Even with large amounts of vision loss I have still felt the compulsion to keep on running. After you have been running for a while it seems strange to stop. Having a week or two off begins to feel strange, there is a need to pound the pavement (or rubber matting). Due to the compulsion to keep on running even with large amounts of vision loss I have been sticking with the running. I even managed to compete in a short distance event.

The loss of vision has made a dent on my running though, but in more of an indirect way. Learning to run without a reliance on vision means that when you lose more it doesn’t really affect your ability to perform. But what it does affect is the time I have to run. When I am having to spend more time converting materials, or revising due to a change in vision it eats into the time I have to run. So unfortunately my running takes a hit and I just cant train as hard. While I do still manage to eek out the miles and over the past few months I have been averaging a 30 mile week (way to low for ultra distance!). This however has mainly been on the treadmill.

The problem I have with the treadmill is how far I am able to run on it. I seem to be capped at just over the 10 mile mark. This is due to my boredom levels on the treadmill and how much I sweat. My treadmill is currently in my conservatory so that means during the summer months it has been hot. I don’t just mean in the 20’s hot I mean so hot it hurts to breathe. So I sweat so heavy it becomes uncomfortable and I just call it quits after a medium distance.

To counter this I am hoping to begin training outdoors again in the next couple of weeks and get back up above the 60 mile a week distance. This will mean I can return to ultra distance early 2014. I am looking forward to the challenge of running larger distances again. Its a great chance to push my limits and a great confidence booster to be outside and running solo.

I chose the name of this website to reflect a cycle. My eye condition is degenerative so as time goes on I lose more vision. With each decrease in vision there is an adaptation cycle where I have to relearn how to do complex and simple tasks.

In early May this year I lost a substantial amount of vision. Now considering I had little vision before May this latest change meant a change in most areas of my life. It was also terrible timing, as the end of May was the start of my exam window. This created a substantial problem I had under 4 weeks to learn how to study in a new way and convert all my materials to make them accessible after this latest change.

The only way I could achieve this was to defer 2 exams and sit 2 exams at the end of the month. I created a plan in order to convert all the materials that involved using a couple of support workers. Unfortunately one of the support workers let me down and told me far to late for me to find a replacement. This meant I would enter 1 exam I had revised for and 1 exam I didn’t even have the material to revise from. It was too late to really do anything about it so I just decided to get on with it and make the most of it. I spent the next 2 months converting enormous amounts of material for my next 2 exams. One of them being statistics and the other social psychology.

Both exams went horrendously. For statistics the exam paper required a number of graphs, very difficult when you are blind and contingency tables. Contingency tables hold a lot of information for the one in this particular exam I had to hold 27 variables in my head and then answer a question on them. As you may be able to imagine that is difficult!

I also totally fluffed the social psychology essay based exam by running out of time and not finishing my answer. So frankly I wasn’t looking forward to results day! But then results day came and I had done surprisingly well, even scoring a first in the essay question I didn’t finish!

So it appears the adaptations I had put into place had worked as far as my university work was concerned. As I continue to lose more vision and enter year 3 I am again changing the way I study, so the never ending cycle starts afresh.

The affects of my sight loss are not limited to my university work they affect all aspects of my life and I have to adapt in numerous ways. I have begun to rely even more on pieces of technology in order to achieve simple tasks, like pouring a cup of tea. Before I just used to pretty much guess from past experience how much water to pour in, but this was beginning to become problematic and dangerous, so now I use a water level sensor.

When training for any event or indeed any goal its important to be able to bounce back quickly from a training session.  The quicker you recover the quicker you can be out training and the easier it is to make gains.  As well as the importance on an increase in training the ability to recover fast also has its benefits when you have a family.  When you are dedicating large amounts of time running the roads its important to recover quickly.  As there are not enough hours in the day for a long run and a long recovery.

Ideally I like to get home shower and rest for 30 minutes and be back out with the family.  This can be incredibly tough after a long run as I am just too fatigued.  It takes all my might to drag myself up from the sofa and go out on a family trip.  Now missing out on those moments due to exhaustive training is a tough balance.

Do I train a lot and miss out? Or reduce my training and go out?

