First week of training

Although I am generally pretty active (and hopefully fit!) anyway, the past week has seen the first full week of 'training' for London to Brighton raising money for Bliss.

16 weeks in total, the program I am using is a mix of

• Walking
• Sprinting
• Cycling
• Strength

During the week, I generally do a mix of strength work (before work) and cycling (to commute to work), with walking fitted in where possible (before work, lunchtimes, running errands around town and so on).

The weekends are then where the real walking happens, ramping up from an hour initially through to a 10 hour walk two or three weeks before the challenge. There is wriggle room in this depending on what else I am doing, which generally means that either cub camps get in the way, or I am hiking with the cubs anyway, where the plan would be to do the hike with the cubs, and then retrace my steps and walk home once they have gone! I will also be walking to and from work occasionally and am also signed up for the organiser's night hike training walk in April.

Today was a two hour walk, around 7.5 miles. Despite the weather it was nice to get out and feel like I was making some progress towards the goal. I am under no illusions that this is going to be a walk in the park, but so far so good!

What I thought would be interesting is to revisit the Training Lore that I devised during my Cambridge to Paris cycle, to see which ones are relevant to this challenge and also to build on them during this challenge. The full list was first published here.

Nigel's Training Lore #1.
Routes well known to you by car are further or hillier when observed from the vantage point of a bike

I guess this will be even more the case by foot! I guess the advantage is that most walks will be comparatively short, although the 30-35 mile walks over 10 hours will give plenty of room for feeling the hills and distance!

Nigel's Training Lore #2.
Getting out for a ride whatever the weather may be admirable. It is also stupid

This was based on the crashes I had in awful weather. This is less of an issue for walking, particular when walking from home. I am unlikely to require mountain rescue in rural Essex.

Nigel's Training Lore #3.
Putting an extra pair of ordinary socks on is no match for sub-zero temperatures in driving wind and rain in December. Get some thermal socks!

For cycling, I have since discovered booties for my road bike, and Bike Gaiters for commuting. For walking, socks really are important. I'm currently trying some Injinji Socks, which seem pretty cool.

Nigel's Training Lore #4.
Over 2 or so hours in the saddle burns lots of energy - ensure you take on extra in the form of bars, gels or drinks.

Interesting, this one. Since going Primal, this now runs counter to how I believe the body optimally works. Again, I will write a fuller post on the primal lifestyle soon, but essentially, since reducing refined sugars, eliminating grains, avoiding industrial oils and basically just eating real food, the need for continuous sugar top ups has gone and I am much more of a fat burning machine! When doing longer hikes and activities with cubs and scouts, jerky, nuts, seeds and protein have been my fuel sources, along the lines of this article.

Nigel's Training Lore #5.
Not all gels and bars are born the same.Try them in training so you don't find out you don't like them/they don't agree with you during your real event!

Just eat real food!

Nigel's Training Lore #6.
Actually, real food (pretzels, licorice, bagels, cereal bars) may work just as well.

 I was ahead of my time :o)

Nigel's Training Lore #7.
Your bike has two tyres, so taking two spare inner tubes with you makes a lot of sense!

One of the things I like about walking is the simplicity. No mechanical failures. No impact injuries. Put one foot in front of the other. Repeat. Even better when going barefoot or wearing minimalist shoes!

Nigel's Training Lore #8.
Not all training rides will be great, but another good one is just around the corner.

I'm sure this will apply to walks!

Nigel's Training Lore #9.
A training program is a guide not a rulebook. Enforced rest and 'listening to your body' will help to give your body the rest it needs. But at the same time don't use that as an excuse!

Absolutely. Listening to your body, getting rest and also fitting in with family commitments all help to ensure a training program is successful and doesn't add extra stress.

Nigel's Training Lore #10.
If you can design a figure of eight route it allows you to stop off at home half way round your ride which particularly in winter means you can warm up, change and go out again refuelled. It also means you're closer to home if you encounter any problems.

I'd forgotten this one and am glad I have remembered it, as it could be useful for the longer walks.

Nigel's Training Lore #11.
During a prolonged training campaign such as for something like London to Paris, there will inevitably be times when injuries get in the way. Don't fight through it, rest up, safe in the knowledge that overall you will cover the ground.

 As for rule #9

Nigel's Training Lore #12.The Human body is capable of amazing things which dedication and determination can help bring to fruition.

It's why we're here. The dedication and determination of the medical staff helped Eoin's own dedication and determination to survive and ultimately thrive. My own dedication and determination is in repaying that and helping Bliss to help others in the future

Kill the Dragon. 

Courage. Motivation. Inspiration.

