Nutritional menagarie that got me through the Brathay 10 marathons in 10 days

A massive thank you to the London Wellbeing Team for all the wonderful advice and nutritional products that it provided during my recent endurance challenge – 10 marathons in 10 days on behalf of Brathay Trust.



Without London Wellbeing’s help, I am sure that I would not have been able to complete the 262 mile challenge.



Throughout my 10 marathons in 10 days it provided unbeatable products that sustained my energy levels. Indeed, I was running faster on day 10 than on day one – a testimony to London Wellbeing! No wonder it now advises many people training for triathlons, marathons, ironman events and mad cap challenges such as the Brathay Trust 10 in 10.



The magical potions that London Wellbeing provided me with are as follows:



PROTEIN SHAKES

One carb and one protein based. The Carb was taken before every race while the protein shake was taken within 40 minutes after each marathon. Both contain RDA food groups.



BEE POLLEN TABLETS

Provided energy levels within 15 to 20 minutes. By taking them throughout my run, they kept my blood sugar levels stable and gave me a super food full of B vitamins and other nutrients which provided a high dosage of mineral/ vitamins. These tablets became so important that one day I forgot them – and insisted that someone retrieve them from my bag and give them to me as I ran on the course!



FREEDOM DRINKING SPORTS GEL

120ml taken on waking up, increased absorption of other nutrients taken. Contains MSM Chondroitin and Glucosamine. Taken with the Argi, it increased my energy levels.



ARGI

Before each marathon I took one scoop of Argi in a pint of water. I also sipped Argi as I ran from water stop to water stop. It increases nitric oxide levels, and in turn increased my performance times and reduced mu recovery times. It lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Argi is endorsed by Nobel Prize Scientist Doctor Ferid Murad who discovered the benefit of nitric oxide on the cardio vascular system. An absolute gem of a product.



HEAT LOTION

Before the race I rubbed it into my leg muscles. It helped my muscle fibres afterwards by reducing swelling. I also used it after each race to reduced stiffness – after the obligatory ice bath!



MSM GEL

An Aloe jelly combined with MSM. I applied it on my joints and Achilles area – and it helped reduce inflammation.



ALOE JELLY

It helped heal wounds- blisters and chafing for example.

Brathay10in10 2012 marathon challenge - thoughts from afar

'Yeah, it's over now, but I can breathe somehow
When it's all worn out, I'd rather go without

You know it's been on my mind
Could you stand right there
Look me straight in the eye and say
That it's over now.'

(Alice in Chains - Over Now)

 

 

IT is nearly a week since I completed the Brathay 10 in 10 marathon challenge in the glorious sunshine of the Lake District and in the welcoming grounds of Brathay Trust, alongside the mesmeric shore line of Windermere.

And what a week it has been. A week full of emotion – tears, laughter, a little pain and a lot of joy.

First of all, I was saddened to learn that Adrian Shandley - my running mate, laughing mate  and roommate – has been told he has a stress fracture of the leg and must wear a pot for the next six weeks. To think this man ran the last three marathons with such a condition is mind boggling.

It demonstrates that a) the Brathay 10 in 10 is a challenge not to be scoffed at and b) Adrian ‘little one’ Shandley is as hard as Southport nails. A hero? A legend? He is the best thing to come out of Southport since Marc Almond and his tainted love.

Morecambe has a statute to Eric Morecambe. Maybe Sefton Council should sanction the construction of a Shandley statue on Southport’s shifting sands although of course it would have to have him wearing a pot on his leg!

Apart from a sore Achilles heel, I seem to have come out of the Brathay 10 in 10 challenge relatively physically unscathed although I have yet to resume running (it could be a while!).

But emotionally, I am like a Blackpool rollercoaster – up one moment, down another. I smile at some of the experiences of the marathon challenge week (for example, 10in10er Lee Boniface tracking me like a slowed down version of an exocet on the last day and then saying I had a really relaxed running style which helped him get around the course ) and then I cry when someone sends me an email of congratulations or a donation via www.justgiving.com/jeff-prestridge. The generosity of some has been extraordinary.

And I suppose that is the one overwhelming thing about post Brathay10in10. I have been simply blown away by the amount of money that has flowed to Brathay Trust via my justgiving page. Blown away. Overwhelmed. Shocked. Humbled. Happily surprised.

