The Thirty Ninth of my 40 donations goes to Level Up. Level Up is a Feminist organisation based in the UK whose mission is to build a community of people who can work together to interrupt all forms of gender injustice.
Level Up’s vision is a world where people of all genders are loved and liberated from the systems of oppression that lead to bodily and systemic violence.
Level Up want a membership from all walks of life. Our race, class, sexuality, gender identity and ability affect our experiences of sexism, and Level Up run campaigns that take that into account.
Level Up want feminism to be easy to understand: Plenty of people care about gender equality who haven’t read lots of feminist theory or been involved in activism. Level Up is the place for them.
Level Up want to have fun: Living with sexism can be tiring. Level Up want to make campaigning as fun and enjoyable as possible and Level Up try not to take themselves too seriously all the time.
This 70.3 had the potential to be my best race ever but probably not for the reasons you might first suspect.
A 70.3 is the total distance covered in miles in this triathlon event, made up of a 1.2 mile / 1.9km swim, a 56 mile / 90km cycle, followed by a 13.1 mile / 21.3km run. My Personal Best (PB) to complete an event of this distance is 5 hours 7 minutes and I figured that based on improving my run alone (which I was trying to do as part of 40s 4 40) I should be able to knock 20 minutes off, meaning that a 4 hour 40-something PB was ‘within reach’.
They often say it’s the journey that counts not the destination and ‘the journey’ is definitely one thing I appreciate about longer distance events.
This particular journey began many months ago when completed Ironman Dubai and got my first result in the February of 2019. I then picked up an Ironman Kazakhstan flyer at Ironman 70.3 Turkey in November 2019 and stuck it to my fridge. Of course such a fast and flat course would be perfect for achieving a new PB of 4 hours 40-something minutes and I was curious about a country I knew very little about, so I signed up for the next race in 2020!
I trained hard throughout 2019 and my times came down accordingly. Thanks to these three results in 2019 I came in the top 5% of all athletes in my age group and was awarded ‘All World Athlete’ (AWA) status for the following year (2020) as per the below:
Top 5% of my Age Group!
AWA status is awarded to Athletes on a points based system where your three best results in a race year count toward your final score in that same year. You are then ranked worldwide against this score and I came in the top 5% of all athletes in my age group. Those who are within the top 1% get Gold status, those within the top 5% are awarded Silver status and those in the top 10% get Bronze status. Being AWA status gets you certain privileges like priority entry to new races, fast lane check in at events and special swim caps, not to mention the kudos 😉
You can find more information via the following links:
Things were looking good until the Covid-19 pandemic started to really affect all of us. I hadn’t even considered how the events industry would be so badly affected. An early warning sign of how much things would be impacted was when the All World Athlete Welcome Packs were delayed.
Delayed
The race in Kazakhstan was supposed to take place on the 23rd August 2020 but as our communities became more heavily impacted by COVID, halthcare was overloaded and travel practically nonexistent so the race was deferred by a whole 12 months to 15th August 2021.
Cancellation & deferral offer
Confirmation of my deferral to August 2021
In some ways this was fortuitous as whilst training hard in anticipation of the event, I had a bicycle accident that ultimately required hospitalisation and significantly affected my ability to train as I actually had to convalesce for a time.
‘Anatomy of a bruise’ – seroma in my left thigh, heavy bruising along my left side, grazing and wrist pain
Thankfully, Ironman acknowledged all this disruption by kindly extending my AWA status by another year to the end of 2021.
AWA Extension!
I have to recognise and thank the Kazakhstan Ironman Organisation team, as they did almost made it happen for me in 2021!
The team really did a sterling job of trying to accommodate me. I had a visa, I had a hotel, I had a flight and irrespective of the travel restrictions, up until only a few weeks before the event was to take place, all bets remained on and the race was still happening.
Then my flight was cancelled.
I was not able to take part.