Few of us can imagine the conditions she was living in. Fewer still could envisage continuing with something we believe in against the odds and in the face of such adversity. Especially at the age of just 15.

That though, is what Malala Yousafzai has done. Malala came to the media attention last year, when she was shot in the head during a murder attempt by the Taliban in Pakistan. Why? Because she has been an increasingly vocal voice in the campaign to empower girls and women through education. As the Taliban continued to destroy schools in the Swat Valley, Malala, through a blog she wrote on the BBC website continued to provide an insight into life in the region and in particular, pressed for the right of girls to receive education. So they shot her.

Despite life threatening injuries which required her to be flown to the UK for specialist treatment and multiple operations, Malala is undeterred, as evidenced by this video:



This week, Malala was released from hospital. Although she is now likely to remain in the UK, Malala is determined to continue her campaigning for women and children's rights in Pakistan.

The Malala Fund has now been set up to help fund campaigning for education for all girls and has the support of the United Nations. In addition, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced that November 10 would be known as Malala Day, intended to represent the goal of education for all children.

Incredible achievements for one so young and growing up in such a restricted environment.

Kill the Dragon Malala

The new challenge

So 3 years on, a new challenge is in the offing. London to Brighton. By foot. 100km (62 miles) or thereabouts. In less than 24 hours.

Why?

It's really a combination of a few things.

• I feel like I need another challenge to keep me young. I previously said I would do LEJOG before I was 40. For several reasons I decided against this. It was a large time commitment both for training and actually doing the challenge. It potentially was also a large financial commitment. Apart from that though (and I know this sounds incredibly arrogant), having completed Cambridge to Paris, I know I could do LEJOG. As long as I did the training and put in the time, it would be achievable. And with the intrigue gone, so did the motivation. I'm sure it is an awesome feeling and would still be a challenge, but there are other things out there that hold greater interest right now
• I want to raise some money for charity. I have continued to do this over the last few years. Most recently I did Movember last year. Whilst that was more of a mental challenge (looking like a **** for a month is not easy!), I want to test my body again. I also want to do something that is perceived as a challenge that warrants support
• Having completed marathons and bike challenges, the simplicity yet still challenging nature of walking challenges intrigues me. This also fits in well with my primal living, and the walking ability of our hunter gatherer. My intention (subject to change!) is to undertake this challenge as primally as possible. No gels or carb loaded gels. Minimalist footwear
• It fits in nicely with the Global Corporate Challenge which we do at work each year (more on that in another post maybe)
• It is a big challenge but at the same time can be done and dusted in a few weeks, fitting in nicely with my time availability. This will require proper training, a commitment to improving fitness and planning. But by the end of May, will be done and dusted. I like that. I have plenty more things I want to achieve
• The ability (or otherwise!) of the human being to stay awake and physically active for 24 hrs at a stretch also intrigues me
• I love being active at night and at dawn. Could be that primal thing again!

 So, the challenge itself. Starting in Richmond Park, the route meanders through the English countryside down to Brighton, finishing at the racecourse there. It's 100km or thereabouts although as for all challenges, that number is just the final piece of the overall challenge which starts with the first training step.

Those steps will take me there over the next 110 days...

So what are we doing here?

Three years ago or thereabouts I started this blog with the idea of having it as some kind of pledge site for people who wanted to make a difference. It was a natural progression from my original blog. My vision was that it was to be...

...a unique network of people, some (many? most?) of whom are good people and just need a nudge to make a difference. Kill the Dragon can be that nudge! I want this to be a forum for making pledges, for reporting on them, and then doing another one!

 (from this blog entry)

Clearly this didn't happen. The reason? Well there were a few

1. Time. Poor excuse but things simply got busy
2. Knowledge. I have no idea how to set up a forum of the kind I envisaged and certainly don't have the money to pay for someone else to do so for me. I'm sure could learn. see 1.
3. I was having too much fun making a difference myself!

So the forum didn't and is unlikely to happen.What I'd prefer is this to be more of a sharing blog about experience of making a difference (this entry exemplifies that). If you have a story to tell, let me know, I will happily put up a story and maybe help to spread the word.

So what will you find here

• My experiences and thoughts on making a difference. Whether that is scouting, fundraising, primal living, other charity stuff, mentoring, life coaching. Whatever
• My challenge blog entries - training, learnings and so on
• Stories on others who are making a difference
• I'm not providing a forum, but for those who have the motivation to make a difference, let's do it together 

Please let me know what else you'd like to see here

Kill the Dragon

It's been a while!

