We can only hope endurance is a disease and we catch it (even in a mild dose) from Arthur Puckrin!

I received a phone call from Arthur Puckrin tonight. For those of you who don't know (and where the hell have you been then?), Arthur is the god amongst men, who at 72 years old completed one of the hardest endurance challenges known to man (and a few Titans have failed as well), 'The World DOUBLE Decca Biathlon". This is nothing more than a 48mile swim and a . . . . . . .2240 mile bike ride, (I feel ill!).

Arthur ringing was like Superman turning up to a woman hanging off the side of a building by one arm - we are no longer shrieking with fear at the prospect of our two major endurance challenges, we are in good hands.

I had a million questions for Arthur who was more than happy to impart his knowledge and experience for both our bike and run projects. He is happy to be at the end of the batphone on standby for training and technique emergencies.

Over the course of our short but totally mind blowing conversation, he filled my head with loads of good ideas, things to watch out for, things I never even considered and amazed me with his willingness to support a bunch of strangers, once again in the name of such a great cause.

I will post a list of his main bits of advice, but food for thought; feet can swell so much that we may need to consider cutting the ends off a pair of trainers for the latter stages, Achilles tendons cannot really be trained but must be really protected on such long runs and any twinge must result in dead stod and walk for a while, the intensity of the run will allow for a wider range of nutrition including decent meals throughout, knees need to be protected and may need strapping up from the outset, and . . . . .it may not be necessary to train any more than 14 miles in any one session, but consider the endurance of time by completing up to 3 or four medium length sessions in one day, broke up with other activities.

I am inspired by our conversation and Arthur said we can contact him at any time for advice AND he is willing to get involved in a more active way as we get closer to our challenges and will be a guest of honour at the charity night when we complete our bike challenge, maybe giving out raffle prizes or making a short speech. 

Here's to Arthur Puckrin for taking HET seriously and making me feel like we are a proper team. Lets do this lads!