Snow Run

The first snowfall of winter started overnight last night and it was still lightly falling when I set off for my normal morning run today. Temperature was around freezing with a light westerly wind, so not too cold compared to some mornings. Great to get out and feel the snow on my shirtless body. Just a pity you cant run naked!

Winter arrived today

Its been a long time coming but today was the first time this winter that we had a really cold start to a day. For some of you -3C is not so cold, but for the south of the UK -3C is pretty chilly. The temeperature did not stop me from getting up early to run with my mates though - shirtless of course (the only one as usual). It was a great run, not too fast not too slow - 10km in around 55 minutes. Temp at finish -1C. so a complete sub-zero run, the first one of that sort for the season.

It was a clear sky, moon still out in the dawn light to be replaced by an orange sun a few minutes later. Great to see the frost glistening on the hedges, trees, fences and grass as the sun came ever higher in the sky along with the mist hanging low and burning off in the valleys.

I really like running in winter, the scenery is great. Even saw a deer running away from us across one of the fields. The hot coffee afterwards was also a great way to warm up and get some feeling back into my fingers!

Till next time........

Winter is Coming

As the weather is cooling down here in the UK now, I think it is about time to get back to the origins of my blog - my experiences of cold water. There has been a relatively dramatic drop in temperature in the UK over the past 2 weeks. From basking in >20C sunshine to the first hard frost of the winter last weekend (1C) has barely taken 10 days!

To give you all an update on the running. I have continued to run shirtless through the summer and will continue to do so through the winter this year if at all possible. I have run all my races this year shirtless (often being the only person in the race to do so) and although I have put in a personal best (PB)time in a 10km run early this season I have not been able to improve on my half marathon PB. I did improve upon my time for one of the half-marathons that I did the previous year by around 5 minutes, so my training can't all have been in vain. I still weigh around 67kg so not much fluctuation there either.

With the weather cooling down, so has the water temperature out of the tap too. I am starting to take cold showers again after a summer break (2 with only cold water this week). I find that in summer the water is tepid and not as enjoyable as either really cold or really hot. So I tend to mix it up a bit depending on my mood in the summer. I am looking forward to the water temperatures getting down into single digits again (i.e. below 10C/50F). Also planning to take some cold water baths again to get used to full immersion. I am still looking for a good place to swim outdoors in the winter. If I find a place I will take some pics and post them here.

That's all for now. Drop me a mail or leave a comment as to what you are goin to be doing this winter.

Vacation and more

Well, my short break in France was really good. I spent a lot of time in the sun. I had a great time running along the beach totally naked in the early morning and then relaxing naked in the sun building up a healthy tan for most of the rest of the day. Just being out close to the sea is so relaxing. I had a few good run's along the beach and on the paved tracks that run through the forests on the West coast of France.

Being able to shed all vestiges of clothing is a great way for me to relax, no encumbrances, just hanging free and easy and taking in the sun.

I went camping on my own, which was not as much fun as when travelling with other guys and enjoying a glass of wine together at the end of the day. I did not manage to get to stay at a naked campsite this time, but that may well be an option if I get away on my own again next year.

Now that summer is almost over here in the UK, I have started taking a few cold showers again. Starting early to get used to the cooler water temperatures is certainly refreshing, especially after a good morning run.

I am starting to play with pain control again. Focusing on my nipples as the pain centre. I found few clamps and clips that I play with, putting them on and pulling and twisting as well as keeping them on for varying amounts of time. Would surely like to find someone to play with to test each other out. if you are interested, drop me a line or leave a comment.

I am still running and keeping my weight down. I need to still drop about 3 or 4 more pounds to get the body fat% down. Will try cutting down on food intake for a while and see what happens. perhaps up my mileage this week a little too to around the 50km (30mile) mark

Till next time.....

July Update

Hey, I know it's been a while since my last post. No excuses from my side - just not felt I have much to report. Have been keeping up the running and having a few cold showers. Took part in a half marathon a few weekends ago and put in a time of just over 1h47m - a few seconds off my personal best so am happy with that.

Hoping to get a vacation in late July/early August. If you want to join me, let me know by return mail or in the comments section. It will be an active holiday (run/swim/cycle) as well as tons of time for nude tanning and whatever else happens to come along. Would be nice to have some company.

Am gonna try and stay as naked as possible while I am away - may even try and find a naturist campsite if I can to be nude 24x7.

Another update soon.