Khallas
As luck would have it, and thanks to the extension of my All World Athlete status to the end of 2021, in mid-June 2021 I was offered priority entry to the ‘One Year Only’ Bolton Ironman 70.3 in September; only a few months after Kazakhstan was scheduled for!
I saw this as something of an insurance policy in case Kazakhstan did not go ahead and I’m really really glad now that I took the opportunity to compete!
Mashallah
Further, my place at Kazakhstan has been deferred to 2022 so I don’t feel like I lost out and am looking forward to eventually racing in Kazakhstan then!
My Bolton 70.3 Registration
“After the success of IRONMAN UK in July, Bolton is ready to welcome you once again for a one year only, 70.3 distance race. Feel the incredible atmosphere created by the supporters, volunteers and fellow athletes as you pass the incredible scenery before arriving at the impressive finish line in the heart of the town centre.”
…and so this really answers the question as to why this race could well be my best race ever. Not because I will get a PB, nor is it because I will fulfil my 40s 4 40 aspirations. It is simply because through a series of seemingly unrelated events beyond my control and against the odds, I get the opportunity to race my favourite distance on my home turf, set against the most incredible scenery on one of the most challenging and unique courses possible, with family and friends supporting me and with all the benefits of Silver All World Athlete Status!
For sure this is going to be a memorable race, no matter what the result!
AWA Priority
Mindful I was aiming to complete the distance in 4 hours 40 minutes, I should probably concede that I’ll be content with more like 5 hours and 40 minutes on a course like this but as the saying goes: ‘Anything is Possible….’.
Summary of the course
Everywhere I trained was as warm and clear as a bath
Technically, mentally and physically demanding course
Even the run looks hilly!
I will update this blog with the results from the race, my Garmin data and anything else worthy of note in due course.
I’m bib number 149 for anyone who is interested.
Bib number 149
Bib number 149 – how I intend to look on the course
You can download the Ironman Athlete Tracker and follow my progress during the event from the following link:
I made a video of my unpacking and assembling my Fuji Norcom Straight 2.1 Time Trial bike and talk about some of how I have set it up specifically for this 70.3:
Fuji Norcom Straight 2.1 Time Trial (TT) bike
The original Bolton Ironman event is renown for being challenging and this type of bike could prove difficult on such hilly terrain.
The bike has an ISM seat, Continental Grand Prix 5000 2020 Tour de France Limited Edition tyres, Shimano Ultegra chain set and carbon pedals and numerous other personalised minor modifications.
I chose to use wheels with an aluminium rim and fitted sutable brake pads to provide decent stopping power in all conditions on this challenging course. The wheels have a shallower dish than my others and this is intended to mitigate the effects of crosswinds over the high and exposed parts of the route whilst still proving some aerodynamic benefit.
I also changed the rear cassette to one with a wide range of gears suitable for high speed on the flat and on the descents whilst also enabling me to climb the many hills (11-28).
I took my bike for a ‘shakedown’ test ride on the local roads and they were so rough at speed that my BBB C02 holder fractured off! I’m glad it happened in enough time to order a new one from Barbiri next day delivery from Planet X. I am reliant upon this to carry the C02 canisters that I would use to reinflate my tyres in the event of a puncture.
This experience gave me some idea of what was to come!
Pennington Flash
I’ll be wearing a wetsuit for the swim as it will be around 17 degrees Celsius and I note some previous complaints regarding the water quality at Pennington Flash and whist it has been named as one of Lancashire’s best open water swimming venues there can be problems with blue-green algae (a seasonal growth on the water surface which is toxic to humans).
With this mind, I was initially somewhat perturbed by an email sent two days before the event that said the practice swim was cancelled due to ‘natural aquatic material’ that needing cleaning up:
Email from Ironman
Despite my fears that it was a build up of duck waste or something such, it was in fact a dense mat of Aquatic Weed and a guy was down there the day before dredging it out (you can see his amphibious tractor operating in the middle-right of the below picture).
