Love a quote

imageroadThis week has be a bit hit and miss, the balance between family, work and training didn’t really go to well, I did still get 95 miles cycling in 1 mile swim and 11 miles of running. Today I got into the gym and did a couple of good circuits to try and break up the routines, whilst at the gym I heard the following quote which I thought was fitting “Training is learning to hurt ” so when I look at the bike route we have ahead of us I think we have a lot of hurting to come!!!!!

We want £10k

check10k_hoverOn average with personal and corporate donations we are collecting 13% in Gift aid. That means that we need to get to £44,250 to be proving Headcase with £50k in funding.

Many wonderful donations have been one-offs so we are also hoping people will consider donating again, especially those that donated last year. We are making a big difference to this charity and its ability to fund this research needed.

Over 400 people are following this blog or the twitter feed each post generates. If everyone gave another £25 we’d blow our target in one go. But anything is gratefully received. so sitting on the sofa on a Saturday eve, thinking what yuo could do, before you decide, click along to the Just Giving site and just bug a few pints worth of cash on to counter.

What’s it all about ???

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Here is our 200th Blog Post.

So here we sit just under eight weeks to go before we take on Mallorca. The training appears to be going well, but someone has to tell Peter that the event commences with a swim…….so a bit of water time is required…

The good news is that with Gift Aid we are now over the 40k mark which is just sensational…thanks to everyone who has helped achieve this, but you know what’s coming….we need to keep going.

It perhaps is worthwhile just reiterating what the money has been used for, the key fact that every penny contributed goes directly to the charity, not one penny is spent on anything else in terms of expenses or other costs.

So where has your money gone…..well we are helping to fund a two year patient trial which is being run as a joint effort between the University of Portsmouth and the University of Bergen in Norway/ This is using a drug that has been found to help increase the survival rate of the patient from the 14 months average to in some cases 10 years…what would Colin have done for that extra time…..seen Chelsea reach the quarter final of the Champions League the other night for starters !

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AND THAT IS WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT……giving hope and finding the cure…..I have no doubt that we are on the way to that great day and having been a part in this is a great feeling, as I said before a promise to Colin was to keep finding ways of raising funds to help achieve this.

So having raided your banks and savings last year I want you to consider doing it again,

COULD YOU CONSIDER DONATING THE SAME AMOUNT YOU DONATED LAST YEAR AGAIN?

I appreciate we all get many request for this kind of thing but I am NOT going to stop and therefore would ask you to consider re-visiting our Just Giving site http://www.justgiving.com/tonyanddanironmanand donating whatever feels right, it would be hugely appreciated by all.

In addition any ideas of ways we can achieve extra donations will be gratefully received…THANKS for taking time to read this.

Training update

Peter: With little over 8 weeks to go until the big day the first injury scare has reared its ugly head …my back has decided to go into spasm !! standing on the train into London is I’m sure making it worse. It is an old injury I know what I should do to put it right BUT that means no exercise for a couple of weeks, don’t think I can afford that amount off time away from running or the bike? However it means I can get in the pool and perfect my doggy paddle just so I don’t look too silly on the day – Backs ah! Pain in the a***

February Summary

Andy: With the six nations starting it was going to be hard to stay away from the party atmosphere so I allowed myself the first weekend to succumb and get amongst it.  I travelled to Cardiff for a real blow out of a weekend, and what a weekend.  Much needed ‘rest days’ under my belt… 

Feeling fresh from my weekend away I set my goals for February:  to concentrate on my running, clocking up the necessary miles and improving my long distance times.  With the weather still bad I knew I would find it difficult to get out on the bike as much.

Consistency is key it would seem, I ran two to three times per week and racked up an average of 30km’s per week.  This paid dividends when it came to the Hampton court half marathon towards the end of the month.  This effort didn’t come unpunished however, I managed to pick up a niggling hamstring injury which is still persisting.

