1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,520 So last year I attempted to run and draw the world's largest GPS 2 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:07,160 drawing of a cock and balls, a 72 mile manhood masterpiece. 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,400 I not only did it to raise £1000 for the mental charity Movember, 4 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:12,680 but quite frankly, I'd let myself go. 5 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:15,760 I was all out of shape and I wanted to reclaim my edge and 6 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:18,200 get myself back into shape. So welcome to the Rockmore 7 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,800 podcast and in this episode I'm going to share exactly how I 8 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:22,920 took on the hardest challenge of my life. 9 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:25,040 The training routine that I undertook to take on this 10 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,000 challenge. Whether I lost the weight and 11 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,640 got myself back into shape. Whether I hit my fundraising 12 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,560 target it and whether I actually managed to achieve and set a 13 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,320 world record for the largest GPS drawing of a deck. 14 00:00:35,320 --> 00:01:01,320 So let's dive into it. My first big problem was I was 15 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,400 completely out of shape. After having two young kids in 16 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:06,800 the last four years, I pretty much let myself go. 17 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:08,760 I'd put on weight. I wasn't sticking to my 18 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:10,240 training. I was really unfair. 19 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,920 I was probably in the worst condition that I'd been in in 20 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,920 the last 10 years. I was tipping over 100 21 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,480 kilograms. I needed to lose about a stone 22 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,560 and a half to get back to any sort of normality. 23 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,280 But being out of shape had an effect on how I felt about 24 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:25,000 myself. I was lacking confidence. 25 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,320 I didn't sort of feel myself and it was very important that I got 26 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:30,920 myself back into shape and one of the major things I was 27 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,880 lacking is motivation and I knew that I needed a challenge. 28 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,960 Every time I've got myself into situations like that, challenges 29 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:42,000 are what pulled me out. It's having a focus, it's having 30 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:46,600 something exciting and massive to sort of attack and achieve. 31 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,360 Getting fit, getting stronger isn't enough of a motivation. 32 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,280 I had to achieve something. We are creatures of aim. 33 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:56,960 At the end of the day. A whole dopamine system within 34 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:01,440 us is set up for achievement and the pursuit of goals and goals 35 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,200 and goal setting and targets have already always been a 36 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:06,760 massive influence on me in turning things around. 37 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,320 So I knew I needed a target and one that excited me. 38 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:13,120 I also knew I wanted to do it for charity. 39 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,320 I wanted to tie in doing it for a good cause, something 40 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,920 important to me to give me that extra level of motivation. 41 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:22,880 Doing a challenge that is bigger than just myself. 42 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:24,760 Doing it for other people as well. 43 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,360 And men's health, and more specifically men's mental health 44 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,320 has always been an important topic for me and that's why I 45 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,080 chose the charity Movember. Now obviously if I want to 46 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,280 ignite those motivational fires and also raise £1000 for 47 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:41,800 Movember, I needed a challenge that was big attention grabbing 48 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,320 and exciting. Now I knew I wasn't the fittest. 49 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,160 I was never going to be the fittest or the strongest or the 50 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,480 most mental resilient. I'm not an elite athlete so I 51 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:54,280 can't compete with these challenges on world's stages 52 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,640 like like Ross Edgeley or Ross Cook. 53 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:59,960 So I use some blue ocean strategy thinking in order to 54 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:02,600 force sort of find my niche. And this is where you sort of 55 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,240 look at your strengths and where you can stand out. 56 00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:11,840 And I thought, well, why don't I do GPS art and why don't I do a 57 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,480 world record for GPS art? I thought, well, what could I 58 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:17,840 do? And tying in with the Men's 59 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,600 Health charity in Movember, I thought what do men find 60 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,280 hilarious? Massive cock and balls. 61 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,840 So I decided there and then I wanted to do the world's biggest 62 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:31,600 GPS drawing of a cock and balls, which led me on to applying to 63 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:33,800 Guinness for my world record attempt. 64 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,560 I wanted it to be recognized. So I filled out their 65 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:40,120 application form, filled in all the bits, said what I wanted to 66 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:44,000 achieve, massive cock and balls. And my application came back 67 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:46,760 denied. They didn't want to do it. 68 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,120 I would sort of stumbled and fell at the first hurdle. 