This week felt like proper training. The big one was the 30 km session on Saturday, that went 10 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 - each split getting faster. You do not blag 135 miles in a desert. You build it, one session at a time.

Half term always makes the week feel like a jigsaw. Good fun (I think?), but every run has to slot in around kids and general chaos. The upside is it forces a bit of discipline.

Badwater is now official. The place is confirmed and it feels very different seeing “I am in” written down rather than just nudging an application form around. The timing lined up with a solid training week too, which helps. It is one thing to dream about Death Valley, quite another to hit “submit” and then have to go out and run.

The dust has settled on the news I received on Sunday 8th February - I’ve been invited to race in Badwater 135.

Racing Badwater 135 has been a dream for many years. It has been the overarching goal that all other athletic pursuits have fed into. It has defined so much of what I do and who I am - and now, after all those steps, I have been invited.

In this conversation, Ben and Fletch discuss their personal updates as they kick off 2026, focusing on training strategies for endurance sports, particularly in preparation for the Badwater 135 Ultra Marathon.

The headline is easy this week. I got a place in Badwater 135. I found out just 15 mins ago. It is exciting and slightly terrifying in the best possible way. Suddenly all the day to day training has a very real, very hot, and very long target pinned to it.

The week started in that classic “train like normal, live like you’ve got three jobs” sort of way. A couple of nights away for work meant I was grabbing windows wherever I could.

I wasn’t sure if waking up at 0100 to watch Netflix was a good idea, but it was Alex Honnold free solo climbing a skyscraper—this was not your normal binge. And my two younger kids wanted to watch as well. (I was a little unsure about that… if there’d been one slip.)

Photograph credit: Chong Kok-yew/Netflix

This was the week the Badwater 135 application finally went in. After all the waiting, I sat down, answered everything as honestly as I could and hit submit.

This website has been something of a journal;  an account of why I want to race the monster that is Badwater 135.  I’ve shared insights into my training. I’ve talked about the races I’ve done – as both a means to prepare, and also as qualifiers.   And now, the application is submitted.   I will find out my fate in February.   I will either race Badwater 135 in July, or I will apply again in 2027.

This week was about finally putting the cough behind me and not rushing the comeback. I gave myself a few extra days off, which always feels like a gamble when there is a big goal on the horizon, but it turns out patience is a decent training tool.

In this conversation, Ben and Fletch discuss their personal updates as they kick off 2026, focusing on training strategies for endurance sports, particularly in preparation for the Badwater 135 Ultra Marathon.

I spent Monday and Tuesday in bed feeling rough, then edged back into things, not the start of the year and working week I needed. I managed a 5km just to see if I was “ready” on Saturday, decided that I would run again on Monday. It was frustrating, missing 2 days of work has put me on the back foot there, not a great start to 2026!

Tail end of the recovery block this week, and it actually felt like recovery rather than just “less running but still knackered”. The standout was the long run where Basil quietly put in 30 km. He is only 13 and still cruised it. Short of carrying the Tailwind and making sure he didn’t get lost, it was fairly easy. He was tired at the end, but so he should be!

This was very much a recovery week. Daytona is still in my legs and, if I am honest, in my head too. I felt that sort of tired where you are fine on paper, but the body quietly says, “Absolutely not thank you,” every time you move.

This was very much a recovery week. Daytona is still in my legs and, if I am honest, in my head too. I felt that sort of tired where you are fine on paper, but the body quietly says, “Absolutely not thank you,” every time you move.

Fletch and Ben discuss Ben's recent race, the Daytona100, 100miles along the Florida coast. They talk fuel, hydration and into the muscle degradation that affected the second half of the race. Some insights into what went on in Ben's head, but as much a summary of the race and the starting point for where the training focus will now shift.

In this conversation, Ben and Fletch discuss the intricacies of preparing for ultra marathons, focusing on both physical training and the mental strategies necessary for success. They explore the importance of tapering, the psychological aspects of endurance running, and practical tips for race day. The discussion emphasises the need for mental resilience, the significance of preparation, and how to manage thoughts during long runs.

I know, we missed a week - hopefully you all found something else to do and weren’t too lost. This week we talk trainers, well we scratch the surface.

Well that was bloody brilliant. Just finished my Saturday session and felt compelled to scribe.