Well if you can recover quickly it is easier to match that balance, as you can train hard and still go out.  So its incredibly important to boost that recovery in any way I can.  So in order to do this I decided to look around for a recovery supplement.  I like the ease of use of a supplement as for someone who can’t see being able to take one scoop and add to some water is so much easier than preparing something (and with my preparation skills a lot tastier too!).

That is where Matrix Recovery XT — from their website:

Matrix Recover XT is a revolutionary new recovery formula harnessing the restoration powers of a detoxifying vitamin blend, multi-stage release carbohydrates, and a sustained release protein complex. Matrix Recovery XT repairs muscle from every angle, from eradication of damaging post-exercise free radicals to amino acid and muscle glycogen replenishment, providing you with the perfect platform to improve physical performance and increase muscle mass

Taste

One of the most important things for any supplement is the taste, if it tastes awful you are not going to use it.  Back when I was consuming masses of protein powder to gain weight I learnt this lesson.  After trialing dozens of protein powders the one I felt had the best taste was Reflex Instant Whey.  This then became my benchmark for supplements.  If it didn’t taste even close to Reflex I discarded it.

So when I first tried Matrix Recovery XT [chocolate] I was a little wary.  I ignored the instructions of mixing with water and decided to add to the milk.  Always a simple way to mask the awful taste of supplements.  It tasted nice, dare I saw it better than Reflex? The only problem was its thickness; mixed with milk it was just too thick (this might be why they suggest mixing with water).  So the next time I decided to attempt mixing with water.  This is usually where a lot of supplements fail, mixed with water they fast awful.  So adding a heaped scoop to 400ml of cold water and giving it a thorough shake it was time to take the first sip……. Ok that tastes alright…. Ok, maybe its alright actually… Ok I admit it, it tastes good even with water.  Not to mention it isn’t as incredibly thick! So from that point on it had achieved the holy grail of supplements: tasting good with water.

Does it work?

In order to test it thoroughly I decided to go for a long run and had planned a family trip out afterwards.  So it had to perform.  In short it did.  After returning home thoroughly tied I chugged a shake (with water!) and jumped in the shower.  After a little sit down I was able to jump up off the sofa and have a family afternoon out.  Even better I wasn’t a zombie on the family outing, I actually felt like I had energy.  For me thats the true test of speedy recovery.  But perhaps the more traditional way, I did feel I had fully recovered for the training sessions the following day.  Sometimes the following day can be difficult, on tired legs with a tired mind the miles can be tough.  But none of that seemed to be present and I was able to train the following day.  So for my Matrix Recovery XT really did work.

Not only did it work but it tasted good doing it!

You can check it out over at Matrix’s website, or here is a handy direct link to Recovery XT.

***UPDATE*** kindle for iOS now supports VoiceOver! and it works fantastically well.  I have left the instructions in place below as they may be applicable for OS X Mavericks and iBooks if Amazon do not relase a VoiceOver compliant version of Kindle for Mac.

Being blind access to books is difficult. In an age of digital content you would of thought it would be easy, but no. it is increasing difficult thanks to things like DRM and odd restrictions imposed by eBook retailers.

There are a number of options below that I have broken down by company.

Amazon

Audible
Has a wide rang of audiobooks with a great monthly price. If the book is available as an audiobook this is a fantastic option and I cant recommend it enough.

Kindle

The books are only truly accessible in two scenarios
1. Kindle app for Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD.
2. Kindle for PC with accessibility plugin.

We have been back from our holiday for a while now. We had a really nice time, Grayson got to do all his favourite activities. Including riding a steam train, he loves trains. It was nice to get away as an extended family and Grayson really enjoyed spending a lot of time with his cousins. They all played together non stop.

Ascot also loved his time away. His puppy walker really enjoyed having him back for a while and Ascot loved playing with the guide dog puppy in training.

The roughest thing about being away was the fact we all became ill. Sian, my mum and I all came back with a terrible chest infection. I didn’t get out of bed for days, it was the illest I have ever been. While we are all now recovering I unfortunately lost a large amount of vision while I was ill.

Being away from home you don’t really notice that you may be losing vision. You are in unfamiliar surroundings so put down an increase into bumping into things or struggling with vein in a new location. Then with my illness on returning home I was bed bound, so wasn’t really getting up to much to notice my vision loss.

