John 00 Fleming - Passion - Continuous Mix 1

‘Success is measured by how high you set your bar’. The thought came to me whilst listening to the above track on a long walk home to Cardiff. The 1:16:39 minutes of the track gave me ample time for my thoughts to drift, and consider how even simple mundane tasks can become a case of success or failure, as we tackle life’s daily tasks.

I’m not suggesting that your evening commute should become a target for a Personal Best – I’d leave PB’s to races as there aren’t any medals for getting home from work one second quicker than before and if everything became a PB, then living under such pressure would be simply become unbearable. 

Even PB’s in Races can have negative connotations I believe. You see I always ask my clients what they predict when we are working towards their next ‘A’ race. For someone chasing a sub 3.30 marathon – having a PB of 3:45, a 3:35 would have been an undoubted success. Now chasing a sub 3:29.59 - a 3:30:00 is an annoying failure by 1 second – and there are plenty I know with a 3.00.00 and a 3:15:00. None of whom are truly thrilled about their time, I can tell you no matter how good it was to run quickly. I remember a 3:30:55 which really cheesed me off as I needed a sub 3:30 to qualify for the London-to-Brighton 55 mile Road Race.

Then again setting the bar so low that you ALWAYS achieve your goal, well that’s a slow decline to ‘Averageness’ in my book. I mean, why even bother? Winning every time must become boring – where’s the interest and the thrill in achieving something that becomes ordinary every time you do something?

Knowing where to set your bar? Well that’s the $64M Dollar question. If you work for a large corporation, your latest PDR will have no doubt pointed you in the right direction. If you are bit more of a one-man band - well your nearest and dearest will probably be your best critics. I'm great at setting folks 'Bars'...

Personally, I’ve always set my bar high. Very High – but not so high that things have been unachievable. Possibly a little safe but on the whole but pitched just about right for my desires. Achieving has always been the aim and I’d say I’ve had a good run for my money.

So, maybe you could consider where you pitch your aims and aspirations. Are they too outrageous – never to be achieved? Or are you just bobbing along, not rippling the water and in need of a new vision.

Listen to the track, you have just over an hour to consider how high your 'Bar' needs to be, and when you find out, please let me know. ☺

1025 Marathons, 248 ULTRAS, 9 Guinness World Records & 15 Marathon des Sables

More than this - Roxy Music - Day 5

SUNDAY - I thought this blog could build as the week unfolds. It’ll be interesting to see where it takes me. I know Bracknell and Bromsgrove are on my work itinerary with plenty of adventure – plus whatever else happens in between – that’s the beauty of my job, as it makes every day, different.

You see I’m always amazed when people say they ‘do the same old things’ yet talk about wanting more out of life’. I’m not sure I can get much more out of mine. Talk about getting ‘Value for Money’ eh. Anyway, it got me thinking and that’s why I chose ‘More than this’.

And it’s a long time since I’ve used a Roxy Music Track to highlight my thoughts but this 1982 single (reached #6 in the UK Charts) and has some great lyrics. As with all Roxy music, it’s perfectly recorded and mastered and sounds as fresh as it did when I first bought ‘Avalon’ all those years ago – only better now it’s been digitally remastered and not on scratchy vinyl.

I could feel at the time there was no way of knowing
Fallen leaves in the night who can say where they're blowing…

Thirty-six years on – more than a lifetime for some, I really had no way of knowing what lay ahead – Sure the leaves have fallen, re-grown and fallen many times over with a relentless frequency. Life has flashed by but I've never worried as I love the thought of not knowing what lies ahead. I mean, no-one truly knows where they are heading – that’s the beauty of this wonderful life we are all living out and what I find exciting.

The world's a different place to 1982 - our use of plastic has come and gone in that time. We've wrecked the planet  and now it's biting back... 

