The Running Man...

My Method to the Madness:


Sometimes I have a blood rush to the head...a moment of madness you could say, I seem to get some rather unusual ideas and start to set myself certain goals for me to achieve. Even though it does come with a bit of madness it's also something a lot of people wouldn't even think about trying, that's the good thing about me I don't just set normal goals and targets I always have to have a bit of fun and be creative and adventurous with them.

I'm not just going to say "I'll jog here or I'll jog there" to me I want a bit of excited whilst trying to achieve it and reason is because it motivates me and pushes me more and more. When I'm over the park I have a little motivational way of pushing myself to do more laps, it's the best way to reach a target. So what I do is say "right I want to run 36 laps around the park" and "I want to do it in 3 days" so what I do is make out I'm jogging for a bronze, silver and gold medal and each target of laps I do will soon get me to the medal.

So if I do 6 laps, that's a bronze, 8 laps is a silver, 12 laps is a gold, 16 laps is another bronze, 20 laps is another silver, 24 laps is another gold, 28 laps is another bronze, 30 laps is another silver and of course 36 laps is another gold.

I want to reach my 3rd gold in three days so what I do is this...I don't think about doing the 36 laps I just concentrate on each medal, I do the first 6 laps and then I say "COME ON" only 2 laps until silver and once I've reach silver I then say "Push yourself to gold" and then I end up do 2 laps over reaching 14 so far setting me up the next day half way to my next bronze. I can do all 36 laps in one day if I wanted to but I don't want to push myself too hard and kill myself for the next day so it's best to just split the laps up into three days, so then you haven't done too little and haven't done too at once.

That's the strategy I use to complete some of goals, stay fit and strengthen my body...My legs are one of the best parts I love, they're powerful, strong and has lots of muscle, I call them "Legs of Steel" and that's where this challenge came in...


Globetrotting to Coral:


I honestly don't know what made me do this because it seems like something any normal person wouldn't do, but I like to challenge myself sometimes and when I have spare time on my hands I tend to have a moment of madness. To do this I had to get there in record time so what I did was put on my jogging gear and headed out with at least a ten pound note zipped up in my back pocket. I know at least ten coral betting shops around the 5 mile area, probably more but I wasn't about to go that far.

I wanted to test out my speed and fitness by setting myself a big challenge and at the same time have a bit of fun, I like to push myself has far as possible and I do try and make things has hard and challenging for myself.

Right...I had ten horse's that I wanted to do written down on ten separate betting slips and placed them in my back pocket zipped up with my ten pound note. There was only one way this was going to go wrong and that's if I had to wait a while to get served, but luckily I pulled it off and only took a couple of seconds to get each bet on. The first race was starting at 13:30 at a seven race meeting and I left my house at 12:30 and jogged to the furthest Coral which is about a 40 minute walk but I got there in 20 minutes jogging.

I had to pass one Coral and come back to it so I could reach the furthest one first (the Coral I passed was on the way back anyway) It's at least a 10 minute walk between the two. I got in the first Coral at just before 13:00 and put on my bet for £1 using the £10 I had in my pocket and left the shop. I darted down to the Coral I passed and put my second bet on which will go off at 14:05 for another £1 stake, I got there very quick around 13:10 and left the shop.

In order for me to see that first race I had to race quickly to the next betting shop which was about a 15 minute jog (that's why I choose the furthest...first) I had to do some rapid running in order to see every race I put on. I just got there with 6 and a half minutes to spare before the race and even had time to put my 3rd race bet on, the 14:40. The next Coral was only 4 and a half minutes away if I jog, so I was crafty and said to myself I will watch that 13:30 (the first race) in the next betting shop even if I only just miss the horses going off, as long as I see the finish.

It so happened that I didn't miss the horses going off I watched my first race which finished in 5 minutes and put my next bet on straight away, This was the 15:20 race I was putting on. Now comes the hardest test, I left the betting shop at 13:37 and I had to put some pace in to get to the next Coral and see the 14:05 race. The next Coral I wanted to get to was about a 45 minute walk away and the 14:05 was going off in 17 minutes time, I don't know how I made it because I deliberately passed three Coral's to get to the furthest one (this was my strategy and my test) But I made it though...only just.

In the 5th Coral betting shop I watched the race which finished in 7 and a half minutes and then put on my next race, this was the 16:00 race. I deliberately wasted a couple of minutes in the shop because the next Coral betting shop was only a 5 minute walk around the corner, I left the shop at 14:20. I got in there at 14:23 because I lightly jogged (even had the chance to take my time) I placed the 16:40 on and left the shop at 14:26. The silliest part about it the very next Coral was only a couple of doors up (this one is slightly bigger than the other one) so it only took me a few seconds to jog there. I got in there placed the last race of that meeting on which was the 17:15 and left.

That one out of the three Coral's I passed was only 10 minutes away if I jog again (it was on the way back as well) and my next race was starting in 10 minutes time. I kept saying to myself "should I do it or stay in here and watch the next one" but I was so confident that I would make it...and of course I was right to be confident because I did get there in time with half a minute to go. I watch the 14:40 and then I had to put on my next race which was a 17:05 race at another meeting because I'd already done the horses for that 7 race meeting.

My next race I had to see was the 15:20 and I had to dash quickly to the next Coral shop, this was 40 minutes away walking and half of that time jogging so I did get there alright. I watched the 15:20, put on the 17:25 the last race at yet another different meeting and then headed off to the next Coral betting, which was of course the 10th and last one. Luckily enough that Coral was only 15 minutes away jogging and I had I still had over 20 minutes to get there.

I reached the last Coral, had time to put the last and 10th bet on which was the 17:40 race (last race at the meeting) and then I sat nicely in front of the large screen and watch the remainder of my races, I got to see the 16:00, 16:40, 17:15 at the 7 race card meeting I done and also watch 17:05 and 17:40 at one of the other meetings and the 17:25 which was the last race at the other meeting. After I saw the last race I came out of the betting shop and lightly jogged home.

It was just crazy what I did and in some ways I thought am I going to be able to place 10 bets in 10 different Coral betting shops and be able to see everyone of my races, but it seemed in the end I got there all so quick I still ended up having a bit of time to spare and still got to see all of my last races in that last shop. When I set myself a challenge I don't just about achieve it I end up smashing the task I set myself...Maybe next time I should test myself again and go a little more further out.

*@JasonJRogers*