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It was at base camp that I really gave consideration to the viability of 40s 4 40 and what sort of activities might be included – I decided better to explore my limits than be subject to a series of restrictive resolutions…
For the purposes of this retrospective blog, I am going to post my favourite of the many pictures and videos I took in an order that tells a pictorial story of my journey.
Hopefully the captions will allow the pictures to speak for themselves but if anyone has any questions, just ask!
Proper Preparation and Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance / A Man With Too Much StuffHappening!My first brush with AconcaguaIncredible to fly below the mountain you’re travelling to climb…Permit Office, MendosaGear rental, MendosaAll my baggage was delayed – MendosaReunited at last!Camp 1 – Penitentes Entrance to the park after securing permitMy permit and the bags I was issued – one for rubbish, the other for human waste (so it doesn’t remain on the mountain)
Confluencia, 3,380 metres (11,090 ft): A camp site a few hours into the national park.
New Year’s Eve 2020
Plaza de Mulas, 4,370 metres (14,340 ft): Base camp – climbers are screened by a medical team to check if they are fit enough to continue the climb.Camp Canadá, 5,050 metres (16,570 ft): A large ledge overlooking Plaza de Mulas.Nido de Cóndores, 5,570 metres (18,270 ft): A large plateau with beautiful views.
Landscapes
Summit Attempt Night Weather Report (80kmph winds and -34c!)
Summit elevation of 6,961 metres (22,838 ft).
My permit with official stamps to prove I summited and returned both bags (full)
Celebration!First bath in weeks proved transformative!
I’ve been busy as of late. I started a new job, have been away on business and have been in an intense planning phase for the 40s 4 40 challenge I set myself. The above has left little time to train for long distances but I’ve done numerous 10 kilometer runs with some speed work and cross-training by hiking and cycling. Currently, still keeping my feet out of the local pool to be socially responsible….
With the onset of the corona virus pandemic I appreciate my current plans may be impacted but for now, I’m aiming to complete the 40s 4 40 challenge as follows, starting with the main events:
Run over 40 kilometers: I entered the Manchester Marathon on the 5th April 2020
Climb over 40,000 feet and climb the 4th of the world’s ‘7 summits’: To achieve this I will summit Aconcagua and Puncak Jaya. I summited Aconcagua in January of 2020 so that accounts for 22,837 feet of the cumulative 40,000 feet I have to climb, I will achieve the rest when I climb Puncak Jaya (16,024 feet) for or around my Birthday in November. Puncak Jaya will be my 4th of the 7 summits. To achieve the final thousand feet or so I will include the climb of my favourite hill, Great Hill (1,252 feet). By my calculation, this would give me a cumulative total climb of 40,113 feet (not including training ascents).
Some friends are climbing Denali in July and I really want to to climb with them but based on the time it takes, my already depleted leave balance, having started a new job and with Ironman Kazakhstan in August, I’ve concluded that a Denali attempt in July is probably too demanding of myself and is likely to have a negative impact on my other commitments.
Free dive to 40 meters: I will use the travel restrictions to my advantage and should events get cancelled will spend more time earlier in the year off the Red Sea coast with Zakaria
On a month-by-month basis the current schedule looks like this:
December – Schedule margin, rest and inshallah celebration…..
That of course leaves the less rigid challenges that do not need as much organisation and can either be attempted flexibly around the others or require constant attention throughout:
Donate £40 to 40 charities: Time now, this requires at least one donation per week so I will attempt to post a blog once per week and follow each post with a donation.
Drink a ’40’: Unless someone brings a 40 to me this could mean me travelling to the USA for the first time!
Run 10 kilometers in 40 minutes: This is going to take a lot of work because based on my current performance and ability I don’t think I even know how to run this fast…. so, I will spend a few months doing speed work and then commit to a race later in the year.
Do 40 press ups in one minute: I gave this a go in February and although a handful of the press ups were of questionable technique, by practicing throughout the year, I think I will be able to perfect the technique.
