{"id":1194,"date":"2021-02-02T10:47:17","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T10:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.knob.blog\/?p=1194"},"modified":"2021-03-04T12:47:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T12:47:48","slug":"75-hard-day-31-onwards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knob.blog\/penile-cancer-journal\/75-hard-day-31-onwards\/","title":{"rendered":"75 hard – Day 31 onwards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you’ve landed here first, where have you been? You should probably go back and read the first 30 days<\/a> and see how this all started. This is part two of my 75 hard after cancer challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 31\/83<\/p>The next chapter<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The first 30 days of this challenge were tough. Not because of the eating discipline or the reading, I really enjoy all that. It’s the physical stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding the time and the effort to do two separate sessions every day is hard. Especially if you’re a parent of two young kids, have to do a school run for one and help out with home school for the other. Having shorter days and being surrounded by hills mean that outdoor exercise needs to be planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, I found that going out walking at night worked really well. When I’ve got time at home, I’ll go and do some weights. It’s not perfect, but it’ll do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I’m past the first month, and can see the progress it makes me want to go further, and see how much I can achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercise<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
  1. 8km run. My first 5 miler since this all started. It felt a bit more fluid today, and I was able to push a bit harder, go faster and take some more time off my 5km. The ground is still wet, and the terrain is hard going. I had to wade through two burst rivers again, but I still beat my best 5km time. I’m getting stronger all the time.<\/li>
  2. 10 mile walk<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Diet<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

    Rocket and Parmesan salad, blue cheese salad, burger, giant pigs in blankets, raspberries, pickles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Hydration<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

    2.5L water, 1L lemon water, 1L black coffee, 500ml mint tea<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Reading<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

    5 day weekend<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In conclusion<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

    I’m really happy with my running progress. I’ve made a big effort to improve my breathing, and it’s making a big difference to how I feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I need help with my stretching, and how I’m going to improve my hip, leg and ankle mobility. I’ll need to start on the jumping and plyometrics too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One big thing I’ve noticed is that I have so much time. While it’s important to think about all the improvements I want to make, I don’t need to make them all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Another 18 miles to John O’Groats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Papa
    Papa Smurf graffiti, somewhere under the a10, Ware, Herts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Day 32\/83<\/p>I’m wasting away!<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    My breathing is better, and I feel fitter and stronger. The new keto diet is having an incredible effect on my weight loss too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Keto isn’t going to be a long term fix for me, I need my carbs too much. But I can definitely live without the really naughty stuff that plays havoc with my body. By being really aggressive with the Keto, keeping the exercise sessions up, and intermittent fasting with OMAD I can lose a stone (14lbs) a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I only need to do a couple more weeks on this, and then I’ll switch to a more conventional low carb diet to keep me healthy and maintain my weight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It dawned on me that I have learnt so much about intermittent fasting, OMAD and Keto that I should write a lot more about it. I wrote a blog a few years ago about using keto for extreme weight loss. When it resurfaced a couple of weeks back, I noticed that thousands of people had used it! I never realised that people had found it so useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Exercise<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
    1. Big stretching and bodyweight session<\/li>
    2. 10 mile walk<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      My rolling average heart rate had come right down recently, and hills are much less of an effort. My legs ache less too. Getting fitter has been tougher than I ever remember, maybe it’s an age thing. But every day, I feel like I’m making progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Diet<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

      Roast gammon, eggs, pea shoots and parmesan. I’m into a strong ketosis this evening. I use ketostix to check I’m in the zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Hydration<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

      2.5L water, 1L coffee, 1L mint tea<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Reading<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

      5 day weekend<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In conclusion<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

      I feel like I’ve turned a page today. Exercise is starting to become a bit easier, and my joints are more flexible. Recovery is faster and my progress from session to session continues to improve. I was expecting more constipation from the diet changes, but so far soo good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Another 12 miles to John O’Groats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Day 33\/83<\/p>Into the last 50 days<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

      It’s another big run and long walk day. Doing two exercise sessions every day is the biggest challenge of 75 hard for me. More often than not, I have to do one of the sessions at night when everyone’s asleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      I’ve made a lot of really good progress with my fitness though. Running isn’t easy, by any means. But I’m managing to get 3 or 4 runs a week in now, with a double up day at least every two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The running has definitely made my walking easier though, the ten mile walks I’m racking up every night are really nice now. My legs still ache afterwards, but my breathing is really easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Exercise<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
      1. 5km run. I felt like giving up 3km in, but somehow I managed to keep going. It felt really, really hard today though. I can’t actually remember the last time I struggled that much to get around a route<\/li>
      2. 10 mile walk<\/li>
      3. 30 mins stretching and bodyweight strength work<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        Diet<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

        2 burgers, salad with blue cheese. I’ve started to get super mean with portions, and be militant about not eating more than 20 grams of carbs. I might even put a 48 hour fast in the plan soon. The weight is really starting to fall off me now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Hydration<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

        3L water, 1L black coffee, 500ml mint tea<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Reading<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

        5 day weekend, time for a new book tomorrow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        In conclusion<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

        I need to do more stretching, probably a two a day routine. I need to plan my run\/lift\/active rest days a lot further ahead too. I’m really happy overall with how things are going though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        It’s clearly called 75 hard for a reason, but I’ve been surprised with how relentless the 2 a day fitness sessions are. I could make it easier on myself with a low carb diet and let the exercise do the rest, but I think I need to drop all the weight first and then build myself back up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        15 miles to John O’Groats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Day 34\/83<\/p>Keto brings constipation. Or at the very least, irregularity.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

        I’ve decided that I’m going to take a couple of days off running. I need to up the effort on body weight exercises while I’m on this harsh diet. The pounds are continuing to fall off, but I’ve probably still got a couple of weeks of Keto to go yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        I’m definitely starting to feel the mental benefits, I sleep better and feel more alert. Running has been really hard to get into any kind of rhythm though. I’m hoping that losing a lot of weight will really help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Exercise<\/h6>\n\n\n\n