Enter Sandman - Metallica

Marathon des Sables 2017

The Marathon des Sables (The World’s Toughest Footrace) is one of life’s most exciting personal adventures and provides a perfect opportunity to find out just what makes you tick. During the 250kms (156 miles) of endless desert, sand dunes, mountains and dried-up-river beds, the 50+ degree temperatures will literally boil your brain. I’m really looking forward to the race as the desert makes me feel ALIVE! I discovered the race whilst trying to run 100 marathons in 1999. It was part of my journey of recovery from being a very unfit alcoholic, nicotine addict, and I saw the race as the ultimate life-laundry opportunity.

The whole experience changed my horizon on how I should structure my life. And during the seven days of the race, like most competitors I was broken both mentally and physically. The deconstruction and reconstruction of one’s character is profound and everyone who does the race comes back appreciating life, relationships and home comforts far more than when they went. I certainly did.

 

The race, well it’s tough. It hurts your feet, your legs, your back, in fact everything – however, crossing the finish line each day is one of life’s biggest rushes. I also enjoy the solitude that the race brings and it’s not like you can get lost following a long line of people stringing ahead of you like ants. It’s a marvellous time for reflection and the only consideration each day is to get to the finish, rest, eat and drink litres of water to get re-hydrated for the next day’s run. Out in the sand dunes, the going can be extremely slow as you climb the loose sand that immediately collapses under your feet but eventually you get to the finishing line.

 

At the end of each stage there is a small cup of sweet Moroccan tea to quench your thirst a little before walking back to an open sided Berber tent to share your tales of the day with seven other competitors who have just endured the same experience. The tent is your desert haven, your comrades become seriously special people that help bolster your spirit. Back in 1999 there were less than 600 competitors. In 2023 there will be a colossal 1200 due people coming out of lockdown, who like me back in ’99 are looking for an adventure. 

 

And after the race, everyone that’s taken part will have a special place in their heart for their days at the MdS. I’ve completed many challenges, set world records and run the length of the Europe but I’m looking to recharge my batteries at my 16th Marathon des Sables next year, why - because I LOVE it – and when you’ve experienced the MDS, you’ll love it too.

1,149 Marathons - 270 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 15 Marathon des Sables

Keep Talking – Pink Floyd

Lyric: ‘I feel like I'm drowning’…

In the village where I grew up, a boy aged 10 drowned on this day back in 1969. It’s a sad day that I’ll never forget. A day that was etched into my childhood memories even though I was only seven years old at the time. Like most people looking back at their childhood, I haven’t many memories of being seven, the moon landing, first flight of Concorde and the Investiture of the Prince of Wales perhaps, but these were international events whereas this was local and very real. 

I could feel the raw emotion hearing my parents speaking to each other about the boy being swept away in the flooded river. A complete tragedy at any time of the year but being this close to Christmas must have been harrowing for his poor parents for that Christmas and every Christmas future.

 

The 23^rd December also brings me thoughts of his life, a life never lived. He would have been 63 now. He could have been a success, failure, husband, father, whatever. We’ll never know. He did have some life but limited to a very short period of 10 years or so. A mere blink of an eye when you consider it’s already ten years since the London Olympics and they seem like only yesterday. Tempus Fugit...

 

And yes, I do bang on about making the most of one’s opportunity of this thing we call life. And especially on this day every year I think about how I lucky I am to have enjoyed sixty plus, full years of life and want to enjoy as many more as possible. I’d hate to think I’ve had a missed out on a lifetime of memories.

Nadolig Llawen

1,149 Marathons - 270 Ultras - 15 MDS - 9 GWR - 1 Life

Turning Japanese – The Vapors

'It wouldn't look too good imho'...

'I want a doctor to take your picture, so I can look at you from inside as well' - Fenton

Yes, it's nearly 29 years since I stubbed out my last B&H, and I won't wax on about the health benefits, only that I'm bloody ecstatic that I stopped smoking, as I have certainly made the most of quitting the 'Evil Weed' ever since. Back then, I would never had imagined that I would have run so many miles and had so many adventures within a new life 'Smoke free'.