The power of nature – the wind and the ocean underlines just how fragile our world and our existence are. How we manage to get to any age considering the ‘Russian Roulette’ we play just living out life every day, amazes me. As a young boy, I remember being a regular at my local hospital’s A&E department with a whole spectrum of accident damage, mostly to my head (answers a lot). 

Might be worth thinking about your journey into work today… It's something I'm going to concentrate on this week too...

As free as the wind and hopefully learning
Why the sea on the tide has no way of turning…

MONDAY - Makes you wonder if we ever do learn, especially this Monday evening after a day’s hard labour with a pneumatic drill. You see us chaps, however old we get, still believe we’re eighteen. I know I’m probably fitter than I was back then and I’m certainly more healthy than I’ve ever been but as for being S-T-R-O-N-G, well I’m not. My arms are killing as I’m typing, mostly my forearms and shoulders as they are plainly just not used to prolonged hard work. 

Typing just doesn’t build endurance and strength - fact.

This got me thinking about all the people stuck in offices that must be simply wasting away - through a lack of conditioning. Your average builder, no matter how many sugars he might have in his tea and what his hip-to-waist-ratio is, has better conditioning than an office-based Triathlete. I’m not sure whether there’s enough hours in the day to reverse the corrosion of being desk-based and sedentary for a large proportion of the day.

My six hours in the car tomorrow won’t help my cause that much either. Good news though is that I clocked up 21,000 steps today mostly carrying a heavy drill and so no further training is required – I’m going to think on about putting more conditioning into my schedule. It’s gotta help…

We’ll see eh? And I’ll add more to my weeklong Blog tomorrow if I can raise my arms and have a great Tuesday – and think on about how S-T-R-O-N-G you really are…

More than this, there is nothing
More than this, tell me one thing…

TUESDAY - Tales of ULTRAdiet success and woe fill my inbox on a Tuesday morning and as usual there were plenty of ‘Losers’ – Rarely do I see a ‘Gainer’ but this week there were more ‘Stay-the-Samers’ than usual. Most came with a pretty limp excuse if I’m being honest, but after some research I might have found the ‘Common Denominator’ of their failure .

‘Meal-Times’

Yes, ‘Meal-Times’ – the modern day waistline Kryptonite. It’s simple, folk just don’t know whento eat. Grabbing food during a busy day leads to two breakfasts, three lunches and at least two suppers. Sprinkle in a couple of Starbucks and an odd bottle of wine and it’s ‘Diet Anarchy’ – keeping an eye on one’s food intake is simply impossible.

So I had an idea to rectify the problem - Try regulating your mealtimes to the following. Breakfast at 8.30am (post exercise) - Mid-morning Snack at 11am – Lunch at 1pm - Mid-Afternoon Snack at 4pm and Supper at 7pm and see how you get on – NEVER EATING THE NEXT MEAL BEFORE THE FIXED MEALTIME. And of course no picking allowed… 

It could be one of the greatest ‘Lifestyle Changes’ ever invented.

Post-War, Rationed Britain ate to their meal-times like a British Rail Timetable and even now the older generation that I know follow this eating pattern with great effect. It’s worth a try isn’t it? And if you are 69kgs and stuck in ‘The Diet Doldrums’ (you know who you are) it could be the push you need for 63kgs success.

I’ll let you know if this revelation makes anydifference to those that adapt to living on CMT (Coleman Meal Times). and I’ll soon know whether this is one of the better ideas I’ve had on the M4 – I mean what else do you do with six hours of FREETIME.

Let’s see what Wednesday brings, luckily based back in Cardiff…

It was fun for a while there was no way of knowing
Like dream in the night who can say where we're going…

Wednesday – TBH I’ve always been really proud about setting my Treadmill World Records and it was only in taking them down, that I noticed the date – 17-18^thOctober 1998. Twenty years’ ago today! A complete lifetime ago, and as I remember it was a weekend where everything went to plan and I beat the existing Guinness World Record by more than seven miles.

