Own Your Shit. Advice for aspiring Athletes.

Let me ask you directly—are you truly acting like the athlete you want to become?

How about this question: If I followed you around for one week, how serious would I think you were about achieving your goals?

As an endurance athlete coach, I work with competitors across a spectrum of sports: Triathlon, Obstacle Course Racing, Hyrox, and more. Every single athlete has goals they’re striving toward. For some, it’s claiming an age category win or podium finish. For others, it’s simply completing their A-race with a performance they can be proud of.

What unites these goals? They all demand sacrifice, consistent hard work, and unwavering dedication.

The Gap Between Knowing and Doing

Most athletes have a solid understanding of what achieving their goals requires:

  • Countless training hours
  • Restructuring daily life to make time for training
  • Precision nutrition
  • Early nights and earlier mornings
  • Declining social events that conflict with training
  • Skipping favorite races that don’t align with the big goal

For some, this list seems overwhelming and not worth the effort. That’s why many settle for average performance—or less.

Some athletes hide behind “busy lives” and manufacture excuses to avoid doing what’s truly necessary. Others claim they want success, but their actions never align with their words.

Getting Real With Yourself

Maybe you’re not ready yet. Maybe you like the idea of being an elite athlete but aren’t willing to do what it takes.

I’ve been there. I would declare ambitious goals while:

  • Neglecting proper nutrition
  • Making poor food choices
  • Watching my weight increase without taking action
  • Claiming I was “too busy” to track macros (which takes minutes)
  • Telling myself training sessions alone were enough

I wasn’t truly committed to becoming the athlete I needed to be to reach my goals. Eventually, I shed that mindset and can now honestly say I embody the person required to achieve my ambitions.

The First Step to Endurance Success

Start by getting brutally honest with yourself. Are you genuinely willing and able to do what your goals demand?

This might require a conversation with your endurance coach. You may have the willingness but lack clarity on implementing necessary changes, especially with a seemingly inflexible schedule. Yes, sacrifice is inevitable, but an experienced coach can help minimize disruption while maximizing results.

Is this process difficult? Absolutely. But living behind excuses and never reaching your potential is equally hard. Both paths present challenges—one leads to fulfillment, the other to regret.

Own Your Performance

We’ve all encountered athletes who arrive at the start line with preloaded excuses:

  • “I barely slept last night”
  • “I woke up with this strange pain”
  • “My training got derailed by [insert excuse]”

These prepared justifications give mentally weak competitors an escape route. Their poor performance doesn’t matter because they predicted it and absolved themselves of responsibility.

Don’t be that athlete.

Complete ALL the required work—not just the parts you enjoy—and own your results, good or bad.

Remember one of my favorite mantras: No one cares. Work harder.

Once you commit to a goal as an endurance athlete, go all in and back yourself completely.

Your Next Steps

Ready to stop making excuses and start making progress? Professional endurance athlete coaching might be exactly what you need to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

Whether you’re training for your first marathon or aiming for that triathlon podium, our personalised coaching programs at Different Breed help athletes of all levels maximise their potential through structured, goal-oriented training.

#ActLikeTheAthleteYouWantToBe

  • Why You Have To Fail To Grow
  • Chase Results, Not Pain: The Smarter Approach to Endurance Training
  • Own Your Shit. Advice for aspiring Athletes.
  • The Difference Between Passive and Active Rest & Recovery: What Every Athlete Needs to Know
  • Injuries Are Opportunities: Turning Setbacks into Comebacks
  • Training Stress Score (TSS): The Key Metric Every Endurance Athlete Should Understand
  • Endurance Athlete Recovery: 7 Subtle Body Signals That Predict Burnout
  • Mid-Race GI Distress: Triathlete and Ultrarunner Solutions for Fixing Nutrition Disasters During Events
  • How Endurance Athletes Can Maintain Fitness During High Stress Periods: Training Strategies for Busy Triathletes and Ultrarunners
  • Zone 2 Running: The Ultimate Guide to Building Endurance and Improving Performance for Runners and Triathletes
  • Heat Adaptation: Why Early Spring Heat Training Matters
  • The Identity Shift: Becoming vs. Mimicking an Endurance Athlete
  • Nutrition Month: Real Results Through Balanced Choices
  • The Power of Positive Self-Talk: Rewiring Your Mental Game for Endurance Success
  • Resilience: The Unsung Hero of Endurance Training
  • The Difference Between Good and Great: One Critical Choice
  • “The Overlooked Challenge of Endurance Sports: Handling the Post-Race Blues”
  • The Power of ‘Pause’: Mastering Recovery for Peak Performance.
  • Beyond “Toughing It Out”: Intelligent Training Through Illness
  • Debunking Running Terminology: What You Really Need to Know
  • Be Impressed by intensity, not volume.
  • Mental Muscles: Visualise Your Way to Endurance Supremacy
  • S&C – What does the C actually mean?
  • Rethinking Injury Management:
  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:

