Brownlee Magic Dust….

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So in an attempt to gain any advantage I can I went to see the Brownlees on Monday, for anyone that doesn’t know these are the guys currently ruling the world in the triathlon sense. In fact Gold and Bronze in the Olympics and this season everyone else is competing for second !! (they currently have not raced each other this year yet)
They were signing their book in Leadenhall market in the City, Jonny had just flown in from Madrid where he smashed the field in the ITU event on the Sunday and looked pretty good.

The plan was to get some ‘Brownlee magic dust’ in order to enhance my chances for the big day..guess what, it doesn’t exist, so it seems I’m on my own, but it was great to meet two genuine ENGLISH stars.

WE ARE ON THE LAST LAP !

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Two thirds of the way there……

That equates to having completed the swim and also 91.3 miles of the cycle….so only 20.7 miles cycling and a marathon to go…..!f the way there…………

WE ARE ON THE LAST LAP !

Firstly what a great effort from everyone involved, as you know last Thursday in the City reached nearly the £11,000 mark…brilliant. We now have the last and perhaps toughest part to complete, and I’m sure it will be the same on the 23rd, as the last bits are always the hardest. We have a ‘Cabbie Collection’ coming up at Heathrow next Friday, this is being carried out by Lee, so good luck to him, we also have a number of collection pots coming back which will swell the coffers.

So we now need on more big push to get to that magical 30, and it would be great if we could get the by the time the gun goes off on the 23rd………

Any contribution how ever small would be appreciated, so lets all dig deep and see if we can crack it….you know it makes sense…..

Editor: what is it will incessant use of dots?

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With just a little under 4 weeks to go things seem to be going ok both physically and mentally. I think its fair to say we’ve both had our ups and downs and having now seemingly recovered from our niggling injuries combining a mixture of deep tissue massages, physio, foam rolling, stretching, ICE, rest and compression (sounds so technical doesn’t it!) we’ve managed to weather the storms reasonably well so far. I had a strong week of training last week which I intend to match again this week before starting the difficult and mental game of tapering! Although this is absolutely essential it brings with it feelings of guilt as you’re reducing the amount of training you’ve been used to for months, self doubt as you question if you’ve done enough and on top of all of that the fear of getting to the start line fighting fit and healthy. Having never done a full distance Ironman I have no idea what to expect but I intend to stick to the plan.

There are, like all good plans, a few curve balls that have been thrown my way. Firstly I’ve got a lot of travelling in the lead up to June which include trips to India and Bahrain. This is on top of the already planned trip to the UK for Blenheim, the last race before Nice, which will mean i’ll have 8 flights in the lead up to the start line on the 23rd. Sadly, these are unavoidable and part and parcel of being a part-time triathlete but to put a positive spin on it, they do come at a time where I can tie it in with the tapering and reduction in intensity.

It’s definitely starting to sink in what lies ahead particularly on these last big training sessions. Usually around the 3-4 hour mark of a bike ride or 1.5 hour mark of a run that nagging thought pops up where you begin to question how you can possibly add all these sessions together in one go. There are feelings of excitement, nervousness, nostalgia, fear, and these are only going to intensify over the next few weeks. Its now just about believing in what you’ve done, sticking to the plans that you’ve put in place and staying positive which, if I was ever struggling to find inspiration for I know I don’t have to look much further than the positivity shown by Colin, Helen and their family. Truly incredible!

Finally, I want to finish by thanking everyone again for their generosity and effort shown to the fund raising. While it was always a target we were determined to reach when we discussed the plan, deep down we knew it was always going to be very tough. Over the last week or so its become an achievable reality and with one last push I know we can get there!

Lloyd’s the Musical – A night we will never forget

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The 23rd May 2013 will be seared into the minds of many. in fact for those that have any memory at all it will we hope have been logged as a great evening of fun, surprise and fund raising.

We already knew we had raised  £2100 in donations to secure a place which has been collected on the Just giving site.

but on the night we also raised – £810 from the Prize draw, plus dances with cast and peanut retrieval escapades (don’t ask!)  and £1000 after expenses for the event sponsorship then the auction items totaled £6950

meaning the evening raised  £10,860 

Less what has already been listed leaves £7,950 still to log bringing the total as of today to  £23,536

This is mind blowing really but also tantalizing close to the big “30” it would be absolutely fab to get there by 23rd June, that is just 29 days away!

So if you feel you can throw in another £10, £20 or £50 out of this month’s pay, or have any pending fundraising ideas you can throw into action.

A big thank you to:

Without whom we would not have had such an amazing result.

Fundraising goal

Over 25,000 visits from 68 countries

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Since the launch of the http://www.headcase-ironman.me blog there have been over 25,000 visits from people all across the world. Countries as unexpected as Barbados, Argentina, Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic!  It is actually a little difficult to assess what proportion of the world’s countries that equates to as the definition of a country is not as clear as one might think! Either way impressive. Over 20k of these are from the UK, (which means it is a decidedly better show for the UK than Bonny Tyler in Eurovisions) but the leader board includes look like this:

 

Another Trophy!

