Tag Archives: ironman

The Dust has Settled

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

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Well well well, now that the dust has settled and the aches and pains have begun to subside, I guess it’s time to reflect on the past 7 Months. The first email went on the 13th November and went like this….

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TONY “I’m so close to entering a Ironman”

DAN    “I think I’m gonna do it. I think I have to be there if you’re gonna do it and watching just wont be enough, Having said that, I am actually leaning towards Nice. I know the bike is harder but the times last year are a lot quicker….. It works better for me date wise as well. 

The run course is flat as a pancake as well…..”

TONY  “OK so …… Is that a date ? If we do it we should do sponsorship and I would like to do it for Colin ?” 

DAN     “I think if I don’t do it now I will just wish I had sooooo………………IT’S A DATE! (heart racing right now)  And yes, 100% should be done for Colin”

TONY  “God ….. So is mine and my stomach has just churned !! “

Editor “what is it with these ‘….’ , is it hereditary too”
This exchange was followed by a string of further emails with language that’s not for public consumption thereafter it was set in stone, we had agreed to do an IRONMAN!. Research then helped decide on Nice and on the 17th November I told Colin we were going to do it and raise money for Headcase.

The journey had begun, however even before the blog and Justgiving sites were up things had become challenging, courtesy of Chelsea football club !

As we have said this was all about raising awareness and of course cash for Headcase and of course Colin’s plight. The money and ideas came rolling in and we were well and truly on our way.

The training became all consuming and Dan and I were constantly scaring each other with articles we had read about this challenge, but it was ok as it was months away ! My first visit to Dubai was not good as I had to drop out of the Abu Dhabi tri, which incidentally the same guy who won in Nice won there too, and Dan did brill. Second trip we really did work hard and we could sense we were getting there.

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In the meantime the money and efforts of you all was really amazing and the support and donations came rolling in along with some very moving messages for Colin, but the most amazing contributions were from Colin himself and latterly Helen, when ever a ‘Colin blog’ went up the visits to the site doubled in the day and sometimes trebled.

The months began to slip by and the big day came ever closer, but there was also continuous fund raising activity which was really inspiring and ensured total focus. And then bang its done and its over, but what a great day, just one of the best. But the fight goes on, at the time of writing we are just over £32,500 with gift aid, but I would still like to see the magical £30k appear without gift aid. But a job well done, THANKS.

So it would be remiss not to say a few thank you’s.

Firstly Kirstin who in the roll of  ‘Admin’  a term that started as a bit of a wind up but seems to have stuck, seriously what can I say, well the whole thing wouldn’t have been such a success without you, I guess being bossy helps, but you never let up and for that I thank you.
To our on the ground supporters amazing, I think their voices have now recovered. In addition Dan and I have been overwhelmed with the messages of support, it really did make a difference on those last few strides.To all our donators, not sure there is such a word, but you have been brilliant.

But most of all, thank you Colin, Helen and your family for allowing us to invade your lives at a time of total devastation; your openness, honesty and humour have been amazing and your continued drive to raise awareness and cash for Headcase is a tremendous demonstration of wanting to help others when it would be easy to disappear into your shell.  Even when we went to see Colin on Monday when we flew back he was still talking about the charity and donations, unbelievable !

So while this chapter comes to a close another inevitably opens, the boys are doing the three peaks challenge in a couple of weeks and I’m  sure we will think of something else mental to do in due course, but with the London Tri in five weeks its back to the gym. A million thanks to you all from Dan and me for making it bearable and actually fun, and my thoughts, as I know everyone’s are, are with Colin and Helen. TTFN

Ok folks so where are you?

23 Sunday Jun 2013

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Probably tucked up in bed, at least those in Blighty. Whilst the support crew are up and at ’em at 4am, fumbling for the light switch and  the tooth brush to be bright and breezy for when the guys are ready to leave. Bring on the coffee and don’t tell them we may well grab a few 40 winks after they head off up into the mountains!

24 hours to go

22 Saturday Jun 2013

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Start

In 24 hours the Support team with have escorted the competitors to the beach, distracting the nerves.  Tony and Dan will have lined up with over 2000 other insane nutters, Considering the best method to cover the 2 or 3 meters of very uncomfortable stones and launch themselves into the waves to commence a race of a life time.

The walk back from the Pasta Fest last night covered topics such as the metal boredom of straight road run, the merits of setting a time goal for each stage vs being delighted just to complete it and the issues over pre-race preparation involving the bathroom!

The 5k walk, rather than waiting for the hot and overcrowded bus was an opportunity to calculate the view around the bay that will appear on each of the three circuits, and the hope that there will be as little wind as possible to battle with.