    • Golden Rule #5 Extreme Ownership

    Previously I gave a little bit of insight into my Coaching Ethos and Athlete Philosophy and my 5 golden rules.

    I’m diving a little bit deeper in to each one in separate posts. So far I’ve discussed Rule #1 Control the Controllable, #2 Find the Positive, #3 Focus on You and #4 100% Effort.

    Time for the last piece of the Mindset puzzle…

    #5 – Extreme Ownership

    Hands up, this one isn’t mine. I stole it from Jocko Willink, ex Navy Seal.

    If you haven’t heard of him or heard of his theory of Extreme Ownership before do yourself a favour and look it up. He has many YouTube clips, there is a short 13 minute TedxTalk and he has actually published a book called Extreme Ownership and it is 100% worth a read, or a listen.

    In a nutshell Extreme Ownership means having a unwavering “the buck stops here” attitude.

    It means owning your failures and your mistakes. It means never looking for someone else to blame, even if other people did contribute to the situation.

    Why? Because when we own our problems we find solutions. When we take ownership we get shit done.

    Ultimately you are responsible for your life. If you want to be a success, take full responsibility.

    Stop blaming the fact you are tired, you are busy blah blah blah.
    Most people are tired, most people are busy. You aren’t so different, your circumstances arent all that special.
    You are just getting in your own way.

    If it is something worth chasing, find a way to make it happen. It might look a little different to how you thought it would but if it works, it’s working.

    If you want to truly be the best version of you, it’s time to take

    #ExtremeOwnership

  • Why You Have To Fail To Grow
  • Chase Results, Not Pain: The Smarter Approach to Endurance Training
  • Own Your Shit. Advice for aspiring Athletes.
  • The Difference Between Passive and Active Rest & Recovery: What Every Athlete Needs to Know
  • Injuries Are Opportunities: Turning Setbacks into Comebacks
  • Training Stress Score (TSS): The Key Metric Every Endurance Athlete Should Understand
  • Endurance Athlete Recovery: 7 Subtle Body Signals That Predict Burnout
  • Mid-Race GI Distress: Triathlete and Ultrarunner Solutions for Fixing Nutrition Disasters During Events
  • How Endurance Athletes Can Maintain Fitness During High Stress Periods: Training Strategies for Busy Triathletes and Ultrarunners
  • Zone 2 Running: The Ultimate Guide to Building Endurance and Improving Performance for Runners and Triathletes
  • Heat Adaptation: Why Early Spring Heat Training Matters
  • The Identity Shift: Becoming vs. Mimicking an Endurance Athlete
  • Nutrition Month: Real Results Through Balanced Choices
  • The Power of Positive Self-Talk: Rewiring Your Mental Game for Endurance Success
  • Resilience: The Unsung Hero of Endurance Training
  • The Difference Between Good and Great: One Critical Choice
  • “The Overlooked Challenge of Endurance Sports: Handling the Post-Race Blues”
  • The Power of ‘Pause’: Mastering Recovery for Peak Performance.
  • Beyond “Toughing It Out”: Intelligent Training Through Illness
  • Debunking Running Terminology: What You Really Need to Know
  • Be Impressed by intensity, not volume.
  • Mental Muscles: Visualise Your Way to Endurance Supremacy
  • S&C – What does the C actually mean?
  • Rethinking Injury Management:
  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:

    • Golden Rule #2 Find the Positive

    Previously I gave a little bit of insight into my Coaching Ethos and Athlete Philosophy and my 5 golden rules.