Setting a further four World Records during the same 24 hour period – well that was the icing on the cake. Not many people, let alone athletes have ever managed that.

Before I was ill, I thought there was always another World Record in me – but nine is enough for anyone and I’ll always have warm thoughts of knowing right from the start of the 24hrs that I was going to be the New 24hr Treadmill World Record Holder.

As if you are fit – you’re fit – and you just know…

No care in the world maybe I'm learning
Why the sea on the tide has no way of turning…

Thursday - I’ve been setting some new folk onto ULTRAdiet and it always sound really brutal when I’m going through the do’s and don’ts. So, rather than a ‘How-to-do-the-diet’ and ‘Why-you-should-do-the-diet’ Blog, I thought I’d share some feedback from another client battling his addiction to alcohol, rather than sugar. It has the same sentiment and he offers more than one way that I helped him beat his addiction but I’ve highlighted just one aspect of our work together.

‘I was desperate when I contacted Rory. I'd been drinking far too much for far too long. I really wanted to stop, but after numerous failed attempts knew I needed some extra help.  

Help, Rory certainly gave me and now almost two years later, I remain completely alcohol free. Reflecting on why this worked for me, and what Rory brought to this successful attempt had one main factor:

Accountability - This seemed brutal to begin with, but was absolutely the thing that kept me pushing on when things got tough. I knew that every evening, I had to report in to Rory on how things had gone. It just wasn’t worth the grief of having to explain that I had slipped up … and before I knew it I'd been alcohol free for a week, then a month, then three months etc’. 

For the record he’s still dry (and in this group) and sure it was tough. If it was easy, he wouldn’t have reached out for help but by sticking at it, one day at a time it soon built and once in the groove – he became the driver and became the person that didn’t want to break his winning streak.

He became a WINNER.

You can too – just stick with it ☺

Friday – At long last, or not really as the week’s just flown by and it’s been most rewarding all round. Today was a cracking day with a couple of highlights. This morning I coached the athlete with the most potential I’ve ever had. He literally destroyed the cooper test and was cracking out over 21kph at the end of the 12 minutes only to feel slightly cheesed off that he could have run further than the 3750m in 12 minutes. No names, as I’m keeping his name under wraps, but ‘Simply WOW!’

And ‘Simply WOW!’ too for Cat Savage as she’s now cracked off more than 4.17 stone since May 15^thand is firmly set on conquering Mountains, Deserts and whatever comes to mind next as she’s now living life to the full. I walked for a couple of hours with her today and her enthusiasm is infectious to say the least.

I admire them both for different reasons but then I admire anyone that makes a conscious lifestyle change. And the beauty is, everyone has the ability to be ‘More’ – I’ve witnessed it a lot this week and it’s been most refreshing and over-whelming to say the least

Amen

1025 Marathons, 248 ULTRAS, 9 Guinness World Records & 15 Marathon des Sables

Sign o' the Times - Prince

Sign o' the Times - Not a good advert...

According to an article in ‘The Times’ today, leading international experts are saying that ‘Britain is institutionally prejudiced against the obese’.

‘Weight discrimination is rife, and doctors need to be trained not to dismiss heavy patients, according to the World Obesity Federation. About half of obese people say they have felt judged because of their weight in social situations and when seeing a GP or going to hospital. A quarter of all people admitted that they would give a job to a thin candidate over an equally qualified obese applicant’.

Well I’m not sure that comes a big surprise. Because we ALL judge. It’s in our DNA to take stock of anyone we meet and size them up. Firstly, to see if they offer a threat – I do it myself, I seem to look at people and go through a facial-recognition programme to see if I recognise them. I’m not sure that’s unique to me but it’s something I often find myself doing – mostly when I’m walking in Cardiff City Centre. Having lived in Cardiff for 8 years I get lots of positive results. The strange thing is, when I’m a long way from home with a zero chance of meeting anyone ‘familiar’ I still do it – how weird is that – or is it just human nature.

