Sponsorship

I forgot to say that I've had a great sponsorship boost today! Work gave me £500 for Christie's through the matched funding Scheme which means I'm 89% to my target, less than £200 to go!x x

September Update

Hello to all of my 5 followers (I think I'm one of them too!)!! I've been terrible at keeping my blog up-to date, Colin has been making me feel terrible with his 100 posts!

I must have so much to update you on but I'm not really sure what...

I don't think I've posted about Ben Nevis, which we completed in about 7 and a half hours, it was totally amazing, the best weather we'd had out of the three peaks but my hips were in complete agony and I must have been close to the last to the top and definately the last to the bottom! The views were breathtaking and I'll definately do it again one day! We had a great weekend in Fort William, and our cottage at the foot of the mountain was perfect, it was like stepping into Granny's house, my favourite part was Lewis' bed that you had to pull out of the cupboard in the living room.

Throughout all the climbing I'd been battling with my hips as the Consultant informed me I have too much cartlidge inbetween the ball and socket joints in both hips, I'd used all of my £800 allowance through Bupa and had x-rays, MRI scans, Cortozone injections (horrible!) and lots of physio and still felt terrible when it came to running and climbing.

Afterall that I've only managed to cure myself, well with a little help from my Swimming Coach, since the beginning of my challenge I've been swimming pretty much once a week for an hour doing breaststroke but then as my triathlon approaches I'd decided I had to learn front crawl and have been going to group lessons at the gym on a Tuesday along with extra lessons with the coach so I'd had to step up my swimming to around 4 times a week to make sure I was practicing inbetween lessons and "touch wood" for the past couple of weeks I've been virtually pain free!! I'd definately recommend Swimming to anyone doing a lot of high impact training.

Through my Swimming lessons I've gone from not being able to swim front crawl at all to doing 16 lengths without stopping at the last session! I've got another skill - I wonder if I can work into my CV.

As for the rest of my triathlon training... I've had great new running trainers which are making me stop swinging my hips, and tonight for the first time ever I went for a 10km bike ride (with my new road tyres on my mountain bike) then stopped at the race course and ran round it twice, which I think is about 3km.

I've also decided to add one last challenge into the 365 plans - a half marathon in December, I'm trying to find some volunteers to join me!??

I think that must be about all for now... stay tuned for my update after the triathlon, less than two weeks to go!!

Went to see the Nantwich triathlon yesterday...

Had to check out the set up ready for my triathlon in September! Am getting the triathlon bug now, I've been checking out clothing - trisuits, now I'd never heard of those before, don't think you can buy them on asos.com! I've also even been enquiring about joining the triathlon club in Chester to improve my swimming technique and running and biking!! It seems the more I talk about this triathlon in Nantwich on Septemebr 20th the more other people want to do it too!

It should be fun!!!

Off to get on my bike now, I promise to post more!!

Snowdon

Now that my legs have stopped aching and the bruise on my bum has stopped hurting, I thought it was time to tell you all what climbing Snowdon was like for me and how it was totally the opposite of what I was expecting!

I started the day with such optimism and when asked at 6am was I scared, my reply was "what's there to be scared about!?"

The sun was shining on the drive over but when we arrived at Pen-y-Pass car park (you really have to get up early to get a spot) you could feel the cold and the rain started.

My honest expectations were that it was going to be a long, fairly steep walk how wrong was I?! When we started at near enough the beginning of the climb it was like climbing steps for giants and a lot of them! The climb up was enjoyable and had some great views when the rain and clouds cleared but it was really physical and I was quite out of breath! When we got close to the top after a warning about the wind, we came around the corner and straight into the wind, vertical rain and hale, we were so high up and the wind was so strong I thought I might get blown away, the wind got stronger as we reached the summit and when we made it to the top it took Karen helping me to the very top.

Reading this back so far it sounds like I didn't enjoy the experience but I really had a great time and I think I've found another hobby.

Now for the way down and those bruises, after a very quick lunch stop at the top we began our descent but my legs were getting wobbly and the stream that we found ourselves climbing down meant I ended up falling on my bum not only once but twice hence the bruises! I must say a massive thanks to Colin at this point because if it wasn't for him holding onto me and guiding me down I don't know how I would have got down! After the climb down the stream we walked for 3km along the lake which was beautiful.