A lull in fitness - help!

Hey, sorry for the long delay but work has been hectic with lots of work travel recently.

Not been doing much. Running hit a lull over the past 4 weeks with only sporadic short runs inbetween the business sessions and no long runs with my friends at weekends either. Also have been some pretty hot places (35C+ ) so running wass almost impossible in such heat except for very short and slow ones of which I did hardly any.

I did manage some time out relaxing by a pool and swimming some laps so have a good all-over tan now (just need to keep it going all summer).

Been trying to get back into running here in the UK but my times are really crap and I dont feel good at all while running - maybe I just need a break for a while? A break may be difficult though as I have a 1/2 marathon coming up in mid-july so need to be back on form by then.

Any advice as to how to get back to pre-business trip fitness would be appreciated. drop me a comment.

New Personal Best for 10k - and other stuff!

It has been a very hectic and totally stressful time at work recently. The only thing keeping me sane has been my running, and I have not really been doing enough of that. And definitely not keeping this Blog updated enough.

Whilst the weather has been warming up it does not help me to run faster. So when the weather turned cooler today (8C) on the morning of a scheduled 10k race I was delighted. I also had some buddies running of similar ability and so we pushed it a little and I managed to get a new Personal Best time over the 10km distance of 46 and a half minutes. I did the race shirtless as usual - the only person in the race to do so as far as I am aware. No untoward comments though.

I have also been experimenting with some pain control too to develop some mental toughness to enable me to push myself harder and for longer. Some of this has been playing around with stinging nettles. These sting like crazy at first but then wear off to a dull ache and create inflamed and irritated skin. I overdid it a little one day and suffered for the following 2 or 3 days with inflammation and irritation. Not one to try again anytime soon, but would consider it as a very testing trial for an extended BDSM or master/slave session.

I am stil fascinated with needles too. I may start to play around with those some more in the summer. Last time I got together with another guy into that kind of thing he put 5 needles through each nipple.

I am now even considering getting my nipples pierced properly. Can't decide whether to go for rings or barbells. Any thoughts anyone? Which do you think I should get? Leave me a comment.

Pushing myself

My late resolution has started off quite well. I sort of pushed myself on my 10k run on Monday and put up my 5th fastest time for the route. It is, unfortunately some 4 minutes slower than what I want to do though so I have a way to go. The problem is that I could have done much better cos I walked the really steep part of the route rather than running it as I have in the past.

Going back to some other toughness stuff I have been playing around with recently - I had a friend of mine give my nipples a real working over for more than an hour. Tweaking, pushing, pulling, twisting, putting some clamps and stuff on them to test my toughness/pain endurance. It worked out really well - quite a rush actually. Any other toughness stuff that any of you think I should try? Comment and let me know.

Not said much about my weight recently. It started to creep up past the 67kg mark - so I need to exercise more and eat less to lose 1 to 2 Kg and get back to what i consider my ideal weight. I dont obsess over my weight but i do like to keep it in a close range so it does not get out of hand.

A late resolution

I have been noticing that the times for my normal runs have been getting back to what they were about 12 months ago. I think the reason for this is that I have been without a running buddy for a long time now and the people that I do run with at the weekend are slower than me and I am running to their pace rather than pushing myself to run faster or to do things differently to improve my times.

So here's to a new resolution: to improve my run times to less than 35 minutes for my 7.1km normal run and to beat 50 minutes for my 10k run before July. I will keep you updated as to my progress.

Also my online buddy Karel from Estonia that is into cold water swimming has inspired me to get out on those cold winter mornings and start to swim in a river too. Maybe I need to find that special place close by for me to do this. Problem is the closest place is quite a few miles away and that would mean I need to get into the car to go there. Perhaps that is the only way to do it.

Not much to report

Its been a long month - work seems to be taking over my life at the moment. A business trip of 10 days meant I only got to run once. and my other runs have been few and far between too. I saw some awesome places for cold water swimming but never got a chance to get out to try them because I was with my boss the whole time I was away.

Without regular runs and all the business entertaining I have also put on some weight (1.5Kg)which I need to take some serious action on over the next few days to correct (eat less, exercise more). With the weather warming up I get back to being a dripping, sweaty mess after a run (and the temperature is still <15C). Its on hot days that I wish it was below zero for that extra freshness that only the cold weather brings.

Here's hoping that the coming weeks will be better. Till next time.

