Stuttering progress from Damon

I'm up to my neck in building a house (see http://thefirstlittlepig.blogspot.com), which is about the most knackering thing I've done for years. After a day on site, humphing hefty timbers around and tettering on the roof in awkward positions, I'm in no mood for a run, and Anna's in no mood to see me disappear again. I'm not quitting the challenge, as I still think it's a good motivation, but I think that for some weeks at least, my appearances on it may be pretty sporadic!
Keep it up, lads,

Damon

Chris Quits

OK, so this £1-a-day Challenge has got me faster and fitter than ever before, but now my ankles are starting to disintegrate it's time to look at the bigger picture, which is that I don't want to spend the rest of the year hobbling around on sore inflamed ankles. I therefore am taking the executive decision to officially quit the challenge, albeit I will probably still try to run more days than I'll miss.

But at the moment I need to take a break, otherwise my ankles won't recover in time for the Defi de l'Oisans at the end of July, of the GR20 en 5 Jours in September.

Coming apart at the seams

The One Pound Challenge seems to be sliding into an ignominious trough. Enthusiasm appears to be fading, just as the weather has settled fair and the long evenings are upon us. Big Chaz hasn't posted anything since May 17th and Crispin's contributions are becoming increasingly sporadic. Dave seems to be back on track after a bit of a dodgy post-London phase, and Chris is still churning out personal bests on an almost weekly basis, having come through a bit of a crisis last week (when he missed his first day after 153 consequetive runs). Damon is finally starting to get his act together after a few disastrous months of hobbling and wheezing. As for races, Crispin, despite (or perhaps because of) his frequent lazy days pulled out a cracker at Duddon, Damon lost his Yetholm Hill Race crown, but avoided humiliation and Dave is knocking off a few low-key road-races to get his legs back after London.
WE WANT CHARLIE BACK... NOW!

The First Century

Well - a hundred days down, with 265 to go. A mixed bag of results at the first major milestone. Three of us are still defending an unbroken sequence. Chris looks like nothing short of armageddon would stop him, and from just a few weeks into the experiment has been reaping unimagined benefits, having jumped several strata to near the top of the Scottish Hill Running scene. A massive PB is expected at London, if he can keep the lid on for the first couple of hours.
David has probably put in more hard miles than any of us in preparation for London, tackling races on chronically knackered legs with predictable results at times. Knowing Dave's running history, his numerous aborted comeback attempts and the motivation behind his ultimate return, I am brimming with admiration, and hope he has the run of his life on April 22nd.
I've struggled with various bodily ailments since early February, first a persistent chest bug and then a broken rib. None of it has been sufficiently serious to preclude running, but a lot of that running has been pretty bloody pedestrian and not much of it has been fun. I'm looking forward to a fresh start for the next 100 days which include most of my big races for the year.
Charlie has missed only four days out of the 100, and has gradually dragged himself from his recent pit of despair on the sofa to complete dozens of tours of Glasgow's west end in all weathers, and is now at the point where he can resume club-training with Westies. A landmark indeed and a superb effort.
Crispin has the highest truancy so far, probably between 10 and 20 missed days and a hell of a lot of lounge-room rowing in the early stages, but he's now rounding into something much more impressive. Some of his longer efforts have been truly impressive, with a stirring run in the Exe to Axe 20-miler and a clutch of monster training runs in the Brecons. I'm a tad afraid that he's going to pulverise me in the SIPR next month.
Congrats all round! Here's to the next century...

56 not out

That's 56 days into the challenge and (as far as I know) Damon, David, Charlie and myself are all going strong.
Not sure if any of us have dropped any days yet.

Crispin's long since thrown in the towel.

Roll on Tuesday April 10th!

One Pound Challenge Calendar

Here is the calendar created to keep track of the One Pound Challenge.
All participants must submit their daily run(s) to this calendar for evidence.

