they have all learned to optimise this amazing body that we as a species have been gifted. One that is constantly rearchitecting itself and that we have the opportunity to influence and shape by taking ownership of the way we live and the way we move in everyday life.

If you’re worried about it being too hot, he warned me, the worry itself will drain your energy tanks and increase your perception of effort long before the heat actually gets to you.

I was cool eating meals with sand in. I was fine with the smell of elephant shit. I was OK with not sleeping well. I knew that I could suffer. I knew that I could go to some very dark places – right to the bottom of the barrel – and somehow climb back out again.’

Our perception of our movement has a huge influence on the movement itself. If we change our perception, we will go a long way towards changing our movement.

Imagine a long train of elastic running up an invisible centre line in your body (from your navel to the top of your forehead) and adopt a tall posture that keeps it pulled tight, bringing your hips forward and your pelvis into neutral, thus optimising the resultant elastic energy.

‘I’ll never be the fastest out there,’ she laughed. ‘But with the techniques I’ve learned to keep me in balance, I aim to be one of the oldest.’

His experience in the army had also taught him that if you make a body that is conditioned to perform, you can transfer that performance into any scenario,

We had also managed to convince ourselves that the injuries we were facing were down to the impact of us hitting the ground and so we had learned to suck ourselves down even further and created a whole industry around footwear designed to protect us against our own poor movement. We had become obsessed with gear and nutrition, with split times and

All the time, she focused on how she was moving, all the time she was honing her technique – treating it as a skill rather than a try hard slog to the finish.