69 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:51,600 They weren't going to recognise it. 70 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,640 They just weren't interested. God knows why. 71 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,480 Who wouldn't love that? But then I got thinking and I 72 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:01,200 was like, I don't need Guinness. Guinness are just a company. 73 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:05,560 They don't own world records. They're just a company, just 74 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,400 like any other business out there, built to make money. 75 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,680 When you're a brand or a business and you're looking to 76 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,040 do a world record, save for exposure and promotion of that 77 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:21,120 business, they can charge up to £10,000 for the privilege of 78 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,760 doing that world record. You don't even have to get it 79 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:25,360 that, it's just for the privilege. 80 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:27,800 So I was like, screw them, they're just a company like 81 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,120 anyone else. As I said, they don't own world 82 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,320 records. So I decided to do it off my own 83 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,000 back. So I did my due diligence and I 84 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,960 scoured high and low on the Internet trying to find out what 85 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,360 was the biggest GPS drawing of a cock and ball on foot in a 86 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,360 single continuous effort. My web search history was very 87 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:45,880 interesting that week and I couldn't find anything over just 88 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,120 a few miles, 5-6 miles, something like that. 89 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,120 So I was confident that the record didn't exist. 90 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,160 I could actually go out there and set this and as long as I 91 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,480 got the publicity and the exposure, I would then cement my 92 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,640 place as the person who with the world's largest GPS tick. 93 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,120 And by the way, this episode is probably going to be laden with 94 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,400 Dick puns, so we'll turn it into a bit of a drinking game. 95 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,800 If you hear a Dick pun, you just got to do 2 fingers of your pint 96 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,360 or bleach. And the next hurdle I had to 97 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:14,600 overcome was had to find my cock shaped root. 98 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:16,640 Now first I had to know how big it was going to be. 99 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:21,200 Now five years previous I'd done a 50 mile ultra marathon 100 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:22,840 challenge. That was the biggest distance 101 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:24,960 I'd ever done and that almost broke me. 102 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,240 The last five miles I'd have to basically drag myself across 103 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:30,320 that finish line. Now being in the worst shape of 104 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,360 fitness I've ever been in my life, I knew I probably wanted 105 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:35,600 around that distance or maybe slightly less. 106 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,840 So I went out searching on the maps to try and find this cock 107 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:40,920 shaped route. It's very easy to find cock 108 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,200 shaped routes when you're looking on the micro, when 109 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:44,600 you're looking at little streets. 110 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:49,360 Streets lend itself quite well to shafts, balls, helmets, 111 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:51,440 whatever it is. But when you're zooming out, 112 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,400 when you're looking for a 50 mile route, when you're looking 113 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,280 on the macro, it gets harder. 2 fingers. 114 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:00,720 And the most difficult part was finding 2 parallel lines that 115 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,960 run long enough parallel to each other to create that penis 116 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,800 shaft. And thankfully I managed to find 117 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,120 one, but it was in the Brecon Beacon Mountains, full of 118 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:12,200 elevation. And I followed these paths up 119 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:14,320 and I was like, brilliant, that's my shaft. 120 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,200 I was like, can I take a helmet on the top here? 121 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:18,840 I was like, yeah, got a little bell end. 122 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:21,080 Can I take 2 balls on at the bottom? 123 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:23,280 I was like, yeah, there's 2 balls. 124 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,000 I was like, fantastic. I found my route, we're back on. 125 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:33,160 But then I saw the distance. It was 72 miles, which was 50% 126 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,360 increase on my previous challenge. 127 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,280 And don't forget, I'm a lot less fit now. 128 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,760 And also there was 10,000 feet of elevation gain. 129 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,240 It's almost the same distance, a base camp to the peak of 130 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:46,400 Everest. But I thought that's it, that's 131 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:48,360 got to be it. I've got to do it. 132 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,520 If it's not going to push me out my side of my comfort zone, if 133 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:53,680 it's not going to push my limits, if it's not going to be 134 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,000 hard, then it's not going to be a challenge. 