Update 6/11

Jo at the top of Durham Cathedral

Gateshead Millennium Bridge 

 Jo receiving her Golden trainer, for coming first in her category at the Horton winter bull run

Had my stag do in Bristol, went climbing and canoeing. Then onto comedy night for the evening. Fantastic day, but nobody thought to take any photos, so it will just have to be left to the imagination as to what happened.

Letter M completed

 At the finish, before the start

 The half marathon starting behind me

 Finishing for real this time

And crossing the line

Mablethorpe marathon completed, on the hottest day of October. It is a great marathon, in a beautiful part of England. It was hard especially as I had completed the middle distance triathlon the week before. My time was 3hours 50 mins, which I was pleased with. I was on for about 3:30 until about 19 miles, then my legs decided they had had enough. Jo took the photos above, and supported me on the day, the support was much appreciated and helped me get round.

New forest middle distance triathlon

Jo, Jim and mine first middle distance triathlon, 1 1/4 mile (m) swim 56 m bike and 13.1 m run. We all finished Jo was the quickest of us 3, finishing in just over 6 hours, with Jim and I not far behind. We all enjoyed the experience, it was hard, and we all hurt afterwards, but it was a great sense of achievement crossing the finishing line. 

Chippenham Half Marathon

Jo and I ran the Chippenham half marthon on Sunday 11th September, Jo ran brilliantly, my back went again, but I have not yet pulled out of an event, so I continued and managed to finish in 1 hour 55 mins, I went straight to the free Osteopaths, my back is starting to worry me, it will mean no running for some time, well at least until I can stand up straight.

There has also been a change for my stag do. It will now be in Bristol on the weekend of the 5th & 6th November. I will still be running the Mablethorpe marathon on the 2nd October, back permitting.

SDBTT update on research

http://braintumourtrust.co.uk/what-we-do/research/?dm_i=W29,J3D1,4LKS5H,1JXJA,1

An eventful time

Jo at the lunch stop of the Bristol to London bike ride.

Me at the lunch stop. The food put on for the lunch stop is amazing, Jo and I said we would use for our wedding.

Cream tea near our campsite in Hele Bay, North Devon

The view from the cafe

My scone :-)

View of  Ilfracombe, North Devon, where we did our triathlon

The Bristol to London bike ride was fun, it is fantastically organised and a great event, highly recommended. It is a long day day, there is not much talking on the coach ride home, sleep is the order of the day.

Jo and I's Triathlon was an eventful weekend, the car broke down on arrival at the campsite, we found out we only had 10 mile breakdown recovery, and the car needed to go into a garage to be fixed, which would mean an extra day in Hele Bay, Jo had to cancel work and I was meant to be visiting my placement, so that had to be cancelled. The next morning Jo and I decided to walk the quick way to the triathlon, we had been told about at reception, we had both bikes and all our triathlon gear, we got lost and ended up walking through muddy bridal ways and across fields and uphills. The triathlon was meant to start at 9:30 Jo and I left the campsite at 7:30, we arrived at the triathlon at 9:30 thinking we had missed it, our bikes were muddy, we were tired and our shoes and socks were wet through. We were told the start had been delayed, so we quickly got ready and both of us managed to complete the triathlon, at the end we had to walk back, to the campsite, we decided to go the road way, it was less than a mile. The car was fixed on  Monday so we drove back to Bristol after an eventful weekend.         

Next Marathon on 2nd October 2011

Above is my new card that I have had printed, to hand out to people when I get chatting to them about my fundraising.

My next marathon is M for Mablethorpe which is on the coast near Lincoln on the 2nd Oct, I am using the weekend as my stag do as well. It is going to be hard especially as I am doing a half distance triathlon the weekend before.

Life is very full at the moment, with lots of events coming up, an essay to complete, placement to start in September and our wedding on the 19th November. People think I am mad doing a marathon on my stag do!!!

Lots going on 02/08/11

I am currently in training for my first half distance triathlon, in the new forest on 25th September 2011, distances are 1.9 Kilometer swim (1 1/4 mile) 56 mile bike and a half marathon (13.1 mile) run. I did my fastest time for some time in a 10k recently 41:50, I am swimming regularly, spinning regularly, I cycled 50 miles on the weekend and  am attending running club. I have a half marathon, and a Olympic distance triathlon coming up, so lots of training. I have also got to start thinking which marathons I will do next year.

While cycling LEJOG I asked Jo to marry me and she said YES!!! and we have decided to marry in November 2011, so we have a marriage to arrange and of course hen & stag parties.

It is also looking likely that we will have to move out of Bristol :-(, due to work commitments. I currently have essays to complete for my university course :-(.

I also received a call from the Olympic authority saying I had been nominated to carry the Olympic torch through Bristol, I was nominated by a local councilor who saw my article in the  Bristol evening post about my A-Z in marathons :-) I will be informed at a later date if I have been successful.

I think that covers it all OH it is of course AFC Wimbledon first league 2 match on Sat 4th August against Bristol Rovers, so I will be traveling to Kingsmeadow for that match,COME ON YOU DONS!!!

Plymouth Triathlon 2011

Jo and I completed the Plymouth Triathlon on Sunday 17th July, it was a sea swim and it was very choppy, I found the swim very difficult, Jo found the bike hard and we ran the 10k together, with a sprint finish, which won us a towel each as a spot prize. It took just over 3 hours, both Jo and I would have liked to get under 3. but it was a tough Triathlon, with both the bike and the run having a few hills.

Lands End to John O Groats completed 948 miles in 11 days

Jo and I both found cycling from Lands End to John O Groats a fantastic experience, we were very lucky with the weather and our bikes were brilliant. Thank you to every one that sponsored us.

LEJOG update 30/06/11

Jo and I are  in Lancaster on our 5th Day of cycling so far we have covered 426 miles, bodies are very sore, but spirits are high, now we are staying at Matt's for the night, but an early start tomorrow, as hard day cycling up to Dumfries. All been well the next update will be when it is completed