Jonathan Kattenberg - Walking With My Bear
Jonathan Kattenberg has been studying, researching and applying mindset techniques for 20 years. He's a qualified Post Graduate in Clinical Hypnotherapy, qualified Reiki Practitioner, experienced in mindset techniques from various therapeutic approaches, and Author of How To Build On Tectonic Plates.
We talked to Jonathan about his upcoming event.
1. Tell us a bit about your event, where will it take place and what will you do?
I want to raise money for a charity called Focus4Hope. They desperately need a key worker which costs £10,400 for the year. They help vulnerable, victims of domestic abuse, elderly and help much needed people who are starving, including the homeless. You can see more details on the website www.walkingwithmybear.com/fundraising . It’s a really amazing cause that benefits so many people.
All monies raised go direct to the charity. So I will walk 1,040 miles pulling my pulk on wheels with all my supplies and stay outside until it’s done. The route is a beautiful 10-mile route around Howden and Derwent reservoir in the Derbyshire Peak District. It’s one of the fab areas I train and can often be found covering 30-40 miles in one go pulling a tyre. I’ll be unsupported and on my own with just my music and mindset.
2. Why did you choose the Derwent and Howden reservoir loop?
The scenery is stunning. A different picture every time I go there. When the reservoir waters are still, the reflections in the water from the trees and sky are breath-taking. It’s also very peaceful during the day, and I love listening to the owls and geese or ducks at night time making a racket! The ladies at the tuck shop also make a fab cup of tea and have great selection of cakes and ice cream.
3. How long do you think it will take?
If I average a steady 65-70 miles a day pulling my pulk, I should rattle it off within a couple of weeks! If I increase my pace after a few days and my legs loosen up, then I may potentially average 80-90 miles a day. Depends on how much sleep I want at the time… It also depends if I get any severe blisters. The terrain has cambers going in every direction, so it knocks the living daylights out of my heals/feet. A few weeks ago I set off to complete a 120-mile non-stop walk with just a back pack, listening to my music. I was in such a trance, after 20 miles I noticed and felt a small blister. Dealt with it at 30 miles, but missed the huge blister underneath the blister I sorted out at the 30 mile mark. 41 miles later, my right heal was trashed. I could have patched it up, absorbed the pain, but would have just ended up in hospital. I actually sat in the boot of my car, debating for over 15 minutes trying to justify if I could continue. It was like a Monty Python sketch - “It’s only a flesh wound”!
4. Do you have a kit list? What are your top 5 priority items to carry/pull during your challenge?
Yes the kit list is very straight forward.
Top 5 items:
- Quality Socks, and lots of them.
- Foot care pack. Without my feet It will be a long journey and I don’t fancy doing 1,040 miles all the way on crutches!
- Quality expedition food - I love tasty food that can help fuel my body. Expedition Foods do it for me and the variety is fab. Always love the porridge with strawberries. It calms my stomach and I could eat it all day long…
- Earphones and great selection/variety of music. I love music.
- Last but most important of the top 5, my boys two little teddies. They go everywhere with me.
The rest of the kit is pretty straight forward, multi fuel stove, but also a Jetboil unit for quick hot drink or perfect for boiling the right amount of water for an Expedition Food meal, and it heats the water up really quickly. Merino wool layers, waterproofs given its the UK! Two sets of trainers, tent and sleeping gear, and some gadgets.
5. How will you push yourself to keep going when it gets tough?
It may sound arrogant, no pushing required. My mind is trained to just get on with it! The hardest challenge or tough bit is ensuring I don’t go too deep in a state of trance and miss any signs of blisters occurring, which will ultimately mean I have to continue on crutches if required. Either way, I will complete it, it may just take a little longer than expected and hope the rain holds off. Also, I am getting dropped off, so I won’t have a car to throw my stuff in the boot and go home. I’ll be there until it’s done! A bit like landing on a island and letting the boat float back out to sea. You just get on with it and deal with what comes your way...