135 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,640 So I thought, we're just going to have to do this. 136 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,920 So I set my announcement, I put my social posts out, I put my 137 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:03,920 stake in the ground and it was on. 138 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:08,600 So then I started my training and the first week of training I 139 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:12,560 was dog shit. I couldn't believe how unfit I 140 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:14,560 was. I only tried a few little runs 141 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,000 on that first week and I was dying after every run, 142 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,400 struggling on every run, and it was starting to dawn on me how 143 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:23,360 hard this was going to be. But I kept at it. 144 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:28,040 I kept training, I kept putting the time in, and after four 145 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:33,040 weeks, I still felt like death. I was honestly starting to 146 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,440 think, what the hell have I signed myself up for? 147 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,720 I couldn't do any more than like 6 miles on my long runs. 148 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,000 But after six weeks, that was the turning point. 149 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:43,720 That's when things started to click. 150 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,640 I started to feel stronger. I started to feel fitter. 151 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:49,600 The endurance runs started to increase with the distance 152 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,720 things were starting to work. Last lesson here is things take 153 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:54,920 time. You've got to allow yourself 154 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,280 that time to get fit again and trust the process Essentially. 155 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:02,040 Things did start to click. My next problem though, was when 156 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,040 we got to the halfway stage. The latter stage of this 157 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,560 training plan, the endurance runs on the weekends started to 158 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,960 increase by an hour or two every single week. 159 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:16,520 Getting up to the point where I was doing 10 hour training runs. 160 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:19,960 That means getting up in the morning, putting your shoes on, 161 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,840 hitting the tarmac, and then coming back at bedtime, having a 162 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,680 shower and jumping into bed. Finding that time was difficult, 163 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,360 but luckily I had a very understanding wife that would 164 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,080 allow me to go out on these weekends, not be at home with 165 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,280 the wife, not be at home with the kids, which was quite lovely 166 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,440 to have the break to be honest. But she's very understanding and 167 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,000 she let me go out and do it. And that's one of the hardest 168 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,080 parts of doing these challenges or doing training to get fit is 169 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,600 finding the bloody time. We've all got life 170 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,760 responsibilities, whether it's the wife, the job, the kids, the 171 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:52,640 dog, the goldfish. Finding time to get stuff in it 172 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,120 can be difficult, but what I utilized was just times where I 173 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,760 went in demand. And what I mean by that is when 174 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,040 people aren't relying on you. So it would be the mornings 175 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,240 before anyone got up. It would be my lunch break. 176 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,560 When I had my designated time, it would be my commute home. 177 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,080 Because when you're home, when you're in work, when the kids 178 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:13,000 are around, you're going to have those. 179 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,120 Can you help me with this? Can you help me with that? 180 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:16,680 You're going to be in demand sometimes. 181 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:19,640 Can scupper your training plans. So I just utilized that time 182 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,040 where I wasn't in demand. And by the end of the form of 183 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:26,280 training plan, I started to feel fitter, stronger, happier, and I 184 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,560 managed to shift the weight that I'd aimed to do, 10 kilograms in 185 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:32,640 all. I'd managed to get that part 186 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:34,400 sorted. It was whether I could actually 187 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,240 do the record now and raise the money. 188 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,400 And if you want to see the exact training plan I did to do this 189 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:40,360 challenge, then there's a link in the description below. 190 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,000 But as the challenge approached, this is where things started to 191 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:44,480 go wrong. Most of the people that said 192 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,160 that they were going to come out and support me started to cancel 193 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,480 last minute. And I don't blame them, I 194 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,480 understand, you know, the people have got lives, people have got 195 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:54,880 things going on. And at the end of the day, who 196 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,720 wants to spend their Saturday going out running in the pitch 197 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:01,160 darkness in the Brecon Beacon? But I relied on this port. 198 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:03,440 I needed this support to get me through. 