As you might have guessed from the other week's post, I am now starting to video my exploits.
Let me start by saying, I hate being in front of the camera. The saying goes that a camera adds 10 pounds... in widescreen it's 20! It exposes every bulge, extra chin, spot and blemish in glorious HD. When you are built like me, widescreen HD video is not your friend.
Despite my discomfort, I have taken the plunge and purchased a fantastic little action-camera. The main reason being is wanting to put together a video of what I am doing this year. The stuff people don't get to see so much. The high's, the lows, the wins and the challenges.
It's about some of the hard miles, the adjustments to eating (and not eating), the kit, the training, the injuries and some of my thought process. It's to compliment my blog (not replace it as this blog keeps me accountable and gives me a cathartic clarity in what I'm doing), but to also give a better feel of what the journey is like from starting out on something big, and where you end up as a result.
I'm visiting some stunning locations this year. Places that need to be shown as I run (walk and crawl) along them. Places my friends and family would love me to capture in real time.
It does leave me well out of my comfort zone once again. For one, I am not a narcissist. I prefer being behind a camera rather than in front of it. This is ironic as I love speaking on stage to an audience. I think I just need to get over my self-consciousness about how i look and sound on camera (as we all sound shit when we hear ourselves). I have been accused of having an ego, and perhaps there is some truth in that, however I truly am not someone who seeks the limelight.
That being said, the camera I settled upon was the Insta 360 Go2 (64Gb). This amazing little camera can record for an hour in 1440 2K HD. It weights merely 27 grams!!! and can clip on my cap, or attach to a magnetic pendant on my chest in a latter of a second or two. Also it charges while on the move in an airpod-esque carry case that not only gives you the best part of 3 hours record time (plenty for a day on a challenge) but allows you to continue to record while you do so! It cost me less than £300 and was so much cheaper than a go-pro, and a lot more versatile for my needs.
It's only had a couple of run outs so far but will certainly add in some video entries on here as I get more familiar with it, along with getting a bit quicker with basic editing over the coming weeks. Rest assured though, I'll put the challenge videos up as I tackle each one.
Hidden Benefits
One thing I have noticed is that on my runs, being conscious of filming the run and snippets of myself, I actually find the run a little easier. It takes my mind off some of the endless miles, and pain of being on your feet for hours at a time. It helps to have a different focus at times. What's great about this camera is that it's so easy to use and you don't need to focus very much at all on the filming. Another benefit is being able to see your running style, cadence, and form. Over long distance, shitty form would wreck my body being a heavy runner. Taking a look at it (especially later in the long runs when you're tired), helps make adjustments or spot any glaring issues we might not realise otherwise.
Forget the cinematic editing, or James Earl-Jones voiceover for a minute, but look at the running gait, stride length, cadence, etc to see how it's a useful tool to see ifyou are running like a fleet-footed gazelle, or bag of spanners thrown down some stairs.... Check out the video below for a quick example...
...Very beefy legs, aside... I think more well-fed-Gazelle, than spanners IMHO.
That gives a little idea of what I'm doing with the camera going forward. And yes... it was muddy that day!
Thanks for reading (and watching)...
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