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So another season over and another trophy in the cabinet…not too shabby. Oh and another manager destined for the scrap heap !

Our final pilgrimage to the Bridge saw us visit the Prince of Wales, our normal drinking hole before games, so armed with wheelchair, the boys from Baldock  managed to get Colin there in one piece.

As Helen said, how he has done it I just don’t know. After the excursion to Amsterdam, where we went a straight 24 hours before ending up in Colin’s room at 3.30am on the Thursday morning, (having won the Europa Cup) eating all the sandwiches Helen had made along the way, grabbing about five hours sleep and then back on it, well just amazing.

Yesterday saw us end the season in third place beating off our London rivals and securing Champions league for next season…more European fun, in fact we are already looking at the Prague trip in August for the Super Cup against the Germans.

Special mention to Bootsie (head carer) what a job he has done, take a bow !!!!!

So now we have a break however fund raising is still in full swing, we have the Insurance night on Thursday: Lloyd’s The Musical, and the famous waxing this weekend. We have also enlisted four guys who are going to do the three peaks in July and adding their funds to our cause….great stuff.

So as we approach the second half of our challenge we are still looking at more events so anything you can think off please let us know,

Finally, and now that the money is on the JG site I felt I must point out to Faye and the girls that whilst their event and total was amazing it wasn’t quite up to the boys total !!!! Not that this is a competition (much), but with the Photograph money raised on the night we raised over £1300, I’m sure as you said Faye ‘girls should be running the world’ but let’s keep the finances with the boys !

(Trusting the editor will not use editorial licence and accidentally omit the final paragraph!)

May 19th blog from Helen.

I just can’t believe Colin’s strength of character and the faithfulness of his mates.  They only got him to the Europa Cup in Amsterdam! And…….Chelsea  only went and won!!

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Please don’t let me give the impression that I am a fan as I am definitely not,  but Colin is such a fanatic and has such a passion for Chelsea,  that if he showed the same for me, I would have had a dozen or more children instead of the five!!  So in many ways I’m glad the energy was re-directed.

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Well, on Tuesday Tony, Bootsy and Steve Hargreaves were dutifully gathered in a circle while I gave them all orders  on Colin’s medication, thinking that if one forgot the others would remember.  I showed them the injections with further instructions about where to inject.  All three looked wide-eyed and glanced nervously at each other willing someone to come forward and volunteer to play nurse.  As there was no response from the trio at this point….

So I picked Tony.

I have since found out that Colin administered the injections himself but well done anyway Tony for not objecting when you were nominated! Ha Ha!!

Colin has not told me too much about the actual trip, but then, he never does anyway.  From what I can gather, though, he only had two near misses.  Firstly, when his foot became trapped between a train and the platform and,  secondly,  when he tried to stand up to catch a camera another fan had thrown him so he could take a picture from his better vantage point, only to take a tumble six feet down a parapet! I am sure that in due time there will be more tales to tell but I’m really pleased Colin had a good time and that, barring death, he would never have missed this game or any other that Chelsea played and he could get to.

As you are aware, Colin was in the Hospice for twelve days recently.  He still managed to get to two games while he was an in-patient and for the last one, was delivered back to the nurses at 1a.m.  One of the staff asked him if he had enjoyed the match and he replied “What match?”  I thought to myself then that I could save a lot of worry and hand-wringing by telling him he had attended when indeed, I had him tucked up in bed and suitably sedated!

The fundraising is going very well. Many lovely ladies and I had a wonderful time last Saturday at Faye’s Racing Day. There were about forty women and ten teenage girls (who were too young to bet, of course) but we easily beat the boys with well under a third of the attendees, by raising over a thousand pounds!

Both my daughters and my daughter-out-law attended Vicky’s fundraiser last Thursday evening which too was highly successful. This despite being on a weeknight and a “Drum and Bass” event aimed at young Mums, who of course need all the money they have for their young families.  £345 is a brilliant total so sincere thanks to both V icky Witherick and Faye Tracey for putting in such a fantastic effort for the cause.  As well as all this activity, Shirley and John King have donated another £47.50 from donations in their pub and Michael Edwards, Colin’s brother in law, has donated £25 collected from his office at British Aerospace. Many thanks for all that generosity, goodwill and organisation.

Finally, news of another event next Bank Holiday Sunday 26th May, when Brett Healey is undergoing the torture of a sponsored waxing.  This will be at The Cock Hotel in Hitchin and will be preceded by  fantastic  music from , “Rance’s Rocking Chair Band” (back by popular demand)  from 2pm-5pm, then the waxing will happen at 5pm……ouch!!!!  Added to all this there is to be a BBQ sponsored by Kenhursts. So get yourselves down there folks and have a truly great time in aid of a brilliant cause!!

Lloyd’s the Musical prepares for opening Night

London walks coffee houses2Thursday 5pm the curtain rises on the premier of Lloyd’s the Musical. With a star studded cast, lead by the infamous Trio of John Preston, Julian Kirkman-Page and the legendary Roger Foord the collection of paradies of well known hits and classics from Mary Poppins and South Pacific to The Beatles and Edith Piaf will be unleashed within a Mama Mia style operetta. All with a decidedly Insurance and IT theme – a novel but often quite comedic marriage providing over 30 years of excellent material to work with.