The day before:
I went for a slow and steady run a day before the event and my Garmin updated my V02 Max statistics to 53 or ‘Superior’ – this was welcome reassurance that I had made progress during my training.
Race prepared (from within 48 hours of the race!
The swim to bike transition was at Pennington Flash but the Bike to Run transition was in the centre of Bolton and we had to leave the necessary stuff in the respectful bags and places the day before. I cannot thank my Mother enough for helping sort this out with me.
I felt torn leaving my bike to sit out all night in the cold but she was rubbing shoulders with royalty and I would check on her in the morning before the start of the race.
I went to bed hoping I had included everything I needed to in the right bags!
Having a low race number was a real privilege in transition
Race Report:
The Swim:
All the swim training I had been doing had been either in well maintained pools or in the Red Sea that are crystal clear and between 24 and 30 degrees Celsius. I realise how much of a first world problem this is but just to set the record straight, ‘the Flash’ is a fundamentally different beast.
I had been taking cold showers as one of the 40s 4 40 challenges (see future blog) and this definitely helped me to anticipation the shock of the temperature difference.
The Flash was 17.4 degrees Celsius on the day and despite the IRONMAN team’s efforts remained absolutely full of pond weed! Visibility was about half a metre and it was really easy to touch weed and get it wrapped around your ankles.
I wore my heavier wetsuit and honestly, the temperature wasn’t that bad. Sure, my hands, feet and head started to get cold toward the end of the swim but in the heat of the moment, there wasn’t time to get too cold.
It wasn’t my best swim ever because I fell off the end of the pontoon and effectively tombstoned my entry, got caught up in loads of pond weed and then kept breathing to the right and therefore pulling to the right. Not being used to swimming in a lake without lines to follow made it challenging to swim straight and this meant I spent a lot of time almost off course wide of the pack and not benefitting from any draft. You can see from the below diagram how much time I spent not swimming straight!
The swim was 1.9 kilometres but Garmin reckons I swam 2 kilometres so irrespective of the above, I’m really happy with my official time of 33 minutes 36 seconds. Had I kept it on track, this could have been my fastest swim in a 70.3 yet so I was feeling strong!
Glad to be back on dry land…
The Bike:
There is only one word to describe the bike course, and that’s ‘Brutal’. You can see from the below green elevation profile how undulating it was, with around 952 metres of climbing on the bike alone.
You may note a significant gap about a third of the way in on both the blue speed and red heart rate graphs, immediately after one of the fastest sections.
At this point, I was travelling downhill at approximately 68 kilometres per hour in the process of overtaking another guy to my left. The road surface was extremely rough before the decent began but seemed to have smoothed out further down the hill until we both hit a narrow section of the road that upon closer inspection latterly, appeared to have been resurfaced a number of times.
Clearly when going downhill on a narrow road at almost 70 kilometres per hour, one of the last things you need is any significant changes in road surface and this particular change was difficult to allow for as it was not marked in any way and initially appeared to be flush.
However, flush it was not and we both took off, taking a real kick in the rear as the rear tyre bounced off the bumpy road surface. The jolt was so severe that it caused the water bottle mounted behind my seat to fly out and start skidding down the road behind me. The other guy lost his hydration system and tool kit – it was like a slow-motion in-flight incident with items flying all over the place. We both slowed down to stop and retrieve our items and I lay my bike down in a bush at the right side of the road before making my way back up the hill on foot to see if I could find my bottle.
I could not believe how many bottles and bits and repair kits and all sorts of bike gear was strewn all over the road, clearly this had happened to a lot more people than just us!
It took me a few minutes of running up and down that section of the hill looking in the bushes to find my bottle – it had skidded a long way and I had not been able to look exactly where it went as I was braking hard and tying to stay on!
I checked the other guys was OK, cleared the road bit and then headed back to my bike. By this time a lot of cyclists had passed us and I’m grateful they asked if I was OK. Crossing that narrow road again back to my bike with others racing past at over 50 kilometres per hour was crazy!
