Colin’s weekly Blog – nine month survivor

31 Sunday Mar 2013

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nine

Well, here is the latest blog on Good Friday March 29th. In a few days, on April 3rd, I will become a 9 Month survivor, another milestone achieved.  Yesterday though, I received a letter from Addenbrookes to say I can’t fly (because of the brain tumour) or travel long distance, i.e. Eurostar, by rail (because of the blood clot) which is all because I had told them that I had agreed to go to Nice to accept the donation on behalf of Headcase for the Ironman Event.  Apparently this is because of the air pressure of the flight or being effectively under the water in the Chunnel.  They also said that I will have to have the stomach injections for the rest of life.  I had been told this before, but seeing it in black and white brings it home all the more.

Hopefully, I’ll be in a position to give a final total raised by the last Chelsea Fundraiser in Littlington, on next week’s blog.

Forthcoming events – Thanks to Faye Tracey there is an event being organised for the ladies (link is http://headcase-ironman.me take a look ) which will include virtual horseracing and lots of Pimms and Champagne. Follow the link and sign up for May 11th because the guys can join the ladies in the evening when there may well be a comedian.

As well as this, Vicky Marvel has arranged a “Back to School Ball” where you had better wear your uniform or risk a detention (or worse, Colin giving you the cane with his silver  dog headed walking stick!) and be prepared for a professional DJ reminding you of the music you loved to dance to.  This is on Thursday 16th May.

That’s it for now, hopefully I will be off to watch The Blues whoop The Mancs on Easter Monday as long as I can find the bloody ticket. I know I’ve put it somewhere safe but God only knows where that is.  I have a sinking feeling when I remember I did a load of shredding yesterday……!

Faye steps up for the Girls !!!!!

28 Thursday Mar 2013

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Faye is arranging a Charity Fundraiser in aid of the brilliant Headcase Ironman Challenge. (the link is https://headcase-ironman.me/take a look )

The event theme is ‘ladies day at the races’.

The boys have had their fun with testosterone filled Chelsea themed events, so now it is the turn of us ladies to raise some money in style!

This will take place Saturday 11th May, at 3pm, Chic Bar, Hitchin. Proof is in the title that this is a ladies only event, a company will be attending and they provide a ‘virtual racing’ night, details below. It should be a really fun, unique event where hopefully we can raise lots of money!

The racing will be 4pm – 6pm, afternoon tea will be served together with a Champagne and Pimms on arrival. I am also looking at securing a comedian(this is speculative at the moment) which will be from 7pm – 8pm. Gentleman are welcome to join from 8pm for the rest of the evening where there will be music, dancing and lots more champagne!

Tickets will be £30, costs are extremely reasonable due to Sarah Bethel, owner of Chic kindly offering us her venue for free, so a large amount of the ticket cost will go straight to the charity.

I really hope you can make it, please do let me know at fayeelizabethtracey2013@blackberry.orange.co.uk, tickets should be ready by the weekend of 6th April

I will also be running an auction, I have a number of lovely items prepared, but if anybody has any contacts who could make any form of donation for the auction, that would be very much appreciated

It should be a fantastic afternoon / evening, hope to see you there!

Colin’s Weekly Blog

22 Friday Mar 2013

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Hello again everyone.

Let me start by explaining why my blogs have been erratic lately and have not been posted on time. Firstly, in case you’ve all forgotten by now, I’ve got a tumour. A feckin’ big Grade 4 one, and the symptoms are very different from day-to- day tiredness, sickness and anxiety. I seem to be at the early stages of Tourette’s!! Coming off the train at Baldock station last Sunday evening (back from football) I blurted out to this random young lady “Hello love” right in her face!

On top of this rather worrying tendency, my bloody computer has been playing up sporadically for the past two weeks and was only 100% repaired last night.

The disco in Shirley and John’s pub, The Crown in Stotfold, was brilliant and the group, The Blazing Eighties were truly amazing. Over £600 was raised that night and lots of people left feeling really happy with their excellent raffle prizes drummed up by Shirley and her staff, who managed to persuade local businesses and customers to donate. Huge thanks to all involved in making this a successful evening, it is appreciated so much.