To each and every one of you (and I know some have contributed more than once) I say thank you. As I have said before, I will write to you all (writing is in my blood) to thank you. It is the least I can do.  With nearly £69,000 raised, I am getting ever closer to my ambitious target of £100,000. Maybe I won’t get there but I just might surprise myself and the wonderful people that make up Brathay and hit it. All it will take is one generous benefactor.

I will now continue with my confused life and try and become the  good person I strive to be. I know I am a good person at heart. I just need to let it all hang out.

Thanks for reading. Do comment on the Brathay page and give me your thoughts/reaction. Alternatively, email me at jeff.prestridge@hotmail.co.uk or tweet via twitter.com/jeffprestridge.

And if you want to be reminded of the emotion that is the Brathay10in10 I implore you to visit www.cumbrialive.tv/10in10 and watch the video of day 10. It will move you to tears.

This is my last Brathay10in10 blog – unless you ask me for more!

 I will not be doing the Brathay 10 in10 in 2013 (one is enough for anyone despite the heroics of four-timers Foxey and Steve Edwards). But I hope to do the Brathay Windermere marathon where I will cry as 2013 10in10ers complete one of the country’s toughest/best ultra-running challenges.

It’s been a joy writing. It’s been a joy running. Joy uber alles.

The thoughts of a ginga finisher in the Brathay 10in10 challenge: 10 marathons in 10 days

IT is the day after – the day after I managed to hobble over the line and complete my 10^th marathon in 10 days for the wonderful children’s-focused charity that is Brathay Trust.

I have mixed emotions.  On the one hand, I am thrilled to have joined an elite group of people who have taken on this 262 mile battle and conquered it. I surprised myself with my mental strength and my ability to keep on running even when the legs wanted to wander off into the Lakeland bushes and rest awhile among the wild garlic (Ransom).

On the other, I am upset that it is over. Over the past 10 days I have met an extraordinary group of individuals from all walks of life who, like me, have conquered the Brathay10in10. They are all heroes in my eyes – and they will be until I can see, talk and breathe no more.

Could I run another marathon today? Yes! Do I want to? No. I have been told by those close to me that I should not run for 12 days! I will try to observe their running curfew but the Nike Free running shoes are already itching to hit the byways and highways of London.

Over the past 10 days, I have experienced all kinds of emotions.

I have cried both as a result of joy and physical pain (usually because of the marvellous recovery work done by BodyRehab).

I have laughed myself silly - usually as a result of yet another prank performed by the master prankster Adrian Shandley (10in10er) or because of yet another dour put-down by grumpy 10in10er Nick Woodward.

I have smiled as people have shouted support from their cars or from the roadside – or provided me with engine fuel in the form of hot steaming homemade cheese and onion pie (as Nick’s parents did and Nick’s wife ‘BigUn’ did).

I have cried when loved ones have not understood what the Brathay10in10 is all about (it is, unfortunately, an exclusive bubble which outsiders –including loved ones - find difficult to penetrate). I apologise for not understanding that and failing to deal with it.

I have also shed tears of familial pain at the failure of my mother and father to turn up to see me over the finishing line. It is a deep sadness I will take to my grave. Pride? It should be wiped away on occasion.

I have been overcome with the support of work colleagues - Helen (someone described her as my daughter!), Richard, David Budworth (of the Times) and Toby - who gave up a weekend of their crazy lives to wave a flag for me and supply me with champagne at 262 miles!

And to see my sister Joy turn up with her husband Simon (who completed the Brathay marathon on the Sunday) and their handsome son Oscar (a star in the making) will live long with me.

And I have cried at, cried with and cried for Joanna my partner who has struggled with the whole event – both from afar and when she joined me on Saturday night. One unfortunate consequence of the Brathay10in10 is that it tests the strength of the bonds that entwine to make that magic potion called love. Joanna, I love you. The potion is strong.

Ladies and gentlemen, I thank all of you have who have tweeted me with messages of support.

And, of course, I thank everyone who has donated through www.justgiving.com/jeff-prestridge. In the coming weeks, I will thank every single one of you.

My justgiving page will remain open for the next three months and I will get to £100,000. If you have a rich uncle, aunt or you are next day neighbour to Chris Evans/Alan Sugar/Richard Branson/Stephen Hester/Bob Diamond/Crispin Odey/Tony Blair – do let them know about my journey and the magnificent charity that is Brathay Trust.

Auf wiedersehen.

Day Nine: Brathay10in10 challenge: My running mates - all heroes of mine

We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting - till the end -
We are the champions -
We are the champions
No time for losers

MY blog today is dedicated to the 17 men and women who are running the 2012 Brathay 10 in 10 challenge with me. They are all heroes, men and women of steel with big hearts of gold. I salute them all.