Accompanied by the very talented Libby on the ivories and narrated by the austere tones of David Edwards the show will take to the stage (or small space at Steam Win Bar) with the support of Paula, Jane and Kirstin (muggins) to bring a little colour to proceedings.

The opening scene sees three elderly gentlemen sitting within the comfort of the coffee house owned by Edward Lloyd in the mid 1600’s debating the relative merit of sharing a bit of Mary, Sarah Jane and Gwendoline!

It is surely set to be an evening the market will never forget, due to be filmed and no doubt will go viral within minutes! But if you have not been lucky enough to get a ticket for this now Sold Out event we would ask that our efforts are not in vain and that if you are able to remind us we are in your thoughts and donate an extra few quid, it will provide that dutch courage before some of us bare more than perhaps we ought to, in front of a debatably appreciative audience!

Tommy’s Blog

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Firstly I would like to start by apologising for the delay in writing my take on the current situation and events regarding my dad, Colin. Trying to put pen to paper to explain my thoughts and feelings has proven to be somewhat of a challenge, and we all know it doesn’t take much to get me in a spin. As spins go this feels like I’m stuck on a roundabout and can’t get off so bear with me people. Nothing we say or do is going to make this dreadful cancer inside my dad’s head go away but what really puzzles me the most is where he found the room to fit this inside his bonce, all that knowledge stuck between the alien invader….it’s no wonder he’s been getting headaches!!

This has been a blow to myself and my family but the strength of character my dad shows every day makes me proud to be his son. I am thankful that I have had 27 years of knowing this man not only as a father, but as a best friend. I watch him and my mum together as this illness takes effect and see that the love they share holds no bounds, they both are truly amazing people and I take my hat off to them.

Sentiments aside I would like to bore you all with some nostalgia. Where to begin is yet another challenge for me as there are too many good times to note, and not enough ink in the printer. Being the original Phyliss you’ll all appreciate how I like to go into the detail of everything so I’m prepared to spend this week’s wages on matches for all the tiring eyelids of the people that take the time to read this blog! Anyhoo….

It was my dad’s birthday last week so we rallied the troops for …..yes, you guessed it an Indian at the local curry house. As always, the smith clan took over the restaurant and ordered everything off the menu, drinks included. As the evening wore on we were all somewhat inebriated and cracking jokes at the waiters expense with everybody putting their two penneth worth in, but the cherry on the bakewell was dads comedy gold comment which had us in stitches. There was no hint of the underlying situation and dad was his usual comical self, which is what we all love about him. His sense of humour is second to none and if I ever get to become as funny as him I’ll chuckle all the way to the comedy club…! I’m sure Shelley will have something to say about this as she is second in line in the comedy stakes!

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All jokes aside, I would like to thank everybody for the support and love given to my Dad since he was diagnosed as having a GBM. Words cannot explain how tragic this is for everybody who knows and loves him and is something which you always think will happen to somebody else. Well it’s happened to us and having read up about this type of cancer can see that dad is fighting this head on…..literally! The courage and strength he shows every day is typical of his character and leaves me in awe.

Tonight he’s gone on the usual pilgrimage to London to watch the Chelsea Tottenham match. It’s a draw which I’m sure Dad will be none best pleased about as a win would have given us the qualification for next season champions league, but now it will have to go the wire. With two games remaining I am confident dad’s spirit will pull the mighty blues through!!…

Come on you Blues and on that note I’m off to put a bet on….

Love you with all my heart Dad,

Colin’s weekly blog

Well, Helen is helping me with the blog again this week –and what a week!!

It all started off with a trip to the Bridge to see Chelsea who were victorious once again.

On Wednesday the 24th we went out for my birthday, the kids treated us to an Indian. The plan was to have a BBQ but as I had a little turn Helen decided we should go out to the local Indian. Very nice it was too, although very expensive but the kids paid.

On Thursday the Macmillan nurse came out to visit and suggested I went to the hospice to try to sort out my medication. This was to restore safe levels and remedy my instability when walking, as well as decreasing the hallucinations. Anyway, I was admitted to the Garden House Hospice where the reduction started on Friday. The staff are lovely and I’m very comfortable in here. The doctors would like to accommodate my passion for Chelsea, so they have decided not to reduce again until Friday 3rd May as Bootsy is talking me to Chelsea on Thursday evening.

Oh, by the way Chelsea have 1 foot in the Europa Cup final after winning 2-1 in the first leg in Basel last night.
Thank you for your continued support and next week there will be a list of up and coming events.

There is however a ladies day which Faye Tracey is organising on May 11th at 3pm (Men allowed in at 7pm). Tickets are £25 which includes afternoon tea, pimms, champers and entertainment. Dress code – ASCOT. More details from fayeelizabethtracey2013@blackberry.orange.co.uk