I think climbing Snowdon on a clear day will be an amazing experience and something plan to do very soon. Not as soon as Colin who was back up there two days after we finished!

We've just confirmed our accomodation for Scaffel Pike so there's no backing out and there's talk of camping in Scotland for Ben Nevis!

Tri-athlon Woman!

Now I never thought I'd be referred to as Tri-athlon Woman but that's my Chronicle headline in both the Crewe Chronicle and Nantwich Chronicle (so make sure you get yourself a copy this week).

I was really happy to get my hands on a copy of the Crewe Chronicle this morning as I was getting off a train at London Euston of all places. I haven't been to Nantwich so was waiting to see my mum at the weekend to read the article but.... someone had left a copy on the train, what a coincidence!

I am so pleased with the article and can't believe how much space I got in the paper, so please try and make sure you read it!!

My Challenge gets its first bit of Press!!

My first bit of Press thanks to my colleagues at the Lloyds Banking Group and it prompted a further £43.25 in sponsorship which is great and means that I'm now into the £700 mark in my sponsorship!!! Let's hope this is the first of much more publicity, let's get the word out about this great fundraising idea and of course my very special charity!

All the sponsorship means so much to me and is definitely what drives me to get my trainers on and get out running or on my bike!

Another Challenge!!

It's time to add another challenge into the mix!

So far we've got:

• 3 x triathlons every month
• 3 x 10km run = 30km
  
• 3 x 40km bike = 120km
  
• 3 x 1.5km swim = 4.5km
• I'll be climbing the three peaks in the summer
• Snowdon in May
  
• Scaffel Pike in June
  
• Ben Nevis in July
  
• And to top it off in September I'll be entering the North-West actual tri-athlon!!! This will be a major challenge! The tri-athlon involves:
• 400m swim (in the outdoor baths in Nantwich)
  
• 20km bike
  
• 5km run around the Barony park
  

The North-West tri-athlon is on 20th September and as I'll be approaching the end of my challenge (well nearly) I thought it would be a great thing to do! I've already adapted my training - I've started running around Chester racecourse instead of on the treadmill and I'll be starting swimming lessons soon to improve my technique!

There's definitely still space for more challenges though - I'm thinking about stepping up the running at the moment (although I'm not committing to that yet!)

Press attention!

I've been busy on a mission to get the word out there about my challenge and the very special charity that I'm raising money for especially since I've added a new challenge (more on that later)!

After seeing all the press that Colin got and what in subsequently did to his fundraising, I decided I had to get some attention. So... I'm in the Crewe Chronicle next week (comes out next Wednesday-get yourself a copy). The Crewe Chronicle was important to me as Archie (my step-daddy) was from Crewe and had many, many friends so hopefully when they see the article they'll feel compelled to sponsor me!

I've also managed to get in some of the communications they send out at work! They'll be writing two articles about me which will be sent to different Lloyds Banking Group employees!

As soon as the articles are printed I'll try and scan them in!

Three months in!

It's April Fools day already which means I'm one quarter of the way through my challenge! No Joke!

And I've got so much to tell you about....

Since setting up my facebook group, last time I checked I had 120 members which is getting the word out about my challenge far and wide with generous people sponsoring me who I haven't seen in ages!

I used my facebook group to ask if anyone fancied joining me and the other 365er's in climbing the three peaks and it looks like at least 3 of my friends will be making every effort to come along.

My fund raising keeps on coming, I'm currently at £665 and I've had some great news in that my work will match the first £500 I've raised as soon as Christie's can confirm they've received it.

I think I've finally mastered knocking off the km's on my bike (as shown in the picture) I haven't had any punctures since that first eventful trip! And I'm loving riding my bike in Chester, I even took it to Nantwich the other week to go out cycling with my Mum!

My climbs are fast approaching which is great excuse to get the word out about my challenge and get as many people sponsoring me as possible! So don't forget to pass the word on!

365 on the slopes!

The 365 Challenge has truly changed me and 2009 is fast becoming the year of Fred getting fit and trying new sports!

