Hi Everyone,

I have been thinking for a long time now about what I could do to raise money for cancer research. I have never really taken part in a fund raising event before and I wanted to do something a little different that would be a real challenge.

So after further deliberation I decided on a Triathlon; which involves a swim, a bike ride and then a run.

On the 13th June 2010 I will be taking part in an olympic distance triathlon in Windsor

The Olympic distance Windsor Triathlon consists of a 1500 metre swim in the river Thames (yes the actual river Thames) followed by a 26 mile bike ride and then a 6 1/4 mile run around Windsor town centre.

I have always kept myself reasonably fit but I have never attempted anything like this before. I couldn't really swim much before Christmas (we can all swim 10 metres here and there on holiday) but I just figured how hard can it be. Well over the last 5 months I have realised exactly how hard swimming is; learning to swim properly is very very hard, I have hated every single minute of it and the swimming alone has been a challenge in itself..

I have only 6 weeks to go before the event so as you can imagine I am starting to get excited but most of all blind panic and extreme anxiety has set in... yes I am totally crapping myself.. 

I have been training hard, running and cycling since November in all kinds of weather conditions and swim training in the local pool. However because the swim leg of the triathlon is held in the river Thames I have had to start to train in open water to hopefully get used to the conditions in the Thames on the day.  Swimming in a lake (Liquid Leisure - Datchet. Have a look on the net) in April is not much fun I can tell you. Its very cold. Once you get over the initail shock when you get in (plenty of expletives in my case) a blue face, hands and feet is to say the least not a nice feeling. You take a while to thaw out afterwards!! 

The picture above is of me standing (in a not particularly flattering wet suit) on the side of the lake building up the courage for my first open water training swim. I soon realised that lake water does not taste like Evian or Volvic but for some strange reason I still managed to swallow several mouth fulls just for good measure. Apparently the water in the river Thames has an all together different taste. I dread to think... open water swimming hmmm mouth closed from now on!!!!

And do not get me started on cycling with proper pedals, cleats and shoes where your feet are fixed in. Falling off your bike everytime you stop because you forget to 'unclip' your shoes from the pedals is not much fun and can be painful when all there is to soften your not so harmoneous fall is tarmac or concrete. However I'm sure I have given motorists all over Berkshire the pleasure of witnessing this embarrassing moment (several times over) and a really good laugh... You will be pleased to know that after a few rides you start to get used to it. Thankfully running is pretty straight foward..

Anyway I chose this charity because I know that nearly everyone in their life has or will be affected by cancer in some way shape or form.  Whether this is personally, a family member, a friend or work colleague we all know the devasting impact cancer can have on anyones life.

Please please please donate so in some small way we can all make a difference and help the ongoing fight against all forms of cancer. Any donation even as small as £ 1 would be greatly appreciated. Please give what you can.

Thankyou for reading my page. It is quite difficult to know exactly what to write but I hope it did the trick..

Ben