2,020km Challenge for Alzheimer's Society - June Report - Half Way There!

in OCD4 years ago (edited)

2020km Challenge June Report.jpg

2,020km Challenge

This year, I set myself a goal to reach 2,020km in 2020 by a combination of running and hiking to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society (United Against Dementia). At the end of each month, I go through how I’ve progressed through the challenge and it gives us a chance to salivate over some stats 🤓

As we reach the half way point of the year so far, it's time to see if I can push on from last month now that the lockdown restrictions appear to have lifted a little bit in the UK. Although we need to keep an eye on local hot spots! In any case, the full definition of this challenge is:

  • Total distance: 2,020 km / 1,255 miles in 2020
  • Hiking: “cross-country” or “cross-terrain” walking
  • Running: putting one leg in front of the other quickly
  • Daily required distance: 5.52 km / 3.45 miles per day

So, let’s have a look at June’s progress!

June Progress

After the colossal effort made in May to pull back to parity with where I should be, I have to admit, I was starting to feel the effects and burnout of that effort! The weather also hasn't been the greatest in June with plenty of thunderstorms and sporadic weather to contend with but I had a week off from work and went on a few big hikes to make sure I didn't drop off the pace too much!


Views across some of the Chilterns on one Hike

In May's Report, I had FINALLY made it over the line of where I should be and June was going to be the month of consolidation as I try to recover from the effort of last month!

However, you can see I was flip flopping around the red line like some sort of indecisive loon but happy to say I've made a decision now to stay above the red line especially now I'm half way through the challenge both in terms of distance AND time!

In the graph below, the blue line is my current average daily distance and the red line is the required average daily distance to get to 2,020 km this year 😃


June Progress

As you can see, there's really nothing in it at the moment, I'm pretty much floating around the required amount but it was important not to rest too much despite my body now letting me know that 1,000 km is a really long way to run and hike in 6 months!

Now the aim is to stay above the red line and increase the gap over the next couple of months. Looking forward to seeing how July goes now!

Overall

After 5 months, pretty much the whole challenge actually, I've struggled to get above the target since illness and injury hampered me in January but I'm really happy to have pulled it back. The feeling of pushing through adversity is a surprisingly satisfying feeling and relishing the challenge, half way there though, let's not get complacent.

As always, the two I's (injury and illness) are never far away so it's just going to be a case of listening to the body, letting it recovery when possible and perhaps do longer distances to allow time for those rest days!

Now let’s have a look at some of the numbers! The table below shows the stats at a glance taken from the end of each month and the graph below shows the whole picture.

MonthDistance completed (%)Should Be At (%)
January138.78 km (6.9%)171.09 km (8.5%)
February298.99 km (14.8%)331.14 km (16.4%)
March473.82 km (23.5%)502.23 km (24.9%)
April644.88 km (31.92%)667.80 km (33.06%)
May841.38 km (41.65%)838.89 km (41.53%)
June1,012.30 km (50.11%)1,004.46 km (49.73%)

Looking at the graph and table, we can see that there was a little bit of slacking going on at the beginning of June which threatened to undo all that hard work in May but a monster hike of about 20 km plus a few regular big hikes during that week off managed to turn it around and now there's some day light of about +8 km between where I am and where I should be at the end of June.

Let's have a look at the breakdown of the activity count and see how those rest days affected play and just how much hiking I did in that week off:

MonthRuns (%)Hikes (%)Active DaysTotal Days
January16 (73%)6 (27%)2231
February14 (70%)6 (30%)2029
March15 (68%)7 (32%)2231
April10 (45%)12 (55%)2230
May10 (39%)16 (61%)2631
June10 (48%)11 (52%)2130
Total75 (56%)58 (44%)112182

Well, they say "consistency is key" and I've managed to hit 10 runs for the 3rd month in a row and only did one extra hike which made June my 2nd laziest month in terms of active days with only 21 being utilised. Seemed that rest really was the order of the day but this doesn't tell the whole story of course.

Seeing that this is a distance challenge and putting in some big efforts on the hikes, less... is actually more! The table below also shows the distances that I’ve covered with the runs and hikes separately this month compared to others:

MonthDistance by Running (%)Distance by Hiking (%)Total Distance
January86.54 km (62%)52.24 km (38%)138.78 km
February84.14 km (53%)76.06 km (47%)160.20 km
March93.15 km (53%)81.68 km (47%)174.83 km
April67.14 km (39%)103.92 km (61%)171.06 km
May69.3 km (35%)127.2 km (65%)196.5 km
June59.52 km (35%)111.41 km (65%)170.93 km
Total459.79 km (45%)552.51 km (55%)1,012.30 km

Again, hiking distances comes up trumps in June with almost double the amount of distance covered compared to the running. In fact, running wise, the least distance covered so far in a month this year but that was due to trying to navigate the storms and doing shorter runs. I did tell you some of those hikes were monsters hey!