Last week I took my challenge to the slopes when I went to Mayrhofen, Austria for a week's holiday to learn to ski and in 6 days I managed 105km downhill skiing! Which isn't quite as good as m boyfriends 198km but he has been skiing for a lot longer than me!

Taking a week out for skiing meant I lost a week in April so I had to complete 3 tri-athlons in 3 weeks which at the time felt pretty grueling but I was glad of the extra training when I got to Austria as all the aches and pains I'd been warned about didn't really surface.

I'll definitely be keeping up the skiing and watch this space as I may try and tie it into the challenge before 2009 is out!

Not one, not two, but three mountains!

It's official myself along with a couple of other 365er's will be climbing the three peaks on:

• SNOWDON on May 9th
• SCAFELL PIKE on June 6th
• BE NEVIS July 4th

It's not quite kilimanjaro but I'll be making my way up all three and now that the dates have been confirmed it's all getting very real and quite scary! If there's any volunteers out there, you're more than welcome to join us.

I'll keep you posted as I begin my training (although I've got my ski holiday to get through first).

2 months in, well nearly!

Over the past month I've been really bad at updating my blog, but since creating my facebook group and getting 84 members in 2 days it's given me that extra boost I needed to keep on top of pushing for sponsorship.

So what's been going on in the past month...?

• I've decided to join Colin and a few others climbing the three peaks!
• I've had a second successful attempt at clocking off the kilometers on my mountain bike, no more punctures for me!!
• I've almost completed my second month of the challenge which means 6 x 40km bike, 6 x 10km run and 6 x 1.5km swim.
• My fund-raising is coming along nicely I'm nearing the £600 mark!
• And most importantly I'm really enjoying the Challenge and feel like I'm doing something really special for Archie.x

I promise to get back to blogging more regularly. Don't forget to recommend my blog to anyone you think might fancy reading it and encourage everyone to SPONSOR ME!

I'm going for 3 tri-athlons this month!!

It was always going to be the hardest part of the challenge, no not dragging myself to the gym 3/4 times a week, not even getting over my fear of swim hats and jumping in the pool but deciding what physical challenge I should set myself.

After my first week, going to the gym every other day and knocking those kilometers off I soon realised I could complete my two tri-athlons pretty quickly but I never thought I'd do it this quickly (I finished yesterday, the 18th). So I've decided to complete another tri-athlon before the month is out. I'm hoping that pushing my challenge that bit further will boost my sponsorship.

Wish me luck on my third tri-athlon!

I've started my swim!

I managed 30 lengths of the Total Fitness pool yesterday which I'm really pleased about! I went aiming to do 20 lengths and managed the extra 10 on top. So that's 750m of my 3k for the month.

It seems I've made a bit of a faux pas...

It's been a while since I've checked the tri-athlon distances (even though they're posted on my website) and I got in it my head that each tri-athlon required a 20km run, as I'm doing two per month this would equate to 40km run per month. I was wrong (and I don't say that often!) it's only 10km run per tri-athlon which means I've done my whole months running in just one week (4 visits to the gym).

Not only have I done 20km run this week but also 50km which is making me think I need to up the ante especially if I want to hit my fundraising target of £1750. My options are to add one more tri-athlon each month which would equate to 30km run, 120km bike and 4.5km swim per month or to revert back to my initial idea of completing one iron man each month which is 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run. What to do?? Let me know what you think I should do and I'll continue at the pace I'm at now at the gym.

I've started!!

The plan was to start my challenge on New Years Day, however since I was out on New Years Eve dressed like this....... until 4am it wasn't looking good.

So I started on the 2nd instead with a 2 hour session, making the most of my Christmas holiday from work, I've been again today (4th) and am making good progress with the first tri-athlon of the month, in total I've biked 30km and ran 10km so far.

The one thing that is concerning me is the swimming part of my tri-athlon, I wanted to keep it in because I really wanted to push myself as I'm not really a swimmer, I'm going to have to do 120 lengths of the total fitness pool each month to complete the 3km. So I've enlisted the help of one of my friends who is going to help me improve my swimming technique so I can get swimming. More on this after the lesson.

I want to wish everyone else a Happy New Year and if anyone wants to contact me about starting your own 365 challenge please do not hesitate to get in touch.