I previously referred to the 40s 4 40 challenges as ‘stretch targets’ and to appreciate why, I have attempted to record my current performance in this post. This will help me to understand how big a task I’ve got ahead of me. I’ve listed some of the challenges below with various reference points; my plan to completion will be the subject of a future post…
40 Press ups / push ups in a minute: the easiest thing to do is watch the video; I reckon I’ve already nailed it and with a bit of work I’ll have this one sorted by the end of 2020…
In early 2022 Thounaojam Niranjoy Singh from Manipur broke the Guinness Book of World Records for most push-ups (finger tips) in one minute. Niranjoy, who is a two-time Guinness World Record holder, broke the old record of 105 push-ups by achieving 109 push-ups in one minute during a Guinness Book of World Records attempt organised by Aztecs Sports Manipur at Aztecs fight studio in Imphal.
The previous record holder in most push-ups (finger tips) in one minute is Graham Maly from the United Kingdom who set the record in 2009. These incredible records really put my achievement into perspective!
Run 10k in 40 minutes: My Personal Best (PB) for 10 kilometres is 45 minutes 11 seconds and currently I feel comfortable running at 5 minutes per kilometre so really I’m probably running 50 minute 10ks. I therefore need to improve by between 12% and 20%. Not insignificant.
Ironman 70.3 in 4 hours and 40 minutes: My PB is 5 hours 7 minutes, split as follows:
Bahrain
To achieve a 4:40 means I need to take just under half an hour off my best ever time and I’ll be looking to the run to achieve most of that…
Marathon in under 4 hours and 40 minutes: No baseline as despite all the running I have done in my life, I have not yet run a marathon – hence the challenge! My PB for a half is 1:43.
Free dive to 40 meters: I am AIDA Level 2 qualified (20m depth in constant weight class) but I once touched 22.4 meters, according to my dive watch. 40m is practically double my current depth and so quite a challenge. As a sub-category of this, I will attempt a 3 minutes 40 seconds breath-hold (my current personal best is 3 minutes 20 seconds). This is a mere 10% improvement and ideally I’d like to get over 4 minutes.
40,000 feet of climbing: The highest I’ve ever climbed is the summit of Aconcagua at 22,837 feet (6,962 meters) in January 2020 and until now, I’ve only ever climbed one high-altitude mountain per calendar year.
The most I’ve ever climbed in a calendar year before now is 19,341 feet (5,895 meters) when I did Kilimanjaro in 2018. In a rolling year I’ve climbed a total of 56,370 feet (EBC & Kala Patthar in 2017 plus Kilimanjaro and Elbrus in 2018).
I need to climb more than twice as high in one calendar year than I’ve ever done before but actually less than I have done before in a rolling year to reach a cumulative 40,000 feet (or more).
Climb my 4th of the World’s 7 highest summits: I have climbed 3 of the World’s highest summits (Elbrus, Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua) so the next will be my 4th. This goes hand-in-hand with climbing 40,000+ feet.
Cycle 40km in an hour: I completed a 25 mile time trial in October 2019 and was I’m 8 minutes over 1 hour so I need to improve by 12%.
Drink a ’40’: I’ve seen them on American films but I’m yet to see one in the flesh and of course, drink it!
Giving £40 to 40 charities: I think is better described as a privilege than a challenge….
To complete my #40s440 ‘run a Marathon in 4 hours and 40 minutes (or less)’ challenge I entered Manchester Marathon which was originally scheduled to be on the 5th April 2020.
I posted this blog anticipating the marathon would go ahead as scheduled and looking back, it’s hard to comprehend just how much has happened since then.
Some people might be surprised to read that this will be my first ever actual marathon.
Back on Christmas Day 2019, I ran 11km to the summit of Great Hill and back, with my Sister.
With 9 weeks to go until my first marathon and feeling the fear building, I put on my trusty Brooks Pure Cadence 5 trainers and hobbled out the door for a 45 minute aerobic run in heart rate zone 2 (for me 135-153 BPM).
