The one thing you always look forward to on finishing a challenge is going home, its the best place to gather your thoughts and get back into a normal routine. Although I am a bit nervous about this trip as I have been up all night with sickness and dioreea not pleasant at all, the last meal we had at the farewell party was a curry at an irish bar, and that just tipped my body over the edge even more.
One thing i have learnt over these 99 days is that you have to give a little respect to each one of the challenges you are doing and with the right preparation and mental attitude anything is achievable. Yes your body is telling you its had enough but its the mental toughness that see's you through.
It has also taught me that life doesn't have to be this way and by that I mean the ease in which we all get stuck in our daily routines and if we all just stepped back and took a few minutes we could enrich our lives so much more by just doing something different every now and again.
Looking forward to coming home.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Monday, 8 November 2010
The Day After
Having slept reasonably well last night, my legs feel like they are not part of me its weird as I felt nothing like this on the mountains even after the Month Blanc descent once I'd spent the night in the oxygen chamber I felt fine, this time I suspect my legs will take a lot of time to recover.
So my 99 days of physical exursion are over and on many occasions I had felt like quitting particularly on Mont Blanc and the NY Marathon. When I look back though it wasn't just the 99 days it was the training we had to put in to stand a chance of pulling this challenge off, this started way back in March of this year and then really intensified in June the Month before our first departure, most of this training was enjoyable the only part I can truly say I Didn,t enjoy was October when the marathon training really kicked in, but I am glad I did it as without it I would have never have finished in under 5 hours. I am also aware of the personal sacrifice you have to dedicate to make such challenges achievable I am eternally grateful for my family's support during this past year, I know they are proud, and my dad well I miss him dearly but truly believe that when I needed him during some dark times he was watching over me.
A good friend sent me a congratulatory text simply stating I had achieved more this year than most people attempt in a lifetime. I guess I can relate to that in as much as in today modern world its very easy to settle back and fall into routine and forget about the things you could be doing to enrich your life.
For me now well rest is the order of the day, my body is well and truly Knackered at the moment and suspect it will take some time to recover.
Oh and one last point April, Simon and myself managed to get our names in the New York Times all finishes under 5 hours did. I finished in 30250th place out of 45000 but for me it wasn't a race for places just a race to finish.
So my 99 days of physical exursion are over and on many occasions I had felt like quitting particularly on Mont Blanc and the NY Marathon. When I look back though it wasn't just the 99 days it was the training we had to put in to stand a chance of pulling this challenge off, this started way back in March of this year and then really intensified in June the Month before our first departure, most of this training was enjoyable the only part I can truly say I Didn,t enjoy was October when the marathon training really kicked in, but I am glad I did it as without it I would have never have finished in under 5 hours. I am also aware of the personal sacrifice you have to dedicate to make such challenges achievable I am eternally grateful for my family's support during this past year, I know they are proud, and my dad well I miss him dearly but truly believe that when I needed him during some dark times he was watching over me.
A good friend sent me a congratulatory text simply stating I had achieved more this year than most people attempt in a lifetime. I guess I can relate to that in as much as in today modern world its very easy to settle back and fall into routine and forget about the things you could be doing to enrich your life.
For me now well rest is the order of the day, my body is well and truly Knackered at the moment and suspect it will take some time to recover.
Oh and one last point April, Simon and myself managed to get our names in the New York Times all finishes under 5 hours did. I finished in 30250th place out of 45000 but for me it wasn't a race for places just a race to finish.
Finished
For me the time wasn't important well as long as it was sub 5 hours that's all that matters and that was going to be a challenge with my torn hamstring, the guy from the New York Fire Department advised me it was possible I just needed to take small strides so that's what I did.
I managed to keep up with Simon and April to mile 8 but after that my leg was hurting so I dropped the pace. I also made a mistake with my gel packs in that I hadn't run on them previously, they ended up giving me stomach cramps which was very unpleasant.
At mile 12 I just wanted to pack in everything hurt and it was at this stage I started to worry I couldn,t complete this challenge, especially knowing I had more than half the race to do.
Still I kept plugging away and when I hit mile 18 I started believing again and as I said its the crowd that brings you home. I thought it was going to be lonely crossing the line on my own but everyone was congratulating each other afterall we had all gone through the same torture.
So 3 the challenges in 99 days are now complete what next, nothing is the answer my body is Knackered and I intend to spend quality time with my family.
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Marathon Day
Sunday 7th November 2010
Well the final day of the challenges is upon us and surprisingly this is the challenge I fear the most. Rachel thinks its just a run in the park if only it were that easy.
I slept reasonably well until 1.30am and we got an extra hour as the clocks went back but then it was dozing until 5 I must have peed 6 times my nerves are running away with me on this, I think this will be a lonely run.
Although everything you here about the crowds cheering you on should help. This is a typical example on how the usa works apparently their are sections on the run where the crowds are thin through the commercial districts so to combat this the marathon organisers get sponsored cheerleader to cheer people along, its not cricket but typically american.
I am now sitting on the new york fire department bus waiting to be transported to staten island.
I hope lady luck is with me today and my hamstring holds together, if not its going to be a long and painful day.
Both Simon and April seem very confident I hope I don't let the team down.
Its now 7am so been up for 2 hours already with another 3 hours 40mins to go to our official start time, its cold around 5 degrees currently but should walk up by midday.
I can now do no more other than control the nerves and be sensible, and maybe have a little prayer and ask for a little help from dad.
My plan is to think about Ethan he is doing his first tkd tournament and I can't imagine how he's feeling' especially with me not being their, good luck son I'm thinking of you.
Well the final day of the challenges is upon us and surprisingly this is the challenge I fear the most. Rachel thinks its just a run in the park if only it were that easy.
I slept reasonably well until 1.30am and we got an extra hour as the clocks went back but then it was dozing until 5 I must have peed 6 times my nerves are running away with me on this, I think this will be a lonely run.
Although everything you here about the crowds cheering you on should help. This is a typical example on how the usa works apparently their are sections on the run where the crowds are thin through the commercial districts so to combat this the marathon organisers get sponsored cheerleader to cheer people along, its not cricket but typically american.
I am now sitting on the new york fire department bus waiting to be transported to staten island.
I hope lady luck is with me today and my hamstring holds together, if not its going to be a long and painful day.
Both Simon and April seem very confident I hope I don't let the team down.
Its now 7am so been up for 2 hours already with another 3 hours 40mins to go to our official start time, its cold around 5 degrees currently but should walk up by midday.
I can now do no more other than control the nerves and be sensible, and maybe have a little prayer and ask for a little help from dad.
My plan is to think about Ethan he is doing his first tkd tournament and I can't imagine how he's feeling' especially with me not being their, good luck son I'm thinking of you.
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Registered
We walked across to the Ing NY running expo to get our official running numbers and microchip.
The expo was fairly busy and the reality is this is going to happen tomorrow morning my time about 3'40pm uk time.
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