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Tag Archives: Kilian Jornet

2015 Run Report and Carbon Footprint

31 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by elladuv in Running

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achievements, Athens Marathon, Carbon Footprint, elevation, Kilian Jornet, medals, miles, running, Thessaloniki Marathon

RunReport2015

 

Count: 536.8 miles

Time: 95 hours 40 minutes running time

Elevation Gain: 27, 172 ft elevation

Interesting to see that I did these miles in far less running time than last year.  It might not have been more miles due to injury.  Last year I did 546 miles in 142 hours which is a great deal more running time.  Now, whether that’s due to the elevation of those miles, or the training time, I’m covering nearly the same amount of ground in quicker time.

This is a considerable improvement either way you look at it.

Kilian Jornet shared an interesting tool that calculates your carbon footprint on his Facebook page. My footprint is 6.62 metric tons per year.  Only 1.1 metric tons higher. The average footprint for people in the United Kingdom is 9.80 metric tons so at least I’m doing better than average – I hope that my run commuting helped towards that a lot in 2015.

You can check yours out here; http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

Being more green is a resolution for 2015 and fitness lifestyle plays a huge part in that.  What’s your carbon footprint?  Do you plan to be greener in 2016 and how will you do it?  Working for an energy company has really made me think about my impact.

I hope everyone has had a fantastic running year!

xxx

Eleanor

 

Sometimes it’s not just about the goal it’s about the journey getting there.

16 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by elladuv in Uncategorized

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Alexander The Great Marathon, Athens, Athens Marathon, Kilian Jornet, Marathon Talk, Olympus Marathon, Portsmouth Marathon, running, Sonia Samuels

‘Sometimes it’s not just about the goal it’s about the journey getting there,’ Sonia Samuels, UK world marathoner women’s 7th placer.  A quote from her interview with Marathon Talk this week.

I 100% agree with this. When I first started running three years ago it was with the goal of one day running the Olympus Marathon inspired by Kilian Jornet. I doubt I’ll be ready for that until 2017 but I’m going next year to spend a week on the mountain and train there.

I’ve had such a great journey so far learning to run.  I ran the Portsmouth Waterside Coastal Marathon, my first marathon, with only ten months training.  Sheer determination got me through it.  I’ve also enjoyed travelling to races with friends both locally and abroad (the fact that running is often a shared experience is wonderful) including the Athens Authentic Marathon and Alexander The Great Marathon.  I still haven’t managed to get into regular Parkrunning but it’s all a work in progress.  

I’ve also experienced quitting smoking, being injured and had onset from Scafell Pike agoraphobia so it’s come with both good and bad. BUT without that initial idea of hey, that mountain looks cool, there is so much life and experience I wouldn’t have had if I hadn’t had my mind set on that crazy mountain.  I am truly grateful for Olympus Marathon inspiring me to become a better person than I was three years ago.  

Happy running,

xxx

Eleanor

Achievement Unlocked 5K A Day

08 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by elladuv in Nutrition, Running

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5k per day, Bristol, Canford Park, Kilian Jornet, Nomu, Scott Jurek, strava, Tofu, vegan, vegetarian, Winter running

downsWednesday morning I ran my first 5k of the week in actual daylight.  Not just daylight.  Despite the frosty temperatures that caused ice to gather like dew on the grass covering the park in a dusting of glitter it was perfectly sunny. Not warm but bright.  I performed more evenly in this 5k with two 9:55 minute miles and 9:13.  Monday and Tuesday’s runs had pesky 10 minute miles in them which upped their times.

I thought that people who hide in gyms all winter waiting for the warmth of summer to run are truly missing out.  Granted my fingers were freezing but my feet were pounding over earth hardened by frost.  Birds sat on a frozen lake looking confused but still getting on with it.  Air plumed out visibly before me reminding me to monitor my breathing.  My knees reminded themselves to lift up and avoid the ache from the cold.  My arms reminded themselves to reach forward in their air.  I’d spent the week working on my press up form and getting to ten press ups per set to work on upper body strength.

My inner monologue shouted things like, “Go hard or go home”, “Grab the air with your arms”, “Knees up”, “Remember your core” small mantras to help me focus and try to maintain that focus.

The most challenging day was Thursday when I had to get up at 6:15 to get the run in before the school run and then go to work the late shift at Ovo.  Maybe it was the full moon energy helping my determination but I woke myself up and pushed out of bed with, “That sub 5 hour at Alexander The Great Marathon won’t run itself!”  I nearly gave in on this run because the cold and lack of air caused my asthma to play up but it was too beautiful to not continue.  The full moon with rainbow rings around it shining through the scattered clouds was setting in the sky hanging low waiting for the dawn to give way to sunrise before letting the sun take over the day shift.

