The last week has brought home the reality of what an epic run the 1800+ mile trans-Europe dream has become. What started as a whimsical idea whilst having a cup of tea, has now turned into a real, exciting, and (in case you were wondering) scary challenge. 60 miles a day. Every day. For 30 days! That’s a huge and colossal feat for anyone; let alone a bloke with Parkinson’s. It’s the scale of what my co-runner, Dave Clamp, and me are about to attempt that (for me) evokes a blend of all emotions that one can have.

I’d like to discuss these emotions because I believe they directly relate to success. I’ll explain what I mean by that in a short while. However, I’d like to discuss the emotion the most of us would rather not, and that’s fear.

Now, I believe that unless you are completely inhuman, at some point, somewhere, you will be scared. A natural reaction to protect oneself is always a benefit and fear does this. That benefit, though, needs to be tempered with the ability to ignore the fear and reach for a target, probably higher and tougher than you have ever encountered before. This is the way that I feel about my 10MillionMetres campaign.

Honestly, I will be the first to admit that I’m scared. I’m scared of the future in respect my disease,  scared of water through almost drowning when I was five years old, and perhaps other factors of which I am yet to be made aware. But the fear I have only makes me want to push back harder and overcome. I truly believe that triumph against what makes you scared can only bring success. Let me give an example:

Last week I went swimming in open water. The lake was dark and in places cold but my resolve to conquer my fear of water came to the fore and (in my humble opinion) I was swimming like a fish. Suddenly, I got cramp. My leg froze and pain shot from my calf right up the length of my leg, making any movement impossible. My mind raced as I was still 300m from the jetty and safety. The panic set in; a slow wave of emotion building in intensity to become cacophony. Now, had that occurred a month beforehand I would have been in trouble. But in my mind, I was damned if I was going to be beaten by cramp. I told myself that I was not going to drown. I would finish and reach the jetty.

I don’t deny that it was a hard swim and my abilities of ignoring pain and staying in control were severely put to the test. However I did triumph! I made the jetty and swore (a lot). Will I be going back to the lake? Absolutely!

How did this make me feel? Beating my fear allow me to be stronger and more in control. It also gave me access to all those other emotions that are often overshadowed by fear. The happiness in achieving something that, for me, months ago would have been impossible, and the pride in getting a job done!

So turning back to 1800+ miles across Europe, I will take the fear that I have and use it to push myself, further, harder, and beyond what I have done before so that I can achieve the goal that I have set. I can visualise crossing the finishing line at the Circus Maximus with Dave Clamp. I so want to that to be a reality! If I want it hard enough and I can face the fear that I have, and triumph, I will make that reality happen! I am sure that the same goes for Dave.

One thing is true, when we cross that finish line the only emotion that you’ll see will be evidenced by two of the biggest smiles in the world!! Fingers crossed and Keep moving!

The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, so said Robert Burns. Now I’m not sure if Mr Burns was a runner. I know that he was a prolific and celebrated writer who coined the above phrase which in short states that you can plan for everything but the unexpected. Over the last week I’ve learnt that, often than not, this statement by Mr Burns is so true!

As you may or may not know I am preparing to run over 1800 miles across Europe. I hope to do this in 30 days and achieve something that nobody else has done previously; at least not with Parkinson’s. However, like the best of intentions, things don’t always go to plan. At the beginning of last week I was seriously on form. Training was going well. In fact, my training is not what you would think that I would be undertaking in view of the incredible run ahead of me. No, for me training is a mixture of swimming, bike and short runs, with a mixture of weight training thrown in for good measure. These sessions would to build me up to a training weekend (this last weekend to be precise) where I would run 80 miles on the Friday, 40 miles on the Saturday and a final 20 miles on the Sunday. A session of back-to-back runs in preparation for what is yet to come.

However, Monday came and with it I fell ill with a virus. This thing knocked me for six and I spent the best part of last week getting over it and getting better. It’s left me feeling slightly like the wind has been knocked out of my sails. But if you know me, that only makes me more determined to make up for lost time and get myself ready. After discussing the issue with my co-runner Dave Clamp (World Deca-Ironman competitor and former team GB triathlete) and other Ultra runners, the thinking now is not about fitness (which I will work on in any event) but more about avoiding injury, staying well, and being rested. As a result, instead of doing massive mileage prior to the race, I’m going to run to work and back three times a week (60 miles in total), bike to work and back twice a week (40 miles in total) and run a 30 mile Trail run on the weekend. I aim to intersperse these sessions with circuit training and swimming, whilst reducing the 30 mile run by 10 miles per week.

