right up into old age then I should be able to run everyday for four hundred days!

Every Marathon Has A Start Line.

Tuesday 16th November 2010: Day 1.

5.16 Miles. 36 Mins, 37 Secs.



Day one of this running streak! What I needed for this personal marathon was a start line. And a starting point is what I found when I stepped outside my apartment and looked at the giant steam hammer bases that had been brought back from russia in 2004 to be placed in their final resting place in the Woolwich Arsenal.
My first run on this streak, I tried to treat like any other run. I choose a route that I had run before and took my ipod with me. I suppose I did not want to think too much that this was going to become a daily thing, I didn't want to think of the bigger picture too much! I've been wanting to run daily for sometime now and the most I had run so far without a rest day was for 14 days. So I already know that after seven days my legs will feel tired. I guess this will be the first hurdle I will come up against? Of course I will just have to be pesistant and take it day by day until my body adjusts to the daily run.