The route itself was beautiful and wild and incredible to ride. Technically challenging and a really stimulating in all senses. People were out on the street all along the route cheering us along and this included Family and Friends and Tri Preston supporters which was truly amazing to see – thank you all!
Yes, the road surface was not good and at times I’d probably call it dangerous but this added to the challenge. It was not as easy as simply putting your head down and working away for a couple of hours, this took some technical skill and bike handing skills just to get round!
You can see some data below including notable statistics like my maximum speed of 69.5 kilometres per hour, my average heart rate of 150 beats per minute, over 2,000 calories burnt and total ascent of over 950 metres.
These stats came from the Garmin Forerunner 245 I was using to navigate
The above stats came from the Garmin Forerunner 910xt that I had on my wrist tracking the multi-sport activity as a single event. I do not trust the accuracy as much as the above 245 data – I do not think I hit 99.1kph for example!
Seeing my friends at this point really spurred me on – it was ace! Credit to Craig de Freitas for this photograph.
The Run:
The run was one of four quarters for me. The course was made up on 2.5 laps so it was easy to know what point on the race you were at. There were supporters all over the course and Bolton Town Centre looked brilliant with events and tunes and banners and people celebrating.
It normally takes me a couple of kilometres to feel OK running after a long cycle. Long cycles and especially running immediately after them is definitely something I did not do enough of in my training and I blame the summer months in Riyadh for giving me an excuse not to spend hours on the bike.
It would be ridiculous to suggest I had not completed any long rides after I cycled for 40 hours back in June 2021 but really that was an exceptional event and not part of any structured (or useful!) training plan. Most of my rides have been an hour or two maximum. As a result, I found the first 5km of the run tough, I struggled to get going, my legs were sore and despite revelling in running around Le Mans Crescent, the route was predominantly uphill (the route through the park was practically vertical followed by a long drag up Chorley New Road and on to the turn point) and I was flagging.
However, once I had turned and started to run back into Bolton, my legs got going and as this part was downhill, I perked up in the second quarter. Once I had run through town and seen where the Finish line was, I knew I was on my second lap with about 10km left to go and I started feeling a lot better and started working harder. I powered myself back up to the turn point and then made a point of running as fast as I could for the final five kilometres and last quarter of the run.
You can see in the blue pace graph below that my pace drops significantly occasionally – this was me walking through the food stations taking a swill of water, a cup of Gatorade and one time, a banana (that I ate half of).
My best pace was 3 minutes 30 seconds per kilometre and this was surely as I was running downhill at some point. Nonetheless, I was running less than 5 minute per kilometres for the final four or five kilometres. I wish I had been able to keep this up for longer but I understand why I did not feel able to earlier in the run and I am confident that my run performance has improved. In fact, this is my fastest half marathon as part of a 70.3 and to achieve that on a challenging course full of undulations is great!
The final few kilometres of the run through Queens Park
The Finish:
So the tile of this post is IRONMAN 70.3 in 4 hours 40 minutes and for all the reasons and excuses listed above, it was extremely unlikely that I would achieve that time on this Bolton course.
Nonetheless, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE and I was absolutely made up so find that irrespective of my actual finish time, the board did actually appear to read #40s440 as I crossed the line – this magic was made even more apparent by simply adding a post-edit zero!
Mashallah
Unedited version of the above picture
Finisher! #IM703Bolton
Finisher! #IM703Bolton
Me larking around with one of the photographers on the walk back through the park, post-race #IM703Bolton
The Finisher Medal – One Year Only embossed on the rear
Top level multi-sport summary from my Garmin
Official Finisher Certificate from IRONMAN
Clicking the below picture of link will take you to a minute of film that goes some way to show how incredible the support was throughout Ironman 70.3 Bolton.