    I’m diving a little bit deeper in to each one in separate posts. Last week was Rule #1 Control the Controllable

    This week it’s Rule #2

    Number 2) Find the Positive

    Like the first Golden Rule, this one takes a lot of practice and commitment. You can’t just wake up one day and change your mindset. It takes work.

    Finding the Positive, like Control the Controllable, means embracing the Stoic way of thinking and controlling your reaction to situations.

    As an Endurance Athlete finding the positive is crucial to success.

    You are going to have bad races. You are very likely going to experience a DNF. You are very likely going to get injured at some point.

    Endurance events are tough. You are going to spend a lot of time feeling beaten up and wondering “why the hell am I doing this”  

    How you handle being placed in tough situations, as well as dealing with the lows,  are what is going to make you as an athlete.

    Race DNF – sure it sucks, but what went well.

    Why did you DNF? What can you learn?
    I had a mechanical failure very early on the bike leg at an Ironman, which was my first DNF ever. It was devastating BUT I had a great swim. I took that away with me. Attempt 1 done… live it, learn it… head back for Attempt 2. Yay, I get swim in the gorgeous lake again.

    Injured – yep, its annoying for sure but injuries are opportunities.

    Can you train around it?

    Yes, then let’s go and it might be the chance to work on a new strength or skill!

    No, ok great. Then you now have a bunch of time to devote to developing a different skill that will help you become a better athlete, and a better person.  

    Jocko Wilink, ex Navy Seal, calls his take on this theory ‘“Good”.

    Whatever happens, the response is “Good”

    Didn’t get the promotion you wanted.

    Good. It gives you more time to sharpen your skillset and become better in your current role.

    Can’t afford that fancy piece of equipment you wanted.

    Good. It gives you more time to become a savage using the basic things you have available.

    As I said, this one isn’t easy but it is worth it.

    People love to complain. People love to make excuses… but those people are the  ones content with being average at best.

    If you want to rise up, you will find the positive and say “Good”

    #FindThePositive

  • Why You Have To Fail To Grow
  • Chase Results, Not Pain: The Smarter Approach to Endurance Training
  • Own Your Shit. Advice for aspiring Athletes.
  • The Difference Between Passive and Active Rest & Recovery: What Every Athlete Needs to Know
  • Injuries Are Opportunities: Turning Setbacks into Comebacks
  • Training Stress Score (TSS): The Key Metric Every Endurance Athlete Should Understand
  • Endurance Athlete Recovery: 7 Subtle Body Signals That Predict Burnout
  • Mid-Race GI Distress: Triathlete and Ultrarunner Solutions for Fixing Nutrition Disasters During Events
  • How Endurance Athletes Can Maintain Fitness During High Stress Periods: Training Strategies for Busy Triathletes and Ultrarunners
  • Zone 2 Running: The Ultimate Guide to Building Endurance and Improving Performance for Runners and Triathletes
  • Heat Adaptation: Why Early Spring Heat Training Matters
  • The Identity Shift: Becoming vs. Mimicking an Endurance Athlete
  • Nutrition Month: Real Results Through Balanced Choices
  • The Power of Positive Self-Talk: Rewiring Your Mental Game for Endurance Success
  • Resilience: The Unsung Hero of Endurance Training
  • The Difference Between Good and Great: One Critical Choice
  • “The Overlooked Challenge of Endurance Sports: Handling the Post-Race Blues”
  • The Power of ‘Pause’: Mastering Recovery for Peak Performance.
  • Beyond “Toughing It Out”: Intelligent Training Through Illness
  • Debunking Running Terminology: What You Really Need to Know
  • Be Impressed by intensity, not volume.
  • Mental Muscles: Visualise Your Way to Endurance Supremacy
  • S&C – What does the C actually mean?
  • Rethinking Injury Management:
  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:

    • Golden Rule #1 Control the Controllable

    In a previous blog I gave a little bit of insight into my Coaching Ethos and Athlete Philosophy and my 5 golden rules.

