The Clock Is Ticking

SIX WEEKS!!

That’s all we’ve got.

Six weeks until we’re standing on the start line at Dalemain, surrounded by people who have spent months, if not years, preparing for what lies ahead.

Six weeks until we attempt to cover 50 miles through the heart of the Lake District.

Six weeks to find out whether enthusiasm, stubbornness and a questionable amount of optimism can somehow make up for a training plan that has been held together with the equivalent of duct tape and crossed fingers.

The Clock Is Ticking

So… where are we now?

Well, surprisingly, not in a terrible place.

After the disaster that was the hip injury and the best part of five months spent wondering whether I’d even make it to the start line, things have finally started moving in the right direction.

The hip has held up. The strength is returning. The confidence is slowly coming back.

I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m suddenly some ultra-running machine – I can assure you, I most certainly am not. There still are those days where my legs feel heavy, my body feels tired after a full day in clinic and I question whether signing up for this was a moment of complete madness.

Actually, scrap that - it definitely was a moment of complete madness.

But the important thing is, we’re moving again.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve slowly started building things back up. More walks. More time on the feet. More strength work. More getting the body used to doing something other than sitting in the clinic, driving home and convincing ourselves that a takeaway is a perfectly acceptable recovery meal.

(I’m still not entirely convinced it isn’t.)

The biggest challenge with the Lakeland 50 was never going to be a lack of desire. If anything, enthusiasm has always been one of my biggest strengths.

The problem was the gap between where we were and where we needed to be.

You look online and see people doing 30-mile training runs, back-to-back mountain days and carefully planned nutrition strategies months in advance.

Then there’s us.

Trying to figure out how to squeeze training around a business with an ever-growing patient list and a body that decided to stage a protest before we’d even started.

So, with six weeks to go, there’s no more waiting around.

The Plan Is Simple.

For the next six weeks, life is going to revolve around preparing for this race. As I sit writing this, I’m entering into week four of a six-week, all-in training block. Six weeks of pushing my body, testing my limits and trying to cram what should have been ten months of preparation into a final desperate push.

But I’ll save the details of that chaos for the next blog.

Every spare moment between now and the ‘50’ will be focused on building our engine - long walks in the fells, runs where we can fit them in, strength work, improving our nutrition and recovery. Getting comfortable being uncomfortable.

The aim is not to become elite athletes overnight – that ship sailed a long time ago.

The aim is to give ourselves the best possible chance of standing on that start line confident that we have done everything we could.

So, will six weeks be enough?

Honestly, the sensible answer is probably no.

But then again, the sensible thing to do would have been not signing up for a 50-mile ultra in the first place.

But where’s the fun in that?

The reality is that this whole journey has already taught us something we speak to our patients about every single day: your body is incredibly adaptable when you give it the right opportunities.

Progress doesn’t always look perfect.

There are setbacks.

There are frustrating days.

There are times where you feel like you’re miles away from your goal.

But the important part is that you keep moving forward.

No matter how poor a session feels, or how rough a walk or run might be – it’s still another mile in the bank.

So this is it.

The panic phase is over.

The excuses are gone.

The hard work starts now.

Six weeks.

One body that may or may not be ready.

Fifty miles waiting in the distance.

What could possibly go wrong?

Follow the Journey

Whether it’s training for an ultra-marathon, returning to the gym after years away or simply trying to feel like yourself again, finding balance with your health is something we’re all working on.

We’ll continue sharing the highs, lows and inevitable disasters of our Lakeland 50 journey over the coming weeks.

And if you’re someone who’s been putting off getting back into exercise, struggling with an injury or simply not sure where to start, drop us a message or pop into the clinic for a chat.