Anyway, back to ‘The Times’ article and we know not all Obesity is self-induced and Obesity due to a medical condition is super-miserable. A prolonged course of high-dose Prednisolone will ruin the waistline of anyone unfortunately fortunate to be prescribed it. I gained 15kgs in a matter of weeks during my GBS recovery, which took ages to shift. A tight ‘Lifestyle and Exercise’ routine did the job and got me back to normal.

As it does for the general head of population. A normal and healthy BMI of 25 or less can be as little as 200 days away for anyone who puts their mind to changing their lifestyle - even for those as heavy as 130kgs and 1.83m tall having a BMI of 38.8 (classed as ‘Severely Obese’ btw – not FAT anymore).

I know this as many of my clients have achieved just that.

As a Lifestyle Coach, it’s really frustrating that I can’t help more people in the UK achieve a healthy, fulfilling and extended life at their ‘Natural Weight’. It’s a real no-brainer. The health benefits are plain and simple, yet folk would rather moan about being ‘discriminated’ against, rather than taking action. 

Elimination of the ‘Obese Discrimination Issue’ all together would be a far better use of time and energy IMO. Reversing ALL of the health issues below, should be a priority for anyone with a BMI of 25+ let alone 30, 40 or even more – my record encountered so far is 65! 

·      High blood pressure

·      High cholesterol

·      Type 2 diabetes

·      Heart disease

·      Stroke

·      Gallbladder disease

·      Osteoarthritis

·      Sleep Apnea

·      Cancer

·      Mental illness

Aren’t these reasons enough to lose weight?

Our ‘Buy Now – Pay Later’ attitude, sugar-loaded fast food and sedentary based lifestyle means the ‘Obesity’ issue in the UK will grow at the same rate as the nation’s waistlines.

As for changing how we perceive overweight people – I can’t see that changing as ‘Overweight = Lazy’. Day’s off through illness and special working conditions also frighten potential employers. My crusade is to help people firstly realise there’s help out there to change and then make a positive, prolonged drive to never feel discriminated against for being ‘Obese’ ever again.

1025 Marathons, 248 Ultras, 9 Guinness World Records & 15 Marathon des Sables

Time Stand Still - Rush

To catch my breath, before I start off again…

I could have chosen a couple of ‘Time’ songs for today’s blog - but this 1987 Rush Anthem has all the lyrics I require to illustrate my thoughts on ‘Complacency’. A wonderful word meaning ‘a feeling of calm satisfaction with one’s own abilities or situation that prevents one from trying harder’… A hot topic in my world - and one where there are many examples in business and in sport where people have been so confident in their continued success, that they take their foot off the gas and have been overtaken by their competitors, lost market share or have plainly started to lose instead of winning all the time. 

Here are three such stand outs for me…

M&S – A classic retail self-combustor (I could have chosen from many). By continuing with their tired high-street presence and not developing their on-line – it’s cost them dearly. At the beginning of January 2018, it was revealed that the retailer was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100. Amazon’s click and deliver will be the end of many such retailers as people buy more and more from their armchairs. No doubt there will be an ‘Amazon-Destroyer’ in the future, so watch this space, but right now, the vultures are already circling our high streets – The House of Fraser and Mike Astley? Who’d have thought that one a few years back?

Driven on without a moment to spend,

I’d like to pause, no matter what I pretend…

BMW – Whoosh, just when did AUDI overtake BMW? I reckon it was in the early 2000s. B’mers became very samey as I remember. One 3 Series looked very much like another and the smart money bought an AUDI. Cheaper, easier to maintain and far better-looking IMO it was a no-contest. Okay, they might have re-overtaken since but for a time you couldn’t beat an AUDI – especially with the ‘S’ and the superfast ‘RS’ beating the pants off a very tired M3 and M5. I believe BMW have been saved by the MINI with its ability to be totally ‘Personalised’. It’s transformed how cars are built, with ‘just in time’ working in overdrive making only cars that are desired and pre-ordered. Hopefully this means far less Pink, Lime Green and Yellow ones on the road and on the forecourt. The Personal Contract Purchase or ‘PCP’ will alter the market even more as folk will simply buy what they can afford to pay monthly rather than use up their cash or HP. People are buying more expensive cars with their PCP and maybe, the small cars days are numbered. The ‘Top Gear’ days of motoring certainly are as Clarkson et Al fell into the ‘Complacency-Trip’ big time.

