Men’s Fitness UK – October 2019

IN FOCUS BIG INTERVIEW

hada vepercentchanceofsurvivingthenight.

Mybowelwastakenoutofmybodyandleftonmy

side.It stayedthereformonths.I couldlookdown

andseeit if theyproppedmeuponthepillows.ere

weretubeseverywhere.I haddrainsinmybackand

cannulasinbotharms.Mydietwasliquidonlyand

theyweredosingmeupwithsuchmassiveamounts

ofmorphinethatI hallucinatedandburblednonsense

at anyonewhowouldlisten.It mightsoundcrazy,but

despiteallthatI neveractuallyconsidereddyingas an

option.InternallyI alwaysfeltI wouldgetbetterand

I thinkmaybe,tosomedegree,that’swhyI did.”

MFHow’syourhealthnow,sincebecomingcancer-

free?Yourcardiotnessobviouslyisn’tindoubt.

JG“Yes,I havegoodnumbers.MyVO2maxis

high,asis mylactatethreshold.Apparentlymybody

naturallystoreslotsofbrownfat,whichcontains

moremitochondriathanregularfatandprovides

a greaterstoreofenergy.Sincerecoveringfromthe

relapsein2011,I’vebeeninremissionbutbecause

ofmypast,everytimeI starttofeelunwelltherecan

bea fewlingeringworries.I hada roughtimewith

persistentu at thestartofthisyear,butfortunately

that’sallit was.”

MFWitha worldrecordtoyournameandRAAM

lessthana yearaway,hasyourtrainingbegunin

earnestforit yet?Howexactlydoyoupreparefor

sucha hardcoreevent?

JG“I’mdenitelyalreadyfocusingonRAAM

as a priority.It’sthepointonthehorizonwhich

everythingdrivestoward.Trainingnumberssuggest

I’minwitha greatchance.I’vejustcompetedin

RaceAcrosstheWest,whichruns 932 milesfrom

Oceanside,California,toDurango,Colorado.It’sthe

mainqualier forRAAM.I nishedthird,soI’min

thebigoneandthatmeansjobdone,fornow.My

traininghadbeensodisruptedduetotheu bugI

hadsinceChristmas,sothirdwasprettypleasing.On

thelastdayI managedtohit 329 milesin 18 hours,

withanaverageheartrateofjust114bpm– those

kindofguresshowwhatI’mcapableof.Fromhere

theplanis tostayonthebikeas muchas possible.I’m

warm-weathertraininginPortugal,whichis crucial

becausesomuchofRAAMis riddeninscorchingheat

andwe’veintegrateda scheduleofeventstohelpme

stepthingsup.I’mridingtheTourofBritaincoursein

September,includingallthetransfersbetweenstages,

onedayaheadoftheactualrace.at willequate

to2,000milesinsevendays(285milesperday),

meaningI shouldbreakmyownseven-daydistance

worldrecord.”

MFAndwhatis theexperienceofcompetingin

thesekindofevents?eymustrequirea lotof

organisation,aswellasmentalfortitude?

JG“Oh,forsure,yeah.Andthatsideis as important

as whatI dointhesaddle.I’mveryfortunatethat

I havesometerric sponsorshipanda greatteam

aroundme.eyensurethatmybikesetupis spoton

andcaterformynutritionalneeds,whichis a massive

partofit.Youneedtoberefuellingeveryhour,maybe

everyhalfhourintheheat,especiallywhenyou’re

sleepdeprived.Ridersat RAAMoftenonlycatchan

hourortwoa night.Becauseofthat,it’simportant

tohavepeoplearoundwhoyou’recomfortablewith.

MycoachDeanDowningis alsoa reallyclosefriend

andthat’smassive.Whenyouhavesometimeothe

saddlebetweenrides,youneedthatpositiveenergy,

soI’mveryfortunatelikethat.”

JAMESGOLDINGISCURRENTLYWORKINGONHIS

AUTOBIOGRAPHY,95%DEAD(PITCHPUBLISHING),DUETOBE

RELEASEDNEXTYEAR.THANKSTOHISSPONSORS,BREWIN

DOLPHIN,RAINMAKERSOLUTIONS,ANDTREKBIKES.

The RAAM will see Golding face

temperatures as high as 50°C

Daily medication during his illness

At his worst, Golding

was given a fi ve

per cent chance of

making it through

the night

Words

Mark Turley |

Photography

Joolze Dymond