New Places, Arctic Nomads & Off The Grid

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Winging It

I had this week off work with my only real plan being to relax.

The marathon really took it out of me both physically and mentally at the beginning of the work - Monday I did nothing and Tuesday was much similar.

If you've not seen my full account of the marathon you can find it here.

Deadlifts and Distance Running — My First Marathon

I ran a marathon. My training schedule and experience on the day

Josh O'NeillJosh O’Neill

It took each day as it came this week.

I went for a workout on Wednesday and Thursday - both of which felt good despite still in the recovery phase from Sunday.

I made sure to go in with the intention of moving. No going for PBs. It was about getting the blood flowing.

We went away on Thursday night for my birthday on Friday to Shepard's Hut about 15 minutes from Kinross.

It was completely off the grid.

No mains electricity, no running water and no phone signal.

We had a gas camping stove we could cook on.

Before we left we thought about packing rolls and sandwiches for dinner and making sure we took enough with us.

Instead, we winged it. We decided to stay what was about the local area and go out for food.

As someone who's usually well organised, doing the opposite was strange.

It all worked out fine in the end though.

It was an amazing way to spend your birthday.

2 Positive Outcomes

Refocusing

My next fitness target is only 7 weeks away.

It doesn't require the same type of training as the marathon but focus and discipline.

This week has been a chance for me to come down off the back end of the running and align my focus on what's next.

A photoshoot.

I've been thinking about what I want to achieve from this. What does my mindset need to be like?

The overall time spent training will be less than the marathon and nutrition can be dialled in to do some of the work too.

Visiting New Places

Kinross and Arran were the 2 main places I visited this week.

You don't realise how beautiful Scotland is until you go to these places.

It makes me grateful to have the scenery and mountains right on my doorstep.

You gain perspective when you meet tourists halfway up Goatfell who've paid money to come here and climb a mountain.

We take it for granted.

3 Things I've Learned

General Physical Preparedness

One of the secrets of Soviet-era training was to have a period post-event where athletes would focus on their general conditioning to improve strength, endurance and flexibility among others.

The purpose of this is to rehab any injuries and fix any imbalances. It prepares them for the skill-specific training they'll face later on.

Having this baseline level means when you move into the skill- special preparedness phase (playing a sport or practising the skill), your weakness have improved.

Why Artic Nomads Can Sleep In The Cold

I'm currently reading Blueprint by Ross Edgely, an extreme fitness adventurer.

He mentions the concept of habituation - a fancy term to explain the psychological decrease in stimulus you feel after being repeatedly exposed to a situation.

The more times you experience it the less stressful the response.

An example of this is a study that found that karate fighters with 3 years of experience had greater control of their stress hormone than untrained fighters.

Depending on your experience of a situation, however, there may be no change in response at all.

For Artic nomadic tribes, the adaption to the cold climate means they can sleep in the conditions. Less stress response is produced.

The same works for cold water swimming. After a few times, it becomes easier to do.

Going Off The Grid

Having no electricity, running water or contact with the outside world sounds scary.

Honestly, it was liberating for the mind.

Your focus wasn't on anything else other than what was in front of you - in our case a Jenga tower.