Jimmy2

On Tuesday I was meant to be picked up and taken to The House of Commons by Colin Spiers, the founder of Headcase, to lobby Parliament about funding research on brain tumours. Unfortunately I was feeling unwell that day and had to cancel. Helen phoned Addenbrooks and they advised her to increase my steroids, which seem to have worked because on Saturday I managed to attend another fundraising event.

This was arranged by Debbie, the landlady at The Crown in Littlington, on our behalf to raise more funds for Headcase. (It’s strange that most of the pubs involved are called ‘The Crown’ and it’s my crown which is the cause of all my problems at the moment!) Ex Chelsea, Tottenham and England player Jimmy Greaves was there, along with the legend that is Ron Chopper Harris. As well as this, there was a comedian to add to the entertainment. There was a raffle and an auction for signed memorabilia. The final figures for sums raised have not been divided amongst various charities and the expenses calculated yet, but a good time was certainly had by all. Apparently though, Ron Harris is going to sponsor The Iron Man event to the tune of £300.

Lots of people have been donating individually, Penny from The Boot in Baldock, Ian Wilkie, Kevin Morgan, Jim and Julie Cranston, Maureen and Graham Blunt, Kim and Kevin Toman and Stormin’ Norman to name but a few. I’d like them to know that it is all received by Headcase with gratitude. So sorry if I’ve left anybody out but ……like I said at the beginning, I’ve got a brain tumour!

Saturday with Jimmy and Chopper!

22 Friday Mar 2013

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jimmy1So a great event on Saturday night where Jimmy Greaves and Chopper Harris entertained an audience of over 200 with jokes and stories of the past 50 years….We still await to see the final total raised but a good time was had by all.

Many thanks to Richard Washbrooke for providing the photographs on the night, funds were raised with many of them being signed, there are loads more to see (and buy) at the link below.

http://richardwashbrooke.photoshelter.com/gallery/Colin-Smith-Headcase-Cancer-Trust-16th-March-2013/G00007KVCd_uTi5Q/1/C0000rwvc5hGMefI Remember all proceeds goes to Colin’s charity…

Jimmy2

4th race of the season

16 Saturday Mar 2013

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Dubai2013

After what can only be described as a very boozy week in Beirut, confidence in preparation for an Olympic distance event wasn’t ideal it must be said but if you wanted to put a positive spin on it, I did get time to rest and replenish my glycogen levels?!?

Anyway, another early start, this time at Mamzar beach park for my 4th event of the year, the usual thoughts were running through my head. Why am I doing this again? Should I go back to bed? I could just do a big training session instead? Thankfully I chose to grow a pair in true ironman fashion and just get stuck in. I’m very glad I did…

The swim was less nerve racking than usual perhaps because I had completed a few already this year, but I had set a target of beating the 30min mark which was at the back of my mind. It was quite a feisty swim with lots of kicking and punching but eventually I got in my rhythm and got out the water in 28mins by my watch which I was more than happy with. In and out of T1 quite quickly I had a bit of a technical issue with my bike AKA falling off! A valid lesson learnt however that no matter how confident you are with mounting your bike, when you try and do too many things at once its only ever going to end in an awkward and embarrassing scenario much to the amusement of various spectators. I finally sorted myself, got my head down and posted a pretty decent time for the 40k which again showed me that I’m improving on the discipline I found the most difficult (we won’t think about the extra 140km ill need to complete in Nice come June for now!)

Feeling reasonably fresh off the bike I pushed quite hard on the run trying to get the heart rate up in order to see where I was at fitness wise towards the end of the 10k. Overall I was pretty pleased and by my watch I broke 45mins which was my secret target before setting out. The goal now for running is just to combine the speed work with endurance and keeping a steady pace for longer period.

So another event down and only one more to go before the season ends here I am reasonably happy where I am at. The heat is now my biggest worry until June given its now 32 degrees here and only going one way (I don’t expect any sympathy btw!) so will need to think about how I deal with that.

