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Simon Meade is raising money for Willow Foundation
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I am participating in ten endurance events this summer, the highlights of which are running the London Marathon in April and the Vitruvian Ironman triathlon event in September (2km swim, 75km bike, half marathon all end to end...blimey!). I am also entering a number of other long distance runs and triathlons and the full list can be seen below together with an update after the event has been completed. I am doing all this on behalf of the charity Willow (http://www.willowfoundation.org.uk ). I ask you to help me support this amazing organisation and the tremendous work they do.
Willow is a national charity established in 1999 by Arsenal legend Bob Wilson and his wife Megs in memory of their daughter. I have known Bob and Megs and have been involved with Willow in an advisory capacity for about 12 years. I thought is now about time I put my running shoes on and participated, rather than just sitting talking about it!!
From the Willow web site: “The Willow Foundation is the only national charity that provides psychological and emotional support for seriously ill 16 to 40 year olds through the provision of special day experiences.
Every special day aims to provide beneficiaries and their loved ones with a break from the realities of their diagnosis and treatment. At a time of uncertainty, spending quality time with family and friends can help restore a sense of normality, boost confidence and create precious memories for the future.”
What does that mean in practice. Well, the first time I went to see Bob and Megs, I sat in the Willow office next to a man holding a Man U shirt. He told his story, which has been an inspiration to me ever since.
On behalf of his seriously ill son, he applied to Willow for a small piece of memorabilia from Man U, the football team his son cherished and supported. Soon after applying, the son’s health seriously deteriorated and the father rang Willow to say that if they had something to give his son, they would be better sending it “today rather than tomorrow, as tomorrow may be too late”. A few hours after calls were made, David Beckham himself rang the young man and had a lengthy discussion. Some memorabilia, including the shirt, was sent on soon afterwards. Thereafter, the son recovered, sufficiently to get back to his daily routine. Now although this special 'moment' was "extraordinary", it does illustrate graphically the power of the mind and how little we understand it.
Willow does not claim any miracle cures in what it does, but it understands that it is common for the ill and their families to be so concentrated on the illness and its treatment that they forget to live. Indeed, through Bob and Megs’ own painful experience that led them to set up Willow, and through the growing evidence and feedback from 8000 special days they have provided since, there is anecdontal evidence that activities such as special days provide a powerful, positive and important focus when ordinarily there would be none. Such seemingly small events can take on a huge significance, providing some simple ‘normality’. Also, the special days help create positive and uplifting memories that can be cherished in the future.
Here is the list of events I am entering into and a short summary when the events are completed (I will include here some photos from the events too):
1. Silverstone Half Marathon - 11 March 2012 - http://adidashalfmarathon.co.uk/
This event was completed on the most beautiful day and I got around in one piece - hurray (see picture below). In fact i came 433rd out of 10,000 starters and was placed 18th in my age category. I set a personal best (understandable given it was only the second time I had run that far in my life!) of 1 hour and 37 minutes. This is good for me to start the challenge so well - no pressure for the following events then!! This course was pancake flat so I doubt I will beat the time in future. The course in Mallorca (the next event) is in the hills so I expect an altogether different result!
2. Mallorca Half Marathon - 1 April 2012 - http://www.mitjamaratopollensa.com/en/index.htm
This event was again run in almost ideal conditions. The hills were not however as accommodating and the last 8kms were a long haul home all uphill! However, I still managed another personal best time of 1 hour 35 minutes. This sets me up well for London, the next event. Can't wait!
3. Virgin London Marathon - 22 April 2012 - http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com
Before this event I have never run more than 26km and so beyond that the race was an adventure into the unknown. I was hoping to finish faster than 4 hours and if I could get towards 3:30 I wold be extremely pleased. On the day I started out well, following the 3:30 pace runner until about 34km when my legs decided to start complaining. The rest of the race I was fine aerobically but my quads turned to stone and every step was agony. A lack of pre-race miles me thinks! However, I struggel home in 3:35 so I was over the moon with that. The day was perfect weather wise and I was happy with the whole outcome! Another good day on this year of adventure. Setting up for the fall I think!