It wasn’t until I got out of bed and started getting back to my normal daily life that I noticed just how much vision I had lost. I didn’t have much vision anyway but this recent loss of vision is the largest I have suffered. It seems so sudden, 2 weeks ago I could see outlines of things that I no longer can. It is making life a little harder and making university even more so.

I had a plan of what I needed to get done for exam time that is now slipping away from me. I have to adapt to this most recent loss and that is eating up my revision time. So yet again it looks like I may have to move some exams about stand a chance of receiving a decent grade.

I was really hoping m vision would of held out for a little longer. We are expecting another child later this year and this new marked sight loss will make things even more difficult.

I am quickly trying to adapt and adjust to get back into the swing of things though. Just going to take a month or so to get everything working smoothly again.

A friend sent me a tweet the other day to a video of Dean Karnazes (featured below).  It was a nice reminder of why I decided to go down the path of the ultra distance.

Years ago I was still able to read books.  Even though I could read books I rarely did.  It would usually be through necessity, so either a manual for work or a Time Out guide for somewhere I was planning to visit.  It never really occurred to me it might be an idea to read a lot of books before I was unable to.

So when I did read a book it really stuck in my mind.  The only books I can remember reading are near to the entire work of Hunter S Thompson and one book by Dean Karnazes.  The Thompson books could certainly explain why I drank so much back in the day!  The Karnaze’s Ultramarathon Man  really stuck in my mind.

I read it at a time when my vision was beginning to severely deteriorate.  I hadn’t realised it at the time but it would become the last book I was able to read.  Due to the fact it was the last book I ever read it held a special place in my heart and mind and created something.  Something that would re surface years later.

When I had become so bored with waiting for college to start; I had began to run.  Once I had mastered the art of running alone I felt I needed a challenge.  I had done something I didn’t feel was possible a few months ago so what do I do now?

I remembered Karnaze’s book and thought: If he could do it, why can’t i?

With recent rumours of an Apple iWatch its been a hot topic amongst my friends. Woill Apple release a watch? I am not convinced. It just seems a little far from Apple’s path to me, I also can’t see Ive designing a watch.

Now I would love to be proved wrong and Apple release a watch with a beautiful face. Using the swiss railway face that they licensed would be a great start. The number of features a watch could introduce could be interesting too. Controlling your phone from a wrist device is a nice idea, which is one I ordered the Pebble. More on that later.

All the talk of an Apple iWatch reignited my love for watches. Before I lost my vision I collected watches. I particularly liked watches with unique faces with a penchant for unique ways to tell the time. Hence my collection had a lot of Tokyo Flash watches. I also collected a little higher end with a few designer watches a classic gold faces watch and the prize of my collection my Breitling Cosmonaut.

I love the Breitling for 2 reasons. As a child I dreamt of being a pilot and Breitling has a strong connection to flight. The Cosmonaut also has a 24 hour face. Quite unique for a non digital watch! It is something that I treasure and something I will pass down to Grayson.

Despite losing my vision though I still love watches. I still yearn for a Hublot Big Bang with a black ceramic dial. It is certainly far out of my price range and I wouldn’t really be able to read the time from it. But that doesn’t stop the fact I would love to own the Hublot or one of those Zegarki Męskie pieces. I just love watches that much, I don’t care if I can’t see the face anymore I can remember what it looks like!

Now I have lost my vision my choice for a functional watch is dismal. Cheap plastic watches with even worse bands are all that is really available. No space age metals or ceramic for me anymore. Just cheap plastic.

So the Pebble, why did I buy the Pebble? For one thing, controlling RunKeeper. I am sure once I finally have one and apps are released I will find more uses for it.

But for now my wrist is bare. The cheap plastic watches kept breaking. Hopefully soon it will be replace by the Pebble and one day the Hublot. I just need to figure out how I can afford one….

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to give a talk at a school a few miles away from where I live. It was healthy living week and they had asked if I could give a talk on running and nutrition.

Now if you have been following along, my original running nutrition was diabolical. With little money for sports nutrition and the limited knowledge of sugar powers you! I ate rubbish. I would power runs on chocolate bars, Mr Kipling and anything else that was cheap and high in sugar.

The interesting point was when i transitioned from this terrible sugar intake to sports nutrition and EC stack, and eventually something lower in sugar. My initial foray into sports nutrition saw the obligatory gels (which I still use) to my transition into “normal food”. Just eating fruit, nuts and sandwiches.

