Update - 14th July

A massive thank you to everyone who sponsored me to do the Peak District Triathlon yesterday.  Well, the good news is that I finished and also did a very reasonable time of 2:47:11 (205 out of 308 finishers).

The organisers had shortened the swim course by about 150m because the river was too shallow so it ended up being an 850m swim rather than 1k but it still looked a long way!  The swim went slower than I had wished mainly due to the effect of "cold shock"; the water was 16C, which isn't too bad with a wetsuit on, but I wasn't quite ready for the physiological effect of the cold which is your heart and breathing rate going through the roof!  850m swim done in 26:13.

After clambering out of the river the next challenge was shedding my wetsuit and getting ready to get on the bike which all went smoother than I thought and I was out on the bike in 2:49.

The ride was actually good fun despite my initial worries about it being a busy road.  It was essentially a steady 10k climb up to Owler bar and then a fast descent back to Chatsworth to do the same again to notch up 40k.  I'm not the fastest or most confident on the bike but manage to clock over 50kph (30mph) on the way downhill which was also a good chance to rest the legs slightly! 40k on the bike 1:27:42.

Then, off the bike, bike shoes off, trail running shoes on, a last swig of water and 2:20 later off on the last leg.

The run was a 2 lap up and down of the hill behind Chatsworth house to the water tower.  All off road fortunately and, I surprised myself by keeping a decent pace both up and down hill to tick the 10k off and head through the finish line after 48:05 of running for a total time of 2:47:11 nicely under my target of 3 hours (although if the swim was the full distance it would have added another 5 minutes on).

Overall I was very pleased with the result and enjoyed the race thoroughly - mainly with the thought of how much I'd managed to raise for the Dougie Mac!

I'll leave the JustGiving page open for a few more days in case anyone's got any last minute donations.  So far I've raised £1,761.43 + £405.00 in Gift Aid which brings the grand total so far to £2,166.43 - a little in excess of my £200 target!  I am truly overwhelmed by the level of support I've received both in donations and messages of encouragement. I honestly thought I'd raise just a few quid for the Dougie Mac whilst doing a personal challenge.  Thank you, it means a lot to me, my family and the Dougie Mac.

Well, that's a standard/Olympic distance triathlon done.... the next step is Ironman...... 

Hello! - 8th July

Hello people...

I am doing the Peak District Triathlon on Sunday 13th July 2014 and wanted to raise a few £ to help support the Douglas MacMillan Hospice in Stoke-on-Trent.

The "Dougie Mac", as it is affectionately known, provided an immeasurable amount of help, support and comfort to my family after my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer in October last year.  I can't stress enough what an amazing facility hospices are; filling the void between being a cancer patient and dying with a level of care and support you couldn't imagine existed and allowing you to make the best of those final precious weeks.

Now, I'm not usually the sponsoring sort - I think the last sponsored thing I did was when I was a Scout (stop sniggering at the back!) doing a sponsored swim or some such quite a few (OK, 20+) years ago.  So, you can imagine that to drag me out of "sponsorship retirement" would require something special.  This is.

I've done a few "sprint" triathlons (400m swim, 20k bike, 5k run) in the past couple of years but this is my first "standard distance" and first open water triathlon.  1k swim in the River Derwent, 40k on the bike through the Peak District and then a 10k run around Chatsworth house. Simple, eh?  Oh, and there is the comedy event between the swim and the bike bit of getting out of a wetsuit and onto the bike as quick as possible (it's all against the clock!).

My aim is to 1) finish in one piece and 2) do it all in about 3 hours (well, at least under 3h30m!).

Please offset my pain and suffering (and wetsuit changing humiliation) by donating a few quid.  Don't forget to do that Gift Aid thingy too - always good to get something back from HMRC!

Lastly, it was skin cancer that knocked my dad off his perch.  It's summer, the sun's out; please stick your sun cream on, keep yourself covered up and, best of all, stay in the shade during the sunniest part of the day.  Trust me, it's a better option than melanoma.

Andy

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.