    I’m going to dive a little bit deeper in to each one, starting here with Rule Number 1

    Number 1) Control the Controllable

    Only certain things are within our control. If it isn’t something you have any say over, forget it. Only expend energy on the things that you can directly influence.

    My personal belief system and ethics are shaped by philosophies and teachings of Buddhism and Stoicism.

    At the heart of Stoicism is the understanding that the only thing we can truly control is our reaction to the things that happen. If we can learn to control our reactions and remain steady there is no situation that can either completely undo us or over inflate us.

    It doesn’t mean not feeling joy or celebrating the wins. It also doesn’t mean never feeling sad, angry or let down.

    What it does mean is learning to control those emotions so that they don’t overtake your life and screw you up.

    Learning this lesson as an athlete can help set you free and elevate your performance.

    Weather looks bad on race day – nothing you can do about it and it’s the same for everyone. What can you control? Having the right kit. Practising in all conditions throughout your training so you know how it feels.

    Can you actually turn this into an advantage? Going to a hit race? So many people underperform in heat – can you heat train? I did some of my turbo sessions in front of my fire in my living room, in a hat and long sleeves to prepare for the weather in Spain)

    Forgot a piece of kit, maybe a piece of clothing or nutrition – What can you do about it? Is ranting, swearing, getting stressed out helpful? Absolutely not. So what can you do? Do you have time to source something? Can others around you possibly help? If not, whats the best case scenario.


    At an Ironman event this year someone got to the swim having left their wetsuit back at their hotel. They spoke to the IM announcers. The announcers asked over the PA system if anyone had a spare wetsuit and within 5 minutes that athlete had their pick of 4 wetsuits!

    These are just two examples.

    Anyone that knows my story from IronMan Vitoria Gastiez in 2022 knows that I came up against obstacle after obstacle in a race that ended in a mechanical DNF 20km into the bike.
    Without all of the work I have done on my mindset over the last 5 years that situation probably would have broken me, especially as that race was 4 years in the making.


    Yes I got upset. Yes I was bitterly disappointed. But I was also making a plan for my come back before the first athletes had even crossed the finish line that same day.

    Another big lesson – Its only failure if you give up completely. Otherwise, it’s just an attempt.

    For me, that race was merely attempt 1. I hadn’t failed yet. Attempt 2 was July this year, one year later, and I finished that damned race!

    Whatever situation you face…

    #ControlTheControllable

  • Why You Have To Fail To Grow
  • Chase Results, Not Pain: The Smarter Approach to Endurance Training
  • Own Your Shit. Advice for aspiring Athletes.
  • The Difference Between Passive and Active Rest & Recovery: What Every Athlete Needs to Know
  • Injuries Are Opportunities: Turning Setbacks into Comebacks
  • Training Stress Score (TSS): The Key Metric Every Endurance Athlete Should Understand
  • Endurance Athlete Recovery: 7 Subtle Body Signals That Predict Burnout
  • Mid-Race GI Distress: Triathlete and Ultrarunner Solutions for Fixing Nutrition Disasters During Events
  • How Endurance Athletes Can Maintain Fitness During High Stress Periods: Training Strategies for Busy Triathletes and Ultrarunners
  • Zone 2 Running: The Ultimate Guide to Building Endurance and Improving Performance for Runners and Triathletes
  • Heat Adaptation: Why Early Spring Heat Training Matters
  • The Identity Shift: Becoming vs. Mimicking an Endurance Athlete
  • Nutrition Month: Real Results Through Balanced Choices
  • The Power of Positive Self-Talk: Rewiring Your Mental Game for Endurance Success
  • Resilience: The Unsung Hero of Endurance Training
  • The Difference Between Good and Great: One Critical Choice
  • “The Overlooked Challenge of Endurance Sports: Handling the Post-Race Blues”
  • The Power of ‘Pause’: Mastering Recovery for Peak Performance.
  • Beyond “Toughing It Out”: Intelligent Training Through Illness
  • Debunking Running Terminology: What You Really Need to Know
  • Be Impressed by intensity, not volume.
  • Mental Muscles: Visualise Your Way to Endurance Supremacy
  • S&C – What does the C actually mean?
  • Rethinking Injury Management:
  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:

    • My Coaching Ethos and Athlete Philosophy

    My personal ethics and belief system are a mixture of Buddhism and Stoicism and this heavily influences who I am, both as an athlete and a coach.