199 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:05,960 You can't tackle challenges like this on your own. 200 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:08,080 You need a supportive team around you. 201 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:10,960 And also all the promotion I was doing for the challenge just 202 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:12,880 wasn't hitting. It wasn't sticking. 203 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,040 My posts were getting barely any views and by the time I started 204 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:20,000 the challenge I only had about £200 raised for Movember, way 205 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,960 off my 1000 LB target. However, I still have my core of 206 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,920 supporters. I have my friend Robin, Dave, 207 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:30,840 Harry, my brother Fred and my mum and dad who said they would 208 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,880 support me on the run to get it done and I thought that was 209 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,440 enough. That bare bones crew is going to 210 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:38,760 be enough and I'm going to be able to do it and get it done. 211 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,920 It just meant that I had someone running with me at all times to 212 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:44,920 lend that support and I had people at checkpoints to give me 213 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:47,160 the nutrition and the hydration to get me through. 214 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,160 This was going to be 72 hours. It's going to practically be a 215 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,320 24 hour challenge after all and the hardest thing I've ever 216 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,000 bloody done. So at 5:00 PM from Abergaven, I 217 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,120 started the challenge. The sun was just going down. 218 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:03,680 It was started in pitch black and for the 1st 22 miles of that 219 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:08,120 challenge to the first checkpoint, it was all uphill. 220 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:13,400 I had not anticipated that at all and it wrecked me. 221 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:17,320 I was a broken beaten man by the time I got to my first 222 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,440 checkpoint and I was honestly wondering what the hell have I 223 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,720 got myself signed up for here. And when I left that checkpoint 224 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:26,360 I honestly did not know whoever I'm going to be able to 225 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,280 continue. I honestly didn't know if I'd be 226 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:32,520 able to get it done. I had 9 hours of running more to 227 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:34,520 go only until the next checkpoint. 228 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,720 I still have 50 miles to actually get to the end and 229 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,920 achieve the target, but quitting wasn't an option. 230 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:44,080 Although I really bloody wanted to in that moment, it just 231 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,040 wasn't an option. I'd made too much noise about 232 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,920 the challenge and sometimes that is the best thing you can do, 233 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:51,680 tell other people that you're going to do it and that puts a 234 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:54,040 pressure on you to actually get out and get it done. 235 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,320 So I just put 1 foot in front of the other and just kept marching 236 00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:58,760 on. Now, the Brecon Beacons may 237 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,680 sound like a lovely place to go and do this challenge, but for 238 00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:04,560 the 1st 12 hours it was in pitch darkness. 239 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:06,240 This is November the 1st after all. 240 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:07,880 This is like the middle of autumn. 241 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,360 There's barely any sunlight. For the 1st 12 hours pitch 242 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:13,640 darkness. The landscape was barren, 243 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:16,760 desolate, depressing. Kept getting lost. 244 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,520 I couldn't see more than a meter in front of me, even with my 245 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:21,240 little head torch because of the fog. 246 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:23,640 Kept going off route. And obviously with a challenge 247 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,400 like this, staying on route is so integral to what you're 248 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,560 trying to achieve. But I just have to take it slow, 249 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:32,560 take each couple of meters at a time, keep checking my watch, 250 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:35,480 keep checking the GPS tracker, making sure we're on route. 251 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:38,520 At one point we even lost my brother as he headed back to the 252 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,560 checkpoint. He rang me saying I can't see 253 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:42,720 where I am. At that point. 254 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,000 I honestly thought that the challenge might actually end 255 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,400 there, because we can't leave someone out on the mountains, 256 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:51,080 not knowing where they are in this bloody horrible landscape 257 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,480 in the pitch black and fog. But thankfully he managed to get 258 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:58,320 his GPS working on his phone and plot his own route to take him 259 00:12:58,320 --> 00:12:59,440 back. But that is one of the last 260 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,000 things you need in a moment like that, when you're barely hanging 261 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:04,400 on yourself and then you've got to go and help someone else. 262 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,080 Which of course, of course, I would have done if needed, even 263 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:08,760 if it was my brother. And about halfway through the 264 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,720 challenge, having gone through the night, having not slept 265 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,520 after going for about 12-15 hours, started to get little 266 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:19,160 hallucinations that we're not sort of, we're not talking mad 267 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,360 colours or beasts coming out from everywhere. 