Day: 39
Time: 33 Minutes
Distance: 5.1 KM
Calories: 616

Day: 40
Time: 15 Minutes
Distance: 2 KM
Calories: 233

I feel like Apollo 13 about 5 minutes after my liquid Oxygen tank exploded. There I am floating in space and the goal of the moon seems so damn far away. But the more pressing issue of staying alive in the meantime suddenly jumps into my head!

Basically the last few days have been crap for two primary reasons. Firstly- I have been lecturing at University for 6 hours a day, which is tough to do and fricken tiring! I literally fell asleep two nights ago at 9:30 and woke up at 8:30 the next day. The other major problem is my body. Not my muscles- I am now running faster and getting tired much less. Instead it is superficial nonsense such as chafing all around my 'area' and it fricken hurts! Or I will be running and then slow for a walk for a few minutes only to find this causes my old blisters to hurt and then BAM- THEY KILL ME! 

So with those two problems combined- my distances SUCK!!! THEY SUCK SO BAD THEY WOULD WIN A SUCKING COMPETITION VERSES AN AUTOMATIC SUCKING MACHINE (Mmmmmm Simpsons ripoff)

Today- I was at the gym and running hard when suddenly the chafing flared. As I ran I tugged at my Skins and tried to ease the encroaching fire on my man bits. I decided to run off to the bathroom and take them off- only to realise that my running shorts are very thin and that maybe, just maybe, sweat marks would start appearing in areas which sweat marks should stay hidden. So self-conscious as hell I ran away after 2km.

The problem is I am stupidly obsessed with numbers. I have been running for 40 days and have run 274.3km. Thats the equivalent of me running from my house to the centre of Canberra! WOW! But I need to be on 328km( a difference of 53.7km). So the distance is slowly slipping away from me. That's what's upsetting me the most! It seems like such a big distance- it's almost what I run in a week!!!!

However, although the short term numbers are bad- the long term isn't. I need to run 2725.7km in 326 days. 8.36km a day or 9.7km a day if I run 6 days a week. The good thing is this- I currently(when not trying to put a fire out in my pants) run around 10km or more each run. Which means I should well and truly make it with time to spare. But at the moment- that seems so bloody long away!!! Just like the moon....if the dark side of the moon is chafing and raw!!!

ANY ADVICE ON CHAFING WOULD BE SWELL!!!! It appears the Skins I wear may be a cause of the problem....

Day: 26
Time: 80 Minutes
Distance: 10.1 KM
Calories: 1161

Today was a tough day. My Skins decided that I had run chafe free long enough and decided to come at me with a vengeance. It was like my junk was being molested with an angle-grinder. Every step was agony!

Today was also the first time I have tried to run whilst having a conversation. My mate Jess was in the gym and we had a run and a chat. I find it hard to do that- not because Jess isn’t awesome- but because it’s hard to zone out and just run. So todays run was slow and my thighs are red like a tomato….

So how am I in general?!?!! I’m tired. Both mentally and physically. One problem with doing this run at the gym is that generally nothing changes. The machines are in the same place each day, the same sort of music is playing on the tv and often I see the same faces nearby. In comparison, with road running you can run wherever the hell you like. Want to run to beach- DONE! Want to run to park- Done!

I am starting to realise it is the flaw in my plan. It’s now not the physical aspect of running. I can now happily run 10km each day and that will take me to the end. Instead it’s the mental journey which will be tough. In the next few months we obviously have Christmas, New Years Eve, the end of my PhD and a trip overseas for 3 weeks. So it starts becoming a mental game. I have to make sure that I go to the gym on days when one wouldn’t IE the day before or after Christmas. I also need to make sure that I start getting my KM up before I go away as 3 weeks is a long time to go without a run.

So the question is, how does one maintain the mental aggressiveness?!!? I’m thinking hardcore drugs and lots of caffeine. But honestly, looking at my little list of runs so far, I have run 22 times. This means I have approximately another 290 runs to go.

To tell you the truth… that number scares me!

Day: 8
Time: 63 Minutes
Distance:8.5 KM
Calories: 1006

I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman


Today, I became a woman. Not because of any surgery or hormone therapy. Because I manage to chafe my manbits out of existence! I kid, I kid!!!

Today- I rocked the socks off it. I tried something new today. I placed my towel over over the edge of the machine and blocked off the calories and distance run. Then I ran. I was running quicker today, getting up to 10km/h for about 10 minutes of the hour. I have to admit I was both happy and sad when I took the towel off and saw the result. 1000 calories is crazy awesome. But I am a tad annoyed with the distance. I was running around 8.5-10km an hour most of the time. I walked for about 12 minutes at around 6km or so and thought I might have had a slightly higher average than 8.4km/h. But oh well... 

But I shouldn't complain- I started this run just last Monday. I ran 7km and was dead tired at the end of it. In a week, I have jumped up 1.5km. Also, for the first time, I ran more than I need too. I need to run 8.2km a day, every day. So today, I ran 300m more than I needed. I am hoping by the end of the week I will be up to 9km or so. Because as the goals come tumbling down, I have to make new ones!

P.S- Big thanks to my friend Jesse for providing the first donation to charity. I encourage anyone who reads this to donate. Remember- all money (100% of it) goes to charity!

As I mentioned yesterday, my long run really took it out of me. All of last night it felt like my legs were weak and useless. I had a lovely dinner and thought that a solid 8 hours of sleep would fix me right up.

This morning I awoke to my legs feeling just as weak and pitiful. They felt like the little version of Steve Rogers in that new Captain America movie. Like pitiful, tiny, nerd legs. As I stepped onto the machine and started my customary 5 minute walk to warm up, I felt like hell. Despite the pain, I kicked up to running but where as yesterday I was cruising along, today I was in struggle town. I was literally about to push the button to stop at 50 minutes( 6km), but I pushed myself to run faster and get it up over 7.5km in a fraction over an hour. It sucked. I hated it. But I feel good about pushing myself.

My only problem, CHAFING! I normally wear those runners tights things. But two days ago and today I didn't. I paid for it. The inside of my legs is looks like they went a few rounds with a tiger...in heat... trying to protect its babies... after not eating for 2 months!

I need help- PLEASE COMMENT and give me some ideas on Chafing and how I can get rid of it. PLEASE.... I BEG OF YOU! The dark crevices in my nether region BEG YOU!

IMPORTANT: Remember if you like reading this or you want me to fail- why not donate to charity. I have two different ways you can donate now. Just click on the donate link above. Every cent goes to cancer research.

I finally want to shout out to Ole in Denmark. I talked about him a few days ago but he has decided to do his own run. He is going for 1500km in a year! Just want to say what a champ he is and to wish him the best of luck.