Forte Physical Health

20/10/2025

A few weeks ago, I broke my foot 🤦‍♂️ But I've been hard at work already doing everything I can to lead to good recovery.

In this video, I cover the 7 things I have been doing in early phase rehab.

It's a structure you can apply to any injury, so will help even if you haven't broken your foot like me!

👉 If you want a strength training program that goes through whole-body joint care, mobility, strength and plyometrics, I built if for you! Check it out here...

05/10/2025

Someone asked me how long my last race took. I had to pause for a bit before answering. It’s not that I don’t know the answer (it took 5hrs 15mins), it’s just that the question made no sense to me at all.

When I think of the race, I don’t think about how fast I ran or how long it took; I think of the long, winding slog up Ben Nevis, the first time I’ve summited Britain’s highest peak. I remember being nervous descending the boulder field on the other side, the rain making me question every foot placement and slipping down the rock. I think of the ridge that had more exposure than I feel comfortable with, at times sliding my chest along the rock wall so I didn’t look down behind me. The wind that spun on a sixpence halfway through the race, bringing with it a minus two degree wind-chill and driving rain. Then hiding behind a boulder, shivering, trying to find my warm gear to avoid hypothermia. The bog that twisted my legs with every step. And the broken foot at the end, Mother Nature having one last laugh.

I think of an adventure.

So how long did it take? ... I couldn’t care less.

22/09/2025

I wanted a test, and a test is what I got. What I love about the mountains is that they just don’t care about you, and every now and then, they give you a little reminder of that.

I spent much of the race utterly in awe of the beauty and the savagery of the Highland mountains. The rugged terrain demands 100% of your concentration, while the icy rain blasts you in the face.

Races like this are more than a test of fitness; they are a true test of spirit.

The climbs burn your legs and your lungs in equal measure. The exposed scrambles let you know if you can handle heights (I can’t, it turns out!), and the never-ending bogs test your ankles and knees with every step.

Then, when you think you have conquered it, a little rock evades your concentration and rolls your foot, snapping your 5th metatarsal.

Bu**er.

But the mountains don’t care, and that’s why we love them ⛰️💚🙏
📸 First photo is .photos - I have offered to pay, but haven’t heard back yet!

24/08/2025

The day after an ultra I get all my joints moving through full range under load. It sucks. But get it done. Things get better with every rep and I'll check in with this every day for the week. A gentle run in a couple of days and some heavy(ish) strength training in a few days too. That'll get me back to normal and full training in the quickest time 👌

09/08/2025

Head games. You set out, heavy, tired legs, and after 2 miles, your head tells you to go home. Seventeen was the plan.

At every crossroads, excuses flood your mind to turn left and take the shortcut home.

By mile 4, you realise you’re playing a different game than you thought. It’s not the aerobic conditioning, minutes-per-mile, VO2 max game anymore. It’s a head game.

The rules have changed. Walking is allowed. Mumbling under your breath wondering why TF we do these things is allowed. Stopping to buy a Mars bar is also allowed. You win the game by not turning left, and doing what you set out to do.

Every crossroads is an opportunity to lose. Going straight over, sticking to the plan, getting it done. That’s how you win.

Runs like this are what I call ‘The Work’. It’s where you create the physical adaptations needed to have big adventures. But, more importantly, it’s where you forge your mind to do hard things.

By mile 15, I had reached a level of acceptance. I hadn’t taken the short cuts. I was homeward bound. I had stuck to the plan.

Then a bee flew in my mouth and stung me in the gum.

Smile. More work to be done.

20/07/2025

This was a perfect week of training. I always say that 70% of a training plan is good enough amidst the chaos of work and family life, but it’s nice when you get to tick off every planned session.

I’ve just completed week 12 of a 20-week plan. I’ve been consistently progressing week on week, and every few weeks I have a deload.

A sign of good training is that at the end of the progression weeks, you should feel pretty battered and ready for the deload, and that’s exactly where I’m at!

I’m looking forward to an easier week next week 👌

09/07/2025

This was me today! But the win was getting out the door. Turns out, I actually felt pretty good by the end of it. The body's weird like that, but we never know until we try 🤷‍♂️

11/06/2025

Tested my mile time today. I did it six weeks ago to get a baseline, and wanted to check in with it again.

I always get nervous on the start line because I know it’s going to hurt. And yep, right on cue, at the end of lap two, it started to suck.

Six weeks ago I ran 6:11, and today I ran 5:48. A 23-second difference, and only 15 seconds away from getting a PB.

What’s cool is that I haven’t even done a ton of training in the last few weeks; I’ve just been consistent and gradually ramped up the volume week on week.

Easy runs, one speed sesh, one long run.

Nothing fancy, just the basics done consistently.

I’m feeling good, and I’ll aim for that PB in another 6 weeks. I’m trying to get as many as I can before turn 40 to prove it’s not all downhill just yet 😏

Happy training 💪🙏

28/05/2025

I think the greatest gift my training has given me in the last few years is the understanding that slow running is okay.

