Everesting Swains
You cycled up and down a hill for 19 hours?
The 6 weeks preceding the Everesting challenge was the most rigorous training block I’d been through. A combination of 12.5 hours / week average saddle time along with 10 hours / week gardening (digging, carrying rubble bags, manual tampering etc) to build the core, pushed my body to its limit. As I’m writing this blog 10 days after the challenge on a coach to Dubrovnik I have been plagued by an underlying sense of fatigue that I’ve struggled to shake off. The past 6 weeks have been tough and my body is letting me know.
To maintain some perspective - Everesting isn’t the toughest ultraendurance challenge around. Some have completed the challenge in 7 -10 hours, others have completed a double Everest, then there are the challenges we only dream of - Marathon de Sables, Transcontinental, 100 mile run. However, for me this was a monumental feat, one that stretched me and left me quietly proud.
Although I had the fitness to complete the challenge in previous attempts, I'd failed at the first hurdle - after the first hill rep session when I understood how ridiculous this ordeal was. To complete an Everesting you really have to want it deeply and in previous attempts I only “kind of” wanted it but this time there was a deep sense of purpose and a desire to finish something that had been a distant dream for some time. I spent a big proponent of the 6 weeks developing the mindset and as the event approached, not finishing just wasn’t an option. Like the folks at Hells 100 say, you need to visit a dark place and be comfortable there.
I am proud I completed a challenge that was once a distant vision and will now spend some time reevaluating and setting a new challenge. Below I have compiled a detailed overview of how I completed the challenge. I sincerely hope people from our community undertake similar feats so that we can surpass them and develop a community of fierce athletes, ultimately paving the way for future generations from ethnic minority backgrounds to be recognised regionally, nationally and globally.
Feel free to ping me if you want a chat, I’m not in most of the BoB chat groups but just ask around for my details.
For those who’ve never heard of the Everesting challenge, check it out: https://everesting.cc
Challenges I faced
People dropping out don't let this demoralise you instead expect it. Its a huge commitment and friends shouldn’t feel obliged to do it. I would suggest not asking for a reason for dropping out, to help relieve the pressure.
Fitting in 12-16 hours of saddle time/week + core work alongside other commitments. Getting your closest people (wife/family) on board with the challenge so they support you when you don’t have the time/energy on some evenings.
Recognise early when your doing too much training / becoming mentally tired with the challenge, take a break. Being 80% fit is better than being mentally/physically overtrained.
Plan your recovery and post event focus. Having focused on one objective for a few weeks, you’ll need to find an outlet. I didn’t and was fatigued for over 10 days.
Wear a white thin jersey to avoid overheating - Image below (taken at 8am) shows my heart rate at 172 bpm(threshold) at a lap watt of 183 watts (endurance). Heart rate came down after taking my black BoB jersey off and putting on the white RoS jersey. I also made the call to take off my helmet and gloves as the challenge was in jeopardy with the heat.