It’s a compilation of videos and live photos with special thanks to Craig and Lucinda for their contributions:
I came 313th overall out of 1,154 so top 27% and I’m confident that did not have anything more to give on the day. My swim was representative and I didn’t freak out in the cold, I used all 22 gears on the bike and got a respectable top speed, had my best 70.3 run yet and miraculously managed to see 40s440 on the finish line timing board at the end of this unique event – I am thrilled to bits with the whole experience!
Coincidentally, I also came 44th out of 169 in the age 40 to 44 category (again, top 27%) which is interesting – it must be true that things come to you, just not always quite how you anticipate they will #40s440!
Thanks for all the support; feel free to ask any questions.
Animals Lebanon improves the welfare of animals through comprehensive national animal protection and welfare legislation. To support this campaign they provide nationwide public assistance for companion animals while rescuing and improving the conditions of captive endangered wildlife.
The good work Animals Lebanon do has been made even more critical and challenging due to the economic situation in Lebanon, where many people are now struggling to make ends meet on a day-to-day basis.
I chose to make my donation is US Dollars and so used XE.com to provide the spot rate as per the below. I rounded up to $55 and processed the payment online.
Thank you very much for your recent donation to Animals Lebanon!
Your generous support gives us hope and makes it possible to help animals most in need. We are doing this work during the most difficult situation in our 13 years. There are still daily protests and roadblocks, the currency is declining, fuel is running out, more electricity cuts, no government for nine months, and more than half of the population has slipped into poverty.
The explosion and economic crisis mean more people are unable to care for their pets. Even the cheapest food and basic vet care are nearly impossible for many. We have given out nearly 9,000 kilos of food in the last nine months, and continue to help hundreds of families with urgent vet care for their pets. Only nine of the animals rescued from the explosion still need a home. Every other cat and dog was able to be returned to their owner or found a great new home. Hopefully one more trip and all will finally be adopted.
Since the beginning of this year, we have rescued – Hope, a puppy whose ears and tail were cut off – Sunny, a cat who was shot in the face – Max, an emaciated dog who was used in dog fighting with a large wound around his neck – Benny, a cat who is suffering from a massive wound on his back because of a shotgun
Thanks to the incredible animal-loving community, we were able to fly 17 of our cats to the US on March 29. Thanks to Tabby’s place (@tabbysplace), Lambertvilleanimalwelfare (@lambertvilleanimalwelfare), and Monmouth County SPCA (@mcspca), these cats can now start fresh with their painful past as distant memories. Each cat cost around $470 so your donations made all the difference in changing their lives.
Due to the difficult economic situation that Lebanon is facing, many of our loyal and valuable fosters are leaving the country, which means that countless of our cats are returning to the shelter where they will take up space and resources that could be used instead for incoming rescues. Few cats that were adopted years ago are also being returned as their owners can no longer afford to keep them or have to leave the country without the option of taking them along.
It’s also kitten season! Since the first week of April, we have cared for over 20 kittens that were either dumped on the street, found among garbage, sick, injured, or stuck in a car engine. A few kittens are at some lovely fosters who are administering their medication if required or simply offering them a loving and temporary foster home until a more permanent one can be found.
You are truly making a difference for the animals that we are rescuing and rehabilitating, we cannot overstate how much your compassion means to us and to those innocent animals you are helping to protect.
With my 41st Birthday only a couple of months away, I’ll leave the pleasantries and whimsical reflections until I draft my concluding remarks. For now it’s enough to note that what started as a playful concept to substitute making a New Year’s Resolution has burgeoned into a list of forty 40-themed challenges or events and a movement that others have embraced, contributed to and in some cases evolved into their own.
Below is the final list, you will note that some of the original challenges remain outstanding but I have been progressing them. For example, I intended to run 40 kilometres in 40 minutes well before now but had been leaving it until I had completed the Ironman and the Marathon, my logic being that I would be in fine form to then concentrate on running only for a while post these two events. The trouble is that both events kept being postponed due to the pandemic and although I will complete them in the next few weeks, its been really tough training hard enough to bring my times down through the heat of summer in Riyadh. It’s also looking doubtful that I’ll be able to climb Puncak Jaya (my fourth of the World’s Seven Summits) before I turn 41 (again, due to the pandemic) but I’ve not ruled it out just yet. Whatever happens, I’ll do it as soon as I can get into Indonesia.