In 1993, there was a simple choice to 'Smoke' or 'Not to Smoke'. A simple black and white choice with no half measures. Cut to 2022 and there‘s a new villain in town to rob you of your cash and potentially of your health - VAPING. As yet, the jury is out on the long-term risks, but I've a feeling there will be many health implications given time. Sure, the approx £3500-a-year saving from vaping instead of smoking 20 cigarettes-a-day provides a huge incentive to change ones smoking habits to vaping, however as vaping is seen as less of a health issue, the jump to smoking abstinence is seen by many as a 'good enough' attempt at a positive lifestyle change.

 

As a lifestyle coach, I find vaping bloody annoying and see it as manslaughter v murder in fitness terms. It’s like a spoonful of artificial sweetener on your porridge that won’t make you fat but is full of carcinogens that will kill you in the long run - again something I find bemusing. Vaping is simply something that's not needed, with the only winners being the businesses profiteering from the £1.325 billion vaping generates in the UK each year. 

 

Now, if you're a vaper or a smoker and you are reading this... January 1st is looming and it's a good day to start the rest of your life 'nicotine free'. Free of this nonsense. Nicotine addiction nonsense.

 

You see it’s the nicotine that really keeps you smoking. Nicotine reaches the brain within seconds and increases the release of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, which help regulate mood and behaviour or so the science says. Dopamine, one of these neurotransmitters, is released in the centre of the brain, causing feelings of pleasure and improving the mood. And the more you smoke, the more nicotine you need to feel good. Nicotine quickly becomes part of your daily routine and intertwined with your habits and feelings. It's a ridiculous roundabout...

 

Smoking triggers include:- drinking coffee, taking breaks from work, talking on the phone, drinking alcohol, driving and spending time with friends. On the flip side I found running, and exercise provide a natural form of smoking cessation - try running 10km pretty hard and then think about smoking or vaping...it's more like puking!

 

Becoming more aware of your smoking triggers means that you can make plans to give up Vaping for good. It isn’t rocket science and living in ‘Vaping-Limbo-Land’ will never get you to becoming totally smoke-free. And becoming smoke-free is a great way to start 2023 where you have nothing to lose and everything to gain AND you’ll be one less person on my list each week, that I need to ask to stop vaping.

1,148 Marathons - 270 Ultras - 15 GWR - 9 MDS - 10,574 Days Smoke-Free

Zeros and Ones - Jesus Jones

Lyric:- 'There's more to this than anything that you or I can see, The world is mine the world is yours and here's the cause' - Edwards

Song Choice:- I think Mike Edwards, summed up our world perfectly in two simple sentences here, don't you? I like the fact that the World is too big to comprehend. I love it that actually we have an amazing chance to see it and exploit it for our own benefit, and then make our mark on it. We are all in control of our own destiny.

 

You see it all comes down to choices. Simple Yes or No – Zero or One decisions that we make a million times a day about everything and anything we ‘choose’ to do. Yes ‘choose’. We are victims of our own decisions. Some good some not so good. When it comes to looking after ourselves, I wonder what decisions you’ll be making today that will last or affect your lifetime. Sure, the odd biscuit, donut, cigarette, drunken night out won’t kill you but do it every week, every day or every time you fell pissed off, well it’s bad news – not today but for the future version of yourself.

 

Although it’s not news is it?  As we head towards the Christmas Break, with the best will in the world, it will be hard to resist the office party and resist the mince pies at the family yuletide gathering. However it is possible to be alcohol-free, go for a run or even eat salad without dressing. All you have  to do is make the right decision.  

 

And if you only gave it a chance like Mike says, you'd be a winner. Listen here.

1,148 Marathons - 270 Ultras - 15 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records

Fight from the Inside - Queen

‘Ho-Ho-Ho – Merry Christmas Everyone’ or should I say, ‘My-oh-my – How the fuck am I going to survive Christmas’…

Yes, it’s the toughest time of the year for anyone cleaning up their lifestyle, and it can become a complete disaster if you are not careful as those around you do their best to undermine your inner resolve. They don’t necessarily do it on purpose either, they do it sometimes to enables themselves to over-indulge in the festive calorie bonanza. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m just the same as anyone else and enjoy a good Christmas Lunch – you’ll find me digging into turkey surrounded as many roast potatoes that my plate swimming in gravy will take, with the one ceremonial slice of carrot atop a sea of peas. I can taste it now - Yum yum…

 

The thing is, it’s just one meal and I’ll have a nice brew on hand to wash it down with rather that a beer, bottle of wine, champagne, port, brandy etc. because as you know booze ain’t my thing. It will probably be my only meal of the day and I will run on Christmas morning as it feels good to do something healthy on a day noted for being so unhealthy and self-indulgent.