Not just okay, but good.

Today, my energy levels were three out of ten. It was like someone put a slow puncture in a balloon.

Wednesdays should be speed day, but that felt silly.

Slow running to the rescue.

Just get out. Run slow. See how you feel.

I started in the rain. Then the sun came out. I got covered in Greenfly. Ate a load too. More got stuck to my eyeballs.

And now, I sit on my garden bench. Still covered in Greenfly. But energised.

How does the body do that? I have no idea. But slow running seemed to be the magic.

It took me from a rainy day to a sunny one.

What a joy ☺️🙏

26/05/2025

When specificity punches you in the face...
Today was ‘Murph’. Run 1 mile, 100 pull-ups, 200 press-ups, 300 squats, run 1 mile.
(I did it segmented 5, 10, 15 and without a weighted vest. IYKYK.)

Last year, I did it in 46 minutes, and I was quietly confident that I would smash that today. My running has been picking up recently, particularly the speed work, and I feel like I can cope with gassy workouts better than last year. I even thought a sub-40 might be on the cards, and that’s a solid time for this workout.

The result? ... 51 minutes 🤦‍♂️😂

It turns out I had an 11-minute delusion gap. What a numpty.

But here is where specificity enters the story. I’ve totally neglected my upper body recently. I’ve increased my running and nailed my leg strength work, but the upper body is an afterthought. I even ditch it completely in my busier weeks.

This has been deliberate. My next race is a mountain race, so I’ve been prioritising the things that will get me to the finish line in one piece. This is undoubtedly making me fitter at the specific things that I need for my next event.

But the reason I love Murph as a workout is that it’s a good benchmark of all-round fitness and strength, and today, those pull-ups and press-ups DESTROYED me.

So my question to myself is: am I happy letting the upper body strength slip that much, or is there a happy medium where I can do all the mountain prep stuff AND keep more strength in the arms too, with the time that I have?

There is definitely a way. Back to the drawing board to figure it out...

01/12/2024

Over and out... My brain is a little frazzled, so to hit the ground running in 2025, I’ve decided to have a reset.

We often think about what we can *do* to make ourselves feel better, but so often, it’s what we *don’t* do that works best.

I’ve decided to take all of December off of low-quality content. This means no social media, no podcasts, and, gulp, the one I’m most nervous about, no YouTube. At all.

I’m going to use Cold Turkey Blocker to block apps and web pages because, y’know, I can’t be trusted.

The ONLY content I’m allowing myself to consume are books and some online courses that I haven’t finished.

I’m hoping that by dodging the constant stream of content telling me to buy things, it will be one of the things that can replenish my brain and give me energy for the new year ahead.

I’ll accompany this with lots of journaling, exercise and, most importantly, *rest*.

And, yes, I appreciate the irony of sharing this on social media. But I have a feeling others out there are burned out too, and all the content we consume isn’t helping matters. I thought I’d share my approach in case it helps nudge others to figure out what they need.

I wish you the very best for the festive time ahead, and see you on the other side ☺️🙏🎄

25/08/2024

Yesterday was my first Backyard Ultra experience. I went into it with no expectations of distance, just the rule that I mustn’t quit. There are two ways you can finish a BYU (well, three if you include winning the thing, but that wasn’t on the cards), you can get timed out, or you can choose not to start one. I wasn’t allowed the latter.

Having said that, at first glance, it seems an easy way to cover big distance. You have a nice, structured rest every hour, and the 4.17-mile distance is quite manageable. Thoughts did go through my mind that it would be nice to get another hundred miles under my belt.

But there’s a big difference between this format and other ultras, and that’s that at the beginning, you don’t need that much rest. Normally, you’d be churning away through the miles, but later, when you really need the rest the most, it gets shorter. As your legs start to seize up and your easy 50-minute laps become 52, 54, 56 minutes, and you crave a change of socks or a bit of extra time in the chair, there’s no time.

I found that I was fine, fine, fine, and then fell off a cliff. I got back from the penultimate loop with 90 seconds spare and started lap 15 for the hundred-kilometre distance. This is the lap I got timed out on, (and cut it short once I knew I wouldn’t make it back). So it was a hundred K on my watch, but 14 Yards (59 miles) officially.

The absolute best thing about this race is the people. You get to know all the runners and their crews, and there’s a real team spirit. I was on my own apart from a couple of hours in the day where I had my wife and kids as cheerleaders, but once darkness fell and my rest times were shortening, I had other crews asking if I needed a cup of tea or any bottles topped up while I was out on the course. They took me under their wing to keep me going. We were all willing each other to do one more lap. It was real camaraderie.

There were plenty of people who achieved their first ultra distance or a new distance PB, so even if you’re not an ultrarunner, I highly recommend giving this format a go, and the team at Gosfield Backyard Ultra were amazing.

Give it a go!