I did my first marathon at 25. I started too fast and found it very 1 . Then, seven years ago, when I was 43, I went to a talk by someone who had just done the Sahara Desert 2 . I felt so 3 and pledged (发誓) I would run it, too.
A year later, I completed the 24-hour ultra-marathon in the Namibian desert. I 4 what on earth I could do next. My father, a former soldier, had just died of cancer and I wanted to raise money for a soldiers' charity 5 . There are 66 cities in the UK, so I 6 a challenge — a 50 km marathon in each city, no rest days in between.
On the first day, I ran for around six to seven hours, eating along the way to get more 7 . On day two, I tore my right Achilles tendon (跟腱). I 8 my pace and thought about the soldiers' 9 I was doing the run for. It was nothing compared with some of their injuries.
Then, on day 26, it got worse. I had to 10 through the day, which took almost 11 hours. I kept telling myself I couldn't fail. If I 11 , the pain would have stopped, but I knew I would 12 it for the rest of my life. On May 20, I finished, four days after my 50th birthday.
I have a 13 body now than at any point in my life. Anyone can do this. I'm not superhuman. I'm just 14 , and I have the next thing 15 already.
