The halfway point

I’m always one for setting personal targets

It’s hard to believe that I’ve passed the halfway point of 40 marathons in 40 days.
Just 20 days ago I took my first step and now here I am, over 500 miles later, looking at more than 500 miles ahead. I’m not sure whether that feels like an uphill or downhill race!

I’ve been asked, ‘How do you do it’ a lot along the way, and I think as well as keeping my mind on the goal, the routine I have developed has helped.

I’m always one for setting personal targets, so here’s how I’m doing so far:

I get up at 2:30am; hit the road at 3am with just a banana for fuel.

My runs last around 5 hours, with the average being 5hours 12mins (4hrs 54mins has been my fastest, and 5hrs 35mins my slowest).

I often then drop into a business to give a motivational speech and raise awareness of The Prince’s Trust and why I’m doing this crazy challenge.

Once finished I head back home for a leg massage and an ice bath thanks to my lovely wife Shalina, who prepares me ‘lunch’ at around 9.15am.

I’m staying off carbs and alcohol so this is also turning out to be a bit of a detox for me. And at 6pm I have a snack before heading off to bed around 9pm ready for the next day’s challenge.I’m also using the Compex SP 8.0 to help the muscles recover – a good tip if you’re ever going to do something like this!

I’ve been measuring the impact on my body along the way and I’m heading towards some of my personal targets now.

Measurement Before Marathons At 20 Marathons Target at 40 Marathons:

Body Fat 28.7 27.1 25
BMI 25.9 23.3 20
Weight 91.1kg 86.4kg 79kg

There are turning out to be many similarities to achieving my marathon targets as there are to other aspects of life. What’s helping me get through this is maintaining a positive, focused expectation that I will make it to 40 marathons, not wondering if I can make it.

Anyone who knows me will know that I don’t particularly like running, it’s not necessarily my thing, but that just makes it all the more challenging and an even bigger goal for me.

But the most important thing is knowing that the money we’re raising together is going to help some young, disadvantaged people to set their own targets and reach their own goals – an opportunity they might not otherwise have without our support and the work of The Princes Trust and the DofE.

Please help me to raise £100K for young people across the UK who need our help. You can sponsor me here.

Please also follow, share and retweet my progress via Twitter and ask all your friends to sponsor and share too.