Author: jakeharrismsci

Thurs 11th May – 5 miles

Had a mini weigh-in yesterday and found that I had lost mass on my week off down to 81.8kg. This inspired me to continue to increase my mileage as I rehabilitate so moved up to 5 miles today. The weather was hot (set out at about midday) and the route included a significant hill so the going was tough but didn’t feel like too much of a slog. Ended up averaging around 8:30 min/miles. Felt drained for rest of day.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe- Impressions

As a day-one Switch adopter, Breath of the Wild kept me interested for about 70 hours and I loved playing the console handheld, on-the-go. I was disappointed with Zelda’s lack of end-game content, however, and left wishing I had something else to play on my shiny new console. Enter MK8D.

Everything about Mario Kart radiates quality, craft and fun. The game looks stunning, and is incredibly easy to pick up and play. I quickly set to work attempting to get gold on all of the Grand Prix, which up to the Mirror Cup was challenging but not overwhelming. 200cc mode was whole other beast, and many of the cups took several (many) attempts. All of it was thoroughly enjoyable.

In comparison to my previous experiences with Mario Kart games, MK8D feels fairer. It is still frustrating to be blue-shell’d, but knowing there are ways to avoid it mitigates this considerably. Items can be used to repel the blue shell, and letting an opponent cruise into first place only to get nuked from above is extremely satisfying. Similar goes for red shells and other obstacles in the game. Ultimately it feels more like a game of skill.

This has been evident through the online play as well, in which I have seen my ranking slowly improve as I gained skill and finesse. Again, nothing seems unfair and the consistency of the top players within a tournament indicates that the role of luck is minimal. Furthermore on the online play, the netcode seems good once in-game with little to no lag and generally good performance. I have been kicked from pre-game lobbies more than a few times though.

My main criticism of MK8D is that after around 15 hours I have gold in all the cups (unlocking the Gold Mario character) and feel unsure what else there is to do. More gold equipment can be unlocked by getting 3 stars in all the cups, which sounds like much more of an ordeal than it is worth. I still need to investigate Time Trial mode which could reveal some more addictive challenges, but (while fun) I don’t feel compelled to go back to the online mode. Hopefully MK8D has something to hook me back in lest I return to my wanderings in the Switch release schedule wasteland.

Weds 10th May – 4 miles

I had only planned on running 3 today as part of my ramp up back into training after illness. However, the weather was beautiful and I felt inspired so decided to do 4 instead. Took it easy, doing around 8’30” min/mile pace but felt good and energised. Good stretching before and after to prevent injury after the week off.

Tuesday 9th May – First run after illness – 2 miles

Last week was grim, falling ill with a brutal man flu on Wednesday. Many years of being sick while training have taught me to just accept that I have to take some time off, so I did. It turned out to be a week which felt bad and drove me mad. Still not fully recovered but was keen to get out again so just went for 2 miles easy. Jogged around, not pushing, but it opened my airways and I felt better after. I’ll move up to 3 miles tomorrow.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – Impression

After seeing a Quick Look on everyone’s favourite videogame entertainment site GiantBomb, I knew PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (henceforth referred to affectionately as PUBG) was a game I would like very much. I struggled to justify the expense on an early access game, but succumbed one lonely evening. And I did not regret it.

The streams of PUBG fail to express the sheer intensity of the experience, especially when playing solo and especially when you’re new to the game. Every sound spawns terrified jamming of keys while trying to go prone. I am a particularly jumpy person and this can be embarrasing when dead team-mates (more on squad play later) are spectating my play and see my view leap up and down again when a gunshot rings out. Despite being in early access it’s clear that PUBG neatly walks the fine line between the thrill of looting, the fear of being shot, and the sadism of ending another player’s round in a bloody haze.

I was fortunate to notice friends also playing on Steam (not surprising since everyone is playing at the moment) and was quickly able to form a regular squad. The game takes on a slightly different tone when playing as a group of up to four, the abject fear of a lonely death replaced with considerations of strategy, positioning, resource management and not humiliating yourself in a more public way. The best way to describe squad play in PUBG is to say it is the best game that I have ever experienced at replicating children playing soldiers. You get to shout “Moving to cover!”, “Reloading!”, “Check my six!” and other such pseudo-militaristic jargon in a non-ironic way that actually means something in the game. It’s cool.

Frustrations are definitely present, however, particularly for those of us who are not very good at shooting. I find myself regularly able to get into the top 15 or 10 living players, only to be deftly outgunned by more skilled opponents. This is not unfair, but it’s vexing that the only practice I get at PUBG’s shooting is in a live fire situation. One cannot help but feel that you’re in the ever-closing circle with 12-hour-a-day streamers, but I’ve got a day job. Some kind of training or deathmatch mode would definitely be appreciated.

Despite this, I have definitely spent a lot of time thinking about PUBG recently and am keen to see its development in the coming months. More on this to follow, probably.

Tuesday 2nd May – 2.35 miles short run

2.35 mines, 17 mins 14 secs

Today did I targeted a short-ish run to recover from the long run the previous day which I was still feeling the effects of. I extended my usual 2 mile route to about 2 and a half miles and tried to go at a moderate pace throughout. This averaged out at about 7:30 min/mile splits which was fine. Supplemented with some pullups.

Monday 1st May – Long run (7 miles)

7 miles, 70mins 7 secs

Couldn’t do the Park Run on Saturday due to work all day and shamefully missed Sunday due to hangover and laziness (although I did walk 4 miles) but was back today after 2 days off. Decided to use the morning I had free thanks to the bank holiday to do my long run which is up to 7 miles this week. Lucy wanted to do 10k (~6 miles) so I ran the mile to her house to pick her up then did the 6 miles with her to make up my 7. The route was largely cross-country in the area north of Garforth. We kept a very leisurely pace, talking all the way, but that is good for long runs which I use to build endurance and not speed. The relaxed pace was reflected in the just sub 10min/mile splits and 70 min total time. Despite the speed my legs are really feeling it this afternoon.

Wednesday 26th April – 8x1min intervals

Debated whether I had the mental strength to do intervals today, but went for it anyway. Made sure to stretch beforehand then ran for about 5 minutes before getting into the interval routine. Started off strongly and managed to maintain concentration throughout. Paused watch a couple of times, once to get across a road, another time to descend a steep hill which I couldn’t have properly sprinted down. Bright sunshine but very cold, strong wind against at times.

Tuesday 25th April – Short Recovery Run (2 miles)

2 miles, 16 mins 38 secs

I like to do a shorter run the day after a long run so I took a quick two miles around the block. Tried to keep it brisk but still ended up doing sub 8 min miles. In my defence about a third of the route is a long slow ascent. Supplemented the run by warming up with pull-ups at home – a warm up followed by 3×3 of both chin-up and parallel bar for a total of 18 (which according to fitbit burned 91 calories)