They/we are the proverbial champions of Windermere.

In no particular order:

ADRIAN SHANDLEY:  A fun guy who can play cards as well as he can advise people on the attractiveness of ETFs (low cost investment funds). Also, when he’s in the mood, he can’t half shift around the roads of Windermere. A lovely sense of humour, indeed some would say wicked.

NICK WOODWARD: A man who seems to have been hewn from the slate mines of Coniston (but was actually born in Poulton-le-Fylde). Nick is a  brick-house of a man who you would not want to mess with on a Friday night outside the Ambleside kebab house. A man who you would want alongside you in the trenches. He also possesses a special wife – ‘Bigun’ who makes special banana and chocolate chip muffins.

DAVEY GREEN: The heartbeat of the 18 Brathay10in10 runners. However many hours he spends on the road, he is always happy, singing and cracking jokes. And he possesses one of the best backsides in running history. A man with great humour who women adore.

DAVID (FOXY) BAYLEY: A running legend who is about to complete four Brathay10in10s, an outstanding achievement. He’s loud but he has a big heart. Don’t do any more 10in10s!

DIANE SHAW: The woman who keeps Leeds railway station running smoothly. She is also an excellent runner who wears her heart on her sleeve. Many a time have I heard her crying while she has been running. Tough and lovely at the same time.

HOWARD BAILEY: Two hundred marathons down and at least another 300 in him! He’s a running machine who just grinds out the miles. He’s the Mr Reliable of the Brathay10in10 – and would make a wonderful pace setter for the London marathon.

JIM META: My ice bath companion. A top bloke who is doing his second 10in10. He has a fantastic attitude to life – enjoy it while it lasts. He has a super line in thongs, shirts and shorts. One of the stars of the Brathayt10in10 show. A guy who never has a bad word to say about anyone.

KAZ HURRELL: A super runner who sets her stall out from the start and rarely veers off it. Like Howard, she grinds out the miles and her face never flinches. Her reward for grinding out the miles is to have a gin and tonic in the ice bath!

KEITH LUXON: A quiet man who is simply an outstanding runner. Quality, quality.

LEE BONIFACE: A hairdresser who cuts a dashing figure on the race course. Like Keith, a quality runner who has a wry sense of humour. Self-deprecating about his profession.

MATT DUNN: A running legend who possesses three of the most beautiful children that God has ever looked down on. It’s either Matt or Sally to win this challenge. Matt will look 21 when he is 51!

PAUL DEWAR: A quiet innkeeper from Ulverston who takes his running deadly seriously. A stunning pair of legs and a super backside. A fantastic, lean and mean runner who has supplied ale from his inn  to keep us going.

PAUL  FOSTER: How Paul is cranking out such fantastic times is beyond me. His ankles are smashed to smithereens but  he’s getting better every day. If fully fit, he would be challenging both Sally and Matt.

ROBERT DALLISON: A man who has faced the precipice and come back to fight another day. A man with true grit in his soul. He will finish the Brathay10in10 come what way.

STUART PYPER: A man who wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s had an emotional Brathay10in10, veering from the utopia of day one to the misery of day three. But he’s still going strong and will finish. He has the back-up of a wonderful girlfriend (marry her!)

TOKS OGUNDARI: Toks set her stall out from the start – get round the course in one piece, even if it means walking most of the way and stopping off for fish and chips. Another star of the Brathay10in10 show.

SALLY FORD: A running hero. A super runner with a wicked dry sense of humour. Words fail me when it comes to Sally’s prowess as a runner. I think she will win the Brathay10in10 although Matt will run her a close second (I could be wrong).

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! Support us!

Day Eiight: Brathay 10in10 challenge. 8 down, 2 to go. Love is in the air

‘Love is in the air
Everywhere I look around
Love is in the air
Every sight and every sound

And I don't know if I'm being foolish
Don't know if I'm being wise
But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when I look in your eyes

Love is in the air
In the whisper of the trees
Love is in the air
In the thunder of the sea.’

DAY eight of the Brathay 10 marathons in 10 days is drawing to a close. The rain is hammering down outside and the wind is picking up in anger. The forecast, however, is for a good sunny weekend in the southern Lakes – I hope so if only so that the Brathay Windermere marathon on Sunday can be the resounding success it deserves to be.

I must admit I am emotional tonight – although love, I am sure, is in the air.