That being said, going with the flow and remaining adaptable has really made this fun and I’m really excited to be back in the UK to do Ironman 70.3 Bolton and Manchester Marathon in quick succession.
My Garmin 245’s race predictor time now says 5k 20:37, 10k 43:44, Half Marathon 1:42:06 and the full marathon 3:58:25 and I can actually run at a 4 minute per kilometre pace now so I’ve definitely made progress.
By way of a summary:
I’ve completed 63% of the 40 challenges and with the few that are ongoing the completion rate is up at 73%. I’ve got a route to finishing most of the remainder before I turn 41, any that I don’t I’ll deal with as part of the conclusion.
I’ve also given away £1,480 (37 x £40) to some very worthy causes and that in itself has been very rewarding.
The Thirty Seventh of my 40 donations goes to the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust. The Battle of Britain Memorial includes the Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall at Capel-le-Ferne. The Memorial wall lists the names of all the aircrew known to have flown with a recognised squadron during the Battle of Britain, which took place between 10 July and 31 October 1940 – just under 3,000 men in total.
Sponsoring one of the names on the wall allows you to form a special bond with one of the individuals who flew to preserve the Freedom of the United Kingdom in 1940.
Coincidentally, you can sponsor one of those names for a donation of just £40!
I posted this today as the 15th September is also known as Battle of Britain Day, an annual commemoration of the battle in the United Kingdom. The 15th of September date is significant as a large-scale aerial battle (some say the climax of the Battle of Britain) took place on the 15th September 1940; the German defeat proved to be a turning point in the whole war.
The wall is named in tribute to the late Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Foxley-Norris, a Hurricane fighter pilot in 1940. He was the first President of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust and, together with Lady Foxley-Norris, provided the funds that allowed plans for the wall to go ahead.
By sponsoring a name on the wall, I will receive a commemorative folder containing a certificate marking my donation and a copy of my airman’s entry in ‘Men of the Battle of Britain’, the recognised guide to the men who took part in the RAF’s critical defence of England’s shores.
I will update this post with the details of who my chosen Airman is and hopefully, some of his story.
I was honoured to be invited to attend an event to recognise the 81st Anniversary of the Battle of Britain and remember those who served and sacrificed everything between 10th July and 31st October 1940 to defend England from German invasion during the Second World War.
The Battle of Britain was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe.
I’m proud and in awe of my forebears who served during the Second World War, in the Navy, the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force.
Love and respect – thank you (my Grandfather with his siblings)
In the late 1930s and early 1940 Germany made significant progress invading Europe and once France had surrendered, the British troops that remained on the continent had to be evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk.
The then Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the the House of Commons on 18 June 1940 with a now famous speech, where he determined:
“What General Weygand called the ‘Battle of France’ is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.”
This is where the Battle of Britain takes its name from.
On 16 July 1940, Hitler ordered the preparation of Operation Sea Lion as a potential amphibious and airborne assault on Britain, to follow once the Luftwaffe had air superiority over the Channel.
However, the Luftwaffe’s failure to overwhelm the RAF forced Hitler to postpone and eventually cancel Operation Sea Lion.
Historian Stephen Bungay cited Germany’s failure to destroy Britain’s air defences to force an armistice (or even an outright surrender) as the first major German defeat in the Second World War and a crucial turning point in the conflict.
The airmen who took to the skies in 1940 left the United Kingdom with a legacy of freedom. The RAF, in preventing a Nazi invasion during the Battle of Britain, preserved a way of life and kept the shores of Britain clear so that it could be used as a launchpad for re-taking Europe in 1944.
