The BIG announcement

It gives me immense pleasure to inform you that Mr Baldy (remember him from last year?), now to be known as Neil, who bravely battled cancer for his 2nd time last year has stuck to his word and 5 minutes ago entered his first Novice Triathlon on 5th June.  To put this in context, last year we almost lost Neil as he contracted pneumonia when his immune system was shot to pieces.  This is when I suggested the challenge to him - it gave him something to think about other than needles and drugs.
Neil's idea of fitness is going to the bowls or the football - to watch.  He hasn't swam since he was a kid or cycled for that matter and the last time he ran it was because he had "the trots".  So last night we went for his first training session in the pool, after his doctor had approved.  Neil's arms were sore after 50m but we took it easy and by the end he had even attempted front crawl.  This is quite a challenge and those that know him are in complete disbelief when he says he is going to swim 400m, cycle 13km and run 2.5km.  This is making him all the more determined.  Your support for Neil would be greatly appreciated.  All you need to do is post a comment giving encouragement on this blog (just open a google account it's easy).  Neil's too modest to have his own blog, although I wish he would, so I'll keep you informed on how he's doing.  This is an inspirational story - come on Neil!

Ice station zebra

The plan today was to run 13km and take a minute off my time.  I started off at 6.45am with my tourch and the first thing I noticed was the "furry" pavements otherwise known as frost.  However when I got out onto the country B roads we were now talking sheets of ice and a change of plan was required otherwise I was going to take fall.  So I decided to pick up the pace, where I could with the ice, and run a fast 8km which was fun.  Sometime you have to change your plans to take account of the conditions but it doesn't stop you achieving a goal, perhaps a different one from the original goal but still one step closer to the overall objective.