Cycle training was confined mostly to the turbo trainer for February.  An uninspiring, lonely, sweaty place, made worse by the fact that it’s done in the front room to the annoyance of everyone present.  I downloaded some punishing ‘sufferfest’ dvds which really put you through your paces.  These cycle sessions indoors could not be further from where my cycle adventure through rural France took me last summer.  I long for a sunny afternoon jaunt through the Cotswolds.  Bring on Spring!

Lastly, the swim…Pool, what pool? I’ve truly neglected the swim…I hope this doesn’t come back to haunt me.  Must try harder.

In summary I clocked 4km in water, 292km in the saddle and 120km on foot.

So now to set the aims for March:

  1. First of all get in the bloody pool and swim! Consistency is key you idiot.  You know that already.
  2. Take to the great outdoors on the bicycle, increase time in the saddle to harden the haunches.
  3. Introduce brick sessions, eeek, these are painful.

Create a specific conditioning routine to rid myself from this hamstring injury

Prize Giving

IMG-20140319-WA0001So it has become a bit of a tradition that after a tough week training/competing in Dubai, Dan and I award ourselves with our own prize giving ceremony …. not in the traditional sense ie, top of the podium and a medal, but with a top steak and a couple of bottles of red…..clearly this flies in the face of a triathlete but you know what its a great reward.

So this time was no different, after having returned from Abu Dhabi we rested a night and then went for it at Ruth Chris a great venue for top steaks, and it didn’t disappoint………

 

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Come on

David: 8 weeks to go, last week was a good one regards training, pushed hard each day. Tried a different patten, I doubled up each day, swim & bike, bike and run made for a hard week but I felt good come the weekend. It feels that I’ve done more this year and overall I feel stronger BUT time will tell.

It’s good to stop and think why are we doing this and it’s for two reasons a personal challenge & to help fight against this horrific cancer, it’s real and it happens please help us to make a small difference share this and make the difference. 

Training Update

Peter: Training, Training, Training …schedule locked in now – a need for change to keep motivated, so harder, longer rides and runs required let’s up the anti !! time is ticking by the event will soon be on us so its a MUST to keep going. Still plenty of time though to pledge some money for this worth while cause please visit the Just giving page and help us to make a difference

Stepping up the Motivation

Very few weeks left before the big event the weekly routine is pretty much locked in now all that is required is some lengths of the swimming pool – that should be arranged this week ? I think to keep the motivation up we must keep reminding ourselves why we are actually doing this .. its not for personal reward or the heroic views its all about raising money ! and the more we raise the better, we need everyone to help us please, please every little bit helps – so when I cross the finish line on May 10 and punch the air it really does mean somthing – thank you for everyone that has so far contributed to the cause and those who are thinking about it thank you in advance – keep the fight going

The power of London Pride

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So a really big reminder on the importance of two things yesterday…..we had both decided: To train all week prior to the Tri in Abu Dhabi and also have a few nights out one in particular resulting in seven pints of London Pride…yes Bootsie London Pride….oh and a burger.

The other point is nutrition on the day.

Conclusions: A big week of training doesn’t help your legs when your are on a 100k bike ride into wind, I have to say though riding around the Yas Island Grand Prix circuit was brilliant.

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Also seeing the Brownlee brothers on their way back on the cycle travelling at over 40k an hour was pretty special….so note to self taper for Mallorca!

HydrationThe other key factor is hydration and this you cannot afford to get wrong…..I did though. It’s a vicious circle when you feel you can’t take on water or gels it’s probably too late, I certainly suffered in the last part of the bike and the run due to lack of hydration, plus it was 30 degrees….only good point was even the Brownlees ran around 6 mins slower than normal…..

Over all it was a great event and thoroughly enjoyed by both Dan and I, clearly his new wheels worked well, but it wasn’t all bad, the old man clocked a 24:11 swim…….

Be good to see some more funds go in as encouragement, thanks to those that are spurring us all on.