    As an athlete, I hold myself accountable to same 5 rules that I apply to my coaching, and I try and instil these into my athletes.

    As an Endurance Expert these 5 rules have been shaped over many years of racing and they are the foundation I believe every great success can be built upon.

    *I’ll go into each one in more detail as the subject of their own conversation.

    1) Control the Controllable

    Only certain things are within our control. If it isn’t something you have any say over, forget it. Only expend energy on the things that you can directly influence.

    2) Find the Positive
    Even in the most disappointing situation (that race DNF, that training injury) there will be a positive IF you are willing to look for it.

    3) Focus on You

    This is one of the hardest ones for athletes to really internalise and act upon. Looking at what others are doing on Strava and/or comparing yourself to other athletes is a waste of your time and mental energy. All of your focus should be on your own performance.

    4) 100% Effort
    In everything you do. This feeds into the message of the previous weeks conversations…Integrity to do the work even when none is looking and acting like the athlete you want to become.

    5) Extreme Ownership

    Thank Jocko Willink for this one. No matter what the situation or anyone else’s involvement, take ownership. Don’t find someone else to blame. Make it your problem and find a solution.

    #TheFiveRules

  • Why You Have To Fail To Grow
  • Chase Results, Not Pain: The Smarter Approach to Endurance Training
  • Own Your Shit. Advice for aspiring Athletes.
  • The Difference Between Passive and Active Rest & Recovery: What Every Athlete Needs to Know
  • Injuries Are Opportunities: Turning Setbacks into Comebacks
  • Training Stress Score (TSS): The Key Metric Every Endurance Athlete Should Understand
  • Endurance Athlete Recovery: 7 Subtle Body Signals That Predict Burnout
  • Mid-Race GI Distress: Triathlete and Ultrarunner Solutions for Fixing Nutrition Disasters During Events
  • How Endurance Athletes Can Maintain Fitness During High Stress Periods: Training Strategies for Busy Triathletes and Ultrarunners
  • Zone 2 Running: The Ultimate Guide to Building Endurance and Improving Performance for Runners and Triathletes
  • Heat Adaptation: Why Early Spring Heat Training Matters
  • The Identity Shift: Becoming vs. Mimicking an Endurance Athlete
  • Nutrition Month: Real Results Through Balanced Choices
  • The Power of Positive Self-Talk: Rewiring Your Mental Game for Endurance Success
  • Resilience: The Unsung Hero of Endurance Training
  • The Difference Between Good and Great: One Critical Choice
  • “The Overlooked Challenge of Endurance Sports: Handling the Post-Race Blues”
  • The Power of ‘Pause’: Mastering Recovery for Peak Performance.
  • Beyond “Toughing It Out”: Intelligent Training Through Illness
  • Debunking Running Terminology: What You Really Need to Know
  • Be Impressed by intensity, not volume.
  • Mental Muscles: Visualise Your Way to Endurance Supremacy
  • S&C – What does the C actually mean?
  • Rethinking Injury Management:
  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:

    • Better Athlete / Better Person

    Is it true that people who are working hard to become better athletes also become better people?

    In my experience yes, and a lot of it comes down to one thing – Integrity.

    Integrity means doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.

    It means putting in the hard work because you know it’s the right thing to do and will yield the best results.

    Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.


    This is true in sport, and also true in life.

    When you examine your training can you put your hand on your heart and say that you never cut corners? Can you say with 100% truth that you completed every meter, every rep, every set AND every rest break?

    Becoming a better athlete teaches us discipline and commitment. We set goals and we work hard to achieve them. We learn that if we can do this for our sport, we can apply these same skills to other areas of our lives such as work and family. As we achieve our goals we build confidence. We feel seen and feel that we have a greater sense of purpose.

    When we encounter setbacks we learn how to deal with them, we develop critical thinking and problem solving, the art of not sweating the small stuff and always finding a positive.