6. What role do you think mindset has in a challenge like this?
Mindset is everything. Think about this scenario for a brief moment. You have a loved one who you would move mountains for, yet, you get a phone call saying you are the only person in the world who can help them and they urgently need you to save their life. Without you they die! The only way to getting to them is on foot. You have never walked more than 1 mile before. Yet, you just do it. Why, because your emotions and mindset at that time go into a state of strength and you achieve anything you desire.
Now imagine if you were taught how to hone into that level of mindset power without the life threatening scenario, and then could apply that level of empowerment in everyday life? Imagine what you could achieve. This is one of the many reasons why I love my work with private clients. We get results…
7. What is a mindset trouble-shooter?
Some who can get into the route causes of your thoughts, actions, feelings etc and understand the intertwined web of your past. How each aspect of your life is influencing your perspective and perception of everything you see, feel, hear, taste and smell, oh, and think as well.
In essence, someone who if allowed, can get into the areas your unconscious mind your conscious mind won’t let you deal with!
I’m a registered clinical hypnotherapist and have worked with peoples minds for many years. It’s so lovely to witness a client’s journey unfold to their advantage.
8. What would you say to others wanting to take on an epic challenge?
Get on with it and don’t let anything stop you. From my own experience, you may have moments when you fall, feel like the mountain is enormous and every dam thing is pushing against you.
But if you want it enough, you pick yourself up, learn from your mistakes, ignore the people who tell you to quit because you have not achieved your goal neither the 1st, 2nd or 3rd time etc, and you just keep on going.
Get trained up both physically, but more importantly, get trained mentally. People miss this aspect of their training. Learn how to look after yourself both physically and mentally, and if you are going to get trained, get trained by someone with experience and not an academic of life! Too many people talking a good game, but not applying themselves and leading by example.
You can be the fittest, fastest and strongest person in the world, but if your mindset isn’t programmed correctly, many people fall down or quit at the first or even a number of hurdles on their path! You only fail if you fall and choose not to get back up.
9. What does the future hold for you? Do you have any other events in the pipeline?
Yes lots of the agenda for the next 5-8 years. Some of which are a 1,000 mile foot journey in the winter across parts of Alaska and the Yukon unsupported and fingers crossed will form part of an ongoing documentary. 2 x world record attempts. These include, south pole and the Atlantic.
There are more fab challenges on my list, but these are just a few. The 6633 Arctic Ultra is a fab race I want to complete and I’d love to go back to do the Marathon Des Sables again, it was a blast even if I had to complete it with a badly damaged toe. The picture of my feet still makes me chuckle to this day. I’d even like to go back and complete the 430 mile Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra.
Life is for living whilst always believing anything is possible.
I always teach my clients - True wealth is from Inner peace. If you are truly in harmony with your journey of life, love your experience of life in the truest sense, you are one wealthy person! Another part of my work is wealth management. You can be the richest person in the world, but if you aren’t happy with your life, money doesn’t buy inner peace. Don't get me wrong, we need money to go and do certain things and have a quality of life, but its how you approach the journey that counts and how your mind works with it.
Also in Stories
Gobi March Part 3: How Bazar’s Training and Nomadic Life Carried Him Through Mongolia’s 250km Desert Race
Follow Bazar from mountain training in Khovd to the finish line of the Gobi March, where his nomadic resilience, simple preparation, and steady endurance carried him through Mongolia’s 250km desert race.
Part One: Into the Saryjaz - Team Espresso’s Return to Big Water
Team Espresso begins their Saryjaz River expedition in Kyrgyzstan. Big water, brutal portages, remote Class V rapids — and the food that kept them going
Bazar’s Gobi March Training: Life, Culture & Preparation — Part 2
As the Gobi March draws closer, we reconnect with Bazar in the mountains of western Mongolia. His training has become more focused, his gear choices more deliberate, and his connection to the land even more central to how he prepares. From long runs at altitude to traditional high‑fat foods and life in a ger, Bazar’s journey shows how endurance is shaped not just by training plans, but by culture, environment, and resilience.