The guys talk of flick flacking between nerves and excitement and the desire to just get it started now. But in reality the last day of essential training involves doing very little, and resting, perhaps taking in the rugby, but definitely feet up, until they announce, “perhaps a little swim in the morning would be a good idea, oh and a small run later on” But for now it is a question of mental calm and biding the time to the start.

It is not clear where the live results are to be posted online, if we find out we will pass the information on through a blog post. But the start is 6:30am, remember Nice is a hour ahead, so obviously we hope everyone will be up bright and early at 5:30 to be thinking of them at their start line.

7:30-7:50 they hope to be exiting the swim., hopefully fending off any kicks to important parts of the body, and dodging the jelly fish.

Then the bike, a bit of an unknown really and with some pretty eye-watering inclines the challenge is immense:

BikeThe race is not possible to view en route unless you are residing in one of the mountain villages as lots of roads are closed and the thought of taking a car or taxi up to station yourself to see them wizz past but increase the chances of being the cause of a collision with a competitor in some freak accident is not worth it.

So after thy have done the journey they will return to the seafront. It is thought anytime from between 2 to 4pm local time.

Then the run, four times up and down the Promenade de Anglais.

Support crew on hand if required, mainly in full voice to cheer as loudly as possible, and post any and all news as live as possible.

Expected finish time, nothing firm and no expectations, but vaguely any time between between 7 and 9pm, But we will keep you posted.

The Final Count Down…..

16 Sunday Jun 2013

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Clock

So as we enter the last week before the gun goes off a few thoughts.

When we set the blog and Just Giving site up in mid January all our targets seemed a long way off, both the event and the target for sponsorship. 

Little did we know there were so many of you out there that had genuinely been devastated by Colin’s dreadful news, just a top bloke. Since then we have all witnessed at first hand the very fabric of the guy and his family. He has had us in stitches whilst at the same time providing a first hand account of his plight, he has attended every Chelsea match and has always been upbeat, never once moaned or used the ‘why me’ card. I am, along with many of you I expect totally in awe of his bravery, honesty and sheer determination not to succumb to this crippling disease. He has been totally inspirational along with Helen who has supported him throughout.

piechart_87pThe total donated has already (with the gift aid) surpassed our total, and this is down to the genuine love out there for Col, I know this means a lot to both Colin an Helen as they battle on but it also means a whole years research has been funded in the fight to beat this disease, fantastic, and with a number of additional events on the go we will certainly add funds to the total….truly amazing !

I went to see Colin yesterday, 15th June, and boy is he fighting, but it is a nasty disease and its hard to accept the hold it has, So we continue the fight back by making people aware of the devastation it causes.

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The event is looming (in fact this time next week we should be on our bikes somewhere in the mountains)  and will be a challenge but it is totally put into perspective with what my mate Colin is battling, Dan and I are striving to become Ironmen, however there is only one true IRONMAN and that is Colin. Colin I take my hat off to you with how you have dealt with this from day one. I can truly say you have been inspirational throughout this journey, clearly a journey I wish you were not on, but you have held your head up high and have put shame on those of us who have winged about insignificant stuff over the past year…..we will both be thinking of you and your family whilst we circumnavigate the challenge next Sunday, and that alone will help us meet our goal …. THANK YOU

Colin’s Blog – Helen

14 Friday Jun 2013

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Apologies for not having given any updates people, but Colin has been very poorly this last month………

20130516_023153His decline seemed to kick in after the last game of the season, he was so pleased to have “made it”!  Bootsy and the lads had taken him to Amsterdam which he enjoyed immensely  but the schedule was gruelling.  When he arrived home he took to his bed only to gather enough strength to attend the last game at Chelsea.  He has been in bed pretty much all the time since, only to get out for the loo and the occasional cigarette. This was the case until last Thursday when my cabin fever had reached a crescendo and I insisted  on a trip to Cambridge for a wander around the retail park.  It was so nice, he was extremely relaxed as I wheeled him around in his chair and popped into Marks and Spencer for a browse.  Just inside the entrance was a young man with a couple of trays of nibbles for the customers to try.  He invited Colin and I to try some, at which point Colin grabbed a handful (very unlike him!) and proceeded to stuff them in his mouth.  The man asked if we liked them, to which Colin replied , “Yeah, they’re OK”

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“Oh, good” said the man, “they’re £5.99 for two trays.”  Colin then emptied the contents of his mouth into his hands and threw the half chewed savouries right back at him shouting “I thought you said they were f****** free!!”  The look of shock on his face was priceless!  There was a quick embarrassed explanation from me and we made a sharp exit leaving only the smell of burning rubber from the wheels on the chair!  So, there was another memory for me to cherish.

From that event Colin has been worsening on a daily basis, becoming increasingly confused and with a greater number of hallucinations.  He has feelings of things moving and has felt liquid dripping on his head and has felt and seen his feet on fire.