Winston Churchill payed tribute to the enormous efforts made by the fighter pilots and bomber crews to establish air superiority over England when he stated:
By H.M. Stationery Office – This World War II poster was taken from the uploader’s own collection. A lower resolutio version of the same poster is available at https://www.mplib.org/wpdb/index.asp?exact=MPW00376 where the publisher information is provided as follows “Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Lowe & Brydon Printers, Ltd”. This implies that the copyright holder is HMSO or, in other words, it is Crown Copyright. As this poster is more than 50 years old, it is now in the public domain., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35330825
Another famous Winston Churchill quote from his speech in the House of Commons on 18 June 1940 is:
The Thirty Sixth of my 40 donations goes to Leukaemia UK. I was shocked and yet relieved recently when a friend informed me that they had been diagnosed with and thankfully cured of Leukaemia in the relatively short time since I had seen them last, Alhamdulillah.
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma led to the untimely demise of my own Father, we need to be rid of it.
Leukaemia UK has been working hard to help improve the treatment and care of blood cancer patients for more than 40 years.
Leukaemia UK likes to support projects that make the wellbeing of people dealing with blood cancers their first priority.
Leukaemia UK also works closely with health professionals and hospitals to identify areas where we can make a positive contribution so your donations are spent where they will have the most significant impact.
Leukaemia UK support projects that have an immediate or near-future benefit to patients and the treatment and cure of leukaemia, Hodgkin and other lymphomas, myeloma, myelodysplasia and other blood cancers.
Leukaemia UK’s research: Leukaemia UK is currently funding several research projects which are investigating how to improve treatment options and developing easier ways to diagnose blood cancers.
Leukaemia UK’s Mind & Body project: Dealing with a blood cancer diagnosis can be both physically and emotionally draining. We believe advances in medical treatments need to be matched by much greater emotional and wellbeing care for people affected by blood cancers. Getting the right care and support can help everyone’s ability to cope, which is why we’re helping to fund specialist staff posts to help people get better, sooner.
Leukaemia UK’s Helping Hand Fund: Some people experiencing real financial hardship as a result of their blood cancer may qualify for a one-off grant. Applications must be supported by the consultant or specialist nurse treating the patient.
How to make Forties for 40 famous or renowned? How to establish its significance and symbolism and my commitment to it?
I’ve produced t-shirts and have considered selling merchandise. I’m in discussions about television and radio appearances but as yet I’m keen to keep my head down, working away to define and complete the challenges.
‘Putting it on the map’ is often used in the idiomatic sense and I wondered if it could be done in a literal sense…. well it can!
Thanks to Garmin and my amazing Sister once again!
Note temperature of 44 degrees Celsius!
Note average moving pace of 4:40!
Of course, I did something like this before to raise awareness of the situation in Beirut following the terrible blast at the port…
…and it amuses me no end when I see similarly creative ‘Radar Art’ on Flight Radar or other such platforms:
As a final point, a friend of mine recently educated me on the symbolic meaning of numbers. This is something I had not been aware of at the inception of 40s 4 40 but that now seems may have more relevance that I was conscious of or gave credence to.
To that end, my efforts should be considered a message to the heavens, to God and my Angels (4) to express my earth-bound sincere gratitude, awe and infinite (0) commitment.
As a result of this accident Nathan is currently in Intensive Care in Scotland and has a long road ahead of him. Nathan was diagnosed with two life threatening conditions, a brain injury and a spinal injury.
It appears that his brain injury isn’t as severe as initially thought but his spinal injury is worse than imagined. Currently Nathan is not able to breathe independently and is unable to move.
Nathan’s wife set up this page to support herself and their family, to be close to Nathan in this critical time. They are 500 miles from home and hope to stay with Nathan until he can be transferred closer to home.
The Family is searching for extra tools, support and services that can help them to help Nathan. There are resources to help him communicate with them that they feel are vital for his wellbeing at this time.
Much further down the line they are hoping rehabilitation can provide some quality of life for Nathan.