Hiking distance is contributing 100km more than the running which is to be expected as running absolutely canes my shins! But the important thing is the distance so if I can do bigger activities and have more rest days to stay above the red line, we're laughing... after some time on the foam roller of course 😃

Charity Fundraising

I’m aiming to raise as much as I can for the Alzheimer’s Society, which is dedicated to researching, supporting and caring for families affected by dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease.

This is a debilitating condition that slowly erodes the brain, affecting memory, awareness, personality and ability to communicate. Simply put, it’s horrible for both the patient and family and my Nana suffered from it in her final years so the motivation for me is as strong as it has been to do this challenge.

I have set up a Just Giving page here where you can donate and the money goes straight to the charity. I’ll also donate half the post payouts from whatever this report gets as well! Thank you to everyone who’s supported this and let’s get to that target of £2,020 together hey!

If you have Strava, feel free to encourage or banter with me on there – here’s a link to my profile!

Until next month’s report, take it easy and catch you soon!

Nicky

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Original article on my website

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For a very good cause, keep up the good work!

Lovely seeing the rolling green hills on that hike Nicky.

Thanks so much Joan for the generous tip/donation! I saw it come in and it motivated me to get a run in this evening, although it was raining the WHOLE time! Was pretty drenched by the end of it!

Think those hills may be a little muddier and brown after the deluge of rain know as British Summer!

Congratulations, Nicky! This is so near and dear to my heart. My dad had Alzheimer's and anything I do, I do for this cause.

As a family member, I can tell you it is devastating. Much luck and love for this wonderful endeavor.

!tip

Thanks so much @dswigle - still half way to go, legs are letting me know that this is a ridiculous challenge to try but mind over matter to help get through the next 1,000 km!

I appreciate all the support and I'm really sorry to hear Alzheimer's affected your family too, it's horrible and I saw the effects it was having on my mum when Nana was getting progressively worse. Mum's opened up a little more about what has happened but yeah, it's really devastating.

All the more motivation for me to get through this challenge and raise funds for the Alzheimer's Society. Let's do this 💪

The caretakers always take a hit with it, Nicky. @nickyhavey

I have heard so many stories that it would make your hair raise for me to recant them. I am sure you have your own. My dad was early in his life, too early for that senile stage. I have been working towards a cure ever since, or I should say, supporting the efforts.

Good luck! You have got this!

Each story is so heart breaking to hear, it gives me more motivation to fight through and try to raise as much as I can to support the research that goes in to a cure with the Alzheimer's Society.

Thanks for the well wishes!

Always a pleasure!! Go get 'em!

That's really cool. To be able to do something consistently for the entire year is praiseworthy I know I wouldn't be able to do it even for a month, let alone a year. 😄

Thanks a lot man! It's stupid, outrageous, painful... but I guess it wouldn't be a challenge otherwise right? Haha!

I think I'll be taking it easier once 1st January 2021 hits... my legs will be grateful 😂

That's some awesome tracking, love the spread sheets!

You look like you've taken the right approach, gradually building back up, now it's just a matter of keeping it level.

Good effort, I'm so going to do this next year! Looks like a great challenge!

Suddenly that Guinness advert springs into to my mind, you know - the one with the swimmer!

Hahaha thanks mate! Yeah the spreadsheets took as long to set up as the first few weeks of activities LOL!

But yeah, you're right, it's a balancing act now, I'd like to make some head room above the red line if possible and drive it down to below 5 km as a first target, 4.5km would be a great 2nd target, 4km... well, we're in dream land there!

If you want me to give you a copy of the Google spreadsheet that works this all out, let me know, it's probably way too complicated but has all the stats and formulas in there so you just need to do the run, type in the miles and away you go!

LOL, do you mean this advert? Jeez, that was nearly 20 years ago now 😮

Oh hey yeah, hit me with that spreadsheet,

Yes, that's the one - I was thinking if I take up this challenge next year, it's only going to get harder and harder every year!

I guess the extra +1K per year makes little difference, it'll be the ageing that will!

Haha, I'll see if I can make it "user friendly" with some instructions on it and "ever green"!

I'm definitely thinking this will be the last big challenge I do, legs have taken a pounding with the 5 marathons in my 20s and this year... why do I do this to myself, I can never turn down a challenge haha!

Actually I just thought - they know their target audience don't they - older men into their health, it just occurred to, me that surfer advert, similar 'fitness obsessed ageing men' main character.

Tick followed tock followed tick followed tock...

This is a meaningful goal to help others! Our salute to you!

!tip 0.2

Ah thanks a lot guys and girls! Appreciate the tip - it all helps towards the goal! Just got to look after the legs 😃

That is great progress for a good cause.

Thanks a lot man! Can't stop now I've made it this far! My legs may have something to say about this though haha!

!BEER

Haha thanks for the beer! Going to need plenty of that on 1st Jan 2021 to celebrate!


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