So what have I learned? I know understand the value of rest. As they say, it’s the most important part of one’s training. I also have taken on board the realisation that as much as you plan there’s always something that can throw your best plans into disarray. I need to factor this into my mentality when approaching my 1800 mile run. I will do everything in my power to realise my thirty-day target. However, the flexibility in approach that I have utilised to continue my training with only three weeks and five days left until I start the run is something that I need to remember if the timeline steps out; Also, to remain optimistic and positive whilst keeping an open mind will be a must.

In short, notwithstanding the virus, I’m back on track! Keep moving!!

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1800+ miles in 30 days for 10 Million Metre Man.

Alex Flynn is a man on a mission.  The 39 year old Lawyer from Oxfordshire, UK, is determined to run, walk, crawl, swim and, or cycle 10 million metres to raise £1 million for The Cure Parkinson’s Trust.

Between 10^th June and the 9^th July 2011, Alex and co-runner Dave Clamp (Deca-Ironman and former Team GB triathlete) will run more than 1800 miles across Europe, from London to Rome (including traversing the Alps) in 30 days.   The equivalent of more than two marathons a day. Every day!!

Over the course of the next 3 years, Alex will be undertaking this mission, metre by metre, step by step, stroke by stroke.  This is a huge quest for anyone, but more so for Alex as he is doing all this whilst continuing to battle, on a daily basis, the effects of the degenerative neurological condition that is Parkinson’s disease on his own body.

Alex has already completed 1,149,728 metres of incredibly difficult and tough races during his 10MillionMetres mission. He has become the first Parkinson’s sufferer to complete the Marathon des Sables and undertaking races that would daunt the average person, Alex has many more great and epic races yet to come, including the forthcoming Challenge Henley Ironman distance Triathlon and also the South African Otter Trail in September among others.

Raising awareness of Young Onset Parkinson’s disease, Alex has previously run with Dave across the Bavarian Alps in the Europe135 and more recently undertaking the Thames Trot 50 mile race; Dave helping Alex to cross the finish line in just over 10.5 hours.  Last November, Dave competed in the World Deca-Ironman Challenge (38km swim, 1800km bike and 422km run) in Monterrey Mexico; coming a close second and is looking forward to a further Deca-Ironman championship later this year

Alex says “This is going to be the hardest and toughest challenge yet in my quest to reach 10MillionMetres and raise £1Million for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust. I am determined to achieve this extraordinary distance notwithstanding my disease and am really excited at the prospect of undertaking this challenge with Dave.  He’s a great athlete.  I am hugely grateful for his support and for his commitment to my 10MillionMetre campaign and also for the support and assistance of the deVere Group, whose involvement has been instrumental in realising the enormous forthcoming challenge of Trans-Europe.”

Dave says, “Alex and I inspire and motivate each other in equal measure and share the same passion to raise awareness of Parkinson’s disease by taking on such extraordinary challenges to achieve the target of £1 Million towards Parkinson’s disease research and possibly a cure.”

For more information on Dave Clamp please visit www.daveclamp.com

For more information on Alex Flynn and his 10MillionMetre campaign please visit: www.alexflynn.co.uk

For more information on the deVere Group, please visit: www.devere-group.com

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Best made plans…I’m sure you know the rest. Today was an exercise in restraint. I want to tell the world and shout it loud that I’m running a truly epic distance! 1836 miles across Europe with Dave Clamp. However, I’ll have to wait as a certain wedding has happened and the media have that in mind for milking, and rightly so. It was a beautiful wedding and congratulations to the happy couple!!! So for the first tine in a long while I’m being patient when I certainly don’t want to. Not like me at all!! Thinking about it, I’ve always been slightly impatient. Particularly when I was younger and the bribe or gift in return for my good behaviour was chocolate! I’ve always got time for chocolate! That said, some would lose that sense of urgency, but it hasn’t left me; even though I’m fast approaching 40 and also that the chocolate has been replaced, instead, by the need to run across Europe, raise £1million and find a cure.

So, this morning I went back to the lake. The water was cold and made me feel wide awake. Alive! However, lack of meds (didn’t take enough) put paid to getting further than I did, but I was ok. That’s actually a good thing as I didn’t panic but was, instead, thinking more about getting my swim straight. It was top to have seen Cerri, Dom, Kevin and also Russ. Added to that the arrival of Clive, and everyone was there! If you’ve not checked out the Tri20 swim centre near Reading, you really should! Still debating the impact/non-impact balance before the run….will keep you posted.

In contrast to the swim, I spent  a  great afternoon with my family at the CPT Bluebell Picnic! Aurelie and I sat in the sunshine while our two fought other boys over control of the island in the lake! I truly wonder where they get their competitive streak from? Leaning back and looking at the sky, I realised that to achieve the 10 million metre mark, I’m really going to have dig deep for the 1836 mile Trans-Europe! I hope you find the thing that will motivate you to change your life. For some it will take courage to make that decision. For others, they may not have the option and it will take courage to accept that change.  For me I welcome it. As I always say… Make change happen!!