Little Adrian, my roommate, is tired, battered and injured and gone to bed early to sort himself out. I offered to tuck him in but he refused (an indication that he is not well).  I miss him – he’s a good man with a bubbly, infectious character. Knowing him, Adrian will be sparky tomorrow and run the marathon of a lifetime. I hope so. A happy Adrian is good for everyone. This sour world of ours needs happy Adrians. I have developed a soft spot for him.

I am also slightly tearful because I am reaching the end of my physical reserves. My body is stiffening up day by day – and today I had a pretty gruesome throbbing pain in my right knee which started as soon as I began running. Thankfully, a high dose of nurofen sorted me out. The brilliant physios at Body Rehab tell me that all will be well – but it’s put a little doubt into my mind. I would be devastated if the Prestridge diesel train was derailed on day nine.

A few thank you’s for those who helped me through day eight of the Brathay Challenge – 209.6 miles gone, 52.4 miles to go – and have kept me going throughout the event.

First thank you goes to Rita Samson for returning to the course to hand out jelly babies at mile 10. This welsh legend should have a statute erected in the car park at mile 10 in recognition of her services to Brathay 10in10 runners – ‘the jelly baby queen’. I look forward to her welsh jelly babies tomorrow.

Secondly, a mighty thank you to ‘Big Un’ – wife of the ‘miserable’ Nick Woodward. Nick and I are the two grumpy old men of the 18 10in10ers and we spend most of the time running together and putting the world to rights.

‘Big Un’, a mean runner in her own right, is never far away (apart from when she is going for a pee in the woods) ready to hand out offerings – bananas, chocolate muffins and Jaffa cakes. ‘Big Un’ is one of life’s good people. The fact that she puts up with Nick speaks volumes for her. You would struggle to find two nicer people than Nick and ‘Big Un’ – salt of the earth people who call a spade a spade and can suss people out straightaway. Certainly, when I am in the Lakes running up Loughrigg, I wil hunt them down and take them out for a slap up lunch.

Thirdly, I have to thank Body Rehab for their marvellous healing hands. What a team. What wonderful people. Professional to the core. I am sure that without them I would now be in a crumpled heap somewhere out on the course, undetected to man or lamb.

Fourthly, Aly Knowles and Mac, the Brathay team that make the Brathay10in10 event run like clockwork, have been brilliant. Nothing is too much trouble for them. And God, have they helped me out, finding my phone, searching for my bee pollen (it keep me buzzing throughout the run) and handing me out coffee when I’ve asked for it.

Fifthly, I thank family and friends for keeping me going with their texts – everyone from my Mum (Mum: you better come on Sunday), my sisters (Joy and Pauline), my brother and brother in law (Dave and Simon – the latter is running the Windermere marathon on the Sunday), my boys (Matt, Mark and James), work colleagues (Jo, Stephen, Toby, Richard and Helen) and of course my gorgeous partner Joanna. Indeed I am thrilled that Joanna, Richard, Toby and the wonderful Helen are all trundling up to Windermere to support me on my final day. True friends, true friends for life.

Finally, from the bottom of my heart, I thank all of you who have donated via www.justgiving.com/jeff-prestridge.  Every penny is gratefully received. And I thank all of you who have read my blogs at www.jeffprestridge.blogspot.com  or tweeted via www.twitter.com/jeffprestridge.

Remember: love is in the air! Always will be. Always should be.

Brathay 10in10 challenge - a joyous Friday for the Joy in my life

‘There's a reason for the sun shiny sky
And there's a reason why I'm feelin' so high
Must be the season
When that love light shines all around us
So let that feelin' grab you deep inside
And send you reelin' where your love can't hide
And then go stealin'
Through the summer nights with your lover
Just let your love flow like a mountain stream
And let your love grow with the smallest of dreams
And let your love show
And you'll know what I mean, it's the season
Let your love fly like a bird on the wing
And let your love bind you to all living things
And let your love shine
And you'll know what I mean, that's the reason’
(Bellamy Brothers)

DAY Eight of the Brathay 10in10 challenge has arrived and I am beginning to see the finishing line a little over the horizon. 183.4 miles completed and just another 78.6 painful miles to trundle out. Unless some motorist takes me out or a pot hole consumes me I am going to finish this challenge to end all challenges.

