Only four months left to the start in Greece. We’ve all been to see Dr Damian Coleman at Canterbury Christ Church University to be put through the torture mill of his measuring machines. We sat on a fixed bike as he ramped up the power every 8 minutes, taking blood samples, and measuring our oxygen use. As a result we have all got a different training programme. All our training is now based not on time, speed or distance, but on the heart rate at which the exercise is done.

Yup, most of us need to lose some weight. So we have one fairly low heart rate for burning off fat. Then there’s a heart rate for steady pressure to keep going all day. In my case that’s 130-140 beats per minute. And then there’s a rate where you push yourself until your eyeballs pop, have a rest, and then go again. This is supposed to increase our oxygen efficiency.

Damian is going to measure us all before we go, and afterwards, when we get back. He wants to  see what effect such extreme exercise is going to have on our bodies. He predicts damage!