2 Weeks of posts in one

Too much has happened on the personal front over the past two weeks to fill in the detail here. Business travel also played havoc too. However, I have been able to keep up my running with a 5 runs totaling 44km. Temperatures have been a lot warmer too (mostly above 5C) so I have been running without gloves. I have also ben trying to push the speed up a bit over the shorter distances I have been running. I hope to get consistently close to 5 minutes per kilometer speed over the next few weeks so that I am in shape for a short 8km race in early May.

I plan to enter some 10km races over the next 2 months - just sizing up which are close to me and selecting which ones I should do.

Any comments or advice on how to get faster would be appreciated as I seem to be stuck in a bit of a rut at the moment.

I gave my normal Monday run a miss today as I have been feeling ill over the weekend with a sore throat, runny nose and general aches and pains (not running related). So I hope that situation improves during the week.

Pushing the boundaries

Yesterday I went for a run with a friend. This is nothing unusual as I run with friends all the time. Except that this friend is more than 20 year younger and in training for a Marathon in a few months' time. The distance we set was more than either of us had ever run in a single training session before and really pushed us both to a new level. We covered just over 30km (19miles) in under 3 hours with only a short stop to refuel and drink some water at around the halfway mark.

It was cold at the start (-2C) but there was very little wind and the sky was clearing with a high possibility of sunshine warming things up later. Although I had thought about running with a shirt on seeing as I knew we would be on the road for a long time I asked my mate what he thought and he said "what are you most comfortable with?". I replied that I prefer to run without a shirt and at that point the decision was made: no shirt.

The temperature when we finished was around +1C or +2C so I survived a full 3 hours in what many would say are very cold conditions. There were a few comments passed by other walkers and runners out on the route like the normal "Are you mad?"; "Don't you feel cold?"; and the best of the day from a passing runner kitted out wearing leggings, shorts, 2 shirts, gloves and a hat: "I thought I was crazy!"

I enjoyed the run and the company, we chatted along the way and encouraged each other a lot. I only walked on one very steep section of trail for less than 200m. It was a tough run but enjoyable and yes, I can still walk today!

As its the end of the month I think an update on a few other things is in order too. Total running distance covered in January: 169km (105 miles). Weight at the end of January 66.2kg.

I guess all of this made me think that:
1. Running a full marathon is now a real possibility and within my grasp
2. I should never even think about wearing a shirt when running
3. You only learn about what is possible when you push yourself to new limits and set goals (i.e. running distance; shorter time for a race; cold endurance temperature and/or time)
4. If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be able to do any of this I would have told you that you were crazy

What things have you been able to discover about yourself when you push your boundaries? I would be interested to hear about them. Post a comment below or send me an e-mail.

Too Much Travel

2011 has started with a bit of a travel bonanza for me. Far too may business trips and not enough time to do what I want to do. Which at the moment is to get a run in as often as possible and to try to have a few cold water baths and showers whenever I can.

I have been able to run twice this week while away (19km) and three times the week before (24km) - not nearly enough to keep my weight down with all of the business lunches and dinners though. I did take a 10 minute cold bath - water not nearly cold enough though (I did not have a thermometer to measure it but I reckon it was around 9C). Maybe I need to start looking at how to make an ice-bath for my garden again.

Another longer run is planned for tomorrow - hope the weather is gonna be cold!

New year musings

Well, apart from overeating over the festive period and gaining almost 1Kg I have been doing some running too - 5 runs in the last few days actually covering over 50km in total. One of the runs is very scenic with the route going from one side of a valley to the other and back with some hill work thrown in. Temperatures at the start have been fluctuating between -2C and +5C.

Today was a warmish +2C start, but there was a freshening wind which cooled things down quite a bit. I did something I have not done for a while and that was to take my temperature when I got back from my run. Well, the one thermometer starts at 35C and I didn't event get onto the scale and the electronic one just shows "L" meaning that my temperature is too low. I was not feeling cold and was completely happy and mentally fit, but for some that would be a mild case of hypothermia. I just wonder how low my body temperature has actually got on some of those colder mornings? My body temp was back to a much more normal 36.2C within a short period of time once I got home and inside again

I am also starting to think about what running races I can do this year. I am keen to do a longer one (>10Km) or one where there is a lot of mud/water around - particularly in the next 1-2 months while it is still cold. If you have any suggestions please let me know. I am prepared to travel up to 50 miles from the west of London in the UK to reach a good race.

All the best for 2011 to all who read this too.