    Through all of this we become a better version of ourselves and the best bit is that those around us, that matter most to us, benefit from the person we are becoming.  

    Work hard to become a better athlete. Become a better person.

    #1%BetterEveryday

  • Why You Have To Fail To Grow
  • Chase Results, Not Pain: The Smarter Approach to Endurance Training
  • Own Your Shit. Advice for aspiring Athletes.
  • The Difference Between Passive and Active Rest & Recovery: What Every Athlete Needs to Know
  • Injuries Are Opportunities: Turning Setbacks into Comebacks
  • Training Stress Score (TSS): The Key Metric Every Endurance Athlete Should Understand
  • Endurance Athlete Recovery: 7 Subtle Body Signals That Predict Burnout
  • Mid-Race GI Distress: Triathlete and Ultrarunner Solutions for Fixing Nutrition Disasters During Events
  • How Endurance Athletes Can Maintain Fitness During High Stress Periods: Training Strategies for Busy Triathletes and Ultrarunners
  • Zone 2 Running: The Ultimate Guide to Building Endurance and Improving Performance for Runners and Triathletes
  • Heat Adaptation: Why Early Spring Heat Training Matters
  • The Identity Shift: Becoming vs. Mimicking an Endurance Athlete
  • Nutrition Month: Real Results Through Balanced Choices
  • The Power of Positive Self-Talk: Rewiring Your Mental Game for Endurance Success
  • Resilience: The Unsung Hero of Endurance Training
  • The Difference Between Good and Great: One Critical Choice
  • “The Overlooked Challenge of Endurance Sports: Handling the Post-Race Blues”
  • The Power of ‘Pause’: Mastering Recovery for Peak Performance.
  • Beyond “Toughing It Out”: Intelligent Training Through Illness
  • Debunking Running Terminology: What You Really Need to Know
  • Be Impressed by intensity, not volume.
  • Mental Muscles: Visualise Your Way to Endurance Supremacy
  • S&C – What does the C actually mean?
  • Rethinking Injury Management:
  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:

    • 75Hard – a POV from one of my clients

    I completed 75 Hard for the first time in 2022 (https://differentbreed.io/75hard-this-is-what-discipline-looks-like/) and knew that come 1st Jan 2023 I would be doing it again.

    I opened it up to everyone I knew to see who, if any, would set up to the plate. The first time 6 of us started it and only myself and my friend Chris finished it. This time 13 of us started it and only 4 of us; myself, Chris, Pete and Lindsay (and despite this success rating so many people tell me it doesn’t sound that hard!)

    I’ll be honest, Lindsay was one of the last people in my team that I thought would do it but she grabbed the challenge by the horns and fucking ran with it.

    I asked her if she would share her experience and her it is, in her own words:

    Last year my friend and coach Liza asked if I wanted to try the 75HARD challenge designed by Andy Frisella. I dismissed her as when she explained it I thought no way I can’t do all of them.

    The rules are ,

    1. Follow a diet to match your goals, no cheat meals and no alcohol – I could do that I thought
    2. Take a progress picture every day – I could do that as long as no one could see them
    3. Read 10 pages of a non fiction book – I could do that and a good excuse to have some me time I thought
    4. Drink 4 litres of water a day – wow that’s a lot of water, wasn’t sure if I could mange that
    5. Complete two 45 minute workouts every day, one must be outside – absolutely not I thought I haven’t got time for that and it was starting in January, not a good time to be outside.

    Later on at the beginning of December she suggested it again and once again I said I couldn’t do it, ‘All I’m hearing is excuses’ I was told.

    Those words must have resonated with me as later on that evening I thought yes she’s right all I’m doing is making excuses and after all this is a mindset challenge not a weight loss programme or an exercise challenge. So why not give it a go. So I toasted the New Year in with Nosecco and began.

    I completed this challenge on 17th March and wow it was tough but I did it.

    What did I get out of it?

    To start with I am the lightest I’ve been for many many years, I lost over 13 inches from my body and my fat%  is down by a whole 5%. 

    I have proved to myself that I have the mental toughness to take on a challenge like this even when it was tough. I had a 30th and an 80th birthday to go to and a funeral where I was told, ‘go on just have one drink, surely it won’t matter and no one will know’ Well I would have known and I wasn’t going to fail so stuck to it. 