The run was not just hard work, it hurt.
I was planning on running at circa 5 minutes per kilometre for the marathon to ensure I finished within 4 hours 40 minutes (on theme and allowing for bunching and a comfort break) and whilst I felt OK with the 5mpkm pace, my heart rate did creep up above zone 2 (above 160BPM) so I slowed down a little toward the end.
I don’t consider myself a ‘runner’ and getting out the door can be hard enough psychologically without any physical impediment on top – much respect to those people who learn to live with anything like that.
The thought of putting on my ‘trusty but crusty’ Brooks on and aggravating my sore feet for an hour was becoming a blocker and this preventing the commencement of my second run…. I decided to seek out a new pair of trainers – not as easy as it first sounds in Riyadh…
Thankfully, after much web-surfing and checking the usual sports stores, a friend recommended Foot Lab to me. Not only is this the only store specialist enough in Riyadh to do gait analysis, it has a friendly team of qualified advisers to assist you and a reasonable stock of known brands.
After walking, running (and posing) on the treadmill to have pictures and video taken it was immediately obvious just how much I over-pronate.
My ankle rolls too far downward and inward with each step. It continues to roll when the toes should be starting to push off. As a result, the big toe and second toe do all of the push-off and the foot twists more with each step. I think this motion has contributed to my ‘shin splints’ when wearing neutral shoes in the past.
These shoes more comfortable and they are clean! I was looking forward to pounding the pavement over the coming weeks… and then COVID happened.
Like all the other formal events I signed up to, the Manchester Marathon was delayed by restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, not once but twice!
I managed to adapt my schedule and fit so many things into the interim period and I’m really pleased things have worked out the way they have because the 10th of October 2021 became the final date which is already significant in my calendar as it is both my Father’s and my Nieces’ Birthday!
I haven’t done any specific training for this marathon, the furthest I have run is half a marathon as part of the Ironman 70.3 on the 26th September and whilst I did run over 40 kilometres once before, this was not a formal event and it was over the moors during winter!
Thankfully, the Manchester Marathon is the flattest major marathon in the UK and I’m really looking forward to running the route around Greater Manchester from the City Centre down to Altringham and back. I think I am fit enough to get round and so just want to enjoy the experience in the best City in the UK.
An animated preview of the route can be found below:
So considering this is a first for me, I’ve been mulling over how fast to do it in. When I signed up, I said I would complete the distance in under 4 hours which I still think is possible but a few things got me thinking:
I have to travel on a couple of flights the day after the marathon and so I’m likely to be sat down for long periods the next day
It is only a couple of weeks after the Ironman and I do not want to risk injury or be too tired afterwards, and
Can I run it in exactly 4 hours 40 minutes #40s440 – seeing 4:40 as my result would be pretty cool!
With the above in mind, if I ran at an average of 6 minutes per kilometre then it would take just under 4 hours 15 minutes. If I factor in a couple of toilet breaks and a few conversations and walking through the feed and drink stations, would this equate to another 25 minutes and a total of 4 hours and 40 minutes?
Doing this will mean I am not too exhausted after the event and will be better able to navigate the numerous airports I have to travel through the next day.
So I’m going to try and achieve this, with the official human pacers at the event and with my Garmin watch programmed to tell me what my estimated time of arrival was and how far I am under or over it should be relatively simple to achieve provided my legs kept going…!
Live tracking is available and so anyone could track my approximate position and progress, my race number was 11464.
I dressed in the shortest running shorts I have and my #40s440 t-shirt and shaved my beard into a horseshoe moustache for good luck!
#40s440!
I also took my GoPro to see if I could make a video of my experience; here is the video I made:
Race Report:
I started the first 10k of the race well with a steady pace of 6 minutes per kilometre that was frankly, too fast. Even with walking though every water stop and taking more toilet breaks than I really needed, I still had to walk to burn off excess time. I was finding it really hard to run as slow as 6:38 per minute, the flow of runners, the support from the spectators and the excitement was really spurring me on!