Thursday evening was the night that I also decided that I would work towards a plant based diet.  Steve and I had a date night at Nomu in Bristol and I ordered deep fried vegetables, with a side of sliced fried aubergines and Black Pepper Tofu with rice for a main.  It tasted gorgeous and I was so full afterwards it was incredible!  All those flavors made me decide that just maybe I could give up the bacon and enjoy long distance running until a late grande old age.  I’d already, last month given up dairy due to allergies, so I figured I might as well go the whole hog and cut out the hog.  canford

After a week of running 5k A Day I thought I would start to feel drained.  Last year (2014) I averaged a tiny 10.5 miles per week.  Scott Jurek runs 100 mile weeks, 10 miles a day, 25 miles on weekends.  Kilian Jornet reportedly runs 3-4 hours per day during his training seasons.  I’m no Scott Jurek or Kilian Jornet (my ultrarunning idol) but I’d like to build up my weekly mileage to help progress in my times in general.  I came across new miles to run in my local area.  I became a user of Strava due to the insistence of running friend and blogger Matt.

Instead of feeling drained I feel full of energy. I feel calmer and happier.  This morning I broke the mold of a week of 9-10 minute mile average pace with an 8 minute mile so it looks like I’ve hit a point where I can work on getting faster.  Not one single bit of my body aches or hints at injury like I was concerned it would if I ran each day.  I don’t feel the need for a rest day like I assumed I needed after each run because that’s what training plans teach. As an extra awesome bonus I’ve lost 3lbs since Monday.

I think all those vegetarian and vegan based distance runners are onto something!

xxx

Eleanor

Descent To Fort Augustus

15 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by elladuv in Running

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Tags

Fort Augustus, inspirational, Inverness, Kilian Jornet, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Marathon, Loch Ness Monster, mountains, Patrick Rothfuss, running, snow, training

Aviary Photo_130658172870035143

Yesterday afternoon meant a drive to Loch Ness just past the city of Inverness.  It was a long drive through a fresh batch of fallen snows.  Two inches of it coupled with black ice made it slow going.

The Loch Ness Exhibition informed us that this freshwater lake, the largest in the land, was 23 miles long.  It took us through a handful of interesting rooms designed to tell us individual segments of the exploration into the sightings of the famous Loch Ness monster.  Unfortunately the idea that only 20% of the Loch’s natural food chain would be left over for our Nessie disproves the idea that a large monster could sustain itself there.

Being a runner I had researched the Loch Ness Marathon route so that I could run sections of it.  However, having left late, then driven to and around the Loch with a visit to the Exhibition Centre I only had half an hour of diminishing silvery daylight turning dusk blue on this cold mid-January afternoon.

So I had Steve drop me off 5k away from Fort Augustus, where the marathon route starts, and he drove off to get food and wait for me at the village.  I turned on some Prodigy and ran 5k of pure descent to the village on the South Side Loch Ness.  I had nothing but the descent, my thoughts and the beats.  I clocked 28:28 minutes for the run by the time I met Steve at the Visitors Centre.  At this point the last of the weak sunlight had set and the lights had turned on in the village setting odd balls of yellow light against the dusk blue snow on the surrounding mountains.

I let my thoughts wonder as freely as possible. My mind began to think about what I wanted to do with this blog. Initially I began a document called The Journey To Mount IMG_20150114_161448Olympus to note down my progress as a runner whilst I was on the journey to the main goal – Mount Olympus Marathon.  The Journey To Mount Olympus seemed too long.  Also not very profound as people do it each year so why would one individual’s journey to being ready to run this marathon make me any different to all the other good inspirational training blogs out there?

It is said that everyone has a story so perhaps being a good inspirational training blog is a goal to strive for.  Eleanor’s Endeavour is the idea of the story.  Having something other to tell my readers than just how my workout went and reviewing races (race reviews in the pages fixed above) that I do along the way.

I think in a way then his isn’t necessarily about that main goal.  I think that it’s about the how.  The accumulation of experience that equates to that overall eventual victory that I’m still hoping for one day.  Next month it’ll be two years on from the day that the video of Kilian Jornet running up Mount Olympus inspired me to run.  I’ve achieved so much already.  I want this to be an appreciation of the adventure of running.  The joy it gives you.  As Kilian coined it, ‘the search for happiness’ through running.IMG_20150114_163514

With this in mind I pledge to endeavour to adventure as much as possible.  Finding the adventure in the run even on training days that might seem ordinary.  Actually having a think about things.  Trying to effectively utilise the calm happy setting that my mind goes into when I run.  Patrick Rothfuss’ character Kvothe calls it the Spinning Leaf when he is practicing an art called Ketan which seems to be a mix of yoga and martial arts.  His description stuck with me even after reading.  That mind set we all go into when we run, that hidden place, filled with almost childlike calm and happy thoughts.

That’s the forecast at least.  A vague one.  The future will tell where my feet will fall next.  At least I’ve gotten out the front door.

IMG_20150114_163844

Xxx

Eleanor

 

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10th International Alexander The Great MarathonApril 5, 2015
26.2 From Palla To Thessaloniki

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