Day 11 - 1.2 BILLION below the line every day

Today it was the number of the beast: 66.6Kg. That is an all time record, so decided cook the rest of the chicken and recover a bit...

And the result deserves a full picture...

Wifey - I am speechless... Onion, salt and a stock cube. And the rest of the chicken... Awesome dinner...
After this my legs should be grateful and be prepared for the weekend! No chippy smells today!

Tomorrow back to carb world to ramp up for the weekend...

I was just thinking today what it must be like to live with the obsession of putting food on the table, let alone all the rest. I have not been starving during this 11 days, but at times I have felt really anxious about not being able to eat anything else and being conscious that I need to have enough to finish these two weeks and hence being conservative to start with...

1.2 BILLION people live below the line every day. 5,500 children die of malnutrition every day.
http://www.justgiving.com/MarcosHungerGames

1.2 billion people live below the line every day. Could you?©UNICEF

Day 2 - I think I am starving...

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Let me explain - I am not starving. I just think that I am starving. Too much thinking about whether this is enough or not. It is indeed. It must be the lack of coffee...

The day does not start well. It is the first time I cook porridge, and I choose to microwave it... so half of it blows off. The rest was not too bad.

First lesson - no room for mistakes. You mess up your food, you don´t eat (unless you lick it from the microwaves). Unfortunately mornings are complex enough and didn't get a chance to get a picture.

So that was double espresso and porridge to start the day.

... and it is lunch time. I decided to keep me going with that breakfast coffee, and as a result lunch time seems to never come. But here we are, pasta again, yum! (Well, this is half of it now)

And I keep on thinking about food. Not good. I can't be hungry, honestly. But I can't stop thinking about it. On top of it no coffee.

So it is officially cold turkey - lack of caffeine = head aches...

Lesson 2 - I can live with less caffeine, but it is getting on my nerves!

First thing I do when I get home is getting a double espresso. I need to deal with the rest of the evening, and there is lots to do...

... and dinner, at last!!

That rice is smiling, or is it my imagination?? :) And two pieces of chicken! I must admit that this frozen chicken is not too bad at all!! I can only afford a piece and a half a day, but yesterday my stomach was still in Hastings running. So today I binge on chicken, hiii hiiiiiiiiiii! Like Michael Jackson would say :)

Oh, and it only a slice and a half of bread a day. Yesterday I over indulged in bread ;)

On another note, wow, what can I say... £840 plus £70 in gift aid. You are all so awesome, really... How come there are still so many things to sort out when we are all so incredibly awesome!?

Good night everyone and thanks!

https://www.justgiving.com/marcoshungergames

One Day I'll Grow Up

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Beyond the misery of a miserable childhood. Being trapped. Being trapped in the defencelessness of childhood, where not even running away is an option. There is an Stockholm syndrome that will make us be close to a cruel hand. To an infinite Misery. To the cruellest of teachers or the schoolmates from hell. We try to feed of the brief moments of peace that we are awarded with and we endure with stoicism the rest of them. Until either we are killed or we are thrown violently into the world when, finally, we don't need anyone to stand on our feet. And all of a sudden this cruel world sees us born again under the baptism of fire that our childhood was.

This long period of defencelessness in our species will grant us the food and protection that the development of the magic box on our shoulders that distinguish us from the rest of living creatures demands from us.
To make us unique. To make us human. This defencelessness assumes the protection that our parents and environment will provide us with and which will revert to all of us as a stronger and compassionate society.

If this equilibrium is broken, we are not worth it. If this equilibrium is broken we do not deserve our place in this world.

There is a song by Antony and the Johnsons that describes perfectly this period in which we depend on a compassionate environment which grants us the privilege of protection and defence, of growing towards our realization as human beings. And the trap. And our fight. And our strength knowing that there will be light at the other end of the tunnel. The underlying subject in the song is obviously different but it has the same roots in that time of defencelessness which should be instead a time of continuous spring and, why not, happiness.

One day I'll grow up, I'll be a beautiful woman

One day I'll grow up, I'll be a beautiful girl.

But for today I am a child, for today I am a boy

Sadness, anger, frustration... but also hope, strength, perseverance. The picture in the video is truly chilling...

My Hunger Games, another step beyond.

Living below the line with a Twist.

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I have been wanting to run my first Ultramarathon for the last couple of years but I can't really find the space for that in my life right now. I envy these crazy seekers of the human-self limits but running almost every single day of the week, including a couple of almost full marathons is something I'd love but there is just no way. Not saying it is still not happening sometime soon :)

So there needed to be something I could do in the meantime which wasn't just boring everyone with another marathon. It is just so yesterday :)

At some point last year I got an email from Unicef which was organizing an interesting campaign to bring awareness on the lives of all of those living below the poverty line. This has been defined somehow as living below £1 a day, which varies depending on the country for various reasons.

According to Unicef over 1,200 people across the UK took on the 2013 Live Below the Line challenge for UNICEF. They decided to live on £1 a day for a week to gain first-hand insight into the lives of people living below the poverty line. In the 2013 Campaign an amazing £153,170 was raised to make a lasting difference to the lives of children.

So you can see where I am going, can't you? :)

My Hunger Games will consist of 2 weeks living below the line, on a £1 a day ration, during which I will race a total of 84Km (or around 52 miles) divided into two half marathons and the Brighton marathon to finish this journey.

I am pretty sure this is going to be an interesting experience which I will be sharing with you, starting now which is when my after-Xmas training starts!!

Oh, and this is a picture of one my heroes this year, Valenti SanJuan, right after he finished his Cavalls del Vent 100Km across unforgiving mountains! I am sure I'll have the chance to introduce you to this inspiration of mine during this journey :)

Sponsor My Hunger Games

My Hunger Games - INTRO

Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favour! :)
(Spanish Here)

The Challenge

2 Weeks on a £1 a day subsistence budget and 3 Races - 84Km

The Races - March/April 2014

23rd March - HASTINGS HALF

30th March - CROYDON HALF

6th April - BRIGHTON MARATHON

The Cause

Raise funds for UNICEF

How to be Awesome and be part of this? :)

http://www.justgiving.com/MarcosHungerGames