Lastly, I’ve been working with our creative director on some cool concepts for the head case charity. I hope to have some ideas to share in the coming months but for now would just like to thank everyone again for their continued support and effort shown so far, its massively inspirational, and also to Colin who never fails to make me laugh with his blog posts.

Until next time…

Weekly Update

13 Wednesday Mar 2013

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I will start by congratulating Tony and Dan on their efforts this week in Abu Dhabi and Dubai for their triathlon trials and training from which they returned last Wednesday.

Helen’s employer, Carillion Surgi Centre, held a quiz night on Friday on behalf of Headcase and presented them with a cheque for £3000 which is really brilliant and means we have achieved 10% of our target in one fell swoop!

On Saturday I went to Chelsea v WBA. I was driven by Bootsy, Becca and Nick.  Chelsea had arranged with Bootsy that I would sit in the disabled area at the side of the pitch, not the best of views but at least I was there.  We had to sign a load of autographs as we looked for all the world like Andy Pipkin and Lou Todd.

Colin 2

I had a check-up at Addenbrooks yesterday and was told that the tumour is stable at the moment.  They identified my recent “turns” as seizures or little fits and so they have put me on medication to control them.

 

Boris We sent out a photographer to spy on Nick to make sure he was training hard.  To our amazement he was sprinting up to the line as we snapped him.

 

We also managed to get a shot of Bootsy peddling like fury to improve his time.
Little Britain

Finally, just to remind you all that there is a fund raising live music event at The Crown in Stotfold organised by the wonderful Shirley and John King.  There are lots of great raffle prizes donated by local businesses and the band is The Fantastic Blazing Eighties, so go along and have a blast!

Colin off to the Houses of Parliament.

08 Friday Mar 2013

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houses-of-parliamentAs you all know Colin is supporting the Headcase charity, and as part of the Governments attempt to gain exposure to the Brain Tumour issue Colin Spiers who was the original founder of Headcase has invited Colin and I to an event at the houses of Parliament next week. As is evident by the following Colin has gained from this blog, the fabulous donations from you all, his never ending humour about his plight, he has accepted the invitation and will attend the event.

This again shows the total class of the man, his determination to help provide hope for all of us who might face this terrible disease and don’t even know it yet. His single minded determination to get up off his backside, never to use the why me card and just do it….is just amazing I take my hat off to him, do you think Boris might be there ?

Will provide an update next week….watch this space

Update from Dubai………..

07 Thursday Mar 2013

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So as the training camp has come to an end we have both moved forward in our attempt on the Nice Ironman. We have spent hours scaring ourselves about the task ahead, talked about what to eat and drink on the day as well as what not too….cream and its strategic placement and possible replacement throughout the event as well as each discipline and how to tackle it…we now stand at just over 15 weeks, and return to individual training. Dan has had an exceptional week and is I believe on schedule….my arm seems to be improving but physio starts Friday and I am optimistic but it can’t be rushed, which for anyone that knows me is just…..well you know !

Anyhow as we continue to hear from Colin and his fantastic fight it puts the whole thing into perspective, and if you think what we are doing is mental just spend a couple of minutes looking at this and I guess it will put that into perspective as well !

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YiuLAOauIFQ

update from NICE 2013

07 Thursday Mar 2013

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NICE2013aSeems like a nice place to have lunch……only another 80k to go !

Over the next few months the organisers will be describing all the various towns that we will ride through…I guess that is because when we are riding we will not be able to enjoy them so lets

Discover the village Gréolières

At the 100th km of bike part, you will cross the narrow streets of the village of Gréolières. Gréolières is built on a small plateau on the edge of terrace facing south. Dominated by “Les Barres de Cheiron” and overlooking the Loup valley, rich in impressive waterfalls, tunnels and narrow gorges, the village appears as a jewel in the lush foothills of the Préalps.

Gréolières is the starting point for wonderful excursions. Many marked trails allow you to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.

Gréolières is a medieval village with its two castles still visible, with narrow streets lined with houses typical of the mountains of Provence. Shaded terraces and artisans are waiting for you.