63 at 63 – not always about the summit – believe you can

morning dear blog reader,

when my surgeon finished my second hip replacement he suggested the only thing i didn’t do was run marathons.

to this day i have never run in a marathon race.

however, this picture was how i spent my 52nd birthday, running ‘race to the stones’ ultramarathon.

why running?

it was cheap, and i had just arrived home from an unsuccessful trip to nepal, attempting to climb mount everest, and was now very skint.

the trip had taught me that things don’t always go to plan, and it’s not always about the summit.

it changed my life, and i love the learnings i returned home with.

race to the stones was a 100 kilometre race, that’s 63 miles in old money, which is a long way to drive, let alone run.

but run it we did.

and it taught me more about training, fuelling the body, hydration, pacing, and the power of the mind.

tomorrow is my 63rd birthday, and fate has decreed that i will be on the start line of race to the stones again.

why?

to see what can do, eleven years on, with parkinson’s, which, with even with the greatest positivity, is a physical hindrance, and this year my training has been awful.

however, the mind is a powerful tool, so let’s see what we’ve got.

and as i often say, if you believe you can, or believe you can’t, you’re right.

i believe i can.

and i have a couple of mantras gifted to me.

“show me what is possible!”

and.

“don’t f*****g quit.’

equally inspirational.

so if you read this on the 10th i am currently staying off my feet, in the hottest, weirdest hotel i’ve ever stayed in with zebras everywhere.

i feel like i’m in an episode of the mighty boosh.

so wish me luck.

see you next week for race report.

blue skies, (and 34 degree heat predicted)

jeff

p.s. 63 at 63