The Road Back · Post 11
Through Hell Lane
Two big things have happened since the moonlit run, and one more starts today.
The test sticks came back clear. On 24 September the Albustix, the urine test sticks I’ve been checking at home, came back clear for the first time. Straight after that, following my consultant’s plan, the steroids started coming down: one 5mg tablet fewer each day, for as long as the sticks stay clear. Eight became seven, then six, then five, and today it’s four. Tomorrow it’ll be three. The daily rattle has gone from thirteen tablets to nine in a matter of days. You can almost hear it getting quieter.
And today I went long. 10.74 miles, my longest run since Day Zero, and not an easy one. I went out through Symondsbury and down Hell Lane, the deep sunken holloway in the photo above. Then on to Chideock, up Thorcombe Beacon, and back along the coast via Eype. That’s 1,298 feet of climbing in 1 hour 54 minutes.
Insane one. Walked those hills, dammit.
I did walk the steep bits, and I’m not ashamed of it. Strava still gave me a personal record on the Hell Lane descent to Chideock, and the run finished off the September 2,000m elevation challenge. Hell Lane is also going straight on the list of future Thinking Out Loud routes. It’s too good not to share.
Now for the honest bit. The scales say 91kg, which is 16kg down from Day Zero. That’s brilliant, but it’s not going to shift much more without a proper cut in the booze and a healthier diet. And after today’s hills I know my chest isn’t going to cope with 350 miles in 12 days. Not a chance.
So the ciggies have to go. It’ll be tricky, but I’m determined, and I’ll do it the same way I’ve done everything else on this road: slowly, slowly. After today’s crazy route, today is the day I stop. I might fall off the wagon every now and again, and if I do I’ll say so here. But from today I’m making a real effort.
The Road Back — Stats
Weight
91kg
Down from 93 on 19 Sep
Lost so far
16kg
From 107kg start
Longest run
10.74mi
New best · 1,298ft climb
Pace
10:37/mi
1:54:04 · 9:47 grade-adjusted
Smoke-free
Day 1
From 29 Sep 2026
Road Back day
48
Seven weeks
To Paris
350+mi
April 2028
On the list
- Cigarettes — stopping from today, 29 Sep 2026 · slowly, slowly
- Booze — a real cut back
- Diet — healthier, to shift the rest
Tablets a day
9
Down from 13 · 4 of them steroids
Treatment — the daily rattle
- Prednisolone — now 4 × 5mg a day (20mg), down from 8 · weaning one tablet fewer each day while the test sticks stay clear · steroid, repairing the immediate kidney issue
- Furosemide — now 1 × 40mg a day · to release the water · cut from 2 after four weeks, on my consultant’s advice
- Ramipril — 1 × 2.5mg · blood pressure
- Atorvastatin — 1 × 40mg · cholesterol
- Famotidine — 1 × 20mg · protects the stomach while on steroids
- Adcal-D3 — 1 × 750mg · calcium & vitamin D, protects the bones while on steroids
- Rituximab — IV infusions · the long-term repair · infusions complete (final one 4 Sep 2026)
Urine test sticks (Albustix) clear from 24 Sep 2026. Steroids now coming down one 5mg tablet a day, as long as the sticks stay clear.
Every figure is real and dated. Early weight loss is fluid shifted with medication — the rest is earned on the road.
Day one. Slowly, slowly.
— James