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Why?

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TLDR:

• do something hard every month
• "marathon ready" is a good proxy for fitness
• if it's at a slow/reasonable pace, I suspect it's great for longevity
• it's a nice way to clear the mind too - especially if you multitask a lot or work on several projects, being outside and focusing entirely on one thing for a few hours is actually refreshing. If you run at a comfortable pace it kind of feels like it resets decision fatigue. Imagine a kind of long hike, but faster, with less bags.

Sidenote: I think most people can run a marathon with a bit of training, you just don't get such a good time, and you'd have to alternate walking with running, but overall I think it's a great activity and it's more accessible than people think.

To kind of self test and prove my point I decided to run one every month.

Before you say why that's crazy, there's people who ran one every day, for weeks, sometimes months.

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#1 Dec 24 -2024 42.2km - Track

Merry Xmas, the very first one, ran on a track

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#2 Jan 31 - 45.2 km - Track

went for a stroll, wanted to see how it feels to keep it zone 2 all the way. Seems like I haven’t done that much damage.

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#3 Feb 28.- 42.2 km - Track

took it slow. bananas and raisins.

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#4 Mar 30 - 42.2km - Track

zone 2 easy peasy except after the 32k wall - tested very little caffeine - 😓 - home made smoothie gels

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#5 May 28 - Cluj Napoca - Track

Ran half with a buddy Cristi Rosu, still track, one day before my flight, very last minute but got it done

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#6 Jul 5 - 42.5km - Coastline

In Portugal, Ericeira, probably the hottest run, I was sweating like crazy and the sun was way too much, but luckily the weather was a bit foggy. First 26k ran with the local crew.

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#7 Switzerland 61.7km - Alpine Mountain 2700m elevation gain, peak at 3000m alt

turned into an expedition, took my time sightseeing, hanging out with herds of Ibex, it got dark, got lost, put on a few extra kms but very worth it. Elevation

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#8 Sep 12 - Switzerland 2 - 42.2k - Alpine Mountain 2300 m elevation gain, peak at 3000m alt

Underestimated this one, miscalculated a bit, very steep hikes going up to 3k m elevation, but extremely scenic. Pics & info soon

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#9 Oct 27 - Daily Sweat streak - day 666 - 46.66 km

dates coincided

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#10 Daily Sweat streak - day 700 - 47.00 km

strava link Sweat Streak Day 700 - 47.00 “Light Ks Baybe” - MM#10

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#11 - Low Carb edition

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( Coming soon: learnings, pack checklist, fueling strategies.

For now I got pissed off that Strava hides my post text, I can't share, and Instagram doesn't allow so many characters, so here's the notes from this session. Will update with the other sessions too, I took notes after each.)

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So I wanted to try a low carb, fat based long run, to see how it feels, no caffeine, no gels

- enter FATMAX protocol.

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Apparently you can teach your body to oxidize fat more efficiently if you fuel with fat, lower your pace and do strictly zone 2 (I had some exceptions to zone 2 when chased by dogs lol, and a final mini push, was curious how it would feel like at the end)

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Total Carbs were:

• 2.5 bananas, about 0.5 every hour
• 3x8g gummies to stabilize (these did have a tiny amt of caffeine too)
• about 100g honey in water with salt mixed in the drinks.

Carbs ares still needed to stabilize the heartrate when it starts drifting upwards.

At some points the body struggles to get enough energy so I gave it a bit of help (took the last gummy at the end because I wanted to work after, wanted to feel fresh)

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For reference, normally, if I'm pushing, I'd smash this amount of carbs in an hour and a half ish.

The rest, or main fuel was 16x10g cubes of cheddar cheese (calculated about 3/h plus extra)

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Protein:

And a protein shake spread throughout the run - to prevent muscle breakdown.

Apparently you merely have to signal your body that protein available and that should be enough to prevent breakdown during the run, aprox 30g.  I doubled for good measure and spread it out after the first 2 hours.

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Water:

about 3.5L-4L, 0.5L flasks and drinks when stopped, (car parked with supplies)

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Pack:

‍it was a heavier carry, only stopped 2 times (plus bearspray plus ninja dog stick), cheese is quite good for carry though, as the oldschoolers knew very well.

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Interesting experience to compare with carbed runs, legs definitely feel different/ heavier but also this type of run is a lot more enjoyable, probably because of the pace too.

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I took some calls, texted and some longish breaks, very comfy, manageable.

My main goal was to get the Kms is and feel fresh after.

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It's nice that energy levels are more steady too and overall clearer brain, but again that's probably the pace too.

I could plan out my next days and todos for upcoming projects, talk to people etc.

Also this one was the "coolest" so far, -2C for half of it, should've prepped better for that, the periscope nearly froze off if you know what I mean, -2C winds hitting you in the front is not the most pleasant, but at least definitely no overheating.

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Strava activity link

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