It goes without saying that they are heartbroken at this time and any support that can help alleviate some of the financial worry will be hugely appreciated.
Nathan is well known and loved by so many, and we all know how strong and independent he is, but this isn’t a race he can win alone.
Having had a serious bicycle accident myself, I realise how quickly things can take an unexpected turn and my heart goes out to Nathan’s family. Incredibly, the community has rallied together and at the time of posting this blog, the fund has risen to over £80k!
Having a low resting heart rate is an indicator for cardiovascular health and fitness. It suggests the heart is strong and can pump a lot of blood with every beat, thus it does not have to beat as frequently. Your physical fitness is directly correlated to the strength of your heart.
I figured it would be a good challenge to see if, notwithstanding my tendency to live life at a fast pace, I could achieve a low resting heart rate in the forties, at the age of 40.
My heart rate is not naturally particularly low and so reducing it to within the forties presented a significant challenge. I’ve been experimenting on myself over the past few months to see what affects my heart rate and how it can become lower.
The three factors that seemed to help me personally achieve a low heart rate were as follows:
1. High level of fitness
2. Good diet
3. Sufficient rest
If any one of these are not present, my resting heart rate would be relatively higher.
The three main factors that seemed to drive my resting heart rate up were as follows:
1. Drinking alcohol
2. Overtraining and doing late night workouts
3. Stress
Below are some pictures that illustrate the dramatic effect consuming alcohol had on my resting heart rate. You can effectively see which night I drank alcohol, as my resting heart rose significantly.
Needless to say, to complete this challenge I had to consider not drinking any alcohol at all or (living in a dry country helped).
When I am calm, well-rested and relatively still my heart rate now drops into the 40s fairly regularly but this is only momentary and not my actual resting heart rate as you can see in the below screenshot from the Garmin Connect App.
My current heart rate was 43 beats per minute but my resting heartrate was 60 beats per minute. 43 BPM is the lowest I’ve recorded my current heart rate at. 03/05/2021
I did managed to achieve a daily resting heart rate in the forties a number of times over a four month period so this shows it is not a one off freak occurrence.
The below screenshots cover the period from early May to mid-August 2021:
The lowest daily resting heart rate I achieved was 44 beats per minute on 4th July 2021.
To take this challenge one step further, I am trying to achieve a 7-day average resting heart rate in the forties.
I’ve had my 7 day average resting heart rate it as low as 51 (see below) but invariably something gets in the way like a late night or a hard training session and as these things raise the hard rate significantly even one night increases the average and thus prevents me from being able to lower if further.
I think I will be able to achieve a 7 day average resting heart rate when I have completed the Ironman and the marathon and the temperature reduces in Riyadh so I can adjust my training schedule to better achieve it.
I’d also like to see if I can record a heart rate of 40 beats per minute but I reckon it might take some sort of meditative trance to achieve that (and then how will I screenshot the app….?!).
Incredibly on the 2nd of February 2022, exactly one month after I consumed the last alcohol at Heathrow Airpirt before I flew back to the middle east and began ‘Dry January’ I managed to achieve a resting heart rate of 40 beats per minute as per the below screenshot from the Garmin connect app (no meditative trance required):
#40s440
I am still aiming for a weekly average heart rate in the forties and currently my average is 51 beats per minute so guess if I keep on doing what in doing it may well get there!
…and then on the 5th of February 2022, after a week of low resting heart rate and no drinking alcohol, I finally achieved my additional goal of a ‘Resting Heart Rate in the 40s’ over a 7-day average.
The 7 day average for my resting heart rate continued to drop while I was on leave from work to as low as 47 but it subsequently returned to the low 50s after my return to work and associated travel.
The watch I used was a Garmin 245, like the one on this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07RCJV4PT/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=cjburgoine-21&camp=1634&creative=6738&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07RCJV4PT&linkId=b5e43d6842b72d7a6282b5e376f02801
