Hey! It’s you! How you doing? Great to see you! Make yourself comfortable! But get your fucking feet off the coffee table. Can I get you a drink? No, we haven’t got any Early Grey. We’ve got Yorkshire Tea. Yes, they DO grow tea in Yorkshire, actually. In Leeds. What’s that? You’re interested in how I’m getting on with the Freeletics and also if there’s any news about me redesigning the blog? WELL ARSE ME RIGID, YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE.
Last week, I realised that it had been exactly six months since I started Freeletics. How did I realise? Because a man came to empty all the shit out of my septic tank. Allow me to explain: we get the tank emptied twice a year, and the man who empties it is very, very precise with his visits. What a job, eh? Driving around in a lorry full of poo. And wee. Anyway, he’s cheerful enough. But when I saw him pull up, I was immediately reminded of the last time I’d seen him. He’d knocked on the door to speak to me, and it happened to be during my first ever attempt at Aphrodite. I was an absolute mess. After breathlessly trying to get a few words out in reply to him, he quickly gave up and returned to his shit pipe. (This is the pipe that runs from his lorry into the septic tank. I don’t know if he calls it a shit pipe, it just seemed apt.)
As I have mentioned a mere dozen or so times, that first Aphrodite attempt was horrible. Painful. I nearly gave up, and if I had then I don’t think I’d have bothered with Freeletics at all. After 50+ minutes it was done. My personal best at Aphrodite is now 26:42, which eagle-eyed fans of division will note is almost precisely half as long. To quote the Freeletics marketing line: it doesn’t get easier, you just get better.
So, after six months, it’s time to take stock. I started out at about 185 pounds, or about 84kg. I’m now 176 pounds, 80kg. There’s definitely still some fat to come off but I’ve put muscle on as well. I started Freeletics with the free workouts and did that for four weeks. I then bought the Coach app and managed to get to Week 8 before I buggered myself up. I won’t bore you with those details (again) but it was a while before I could get back to doing any exercise at all. And now? I’m in my 13th week of regular Freeletics, but I’ve got to be honest. Despite the fact that I’m still (usually) completing four workout days each week, it’s not as hard as the Coach. But I’m still improving, and that improvement is clearly visible by my times and performance in my Max workouts.
In terms of development (and again, sorry for going over old ground), the most noticeable has been around my shoulders, arms and chest. My legs have also expanded a bit. But really, achieving the kind of physique you see on the cover of Men’s Health was never the aim. The aim was to get fitter and stronger, and I can say that I’m well on the way to achieving that.
Last week I decided to have another crack at Gaia. I’d really paced myself the first time after reading about how tough it was, but I felt I could have gone quicker. On my first attempt, I clocked 31:55 – this time I managed 28:32. I also tried Hera in the middle of a hurricane. Well, not quite. But it was bloody windy. So, so hard. It’s a good job the bad weather meant there was nobody about because I was swearing like a docker with his bollocks caught in a mangle. I also managed to put another three on my push up max workout: only a paltry 61 but as long as the number is going up, I couldn’t care less.
So, Christmas. I am not, it is fair to say, a God fearing man. But I do love Christmas, a lot more so since we have kids. So I will be eating and drinking like everyone else, but also punishing myself in an overtly masochistic way by keeping up the Freeletics over the festive period.
After the site getting buggered the other week, I’ve been putting some thought into a proper relaunch. I’m relieved to report that I’ve finally made some decisions on this, so the plan is as follows: some time between Christmas and New Year, I’m going to put All This Running Around into maintenance mode and give it a good tarting up. Hopefully that will only take a week or two, it depends what else I’ve got on. But I’m really excited about the future of it, and I think it’ll be a much better site. This time last year I was lucky to be getting a couple of hundred page views a month, now it’s closer to two thousand. Still small potatoes, but I think there’s scope for more growth.
In terms of the content, I’m going to try and mix it up a bit more. Over the past few months, it’s been more or less a breakdown of Freeletics routines. I do intend to start with the Coach app again in early spring, so I’ll still keep a record of all that. But I also want to do a marathon this year, and use that as a springboard to running ultras. All very grand ideas; whether they actually have any basis in reality remains to be seen. As well as buying the Coach app again, I may also have a go with the nutrition guide. Although I’ve managed to curtail the beer a bit, and don’t eat a lot of junk, there’s no doubt that my overall diet could be better. So that’s an option as well.
I’m going to sign off for now then. I want to send huge thanks to everyone that’s read this blog in 2014, and even earlier than that. And also a big thank you for all the emails I received from people all over the world. It’s been a mind blowing year, really. 2015 will, I think, be even better.
It only remains for me to leave you with the best Christmas song ever YES IT BLOODY IS. Have a great Christmas, happy New Year and all that… See you in January.