I managed to slow down a bit for the second 10k but then realised I was so far over my target that I was gong to have to walk for quite a lot of the second half just to reduce the amount of time I was up.
There are few more frustrating things than wanting to run faster with some much adrenaline and encouragement from the amazing crowds and fellow runners and having to walk!!!
That said. this negative split approach really helped me to maintain a low heart rate and all I needed all the way round was just water to keep my hydrated. I had porridge and a banana for my breakfast and nothing else at all until my tea that evening. If it has been any hotter, I think I would have needed to put more sodium into myself to prevent any cramps but clearly training in the heat of Saudi summer has helped my endurance.
If you’ve watched the video you will appreciate just how must time and effort I put into trying to complete the Marathon in 4 hours and 40 minutes exactly. But I failed. I did it in 4 hours and 42 minutes!
Only 2 minutes over was within 1% of my target time and I wouldn’t have been able to achieve that without the Garmin guiding me. I set it to pace me to complete the marathon distance in 4 hours and 40 minutes which was a pace of 6:38 per kilometre and it was really easy to follow. However, my lateness was due to the Garmin tracking the distance as 445 metres more than the 42.195 kilometres than it actually was. The difference I guess being driven by GPS distance versus official distance. So in effect, the Garmin thought I had completed the distance earlier when in fact, I still had 445 metres to go!
Basically it took me an extra 2 minutes more to run those 445 metres which correlates with the 4:18 pace I was running right at the end.
I’m too happy about the whole experience to be annoyed and I’ll go back and do it again to see how fast I can complete t – I hope within 4 hours!
I’m particularly happy with the following things
Support enroute was the best I’ve ever experienced, anywhere in the World – thank you Manchester!
My average heartrate was comfortable aerobic and only rose as I sprinted at the end
How I felt during and afterwards – testament to my fitness
The weather – after two weeks of rain the sun came out on the day!
GoPro Hero 9 Black battery life – one battery lasted long enough for intermittent filming for the whole race
The Garmin Statistics:
Some pictures from the official photographers:
The First Riyadh Marathon 2022:
I set myself a challenge to run the first Riyadh Marathon in under 4 hours. In the end, I ran it in 4 hours exactly!
Supported by the Ministry of Sport, Quality of Life Program, and the Saudi Arabian Athletic Federation, the Saudi Sports for All Federation (SFA) hosted the Riyadh Marathon 2022. The Riyadh Marathon included multiple races (there was at least 10k, 21km and 42.2km plus children’s races) and a marathon village offering opportunities for everyone to participate regardless of their age and athletic abilities. The Riyadh Marathon started and finished at King Saud University in West Riyadh.
To complete the 42.2 kilometre marathon in 3 hours and 59 minutes would mean I had to run at a pace of 5 minutes and 40 seconds per kilometre so I decided to run as close to 5:30 as possible to build up sufficient buffer to allow me to take comfort and refreshment breaks every so often.
The marathon was two laps of a course of two haves. The first half of each lap being uphill, meaning the second hall was down hill. The day before there had been major sand-storms and although the air remained dusty, it seemed OK to run in. I even felt a spot of rain at one point!
I am happy with how I kept my average pace at 5:38 and my moving pace 5:34 but note that the Garmin tracked the distance as 42.64 kilometres and that is exactly the same as it measured Manchester (both being .445 of a kilometre over). I did try to factor in some calibration tolerance delta into the buffer equation but clearly miscalculated by a few seconds – if only I hurried up in the loos and hadn’t spent so long running backwards…! 😉
Clearly, I had fun en route…
…and I vlogged my journey!
The Garmin Data:
Summary
Happy that I kept to pace, less so that I ended up 10 seconds over my target!
My official results certificate
The race was really well managed and a fun route that will only get better with time and as things develop further in this incredible country – well done Riyadh, and thank you!