268 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:24,520 You start to see things in the bushes and the trees, shapes 269 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:26,880 people, but they're, they're actually not there. 270 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:29,480 At one point I thought a pair of headlights were coming from 271 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:31,640 behind us and we were going to get run over by a car. 272 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:34,360 I said to Robin. I was like, get out of the way, 273 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:36,600 there's a car, come in, there's nothing there. 274 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:39,640 Your mind just starts to play tricks on you and you've just 275 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,960 got to sort of accept that, let it happen, but know that it's 276 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:45,240 not real and they're only fleeting. 277 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,680 But thankfully it didn't get any worse. 278 00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:50,080 Now, what also helped me get through this monstrous task was 279 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:52,560 energy gels, but not in the nutritional way that you might 280 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:55,000 think. Because when you think of a 72 281 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,640 mile run, fifty mile run, 30 mile run is big enough to 282 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:00,680 intimidate you. It's big enough to crush you. 283 00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:04,080 But what I did is I have an energy gel every 45 minutes. 284 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,120 And this broke up the monster down into achievable chunks. 285 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,040 Could I run the next 50 miles? Probably not. 286 00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:16,560 Could I run 45 minutes? Yes, O each gel became a little 287 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:20,000 checkpoint inside my head, a little sweet treat to keep me 288 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,880 going at all times and that helped see me out through the 289 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:25,480 long depressing moments. And as we got to the point with 290 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:29,200 five miles just to go, that is when my knee locked out and I 291 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,360 couldn't bend my bloody knee. It brought me down to a walking 292 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:34,120 pace, but we were so close to the end. 293 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,040 That was not going to stop me. I was going to drag my ass all 294 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:38,360 the way to the end of that point. 295 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:42,320 And eventually, once we returned back to Abergavenny, I crossed 296 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,400 that finish line and set the record for the world's largest 297 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:48,960 GPS drawing of a cock and balls. And almost instantly when I 298 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:50,920 crossed that finish line, the press started. 299 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,360 Get in touch. They picked up on the challenge. 300 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:57,440 It was featured in the BBC, the Metro, the Guardian, the Daily 301 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:00,440 Mail, the New York Post. It went worldwide. 302 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:02,840 I honestly did not expect it to go that far. 303 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,680 My social posts actually started to click and stick and go viral. 304 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:10,000 I was getting over 1,000,000 views on some of the posts and 305 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:13,560 with this extra exposure the donation started to come in as 306 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,200 well. I blew my 1000 LB target out of 307 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:20,320 the water and we ended up raising over £10,000. 308 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,680 Honestly could not believe it. I was actually the second 309 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:27,480 biggest individual fundraiser for Movember that year and even 310 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,160 even though it was one of the hardest challenges I'd ever 311 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:34,640 taken on in my life, it was the most meaningful and fulfilling, 312 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,320 especially as I got myself back into shape. 313 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:41,560 Absolutely slaughtered my 1000 LB target raising £10,000 for 314 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:43,600 November. And I hopefully prove to people 315 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,000 that when you're suffering the strain of life, when you're 316 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,640 lacking a purpose, direction, the challenges are the best way 317 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:52,560 to get yourself out of that hole. 318 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,600 Give yourself a foundation for living, something to aim for, 319 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:59,600 but not only to improve your health and your fitness, but 320 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:01,960 also sort of your mental well-being as well. 321 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,200 Now, obviously, I couldn't have done this challenge without a 322 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,920 proper running plan. To go from zero fitness to 323 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:12,200 taking on world records 72 mile ultra runs, you need a proper 324 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:13,520 plan. And if you want to see the exact 325 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:15,880 running plan that I used to get myself back into shape, you can 326 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,280 just download it directly with the link in the description 327 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:19,600 below. Thanks for watching the Rockman 328 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,040 Podcast and we'll catch up again soon. 329 00:17:17,589 --> 00:17:17,670 The.