I, like many "healthy" people, take good health for granted.
At school I was very athletic and participated in a number of sports. After leaving school, I became physically lazy and subconsciously took my health for granted. From the age of 18 to around 32 I did little or no exercise and eat "all the wrong foods".
A little over 3 years ago I decided to make a change - to exercise and eat more healthy foods. This went reasonably well. I went to gym 3 - 5 times a week and avoided "junk and fast foods". I guess my "Why" was to look and feel better. I had no particular timescale or specific goals in mind, rather I would just continue on hoping to improve.
At the end of 2005 I was made redundant and many things in my life changed. For the first time I re-evaluated my life and became looking for some "direction and meaning". I attended a life changing event - Fire Your Desire (known as FYD, hosted by InnerCompass and the marvellous Andy Harrington and his crew) in February 2006, which started me on a new chapter and journey in my life. During the 3 day event I broke through a 1 inch think wooden board with my bare hand (as did almost all the other 400 or so participants), bent a metal bar, which was pushed into my throat and "walked on fire" (25 feet of flaming hot coals). While these were great achievements, they were meant as metaphors to show we can can accomplish so much more than we believe.
Even more life changing for me, was some of the other sessions during the 3 days, which included Alkaline Health Talk and live blood microscopy. I had heard of this through Anthony Robbins and was keen to see if and how this could improve my health and quality of life. I immediately bought the "Supergreens" and booked a live blood microscopy test for myself.
The results of my live blood analysis were startling and certainly gave me an incentive to try the Alkalinarian approach to health. I began drinking Supergreens (http://www.innerlightinc.com/rob) and changed my diet quite radically, cutting out all meat, diary, sugar and most carbohydrates. At first I drank 1 litre of Supergreens a day (and wondered how I could ever manage any more) and that became 2, 3 and ultimately 4 litres a day. The changes weren't that noticeable early on for me, however over the next 3 months I began to notice that I had more consistent energy, my skin was clearer and not as "pasty white" and my bowel movements became far more regular to the point that it would happen around the same time every day!
Not really satisfied with my fitness "program" I came across a book called Slow Burn by Stu Mittleman. This guy had developed a method of training the body to burn fat at a far more relaxed pace than I had ever heard of before and encouraged people to enjoy the process! In my mind this was a revolutionary approach to the question I'm sure most people subconsciously wish for - How can I get fit, burn fat and enjoy the process???
Stu Mittleman had covered 1000 miles in 11 days and put his principles to an even more gruelling test by covering 3000 miles in 56 days! He also relied on the Supergreen products and this set me to thinking whether I could put Supergreens, Stu's principles and my own mental and physical fortitude to the test and attempt something similar, although nowhere near as monumental as his achievements.
I began to consider run/walking the length of the UK, typically referred to as the "UK End-to-End" / "JOGLE - John O'Groats to Lands End" / "LEJOG - Lands End to John O'Groats" tour or challenge.
The shortest and most direct route is around 870 miles and although many people had walked that distance many times, I could not find anyone who had done so in a relatively short period of time (around 2 weeks straight).
So after having a fabulous walk/run this Sunday morning (17 Sept 2006) for a little under 2 hours, I decided to begin considering this challenge more seriously and emailed a gentleman who had covered the distance on foot or a 3 year period asking for advice and a map of the most direct route. I haven't managed to find one on the Internet! I also put in an application the to the Guinness Book of World Records enquiring whether they had or would accept a record for this type of challenge. The application takes 4 - 6 weeks and there is some paperwork to complete.
I intend to produce a training program based on Stu Mittleman's book and I am looking to attempt this challenge beginning on 16 July 2006. I will also apply to enter the London marathon for the first time next year (22 April 2007) as a fun warm up for my challenge. My aim is to complete 60-70 miles a day at a pace of around 4 - 5 miles per hour for 15 hours a day! Bear in mind that Stu Mittleman covered 3000 miles in 56 days and ran for up to 20 hours a day, feeling fit and energised every day, so my attempt does not seem so "far out" in comparison.
The journey begins today...
"It's not the destination, but the journey that shapes us" - Rob Hargreaves