Manchester United - Oh Jose - Now there’s a team that has to perform. Sitting back, expecting to win at least one major trophy a year was a prerequisite of the Fergie years and after a shaky start - Fergie delivered. Taking over from such a successful dynasty proved too much for David Moyles and will soon be too much for Jose too. It’s not his fault, the Owners have simply not invested in the right person. The players are just as good as any other Premier League Club - if not better. They just can’t play under Jose and are now losing out to their fellow Manchester club who have invested, played and paid their way to success.

Do they know? Do they care?

I wonder if M&S are really bothered if we shop there or not? Whether BMW are happy with their MINI revival and whether Man U will start winning and finish in the Top 6 to match the fans desire for success? Will Jose see the season out?

  

I wonder if there’s time to pause in such busy circumstances – rolling from one bad quarter, bad sales figures or poor results – it must be soul-destroying? Yet in each case they could easily be Top-Dogs of their Market Sector by 2020. We’ve all seen it, one bright spark comes in, brings in some fresh ideas and suddenly everything changes for the better. Apple for instance now have to consolidate on their incredible iPhone success but now we all have one. Keeping their market share and folk ‘Apple-Addicted’ will really take a lot of time and development during whilst their competitors will be desperately trying to invent the next chapter of keeping the world, that’s you and I, connected. 

Jose? Well like all football managers, is a few lost matches from a P45 and won’t be anywhere near Manchester in the New Year or even November at the team’s current form.

In all three cases, it’s like it doesn’t matter enough.

Like some pilgrim who learns to transcend,

Learns to live as if each step was the end…

Keeping the focus and thirst for success over an extended period of time and being able to combine it with the flexibility needed to manage the fluctuations that just creep up on you when you are least looking, is one of the key factors to prolonged success.

Freeze this moment a little bit longer,

Make each sensation a little bit stronger…

If only you could freeze the moment as nothing stays the same – not even for very long in real terms and fashions and trends come and go before you know it. In the world of marathons and ultra-marathons I’ve witnessed many races and events come and go- - be the go-to can’t get into event that fills in minutes on-line to be surpassed by it’s competitors or simply by choice. The Marathon des Sables needs to take stock as its in recession, still believing that there are 1200 adventure hungry folk out there desperate to pay £4000 to take part in the ‘World’s Toughest Footrace’ feels myopic to me especially when there are plenty more out there to choose from - it means that for the MdS, it’s going backwards.

Close my eyes, let my defences down, 

All those wounds, that I can’t get unwound…

Being oblivious to change is so unbelievably dangerous and when complacency sets in, it’s corrosion eats away at your very soul and before you know it – everything you ever had turns to dust.

Just one ‘off the record’ comment can create the moment where everything suddenly turns on its head. Using a football analogy ask Ron Atkinson or Andy Gray if they’re happy with what they said or Jamie Carragher what he did. Careers in tatters, in a matter of a very careless seconds.

I let my past go too fast, no time to pause

If I could slow it all down, like some captain, whose ship runs aground….

Slowing everything down? Well that’s tricky nowadays in our busy lives but a simple ‘Time-Out’ every day, just half-an-hour, can make all the difference and offers time for deep and considered thought. One where you can stake stock, plan and go onto make things happen.