On Wednesday 5th June at 2am he woke me up shouting that I had to keep calm but that our house was collapsing. I turned the light on and saw the look on his face, shock horror and fear.  I had only seen that look on his face once before and that was the night he had to identify our son Daniel’s body on the night he was killed in a car crash.  It really did frighten the knickers off me! I just couldn’t manage him or the situation so I called our eldest son, Jamie to come over.  He then escorted Colin around the house, reassuring him of the building’s stability over and over again.  My other son, Tommy, then took over after he had finished his night shift.  The psychosis lasted for a three day period and the only time he slept was when he was sedated with Lorazipam which our GP had prescribed.  The GP, District nurse and MacMillan nurse got in touch with the hospice and Colin was admitted.  The first few nights he spent there were much the same, he had to have an infra-red sensor put by his bed to alert the nursing staff when he was moving.  He was determined to come home and kept packing and re-packing his case.  The nurses had to keep a vigil outside his room to ensure he came to no harm since his balance was so bad.  The doctors have now prescribed Haloperidol which seems to be doing the trick.  He is now much calmer and, although he still sees his bed moving, floors cracking, feels water running on his head and his feet on fire, he can now accept that this is all due to the tumour.

When I was asked to do this blog, I had every intention of keeping things very light and funny as indeed a lot of situations have  been so.  I then wanted to give you some insight into the much darker moments, so people will realise the havoc and devastating effects that Glioblastoma Multiform can have on people’s lives.

We are both so very grateful for the support and help we have had, it is truly humbling but my dearest wish is that a cure will be found for this cruel, cruel disease.

Many, many thanks,   Helen.

Houston, We have a problem

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

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Hospital

So Dan might have beaten Tony by 3mins 44secs, but Tony did go to work the next day!

Dan arrived back from Dubai on the Thursday with a tight chest and sore throat (he also has Asthma), he seemed to have gotten away with it. Dan left the UK after the race at Blenheim coughing wheezing and with a sore throat, not good 13 days before the race of a life time.  He flew back last night and things got worse.

Barely feeling his feet on the ground again and he was into the hospital, and within three hours of landing, he had a chest Xray, bloods taken, he was put on oxygen and drugs injected to ease chest rattle, along with bottles of anti-biotics. He then slpt, and slept. He is on a tight timetable to sort this……everything crossed.

They are both supposed to start “tapering” soon, but Wikipedia didn’t say anything about being bed ridden!

 Seriously get better soon, you’re not getting out of this that easy !

Colin Speirs Blog

04 Tuesday Jun 2013

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Headcase Logo On BrickHello everyone. This is Colin Speirs from Headcase Cancer Trust blogging in support of Tony and Dan.

So Tony and Dan’s Ironman Triathlon (aka… madness!) is only a few weeks away. Trust me, I’d rather eat my own socks than run or swim anywhere, although cycling is a different matter altogether. I’m hoping that you can take the time to read this post and help Tony and Dan towards their fundraising target.

What these guys are doing is something really significant because it’s not just about being an Ironman, it’s about trying to raise £30,000 as their way of supporting Tony’s friend, Colin, who is currently suffering with a Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) brain tumour.

Just to put things into perspective, £30,000 will pay for a whole year’s research at the University of Portsmouth to help find a cure for GBM which is the most common, most aggressive and most deadly form of brain tumour. Average life expectancy for GBM is just 14 months and it has the highest Life Years Lost rate of any cancer at 20.1 years!

OK, so GBM is incurable but just how aggressive is it? Well if you can imagine something the size of a large grape in your head which is when you’ll start to notice something wrong. Unchecked, just one month later it will have doubled in size to something like a plum. Another month on and it will be the size of a small orange and at this point you’ll need surgery followed by Chemo and Radiotherapy. That’s right it will grow to the size of an orange in just 3 months!

Things will be fine for a few months but then it will come back and grow unchecked just like previously, before it finally gets you.

Oh yes, forgot to mention……. during this time you’ll lose your memory, possibly the use of your limbs, your speech will slur, your personality will change drastically, you may need help going to the toilet, dressing, washing, getting up and down stairs.

GBM is a bastard however you look at it.

Don’t let all of that get you down though because it’s guy’s like Tony and Dan who are making a difference and raising much needed funds for research (Brain tumours receive just 1.4% of total cancer funding!). Everyone here at Headcase also wants to make a difference and I hope that you can find some amount to donate to Tony and Dan for their efforts and to make sure that they smash through the £30,000 barrier that they have set themselves.

If you can donate then think of it this way…… by doing so you have helped to find the cure for an incurable disease and that isn’t a bad thing to be able to say.

Thanks for reading.

Col

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

25 Saturday May 2013

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money
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