4. Little Beaver Olympic Triathlon (NG32 1PE, Notts) (1500m Swim - 40k Bike - 10k Run) - 27 May 2012 - http://www.justracinguk.com/event/little-beaver-triathlon-olympic-distance
A wonderful sunny day but with 30 degrees centigrade adn no wind this was always going to be a challenge, and it was. The swim was in the lake of Belvoir Castle, in beautiful surroundings. However, due to the (then) drought, the water was on the low side and was muddy water at one end and pretty much watery mud at the other. Swimming in that was horrible! My performance was poor in the water. I recovered on the bike ok, but the temperature got to me on the run and overall my time was dissapointing. I was place first in my age group so it was not such a bad result at the end of the day but I could have done better!
5. Dambuster Olympic Triathlon (Rutland Water, Leicestershire) - (1500m Swim - 42k Bike - 10k Run) - 16 June 2012 - http://www.pacesetterevents.com/dambuster-triathlon.php
In contrast to the Belvoir event, the day of the dambuster was cold, blustery (30mph winds) and rainy. The water temperature was only 12 degrees and so for safety sake the swim was reduced to 1000m. However, it is the first 1000m that is the most painful (!!) and it was a very difficult experince indeed. I felt as if I were trying to gasp for every breath initally and it took me over 500m to get into any sort of rhythm. The legs took a long time to recover from the cold and the bike performace was correspondingly poor. The run was relatively good, although slow due to nursing a hamstring injury. Overall, I finished (!) which was the victory; this was the first really poor performance to the journey so far. Rather depressing after all the hard work to date but there has to be a low and I hope this was it! Onwards to the next trial!!
6. Blithfield Olympic Triathlon (Blithfield Reservoir/Waters Rd, Rugeley WS15 3DU) - (1500m Swim - 40k Bike - 10k Run) - 29 July 2012 - http://www.punishingevents.com/blithfield_olympic_triathlon.htm
I was forced to withdraw from this event so this has been a quiet month!
7. National Triathlon Relays (National Watersports Centre, Holme Pierepont, Nottingham) - 500m swim - 15k bike - 5k run -25/26 August 2012 - http://www.onestepbeyond.org.uk/national-club-relay-champs.php
Work got int he way so I could not enter this event.
8. THE EVENT! The Vitruvian (Rutland Water, Leicestershire) - (1900m Swim - 85k Bike - 21k Run) - 8 September 2012 - http://www.pacesetterevents.com/vitruvian-triathlon.php
So now, this has been done! And what an event it was!
The weather was perfect for the swim and the run; the water was (relatively) warm and calm and there was little wind for the bike. The start time was 7am and so the air temperature was fine to start but by the time I got to the run some 3.5 hours later the temperature was already in the high 20s Celcius.
The Swim went very well. All the hard work in the pool and open water training paid off and I got into a good rhythm early on, avoiding all the splash and physical bumping, and completed the 1900m swim in 41 minutes.
The bike was similarly uneventful and I was pleased with my gearing and tactics thorughout the ride. The course was pretty hilly and challenging but again the training showed through and I was able to maintain a good pace throughout, finishing the 85km course in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
And then came the run. It was all going far too well and now I started to pay for it. As soon as I set off on the run I realised I was not in good shape. It was hot but that was not the issue for me; my legs just had nothing in them. In hindsight, I had simply not eaten enough whilst on the bike and used up all the reserves during the first two disciplines. The half marathon was as a consequence sheer agony, physcailly and especially mentally. Now the training really came to the fore and despite the physical limitation, I finished the distance in 2 hours 15 minutes. That was 30 minutes or more slower than I had expected but it was done and the overall time for the event was less than 6 hours which was the main aim and so I am very happy. I have a nagging feeling of un-finished business (could I be back nbext year??!) but hey!, it was completed and in good style, all I ever wanted to achieve!
9. Last Minute Triathlon (Southall, Notts) - 400m pool swim - 17.6k bike - 5k run - 23 September 2012 - http://www.onestepbeyond.org.uk/last-minute-triathlon.php
Not entered due to injury.
10. Robin Hood Half Marathon (Nottingham) - 21km - 30 September 2012 - http://www.experianfestivalofrunning.co.uk/
11. Lots of sitting down!
If you want to know more about Willow, please go to http://www.willowfoundation.org.uk
Please help me make a difference. Come on!
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