One Month Down

Well we are one month into the challenge already, and I can safely say I've never run 31 days on the trot before, and certainly not on so many vile evenings in mid-January. Damon and David have been plugging away with as far as I know 100% records. Charlie is piling off the pounds and wearing a trench as he toils round his West End circuit. And Crispin has disappeared off over the horizon on his virtual rowing trip to the New World.

Dichotomy

It's now been pointed out to me by my lovely wife and one other that the whole premise of the £1 challenge stinks. In the words of one who shall remain nameless, "I think the whole idea of the motivation behind trying to improve oneself to be the avoidance of helping other people is repugnant". I must say that it has occured to me over the last few weeks that the celebration of zero donation to charity at the end of the year would seem a little odd. Perhaps a private donation for each intact week, as a thankyou to the challenge for motivating you throughout the year might be the answer. Anyway, it's probably something to sort out in your own head to your own satisfaction.
Nevertheless, at the end of the first month, the nett result of the challenge seems to be that three of us have run every day, Chaz is doing daily exercise for the first time in years, come rain or shine and seems to have regained his motivation and will-power, Crispin has reached a virtual (and dry) mid-Atlantic and some charity is about a fiver better off than it would otherwise have been.

Of course, the charity element is a bit of a red-herring. The real motivation is the fear of approbation from fellow-challengees for each missed posting or confession of indolence.

Keep it going!

Three Letter Word

There seems to be some confusion over this challenge.
I thought the idea was we were supposed to run each day.
What's all this nonsense about rowing??

Eh?

Crispin's posting are getting increasingly terse and cryptic, for example, "St Peter Port meander midway crap". What can that possibly mean? And now I see he has, with misplaced confidence, already posted tomorrow's run! However, if the "monster" with Mark Palmer does come off, it'll largely make up for his recent indolence. Mr. Palmer is a force to be reckoned with.
Also note with trepidation that big Chaz has missed another Friday posting, after last week's 50-minute pub-crawl. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!

Where's the Wobbly Welsh Wizard?

As I've signed up to do the boat race again this year with Crispin, I have a vested interest in his fitness. Can't help thinking that his occasional runs punctuated by sitting-room rowing in front of Celebrity Big Brother or, worse-still, inexplicable absences from the blog won't necessarily see us toeing the line in Oban in tip-top condition. Come on Crispin, ya big Welsh poof, get your act together!
By the way, has anyone taken me up on the press-up challenge I proposed on New Year's Eve. To remind you, increase your daily press-up total by one each day so that on January 31st you do 31, on February 28th you do 59 and on December 31st you 365. I'm still on track (i.e. 19 this morning), and should be at least until Easter. It'll be interesting to see how and why it ends...!

Ticking Over

Managed to keep ticking over the first 11 days of the challenge.
Only done 4 actual races:
01-Jan, Portobello Promathon 4-miles (23:03)
02-Jan, Greenmantle Dash 2-mile hill race (19:02)
06-Jan, Nigel Barge 10k (36:20)
07-Jan, Monikie Duathlon - 4k run, 22k bike, 4k run (1:17:09)

Did a couple of 5.6km cyclepath runs in hideous rain and wind this week. Then a 52 minute, 12km route last night. And tonight a short jog up Hoad Hill to the lighthouse above Ulverston. Too windy to stand at the summit.

First Week

Well done everyone surviving the first week! Although I remain to be convinced that indoor rowing and sit-ups count as going for a run.... ??

Welcome Aboard Charlie

Good to have you along!
I hope the One Pound Challenge is just what you need to get away from that crap TV.

Good Start

Got off to a good start with 2 days out of 2.
Portobello Prom 4-miler yesterday (23:03).
Greenmantle Dash 2-mile hill race at Broughton today (19:02).
The Broughton race was less than 20 minutes, so I went for a half-hour run up Broughton Heights with David Riach after the race.

Damon ran yesterday in his local Cheviot hills, but was grumbling about a cold coming on.

2 days into 2007 and Damon, Chris, Crispin and David are all on 100% !!