Ok, so things have been rather quiet around here for the last couple of years! What have I been up to? Well, work has been busy, home-life is busy and I guess life in general has been busy. My commitment to making a difference remains, but how I do it has changed a little. To summarise the key points of the last 3 years or so

• No further challenges (until now! See below...) 
• My wife Eleanor has however done a couple of half marathons and a marathon, so as a family we continue to like challenges! 
• I have changed my diet. I will blog about it at some stage, but for now, will simply say Primal Living is being good to me 
• For the first and last time, I did Movember
• I have become a cub scout leader! Again, I'll blog about this another time, but encouraging youngsters whilst having a little fun yourself is seriously rewarding
• We continue to support Bliss, although I guess as time goes on this becomes more difficult

Lots to blog about there! I guess where I want to focus a little today is on Bliss. As you may know if you have followed me since the beginning on my other blog, Bliss has been a cause that we have supported since Eoin was born 26 weeks early, nearly 6 years ago. Our support has included fundraising such as cycling Cambridge to Paris as well as supporting Bliss in the campaigns and lobbying activities. As time goes on, whilst our appreciation of Bliss is undiminished, it feels our relevance is reduced. We set out to turn a stressful period of our lives into something positive, and make things better for those who came after us. quite simply, those who came after us are now in a better position to take up the reigns. We still have an input (we recently toured our local hospital's new NICU with our MP and the hospital CEO for example) but ultimately, our experience is now 6 years out of date.

Fundraising on the other hand, never goes out of date! and thus 3 years after completing the Cambridge to Paris cycle, here we are again. Perhaps not as onerous this time - other things in my life mean that training and time commitments have to compete with more and more other demands. Nevertheless, a challenge worth doing:

London to Brighton. On foot. 100km. 60-odd miles. in 24 hours. Through the night. On no sleep.

Sounds like a challenge to me...

Join the Band!

Not much new posted here recently - I recognise that. I have been using my vacation to think about my pledges though and in particular how I will provide a forum by the end of August. I have a few ideas and will be working on this over the next couple of weeks or so.

In the meantime, I'm very excited that I have now received my first charity wristband...


Again, over the next few weeks I will be setting up a system to order these online. If you want one, let me know by comment and I'll get back to you. Initially they are £2.50 each, but hopefully as momentum grows, this will come down. Equally, whilst this is currently just covering costs, ultimately it will hopefully make a few quid for charity too.

A New Mission

This blog was set up to make a difference, to Kill the Dragon.

Take action. Have real experiences. Make lasting difference to at least one person. Create change.

Well, it’s time! There are many many websites out there trying to get people to do something, to take a pledge. Almost without exception though, these sites are open to pledges about anything. It could be learning French, losing weight, make money and so on. Some of the sites allow you to make a pledge for something you want to do, but only if a certain number of people also sign up for the same pledge. Still more sites allow you to make a pledge and then get rewards for achieving it based on a points rewards system.

All these sites are great and if they get people to achieve something that they otherwise wouldn’t then that’s fantastic. What I want though, is a place where people can make a difference without the condition that others also need to commit, and where it is for the good of someone else. At the same time, a group setting can provide the encouragement people need, an opportunity to do group pledges if wanted and a forum where once you make the pledge you have to go through with it! A while ago I tried an internet experiment. It failed. But I still believe that the internet has better uses than Farmville and porn. It is a unique network of people, some (many? most?) of whom are good people and just need a nudge to make a difference. Kill the Dragon can be that nudge! I want this to be a forum for making pledges, for reporting on them, and then doing another one! For those joining, I imagine that

• You need to make a difference to at least one person
• This is a commitment by you for you to achieve, not on condition someone else will do it with you.
• This is a new pledge. If you already donate to charity it doesn’t count - you need to donate to a new one too!
• There is no limit to the number of pledges you can make, but they should be significant pledges
• One automatic pledge is to get additional people to join!

The ways in which you can make a difference are clearly numerous, but obvious ones include...

• Volunteer at your local school or hospital
• Work in your local soup kitchen
• Go and see your elderly neighbour in the heat wave/cold snap to check they’re ok
• Take on a pledge to raise money doing something that is really challenging
• Write a letter to your MP about a cause close to your heart
• Join a local volunteer group
• Group together for a spectacular pledge!
• Get more people to join Kill the Dragon to make even more difference

So, that’s the vision. How it will work is still up for discussion, but I’m thinking combination of website, blog and Facebook at least initially. Do expect things to change!

Ok, my pledges

• I will get this thing up and running to provide a forum to people to make pledges by the end of August 2010
• I will do my best to get 100 people to make a pledge by Christmas 2010
• I will do LEJOG before I am 40 to raise both awareness and funds for Bliss.

This is your call to action. Make a difference. Kill that dragon.

There will be a forum for discussion, making pledges etc ASAP but in the meantime, do please leave a comment with your thoughts. Thanks!