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.
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
For all the running I have done in my life, I hadn’t ever run 40 kilometres in one go. My original intention was to achieve a 40 kilometre run by completing the Manchester Marathon but it was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I still intend to take part this October but whilst in the UK recently a friend suggested I take part in the Anglezarke Amble, a 24 mile / 38.4 kilometre route over the Pennines. You can read more about it on the following link:
The Anglezarke Amble usually takes place on Valentine’s Day February 14th from Anglezarke to Entwistle reservoir and back in a loop. Unfortunately, the 2021 example of this event has also been cancelled due to the pandemic and I wasn’t going to be around for that long so instead it provided the inspiration and foundation for a 40 kilometre trail / fell run that would also take in the remote crash site where Herbert Noga crashed his RAF Mustang just after the end of World War Two.
With over 1,000 metres of elevation gain and the temperature below zero throughout this was going to be a memorable run!
The route map was as follows:
I planned the route out on Garmin connect in advance and then uploaded it to my Garmin 245. I know most of these roads and trails but haven’t ever tied them together into one run. The Garmin navigation system was brilliant, enabling me to stay on track and if I drifted off, it was easy to use to guide myself back. Really impressed with that and given the conditions it was practically essential!
I also took my new GoPro Hero 9 Black out for a thorough test and it’s a massive step up from my previous Hero 4 Black. Super smooth, easy to operate and the battery life seemed to be much longer, certainly in below zero temperature conditions.
I made a video summary of the whole run:
I predicted completing the 40km in 6 hours and the Garmin data tells me I passed that point in 6 hours and 9 minutes – not a bad estimate given the conditions. However, due to human error and distraction I had completed 41.3km at the finish point so decided I should simply carry on to 42.6km to complete a marathon – another first for me!
Other notable Garmin data is as follows:
Some nice pictures:
Rivington PikeThe Wader at Entwistle ReservoirThe crash site of Herbert Noga – may he rest in peaceHeapey Waterman’s Cottage on Anglezarke Reservoir
In the video I refer to a ‘Tragedy on the Moor’ and that I would read about it. This is a good link to what is a truly sad story, may those lads also rest in peace:
