ChessRun - a crazy idea
Today I was playing chess, then I had to interrupt it to get to a local community run on time. Then I had a crazy idea. And I like to go along those ideas, so here we are...
Showing posts with label Fanatic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fanatic. Show all posts
End of an era - no more money for running
Roughly 3 years ago I wrote a small post on the RunKeeper blog about how one can earn real money with running. More than a year later, I wrote another follow-up post on this blog, when I reached a serious milestone, and checked out $480 for running and eating healthy stuff. I mainly used 3 apps to achieve this, and now I'm sad to report, that all of them seems to be over.
A little fun with HRC Bibs
So I’ve just
signed up for my second HRC
virtual race, the S.P.E.W.10k, and while I was looking for my Bib, I thought to have some fun
looking at other peoples preferred race number and name.
Exercise or travel? Why not both?!
The first title of this post was "Saving money by exercises when travelling". I changed that, as it only reflects one aspect of what I want to say. My main point is not to avoid certain types of transportation means in order to save a bunch of money. What I want to advertise is the idea of occasionally including / combining healthy activities when one needs to get from point A to point B. Sometimes it saves money / time. In some cases it does neither, but reduces the CO2 footprint, or just makes the time spent travelling more joyful.
Rate my setup - my bikedesk
Everything started two and a half years ago, when I decided to register for my first triathlon race. As I was not biking a lot at the time, I decided to buy a stationary bike, and follow this rule:
"Watching the new episodes of series is only allowed while riding the stationary bike."
Tasting something new: my first 6h ultra run
 |
The "outsiders" may not know this, but running is not as "monochrome", as it may seem. People who do not run, usually only know about the Olympics, and the big half-marathon and marathon races with all the festivities. But there are many other styles of running, like the Spartan races (which should not be confused with the Spartathlon), the color runs (and many other crazy fun races), trail runs, etc.
All of these have a different taste. By which I mean, that the prices, distances, number of participants, competitiveness, etc. are all different. Everybody can find the most suitable style for themselves. I prefer mostly the long distance trail runs, and occasionally fun runs and big city marathons. But last Sunday I tried something new: a 6 hour ultra race.
I've already ran couple of marathons, and some organized hiking events, that lasted more than 6 hours (brutto), but this was different from everything so far because:
- unlike all my previous races, the time is given, not the distance
- the track was a roughly 1.6 km long cycle on asphalt
So basically we were running around for 6 hours on the same 1.6k route. There were some consequences of that:
- It was kind of boring compared to trail runs or big city marathons.
- Since it is an ultra run, there aren't thousands of people attending. Basically, I've been seeing the same ~40 runners all the time. Even if they were much faster or slower than me.
- The small number of runners also meant, that is was a very friendly race. Everybody was rooting for everybody. Sometimes it meant saying "Hajrá!", sometimes only a smile and a wave.
- Some of the supporting people who accompanied the runners were really enthusiastic about rooting for us. Playing loud music from their cars, and in one occasion even dancing on the top of it. :-D
- With such a short cycle, refreshment is not an issue. Every 9-10 minutes (in my tempo), the refreshment desk was there with isotonic drinks, bananas, and other goodies. Most of the people also had personal refreshment in the car. (I used two gels and Magnesium shots for example.)
 |
The track was actually really nice, we went through a beach in each round. We also had luck with the weather, it was a very comfortable 10-15 C degree, and had no rain. In the end I managed to finish 41 rounds and an additional 209.1 meters, which end up to something like 65k. I'm really happy with that, as I was going for 63.3.
 |
| The photos were taken by Jenő Burján. |
But, without any doubt, the best part of the race was, when I was a little bit behind a nice lady, and some of the organizers just told me after the loud rooting, that "Yeah, I'd run after such ladies too! :-D". When I outpaced Her, She told me, that "Ok, so from now on, I'll look at your butt, not the other way around :-)". After 4 hours of running I was in a fun mood, and lifted up my shirt a little bit to provide a better view. The next thing I heard was: "Hm... nice." I'm not a narcissistic person, but this definitely lifted my spirit for a while :-).
So, long story short: my verdict is, that I really liked the race. The family like aura of it, everybody supporting everybody, etc. was a really nice experience. Running around the same track for 6 hours was not as unbearable as I thought. I'll probably still prefer trail runs in the future, but once in a while it is a really nice thing to do for a change. I highly suggest You to try a race like this. If 6 hours are too long, there are usually relay options too. The big open question I still have to decide is, whether I want to attend to a 12h or 24h similar race. (Such races are organized in Hungary every few months.)
Anyhow, if You have a similar experience, let me know in the comments.
The most awesome medal hanger
If You are a runner, cyclist, etc. who goes to races, sooner or later You will have to face the problem of finding the proper installment suitable for the medals.
New year resolution of 2015 in retrospective
To be honest, I have never had any explicit resolutions for 2015 (or any of the previous years for that matter), but I've had a simple ambition, so to speak:
So, have I made it?
The short answer is no, however...
By the end of the new year, I will have accumulated at least as many kilometers from each type of activity as I did in 2014.
So, have I made it?
The short answer is no, however...
Running like a boss with a broken wrist
The date is 25th of January, 2015. As usual, we are drinking tea at the local Teahouse after a nice winter run with friends. As the discussion goes on until 11pm, I decide to accompany one of the girls to run home, who live at the other end of the city. We say our goodbyes, and I head back home. Due to the "perfect texture" on the roads, I fell on my right (and dominant) hand after a glorious ballet performance. As the pain was not really decreasing, I went to the hospital next day, and got a nice temporary plaster.
The doctor started to explain to me, how many weeks it will take to heal, that I should not let water near the plaster, etc. Probably to Her surprise my response was the following question:
Thank You, but can I run with it?!
Checked luggage like a boss!
So today I flew to
Oujda (Morocco), where I'll be spending two months. My baggage is
usually far from the weight limit, but today I managed to make it
19.5 kg, so pretty close to the allowed 20 kg. The reason for that is
best illustrated by the photo below (that shows around 4/5 of my
whole luggage. Yep, I've brought some normal stuff with myself too).
So basically:
-
a Rollerblade skate
-
3 x 2-item protective gear (palm, knee and elbow)
-
(bike-) helmet, that will be used for skating too
-
my old Asics GT 1000 running shoes
-
RP Outdoor 1l running backpack
-
running/cycling/skating shirts and shorts, compression and other sport socks
-
swimming gear (cap, glasses, trunks)
-
2 x 494g Biotech USA Nitro Pure Whey protein + shaker
-
Biotech USA Vitamin complex, Vitamin D, Coral Ca/Mg
Everything ready to
collect a serious amount of miles in the house cup for the Faculty
Lounge of the Hogwarts
Running Club!