 

People use being in company as a handy excuse to go wild with their diet and feel obligated to go with the flow. What I’ve discovered over the years with any such social occasion is that people worry more about what they are consuming to be too concerned with what you are. I’ve spoken to many this week that are quoting office parties, family gatherings etc. as obstacles to their success. However, it’s really easy to come up with a million excuses as to why one is not drinking or eating whatever. Try my favourite, ‘I have a problem with alcohol’ it normally quashes the fuss or ‘I’m on a diet – and I don’t want to be fat anymore’.

 

If you tell people, ‘WHY’ you are living the way you are and not doing some of your previous behavioural traits then that should be good enough to stop even the weakest of weak-willed people not to partake of the obligatory mince-pie or glass of mulled wine. The Christmas period is actually a time where you can strengthen your defence against these energy-vampires that simply don’t understand what you are trying to achieve and get you through the New Year into Dry January.

 

As I go into year twenty-nine, nearly half of my life now dry, I’m ever more convinced that being alcohol, smoke and fat free will deliver a much longer and happier life. You see I never feel like I’m missing out, I’m not missing anything. I’ve gained a whole new world of positive adventure that doesn’t revolve around thinking about the next meal.

 

Nadolig Llawen my friends and 2023 beckons – enjoy the taste of success, it lasts a lot longer than a glass of wine or a mince pie.

1,147 Marathons - 270 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 15 Marathon des Sables

December Decision...

December is the Decider…

Personally, I’m not a big December fan. The shortened daylight days that don’t ever get light seem to put my ‘SAD’ into a right tailspin. However, December never fails to deliver – you see it delivers hope for a better year ahead and the Christmas break provides a well-earned break from the grindstone to reconsider the path one is taking in life.

 

I could wax on about New Year’s Resolutions, how mine saved my life blah, blah, blah but it really did and all I’d like to say is that I wish I’d taken that decision a whole lot sooner. I know it sounds a bit kinda fluffy but back in 1993/4 I felt I could use the New Year as a springboard to change my lifestyle by having different rules. The rules being to do ‘Less’ of or to ‘Stop’ a behavioural trait. Where folk go wrong with NYR is to say ‘Right I’m going to start going to the gym, learn a new hobby, practise mindfulness etc’ – which by the 5^th of January are just a dot in the New Year’s rear-view-mirror.

 

Now why my NYR was so successful, if you can measure success in such a way, was because it’s so easy NOT to do something. Easy being the action following a period of a tough decision followed by addiction withdrawal. I will admit that I had a go at a mid-year resolution in 1992 where I didn’t drink, smoke or eat unhealthy food successfully for six months but my mindset didn’t have the value perhaps that my NYR gave my ‘December Decision’ as I’ll now describe it.

 

You see my NYR of 1994 was really made in December ‘93 with the last cigarette being ceremoniously stubbed out on Boxing Day – a day when I took control as I was away from the workplace, where smoking went with the territory.  In my mind I thought I could be nine days into being nicotine-free before taking the alcohol-free lifestyle plunge that would be so alien to those that I’d surrounded myself with when I went back to work.

 

I knew that sticking out was going to be a problem but with a few days under my belt and already feeling a lot better both physically and mentally, I thought it would give me the best opportunity of kicking out a whole lot of necrotic kryptonite that was slowly eating away at my world. Twenty-nine years on and my ‘December Decision’ has brought you to reading this blog and if you are considering a similar journey in 2023 then please start making some plans as part of your ‘December Decision’ and hope it delivers you a similar level of satisfaction as mine has for me.

1,146 Marathons, 270 ULTRA-marathons, 9 Guinness World Records, 15 Marathon des Sables, 28 Years' Alcohol Free, 28 Years' Running Marathons