How Hard Can it Be!?: February 2013

Thursday, 28 February 2013

February Training Update & Mexican Holiday!

A really cold wintery month broken up by a holiday to Puerto Aventuras in Mexico where I was proud to be appointed God Father to my Great Niece Ruby!

A really fab 12 day break basking in 30'c sunshine catching up with family and friends over there.

Got the opportunity to take in a couple of days scuba diving in the clear Carribean Ocean with my wife and daughters, a fishing boat trip, a couple of days on the racing catermaran 'Raiatea' as well as some early morning training runs and swims before the sun rose!

Back down to Earth with a bump on our return to the continuing cold, wintery weather!

I still haven't sorted out any fund raising events for this year yet so really need to get my skates on and choose something! The training has been ticking over... Here's the February training summary...

~ 02/02/13 ~ 13.3mile Bike ride around Crewe and back to Sandbach in 51mins

averaging 15.6mph

~ 03/02/13 ~ 5mile run from Sandbach to Middlewich (5'c) in 45mins and 45secs

~ 07/02/13 ~ 1300m pool swim with pull buoy at Total Fitness in 32mins 43secs
(swolf = 56)

~ 10km Bike machine

~ 09/02/13 ~ 1 hour Spin class at Total Fitness

~ 400m pool swim with pull buoy in 9mins 40secs (swolf = 52)

~ 13/02/13 ~ 2.5mile run around Puerto Aventuras Marina in Mexico (23'c) in 24mins
58secs

~ 14/02/13 ~ 2.5mile run around Puerto Aventuras Marina (21'c) in 24mins 47secs

~ 16/02/13 ~ 670m open water pool swim at Secret Waters pool, Puerto Aventuras
in 17mins

~ 17/02/13 ~ 460m open water pool swim at Secret Waters pool, Puerto Aventuras in
13mins 52secs

~ 23/02/13 ~ 2mile run around Puerto Aventuras Marina (25'c) in 20mins 5secs

Why am I doing this?!

I got drawn in to running in 2007 to raise funds for charity and discovered it's a great way to keep in shape! I expanded the fundraising to open water swimming in 2010 and loved that too which lead to taking up cycling and Triathlon's in 2011! I've kept a training blog for the past few years and found it a huge motivator to get out and do something to report on so here I am again! I'll be keeping a record here of all my training and event ups and downs as well as a few deviations on my hobbies. I'm planning a few events this year for my own benefit and a couple of major events to raise funds again for two charities that mean a lot to me:

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution ~ http://www.rnli.org/

In September 2007 I had an accident whilst sailing my Laser Pico dinghy out at sea off Abersoch, North Wales. The Abersoch crew came to my aid and I'll be eternally grateful ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk6edftmHtg

I spend a lot of time out at sea with family and friends and it made me realise just how dependent we are on this life saving volunteer emergency service funded entirely by charity. I ran the Great North Run Half Marathon to raise funds for the Abersoch RNLI station in 2008 & 2009. In 2010 I taught myself front crawl and swam a mile in open water at The Great Salford Swim and in 2011 rolled it all up taking on the Tatton Triathlon Olympic Distance. 2012 saw me raising funds by competing in a Triathlon team challenge at Capesthorne early in the year and then cycling 180miles Coast to Coast from Morcambe to Bridlington over the August Bank Holiday along the 'Way of the Roses' route ~ http://www.wayoftheroses.co.uk/.
This year I've decided to rope in a few helpers and build on the team Triathlon fund raising of last year which was really good fun... Capesthorne Triathlon on Sun 9th June has been targeted... Watch this space!

The Isaiah Trust ~ http://www.isaiahtrust.org/

A registered charity started in 2001 by two good friends with big hearts, Nicky and Tim. The charity helps kids in Kenya orphaned by aids and surviving on their own on the streets in some of the most apalling conditions imaginable. The lives that these kids endured prior to the charity beggars’ belief. The Trust has and continues to do some amazing things for these kids... Providing outreach and rehabilitation centres to give safe havens and remedial education, setting up orphanages and foster parent programmes. Helping children get back in to the state educaion system and providing 'resource centres' for older child who have missed too much schooling to teach them a skill or trade to earn a living. The Trust is now working hard setting up farms to establish sustainable food programs as well as teaching children farming skills. The trust has helped change the lives of so many kids but there are so many more yet to help...

After a four years of running the Great Manchester 10km Run from 2007 through to 2010, to raise awareness and funds for the trust I ran the Edinburgh Marathon in 2011 which was awesome! 2012 saw me completing the Liverpool Triathlon Olympic Disatance event (1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run) and finally breaking the previously elusive 3 hour mark whilst raising further funds.

This year I've entered the Prudential 'Ride London 100' cycling sportif to raise much needed funds. It's a 100mile bike ride covering much of the 2012 Olympic Road race circuit heading out from the Olympic Park, around the Surrey hills and back in to London to finish on Pall Mall... How hard can it be?! :-)