The Road Back · Post 10
Thinking Out Loud, by Moonlight
On the evening of 23 September we held the first ever “test event” for Thinking Out Loud Runners: a moonlit run from Bridport down to West Bay and back.
We did 4.42 miles at 13:17 a mile. That’s slow on purpose. Everyone ran together, nobody got left behind, and there was plenty of breath left for talking. That’s the whole idea of Thinking Out Loud. At the turnaround we stopped on the prom for a photo, with East Cliff glowing behind us and the moon rising over the sea. You couldn’t have planned a better backdrop.
So very chuffed to have some people open to this new idea.
Six weeks earlier I was on a ward, and other people were getting me out of the door. Then it was Lee back out, then Sarah. Now it’s a whole group, running by moonlight because a few of us decided to give it a go. Thank you, everyone. I hope to see you again.
That photo taught me something else, though, and I’m going to be honest about it. Look at me in the middle, in the TOL top. The belly’s still there. The fluid has gone, but what’s left is down to me.
That’s when it landed. If I’m ever going to make it round 350 miles in April 2028, the ciggies have to go and the booze has to come right down. The meds have done their bit. The rest of this road is my job.
The Road Back — Stats
Weight
93kg
Last weigh-in · 19 Sep
Lost so far
14kg
From 107kg start
Tonight’s run
4.42mi
13:17/mi · 58:46 · group pace
Longest run
7.75mi
With Andy · 6 Sep
Road Back day
42
Six weeks
To Paris
350+mi
April 2028
Next on the list
- Cigarettes — have to go
- Booze — right down
Tablets a day
13
8 of them steroids
Treatment — the daily rattle
- Prednisolone — 8 × 5mg a day (40mg) · 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)
The combination stays until everything heals. The steroids get weaned off, one tablet at a time, once the urine test sticks come back clear.
Every figure is real and dated. Early weight loss is fluid shifted with medication — the rest is earned on the road.
The meds got me here. Getting to Paris is on me.
— James