Stallion
Tree Young
Big ups and inspiring stuff. Way to go beast mode Lee.
Running uphills, cycling uphills, walking uphill? Sorry but I never found a gym-based exercise that builds good calves - even Arnie had calf implants and I think that says it all!
So, as an update on me - I had a race yesterday, a 11 kilometre trail race with over 200m of elevation. And it was bloody hot in the UK yesterday, hottest day of the year they're saying. My foot was all taped up because of a blood blister on the sole of my foot I developed a few days previous which led me to go into it with a sorta 'ehhhh lets just see how it goes' attitude but when I hit the start line I just thought fuck it, I may as well go for it.
So I rocket off, looking to call some bluffs, hoping the competition will think 'fuck, he's fast, I best just let him go.' My first km over difficult terrain was 3.30 minutes, my third kilometre, the majority of which was straight up a mountain, was barely 5 minutes. That's fast. The danger with such an approach is that if anybody hangs with me I'll very likely be too exhausted to hold them off. So at about 4km I'm utterly fucked, my heart rate monitor is saying 199 beats per minute which is pretty traumatic but I'm out in the lead. I finally see the opportunity to have a sneaky peek over my shoulder (first rule of running, don't let the guy behind you see you're worried about him)...and...shit, there's a dude about 30 metres behind me. I don't think I'll be able to hold him off if he challenges me. The next 7km was a blur of heat-exhaustion, more climbing and sheer gutsiness, but I finally crossed the line in first place by just under a minute, before proceeding to down a pint of water and then pouring a second pint over my head, drank some questionable complementary recovery shake and scooped up the humble but much appreciated £50 prize money (presented by Chrissie Wellington, 4 time IronMan world champion and current world record holder!).
Here's some snaps!
With my nieces at the finish line.
Getting a hug from Chrissie Wellington. ^_^
My reaction to the aforementioned 'questionable shake.'
Action shot
That's all for now, looking to build from this and learn from this for my next race in mid-June.
Except the comment about the weather, Google said it was 24 degrees, you Brits are pussies xD. Earlier this year, I played a basketball game at 6pm and it was 37 degrees. 37 in the early evening.