Make each impression, a little bit stronger

Freeze this motion, a little bit longer…

I believe taking stock as you go along really helps and constant evaluation and realigning stops the ‘Complacency Corrosion’ taking hold. Altering course shouldn’t be an issue and avoiding pitfalls and finding quicker routes is imperative for continued success.

Summer’s going fast, nights growing colder

Children growing up, old friends growing older…

And there’s the rub – nothing stands still. Father time catches up with everything and everyone eventually. For my Granddad who would have been 100 years old today, it did forty years too soon. A life never fully lived and one that missed out on a world of pleasure I feel he would have enjoyed no end.

Time stand still, I’m not looking back…

Because life is only ever going to speed-up. Maybe it’s time we all took a complacency test and check how much we take anything and everything for granted and question our futures and ask ourselves what would happen ‘What if?’…

How ‘Complacent’ are you right now? What do you control? And how much do outside factors, control you?

1,025 Marathons, 248 ULTRAs, 9 Marathon des Sables & 15 Marathon des Sables

Are you a Do’er or a Don’ter?

Maybe 'Yes' next time?

It’s a question I asked myself on getting up at 3.30am on a Saturday Morning to catch the first train out of Cardiff to London to speak at this year’s Marathon des Sables EXPO. Stepping out into a dark and wet October morning, so early, one does question one’s sanity but then I’m a Do’er and not a Don’ter. 

A proper 100% Do’er I’d like to think too…

Whether you’d call it ‘Going the Extra Mile’, ‘Being the Eternal Optimist’ or plainly ‘Being far too Over-the-Top’ - it’s an attitude that’s delivered more than hindered my progress I believe.

I’m off to the Expo, to speak to next year’s intake of competitors’ preparing for the ‘Desert-Life-Adventure’ that’s only six months away and ticking! For them the prospect of surviving the Sahara will be a pretty daunting goal but for my race in 2017, it was a goal in a different sense as I used the race as my focus for my GBS recovery.

I thought I’d see where I was at Christmas 2016 with just four months training to go. Luckily, I wrote about it at the time and looking back, it wasn’t all a bed of roses…

Coming off the prednisolone had taken its toll and by Christmas 2016 and I was knackered. However, I’d got through the ‘Steroid-Detox’. The key point for me is that no doctor I met had experienced GBS for themselves and how it felt to be completely wiped out. So, I became my own expert – as I was the one who was ‘living’ with GBS and had to find a way out. I was the one breathing the condition and by then, all my medical ‘crutches’ and physical ‘crutches’ were gone – I was on my own.

Every year at Christmastime, we go to Jenny’s parents. They live in a picturesque part of Cardiff on the side of Caerphilly Mountain in a large house, which our kids love to run around in. Her father Mike is an amazing host and cooks a Christmas dinner to die for – it’s become a ‘Festive Tradition’. After, I always go for a run to try and burn some of it off – I did that year but found myself, running at over 20-minute miles, being overtaken by people out for post-Christmas Dinner Stroll themselves. 

My performance was just pitiful... 

Trying not to be too disheartened, for the next few days, I'd run to the bottom of the mountain, feel broken and then head back… The level of de-motivation some became extreme. I thought, I could walk faster than I was running. Why was I even bothering? I was running so slowly that I looked like I was running in slow-motion. People were looking at me, thinking, ‘What the hell is that guy doing?’ Back at the house, I just sat there, completely wiped out.

Jenny saw how bad it was and said, ‘You need to realise how far you've come. You were only in hospital three months ago’. It woke me up out of my nightmare. She was right. I had come a long way. My expectations were way too high, and it was distorting the truth in my own mind.

In my pursuit of being ready for the MDS and cracking the 1000 marathons mark, I’d lost the plot. I was thinking way too far ahead and not ‘in-the-now’. Not being able to run back up that hill was a reality check. It was life's way of telling me: this is going to be a long journey - you're a novice runner again. 

