#THISISMYADVENTURE - He Made It! 30kg for 100km!

Foz completed his epic 100km challenge last weekend, we caught up with him for a Q & A session to find out how it all went!

So, you did it! Congratulations, I'd like to start at the end, how did crossing that finish line feel?

To be honest, it was a mixture of feelings, more the sense of relief-than the sense of accomplishment. I was really proud of myself for completing it, but so happy the pain had finally come to an end.

How long did it take to get the first blister? and how many did you get in total?
I got my first blisters at the 30k point, I should have studied the start of the challenge better as I hadn’t planned for the pavement and concrete paths in the first quarter. I applied the wrong footwear and socks for this; and completed it way to fast for the terrain. I had medical treatment at the half way point, a medic had to cut open a hard skin blister to drain it then tape my feet up to relieve pain. The blisters changed the way I walked, I tried to minimise pressure on my feet, causing intense pain in my legs. I stopped and made a phone call to my dad explaining the way I felt, we both decided that I needed rest to relieve the pain - I slept for ninety minutes in the forest in my bivy bag.

Which parts of your body were in the most pain?

My legs, feet, shoulders and back where all in pain. My Legs causing the most.

What was the hardest part for you?
At the 64km point, before I rested. I was in so much pain and my mind was telling me to quit or dump the day pack. I couldn't put one foot in front of the other and kept loosing my balance, falling over. The pain in my legs was just too much. Thankfully, after resting for ninety minutes I was able to continue.

You met another ex military guy on the course, was this a chance meeting? What was that like for your moral? How much of the course did you do together?
It was so random, I found him on a bench - he was in same state as me, extremely tired and trying to dig deep to continue, luckily we found each other - I motivated him to stand up and continue and he repaid the favour for the last 10km, where my pace massively decreased.

A few days on, hows the body feeling? Are you able to walk properly yet?
I’m still unable to walk haha, I’m spending alot of time in the sauna and walking small distances to stretch out the legs.

Will you be doing it again? If not, whats next?
Of course I will be. That’s it, now I’ve had a taste of the pain then success the next thing I do will probably be more extreme and I will be still raising awareness for mental health, it means a lot to me.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to do something like this? How should you need to prepare? (mental, physical aspects and equipment)
My advice is don’t do it haha... but seriously if you’re that mad my advice would be train a lot, make sure you can handle the weight and distance and if you are able to carry on under pain - the weight causes blisters and extreme leg pain, there comes a point when there’s no escaping that.

You need a really good day pack, large and comfy, you need to practice with this pack a lot. Your footwear needs to be broken in to your feet and good insoles are a must - I use Superfeet. I took mid ankle boots and trail running shoes plus ten pairs of socks, a mix of hiking and trail running ones.

You can follow Foz’ journey and keep up to date with his future challenges by follow him on Instagram - @foz_outdoors