So I had a little I could detail on nutrition. I began the talk by giving a brief introduction to what ultra running is, which was then followed by my ASICS commercial. Viewing the commercial was the first time these hundreds of students would know I couldn’t see.

My speech then revolved around the challenges of running blind with a little bit on the nutrition. People are always keen to hear how I do it blind and how far I can run.

As I continue to give public talks I find myself feeling more at hom and being able to give a truly natural delivery. It seems practice really does make perfect. Or it may just be the fact; unable to see the audience I dont really get nervous!

The school have asked me to come back this time tailoring my talk to be “inspirational”. So this will have to include the initial obligatory slide of my stance on inspiration. It is a label I will never assign myself as being inspired by someone or something is up to the individual. Perhaps at some point I can find a label I feel comfortable with.

As a side note if anyone would like me to give a talk at a school/business let me know. Would love to gain more experience in this area.

Despite losing my vision I still enjoy watching television. My viewing habits haven’t changed too much I still enjoy watching everything from cartoons, documentaries and dramas. It is however a little easier to follow shows that are story driven and rely less on visuals. The reliance on visuals is why I find a lot of modern day films difficult to follow.

ONe of the most annoying things however those is navigating through the channels on television. While Audio Description was introduced to describe the actual shows there hasn’t been a great improvement in navigating channels. There are one or two screen reading free view boxes. But it isn’t something I have really invested in to date. The reason being my Apple TV.

The Apple TV supports VoiceOver just like the rest of the Apple line. The great thing about this is it reads menus and the full description of the media. This has made selecting shows an absolute breeze for me. Now when my son asks me to put on “choo-choo’s” I dont have to tell him to wait for mummy. I can just flick the Apple TV on and navigate through the menus to find Thomas, or Chuggington or Dinosaur Train any of the shows he loves with trains in them.

This is made possible thanks to a couple of subscription services on the Apple TV: Netflix and Hulu Plus. Netflix is an absolute breeze to setup, turn on your Apple TV enable VoiceOver and simply start Netflix. The Netflix account is attached to your Apple ID so it takes care of the subscription for you. Hulu Plus is much the same, you just subscribe through the Apple TV.

You can even access your own media located in your iTunes media. This is another great feature. All those DVD’s you own that you have no idea which one to put in. Put them all into your iTunes media centre and navigate through your collection with VoiceOver.

VoiceOver really has changed the way I am able to access media. I am no longer reliant on asking my wife which channel a particular show is currently on, or which DVD a particular film is. I can simply flick on the Apple TV and navigate through all my media myself. It isn’t restricted to video either, I often use it to stream audio from my phone as an AirPlay stereo, or even access music services directly on the Apple TV. It is truly a great device and for under a £100 an incredibly cheap piece of accessible hardware.

Inspiration is a label that has often been applied to my running exploits. I have always struggled a little with this and have never self assigned the label. Being inspired by someone is so personal anyone who sells themselves as inspiring is just a little to arrogant for my taste. So I have often distanced myself from the labels “inspirational” and “motivational”.

When I started out running I certainly didn’t think about inspiring others. I just set out to try and achieve something for myself. To see where I could push myself too. Running alone was initially more by necessity than the challenge. I hadn’t considered how difficult it would be at first, I just thought I didn’t really have an option if I wanted to run. So I went out and learnt to do it.

Pushing how far I could go came when I decided to see if I could take what I had done and sustain it for long training sessions. It turned out I could, I really enjoyed those early days of training finding out what was possible.

By some wondrous stroke of luck my story has been featured in the media. As well as the commercial I posted the other day I did quite a few interviews for print. Then today I got a wonderful tweet. It mentioned someone had written a letter to the editor of OUtdoor Fitness and I was mentioned.

On another happy note, my son, who is $I has just joined an athletics club after being inspired by Simon Wheatcroft, the blind runner and real-life hero in the same issue, thanks for inspiring and fixing. Nichola Sperrlng, Bristol

Hearing that I had inspired a young boy with a sight impairment to take up running really touched me. I am happy I have inspired someone with a sight impairment to take up running. I hope one day I can run with him and his mother. If you are reading this get in touch!