Accept it, and in fact celebrate the idea that you're even able to walk up a 271-metre high mountain today. When you put it into context like that, it all became a much healthier perspective. It became a growth mind-set instead of a defeatist one.

It had taken me some time to realise my new perspective and I had a great run the next day. How bloody typical was that?

That mountain became MY mountain…

I wanted to get that mountain conquered no matter how slowly it took it me because in a hundred days’ time I was going to run the MDS again. Running at 20-minute miles in the UK, I knew I’d be timed out at the MDS and that would spell ‘D I S A S T E R’. I'm a proud starter-finisher and to be pulled out of a race would be everything I'm against. I NEVER give in, I NEVER give up – and I don't get pulled out of races for being incompetent so that was playing on my mind.

I ran it every day…

On January 5^th, everything clicked into place, I felt in a moment like a runner again. It felt brilliant. From there on, the constant switching between feelings of feeling great and then feeling knackered became more the former and the bad days lessened.

The 10-minute miles returned, my parkrun time subbed 30 minutes. My progress quantum leaped, but still I wondered whether my body would be able to complete the MDS because of my fatigue but then I knew the race inside out and all I had to do was finish...

Well, the rest is history of course, well twice over since then but it’s really easy to see how fragile a situation is in hindsight and how easy it would have been at the time to stay at home rather than be a ‘Do’er’.

Okay, there are extreme circumstances and goals in my case but I’m sure there are occasions where you wished you’d said ‘Yes’ rather than ‘No’ – I believe it’s far better to regret having done something rather than not to have done it at all, so when you find yourself in a similar situation, why not give being a ‘Do-er’ a chance?

1,025 Marathons, 248 ULTRAs, 9 Marathon des Sables & 15 Marathon des Sables

There's no 'I' in Team...

I know I've recently blogged on the subject of ‘Teams’ and ‘Team-ship’, but I felt the subject-matter needed another visit. You see, in my experience of ULTRA-marathon and Marathon Running, (solitary pursuits you might believe), I realise that none of my achievements would have happened without the help of a great ‘Team’ working with me.

And if you’ve been in the Gym with me on a Fitness Assessment, you’ll know I use ‘Formula 1’ analogy to describe how best to get the most out of everything you have, from choice of trainer to mental strategy. In an 'F1 Team’ the man putting on the wheel-nut is just as important as the Driver – The 60-75 people needed to work as one is simply mind-boggling and one to really admire. How lucky Lewis Hamilton must be in having all of that support and accountability, helping him around the track to success.

Then again, just how many people are there in YOUR team? How many people does it take to make things happen for you, and what you are trying to achieve right now?

When you think about it, your family are bigtime support. Even the little ones, as well as parents and siblings so for me that’s ten plus Add some  close friends and a good helping of Facebook and there could be an easily a couple hundred more to add if you look at peak Facebook ‘Messages’ and ‘Likes’ surrounding Birthdays and events like the Marathon des Sables – A massive support network. I mean, where would we be without the internet for information gathering and connecting, planning and broadcasting. Google is an ULTRArunners best friend.

Physically, well there’s your GP, National Health Service, Local Hospital and for me, Dial-a-Doctor-Brother to get the ‘Express treatment’ I need to keep running and coaching.

I could go on adding to the list but by now you’re hopefully getting my point that although we believe we can operate as a ‘One-Man-Band’ – We don't and we can’t. Sure, be picky, piss a few people off along the way if they don’t play as hard, as well or for as long as we do - so pick your 'Team' wisely.

And what I've discovered?

Well, I’ve always thought that I’m not a ‘Team-Player’ as I’m not interested in playing ‘Team Sports’ but on further investigation I’m actually part of hundreds of teams and love every minute of being part of them, who'd have thought that eh? – Are you part of a ’Team’ and how’s your 'Team-ship' playing today?

It's worth a thought.

1,025 Marathons, 248 ULTRAs, 9 Marathon des Sables & 15 Marathon des Sables