Hi Blog Followers and welcome to another edition of my weekly blog with Coach Ray’s Qwik Kiwi. Well I’ve done it, ‘Two Challenges’, Job Done! The first one completed was the ‘I Climbed The World’s Seven Tallest Mountains In The Desert’ all on a Jacobs Ladder in the Gym of 194,914 ft. The second one was to ‘Run / Walk 1,000 Km’s’ over a period of time. So how did it go…
You will recall I was writing updates, but now I can say I have completed and been awarded the Finishers T-Shirts by Murph (see feature photo), the Physical Training Instructor (PTI) in this location, having commenced the challenges under the watchful guidance of his predecessor Andi. (Coach Ray in his Army capacity was a PTI).
The ‘I Climbed The World’s Seven Tallest Mountains In The Desert’ all on a Jacobs Ladder in the Gym of 194,914 ft, of which I rounded it up to 200,000 ft (I mean, why wouldn’t you lol).. When I initially started I knew it was going to do my head in. The Jacobs Ladder is like climbing a staircase on a conveyor belt. You strap the waist belt around you which releases a sort of safety break and start climbing. It looked simple enough, but doesn’t take long for the legs to start burning. When I first did it, I would do 1,000 Steps thinking this will take forever, but I’ll finish it in the time frame I am in this location. Of course not being one to sit still for long, I spotted the next challenge of the Run/Walk 1,000 Km’s, so I had to up the anti if I was going to do them both at the same time. A few people do one or the other to keep their fitness goal, I’m probably the only one that tackled both at the same time. So to up the anti, I would eventually build up to 5,000 steps each time. Count 100 Steps glance at the counter to make sure I was on track, when I reached 1,000 steps, a quick break to clear the sweat and have a drink, then into it for another 1,000 steps until I reached 5,000, then back the next day or so for the other challenge, switching back and forth.
So the 1,000 Km Run / Walk Challenge, what can I say. No sooner than I started I picked up an injury, and this one was to take longer to mend than any other injury I have had before, which in the past has normally been calf strains, in fact this injury of over-pronation in my left foot only came right as I finished the 1,000 Km Challenge. So the Physio after hearing me say “Don’t tell me I Can’t do the Challenge, tell me How I Can”. So the plan was devised that I could fast walk on either the road or a treadmill. The Physio’s preference was the treadmill due to the unstable ground outside. Like the Jacobs Ladder, I grew to have a love / hate relationship with the Treadmill. The only time I ran on it, was with clearance from the Physio and that was more to see how it would hold out. It often became two steps forward and one step back, with the injury being slow progress to come right. But now I can run both outside on the paths and inside on the Treadmill (but with caution and with walk breaks). To do the 1,000 Km Challenge, it had to be conducted during a personal Physical Training (PT) Session, i.e. no walking around all day with a Step Counter, and if using a Treadmill, a minimum incline of ‘1%’, then go for it.
When it is over, you have a massive sense of personal achievement, it’s a hell of a long way to go for two T-Shirts, but it’s not something you can buy in a shop, it has to be earnt. A bit like an Ironman, the Finishers T-Shirt and Finishers Towel along with the Finishers Medal is what keeps you going. Speaking of which, with heading home soon, it’s time to look at crazy events, such as Ironman and Ultraman to keep Coach Ray rolling his eyes back with my crazy suggestions. Especially when he knows I have been training in a pool over here a few metres long with bungee chords around my ankles, and get out sweating cause the heat over here has the pool like a hot bath…
Many thanks to the two PTI’s Andi and Murph for their guidance and assistance during these two Challenges (probably having a good laugh at this crazy old bugger lol). Stay tuned team as I continue my journey. Regards John Humphries (Aka Humps, Aka UltraHumps)!
UltraHumps will be writing weekly blogs as he continues his journey raising funds for Charitable causes.
Read Humps article from last week here:
All his previous articles are stored here:
https://www.coachray.nz/category/client-stories/ultra-humps/