It’s a good morning in the Lake District. The blackbirds are singing. Or as Cat Stevens would say:

Morning has broken, like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird

Praise for the singing, praise for the morning

Praise for the springing fresh from the word

Today, the person I can’t stop thinking about is my younger sister Joy. For a start, she loves the Bellamy Brothers and as spotty teenagers we would listen to them ad infinitum in the downstairs study at home while pretending to do our homework. We would also listen to Cat Stevens, Wings, Wizard and Rod Stewart (Joy’s teenage fantasy).

What I love about Joy is that she lives up to her name. Rarely do you see Joy without a smile on her face and a laugh in her throat. She is one of life’s ebullient people. Put her in a room of strangers and she will have them all smiling within the hour. She’ll talk to anyone and laugh at anything (if she could see the state I am in now, she would laugh out loud).

Joy is happily married to Simon (a top entrepreneur who builds cranes for a living) and she has two wonderful children, Os (a mad Manc) and Sonia (a clever student at Cambridge).

Os and Sonia both take after Joy while possessing a slice of Simon’s intellect (the Bamfords carry more intellect than the Prestridges have combined).

Joy has supported me in the past few difficult months as I have tried to rebuild a life fractured by separation. For that I will love her forever more.

We need more Joy in our lives, people who believe life’s glass is half full as opposed to half empty.

Let’s all have a joyous Friday. I will run the eighth leg of the Brathay 10in10 challenge with Joy creasing my face.

I will tweet all day with Joy – www.twitter.com/jeffprestridge.

And hopefully, this blog will bring a little Joy into your lives – sufficient for you to sponsor the marvellous Brathay Trust via www.justgiving.com/jeff-prestridge.

As the Bellamy Brothers would say: just let your love flow! Just let your joy flow!

Have a joyous day.

Rita - a jelly baby provider who makes the Brathay10in10 the wonderful challenge it is

‘Into the streets, we're coming down
We never sleep, Never get tired
Through urban fields, and suburban life

Turn the crowd up now, We'll never back down
Shoot down a skyline, watch it in primetime
Turn up the love now, listen up now, turn up the love

Who's gonna save the world tonight?
Who's gonna bring you back to life?
We're gonna make it, you and I
We're gonna Save The World tonight’(Swedish House Mafia – Save the World tonight – dedicated to Shavaun Glen)

DAY seven of the Brathay10in10 challenge has gone better than I ever expected. Despite waking up to the bleak sight of Adrian Shandley smiling at me like a demonic cat in search of cream, and feeling as if I had been run over  by a number 9 bus, I ran pretty well.

Although I will never be more than a third-rate Matt Dunn or a fourth- rate Sally Ford (both are ace 10in10ers) I trundled along in a half decent time of 4.35. Amazingly (maybe the clocks had gone back) it was my quickest time so far. It’s incredible what the body can do when taped up expertly by the team at BodyRehab and gently massaged into a state of utopia.

Today’s run was not quite like the other seven – and it was the worse for it. Each day, until today, mile 8 has been one of the highlights of the whole 26.2 mile journey around Windermere. Why? Because there to greet you is Rita Samson, mother of Aly Knowles who has so marvellously organised this event with her loving (and down to earth husband) Mac.

Rita hands out the best jelly babies in the land – they are the best because they are from Wales. And her mere presence provides us all with a lift, especially after the ardour of climbing the hill that dominates mile 7. If you are really polite, she even lets you kiss her although you don’t take liberties with a woman from Treherbert in the Rhondda Valley.

Today, Rita was not there because she had much more important matters on her mind – she wanted to take time out and think of her late husband Bernard who died late last year. You see, it would have been their 54^th wedding anniversary and they were very much in love until Bernard suffered a fatal heart attack. Sometimes life is so bloody cruel.

Bernard, I am sure, would be proud of Rita standing out in the rain, hail and sun handing out jelly babies to 18 deranged runners. I also am sure he would be mighty proud of daughter Aly who is one of life’s givers. Nothing is too much trouble for this spicy woman – whether it’s providing pass codes to get into our sleeping quarters at 11.50 at night (sorry Aly) or hunting down lost mobiles.

And of course, Rita will be back tomorrow with a smile on her face and Welsh jelly babies aplenty. Bless you Rita. You make the Brathay 10in10 the special event it is.

Love to all. If you fancy donating some of your hard earned pay to Brathay feel free to do so via www.justgiving.com/jeff-prestridge.

If you want to catch up on events, visit www.cumbrialive.tv/brathay10in10.

And if you want to send me a tweet, I will always take them – night or day (I will be awake come what may). www.twitter.com/jeffprestridge

God bless.