    I cut out refined sugar which meant no cake, chocolate, biscuits, yummy deserts etc and surprisingly once the cravings went I was okay with this. Even when at work the usual ‘cake and cookie table’ looked very appealing I didn’t succumb. Once my manager found out what I was doing I was asked to talk about the challenge to everyone in my office on our monthly coffee and cake catch up. After this I was told that I was inspirational and what an amazing thing to do.

    I went to London for the weekend and was doing a 45 minute yoga session on the hotel floor late in the evening and got back home late so had to cram 3 litres of water in when I got home, I didn’t sleep well that night!

    I spent many hours walking in the rain when it was miserable and cold thinking why am I doing this to myself when I could be in the warm and dry having a coffee.

    My Results

    My body composition has changed as I lost 5% of my body fat and my muscle percentage is up. I feel stronger and healthier than I ever before and ran my first sub 30 minute 5K.

    The 4 litres of water was a challenge to begin with as that’s a lot of water but my body adapted to it and my skin loved me drinking that amount as it now feels softer than before. 

    Weight – Day 1 75.3kg; Day 75 67.9kg Total loss 7.4kg

    Body Fat% – Day 1 32.8; Day 75 27.7 Total Loss 5.1%

    Bust – Day 1 38”; Day 75 36.5” Total Loss 1.5”

    Waist – Day 1 34”; Day 75 30” Total Loss 4”

    Belly – Day 1 40”; Day 75 35.5” Total Loss 4.5”

    Hips – Day 1 42”; Day 75 38” Total Loss 4”

    Total inches lost – 14”

    It’s been two weeks now since I finished this challenge and I am still sticking to most of the rules. Not because I am deliberately trying to but they have become a habit. I still drink at least 4 litres of water, I still generally do two workouts every day(not always one being outside) I am still not eating refined sugar apart from the one cake I had which although tasted good wasn’t as amazing as I expected, I still read most days as this was a great bit of me time.

    Was it tough? – yes but it’s called 75HARD for a reason. 

    Did I Surprise myself with what I achieved? – yes physically and mentally, my day 1 photo is very different to my Day 75 photo.

    Would I do it again? – yes definitely and if you are thinking of trying this challenge I would say go for it as you may just surprise yourself.

  • Why You Have To Fail To Grow
  • Chase Results, Not Pain: The Smarter Approach to Endurance Training
  • Own Your Shit. Advice for aspiring Athletes.
  • The Difference Between Passive and Active Rest & Recovery: What Every Athlete Needs to Know
  • Injuries Are Opportunities: Turning Setbacks into Comebacks
  • Training Stress Score (TSS): The Key Metric Every Endurance Athlete Should Understand
  • Endurance Athlete Recovery: 7 Subtle Body Signals That Predict Burnout
  • Mid-Race GI Distress: Triathlete and Ultrarunner Solutions for Fixing Nutrition Disasters During Events
  • How Endurance Athletes Can Maintain Fitness During High Stress Periods: Training Strategies for Busy Triathletes and Ultrarunners
  • Zone 2 Running: The Ultimate Guide to Building Endurance and Improving Performance for Runners and Triathletes
  • Heat Adaptation: Why Early Spring Heat Training Matters
  • The Identity Shift: Becoming vs. Mimicking an Endurance Athlete
  • Nutrition Month: Real Results Through Balanced Choices
  • The Power of Positive Self-Talk: Rewiring Your Mental Game for Endurance Success
  • Resilience: The Unsung Hero of Endurance Training
  • The Difference Between Good and Great: One Critical Choice
  • “The Overlooked Challenge of Endurance Sports: Handling the Post-Race Blues”
  • The Power of ‘Pause’: Mastering Recovery for Peak Performance.
  • Beyond “Toughing It Out”: Intelligent Training Through Illness
  • Debunking Running Terminology: What You Really Need to Know
  • Be Impressed by intensity, not volume.
  • Mental Muscles: Visualise Your Way to Endurance Supremacy
  • S&C – What does the C actually mean?
  • Rethinking Injury Management:
  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals: