Monday 16th August 2010

I know I haven't kept the blog up but I am going to try and update it 2 - 3 times a week, at this time I don't see the need to update everyday as my life isn't that exciting.

So training, I haven't really done anything for the last week apart from play squash Wednesday night, this was the first time in my life I have played and was looking forward to it and according to the guy's I done very well, I even beat one of them!

So today is a start of a new week and I have promised myself that now is the time that I start to train properly, I need something to keep me going and as I have put some of the weight I have lost back on I think that this is it.

Weight Loss - My goal is 200 lbs

Not sure how long it is going to take me but that is my goal, I am going to try to run, no scratch that I am going to run three times a week and play squash once, swim once or twice and maybe even a gym session, I don't want to burn out so this is what I am aiming for.

Yesterday I found something interesting out, as I put on my Adidas running shoe's on I found that my left shoe has something under the sole, upon investigation I noticed that there is a

a piece of form had come out of a hole, this allows me put my Nike + sensor in it, this did please me as I haven't found a a pair of Nike trainers that I like. So today is the going to be first time that i am going to try and use it, ill let you know what happens. This also stops me taking out my Garmin 705.

I done my first running event on the 8th August, it was a Charity event but a 5km run at that. I really wasn't looking forward to it at all as I didn't feel I was ready and wasn't in the mood for it. I was doing it with 4 other friends, Andrew, Dal, Danny and Jay.

So off to the start, as we were waiting I said to the guy's that they should all go at there own speed and not wait for me as we had previously agreed, so off we go and Dal said that he would stay with me for the whole run, I really wanted him to go on but he wouldn't have any of it, run was hard and I think this was down to the mind set that I was in as I have run this distance a number of times in the gym, I have walked a few times on this run which I wasn't all the worried about and Dal true to his word stayed with me throughout.

Coming up to the 4km I made Dal promise that he would do the last 1000m at his own pace, off he goes.

I finished the run in 31.05 finishing 218 out of 330, I was really please with this time as a it the quickest I have run 5km in.

My next run is in September and i am aiming to take of 2 mins from this time

till next time

Brett

21st July 2010

Woke up feeling good today and was really looking forward to the gym with Darren, we decided to go to his gym this time round, bannatyne's.

When we got there I was signed in and paid the guest fee and went through.

So now we are changed and though we go to the gym, bloody hell it is bigger and better then the one I go to. All the machines, treadmills, elliptical and bikes have TV screens built in with all the reading speed, distance etc are on them.

So now to the boring bits, I ran well today perhaps the best I have ever ran.

Run 5KM - 34:35

0-2KM - 8KPH
0-4KM - 8.5KPH
4-4.5KM - 10KPH
4.5 - 5KM - 11KPH
200m walk to cool down

10 minutes on the elliptical machine

5 minutes on the spinning bike

I was very conscious for now over doing it today as I didn't know what sort of state I would be in the following day, remember I haven't been doing this long.

Now for the swimming, I wasn't looking forward to this at all as it's not a strong point.

200m

Not to sure how long it took but I did rest after every 25m for about 15 seconds then for the last 50m I did it without stopping.
This is far my weakest ability so need to work on it, I'm hoping to swim 3 times a week from now on.

That's all, gym Friday

Brett

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19th July 2010

Today I finally got to the Gym and I'm really pleased with what I have done.

I ran 5KM without stopping, this is the first time I have ever done this so I must be improving.

I was reading http://jztriathlon.blogspot.com/ this morning and there was a something that he wrote and it made sense and after thinking about it, it made me try harder for some reason.

'Here's the thing. Everyone who enjoys running has to enjoy that moment when they are completely out of steam and they are just running on will power alone. I imagine that's why people run for distance. For a well trained triathlete, that moment of exhaustion comes after running a much greater distance than I run. For me, that point comes around mile 2 or 3. It takes a great triathlete 20 miles to get to that point, and it take me 2 miles to get there, but when we get there we are the same. We are facing the same challenges and we must muster up the same amount of willpower to continue to keep putting one foot in front of the other.'

The other thing I done at the gym was visualising the one and only event I have completed 'London to Brighton' and how good I felt at the end of the ride and what I had achieved.

so 5KM

0-2KM at 8KPM

2-4KM at 8.5KPM

4-5KM at 10.5KPM

I then walked 200M to cool down

other than dropping my iPod at one point and it hitting the treadmill and shooting behind me (which i was laughing about to myself) i done it

Brett

Sunday 18th July 2010

Really pissed I didn't get to the gym today, this week has been a bit mental altogether.

I'm on holiday from work this week and next as my Wife is recovering of quite a major Operation, so now it's time for me to take care of her for once. I have only been able to get out twice this week for a run and have increased the distance to 5km, I know it isn't the the longest but its a improvement, I'm still suffering from a stitch and it gets so bad i have to stop and have no idea how to sort it.

Yesterday one of my closest friends managed to nearly cut his thumb off will working on a loft conversion so I have been taking his Misses to and from the hospital as she doesn't have a car licence, get back today from the hospital hoping to get straight down the gym only to get home to relise I totally forgot that I'm trying to sort my friends PC out for him, that's another thing i now need today.

So tomorrow is a new day, I will this week try and run 3 times and also get a ride in as well.

Wish me luck

A bit about me then

I'm 31 years old and live 10 miles short of Canary Wharf London with my beautiful wife and 12 year old son, I'm not so much a personal person but I do like my space.

My friends and family are the most important to me and they are the reason that I am aiming to complete my first triathlon before May 2011 as the problems I have had I don't want to leave them all yet, with their encouragement and support I know I can do I do it.

My wife (Lisa) is the reason I am the person I am today, I am not the man she married in 2000, I am a better husband, father and friend that I ever imagined I could be.

I have done stuff in my life that I am not proud of and just want to forget, I lost my Dad to kidney failure in 2002 after a long illness that lasted 7 years,
seeing someone fade away throughout so many years is hard, to be honest it was a weight lifted when I was told of his passing as I know he wasn't going to be in pain any longer.

I started to cycle quite a few years ago and have done it on and off ever since, but only taking it seriously over the last year. I have always been able to ride a distance of 30 miles or less on the road bikes I have had but on the mountain bike I found it hard.

I never really liked school at all, as I had difficultly with my reading and writing, the teachers just didn't want to know and the way I treated them and some of the other pupils it wasn't hard to see why. The only subject I did enjoy was Math and physics.

During the last two years of school I had quite a few days off as I just didn't want to go, a few months into my last year at school my dad woke me one morning and asked if I was going back and I said no, you better get a job then he said, so that day I went out and got my first job, in a sports shop.

Not a fantastic job but it meant I didn't have to go back to school, I stayed with them for about two years working my way up to supervisor, I then moved to another sports company as a footwear manager, I found this very hard as I was only 17 and in charge of people 5 years my senior and it was hard getting their respect, one good thing that did come out of it was a very good friend Justin and after 14 years he is still one of my best friends.

I then worked for a record store for the next 7 years working my way up to assistant manager, I finally left and went to the companies head office working in IT, from here I went to my current employer a Business Continuity company.

So now you know a little about me, I'll keep the updates coming and any words of encouragement would be truly welcomed.

Brett



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London to Brighton

Sunday 20th June 2010

Morning of the ride and I'm very nervous, up at 5am to have me porridge and get me drinks, energy bar ready and put the bikes on the car. I have allowed two bottles for the bike which is 1250ml and one Go bar for the ride which I'm praying is correct, we will see. Pint of water before I leave as well, that should take me to about 10 miles until I need to use the ones on my bike.

Andrew turns up on time, being dropped off by his misses in a dashing pink dressing gown, cheers me up no ends.

Off we go, I decide to drive to Clapham as Lisa (wife) is already worried about getting to Brighton from Clapham. The whole journey we see a couple of others going to the ride, we did see loads of people with 'Night Ride' bibs on though, really must find out what event that is?

We stop about 1 miles from Clapham to sort the bikes and get ready and I'm already dying for a wee (this happens when I'm really nervous), Lisa takes a couple of pic's of then we set off to the start line. Riding across the common all I could think of is that they could have swept the paths as there is glass and all sorts on it, Andrew then thinks he has something stuck in his tyre, we stop and hope for the best, he hasn't thank god.

Now waiting at the 07:00 gate and it's only 06:30 and getting colder, lady comes by stamping the start cards and says it shouldn't be that long now. Time has come and we are off, not as busy as i thought, until we get round the corner, bugger there are hundreds of cyclists and I have no idea why I was surprised!

Getting out of London was a nightmare, stopping at all the round abouts and red lights, I look down at the Garmin and we have done 6 miles in 45 minutes, my heart goes and I think this is going to be horrible if it's like this all the way but it started to clear after about 10 miles.

Whoever says that the London to Brighton is easy is a liar, there are 5+ hills and although you have the bonus of going down the other side it doesn't help the climb, some of the hills are steep but some are also very long and to be honest I don't know what's worse.

About 15 miles in we come to a complete stand still as someone has had an accident going down a hill, we are now gridlocked (see picture), we sit here for about 25 minutes and then we start to move off again, it takes about a mile to sort itself out and we are good again.

I come across five or six accidents and the St John's team looked as they have their jobs cut out of them. I think most of the accidents was people being to fast and not paying attention to other riders close to them, it is very important to allow others to get past if they need to otherwise you have people taking risks.

I lost Andrew for about an hour but even though he wasn't next to me I knew he believed I could finish this ride with no problems, even when we got to the top of some of the hills which I know wasn't a problem for him he said a few times 'well done mate', I was pleased he was there and I wouldn't have wanted to ride with anyone else.

For the rest of the ride it was good, a few flats and down hills but then I was approaching the dreaded Ditchling Beacon which I have heard is a nightmare and will most likely have to walk up.

I was surprised and pleased that I could see Andrew in the distance waiting for me at about the 40 miles mark, as I passed I said 'had a nice rest' and his reply was 'to bloody long and you took your time', not the best thing to say for my efforts but it did make me laugh, as we was approaching Ditchling Beacon I said that he should go on as I didn't feel I was going to be able to ride the hill and he reluctantly agreed, I only had to ride 4 miles on the other side to the finish.

Ditchling Beacon was a killer, seeing Andrew riding up this showed me that I should put so much more in my hill climbing. I didn't really manage to ride any of it, so I decided to walk up. Walking in cycling shoes isn't the best idea as I kept slipping so off comes the shoes and now I'm walking in my socks, as I get to the top there are hundreds of people on the floor resting but I thought I'd carry on and get to the finish line.

On the final 4 mile's it was really emotional as I started to think about my dad as it was fathers day after all and it could have been my son without a dad if I didn't change my life style, I found this to be a fantastic achievement for me to complete this with the problems I have had in the past but am overjoyed that I did.

On the final hill I did think it was funny that the speed camera was covered because as I passed I was going 45 mph, then I hit the straight into Brighton.

The last stretch was amazing, some how I had managed end up being the only one riding on the finishing straight and with everyone cheering the whole ride was worth it and seeing my wife waiting for me as well was amazing.

After getting my ticket stamped to say Finish and getting a well done kiss off the wife the first thing Andrew done was shake my hand and say well done, he will never know how much that meant and I my have forgiven him now for the event that we shall not mention haha
Finished in 4:02

Thank you Lisa for taking me and Andrew and all the encouragement you gave.

Thanks Andrew for all your support and help



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Saturday before the ride

Saturday 19th June 2010 - Day before ride

I have had a horrible cough now for about 3 days, not dry or any other stupid term the chemist asks but bloody irritating, why do I get it now when I have the ride to worry about and this on top makes it worse.

I checked me bike over and oiled the chain and done a quick once over before the ride.

I finally found my spare bottle cage in the utility room were my wife swears she didn't put it, this is a relief as I was worrying that the one bottle would not be anywhere near enough for the ride and I didn't want to take a bag, so one less thing to worry about.

I spoke to Andrew and arranged to pick his bike up so it would be really on the top of the car for when he arrives in the morning, result as it is at his mum's which is just up the road and as I haven't seen his parents for a while I thought it would be a good chance to catch up.

Bike collected and catchup done.