Category: Progress

Running for ME/CFS no. 52

On By stuartakenIn Author, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running2 Comments

Today, I’ve made the last training run before the actual race. For the remainder of the days between now and 13th September, I’m supposed to ‘rest’ the muscles and build energy for the race itself. This means some shortish walks only, to keep the joints moving and feed some work into the muscles without causing …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 51

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running

It's getting close to the event. In fact, 2 weeks today I'll be pounding the tarmac for 13.1 miles. Progress this week? Wednesday I was due to run for 4 minutes followed by 1 minute of walking, repeated 7 times. That's 35 minutes of exercise. I chose to do this along my 3.3 mile loop …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 49

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running

Three weeks tomorrow I'll be running the Great North Run. A half marathon that's been going for a long time now. I'll be one of 57,000 participants and, like most of them, I've been training now for a few months. This week's programme involved a reduction in distance and time spent running. I suspect this …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 48

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running

A brief update for those readers who expect one of these posts on a Monday. First, let me direct you to the two previous posts for more details. You'll find post 46 here and post 47 here. Suffice it to say that training last week went according to plan and I'm well on track for …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 47

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running

It's happening! It's really happening, 4 weeks today! My runner's pack has arrived from the sponsors. It includes my number and a timing chip, which will track my time from the moment I pass the starting line to when I stagger across the finishing line some 7 or 8 hours later! Joking: if I can …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 46

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running

This series will draw to a natural close once I've run the Great North Run, on 13th September, and posted my final piece with the results. However, from now to the actual run, I'll be increasing my posts on an ad hoc basis when I have something new to report. So, yesterday, I did my …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 45

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running3 Comments

The race is 5 weeks today. And this week's blog post is on time, for a change! Wednesday's session consisted of 6 runs of 4 minutes, alternating with 1-minute walks. I covered 3.3 miles in 35 minutes, taking a loop through the forest and averaging just over 10 minutes per mile. Friday, I was required …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 44

On By stuartakenIn Author, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running2 Comments

My programme for the last week required 9 sessions of 2-minute runs alternating with 2-minute walks on Wednesday, a 6-mile run/walk with 3-minute runs alternating with 1-minute walks on Friday, and a brisk 30-minute walk on Sunday. How did I do? Wednesday, I set out to do a familiar 'there and back' route through the …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 43

On By stuartakenIn Author, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running1 Comment

A little late this week with this one. My apologies; other things on my mind. The programme for last week was: Wednesday, 6 sessions of 3-minute runs alternating with 2-minute walks; Friday, 5-mile run/walk with alternating 2-minute runs and 1-minute walks; Sunday, 30-minute brisk walk. Wednesday, I set out to do the session along my …

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A Renewed Regime.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, charity, Creative Writer, Fiction, ME/CFS, Organisation, Progress5 Comments

Way back in 2014, that's last year in case you're not sure, I was writing fairly regularly and working on a couple of projects. But, in the middle of that year, we made a momentous decision: we would move house from our domain of 14 years and settle in an area of the country where …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 42

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running5 Comments

This week asked for a Wednesday session of 6 times 3-minute runs alternating with 2-minute walks. However, after the last fortnight's issues, I decided to do a straight 20-minute run initially, to get back into some sort of pattern. That turned out to be no problem and I actually covered a little more ground than …

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Returning to the World of Technology

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Organisation, Progress8 Comments

On 25th June I wrote a longish post on the way technology seems to have taken the role of master instead of the servant it was intended to be. You can find that post by clicking here. This is the follow-up post I promised then. How did I manage without an online presence, without the …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 41

On By stuartakenIn Author, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running5 Comments

Okay; so I was due to do a 25-minute brisk walk each of the Sundays I was away. No problem. In fact, we walked a good deal on the island where we holidayed, much of it on steep and rocky slopes. So I fulfilled that requirement. On the Wednesdays, I was expected to do a …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 40

On By stuartakenIn Author, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running

As explained in my post, Technophobe, Technophile, or Technosceptic?, I'm taking a complete break from the internet and everything to do with the technology of contact for a couple of weeks. Here, as also explained, is my programme of training for the current week. (That wonderful facility of 'scheduling allows me to do this in …

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Running for ME/CFS no. 39

On By stuartakenIn Author, charity, Fundraising, ME/CFS, Progress, Running

As I explained in my post, Technophobe, Technophile, or Technosceptic?, I'm taking a complete break from the internet and everything to do with the modern technology of contact for a couple of weeks. Here, as also explained, is my programme of training for the current week. (That wonderful facility of 'scheduling allows me to do …

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