Thanks for visiting my fundraising page!

In September I will be taking part in the Princes Trust UK Wilde Challenge,
a 3 day event as part of a 6 person team, 100 teams are taking part from
around the country.

The event involves all of us crossing 101 miles of hills and moors from the north
coast of Somerset to the south coast of Devon by mountain bike (55 miles),
kayak (9 miles) and trekking on foot (37 miles with 4000ft of ascent). 
Along the way we will be hill racing 13 miles, orienteering, probably getting lost
to add a few extra miles, camping out each night. See the attached document
for more info on it. 

http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/Main%20Site%20v2/downloads/challenge
%20registration/Registration%20Wild%20UK/Wild%20UK%202008%20itinerary.pdf

To achieve this I have started training in April so that I can get on the
Prince's Trust training, 6 days a week, plan that starts in July, am I mad or what!  Anyway it is in a good cause.

The Princes Trust, a fantastic charity working with young people in the UK -
see the panel on the left for more details of the work that they do.

So please sponsor me now, every donation is very much appreciated.  My
employer Nortel will match everything that I raise and if you are a UK taxpayer a
further 28% will be added to your donations at no cost to you.
FYI - The cost of the event is being covered by Capgemini, so at least 90% of
the money raised goes directly to where it is needed - to help change a young life.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and secure.

Many thanks for your support!
Neil

P.S. Please be aware that I have made a commitment to the Trust to raise this money.
In the event I am not able to take part due to injury, another person may run on my behalf.

Training Update
25 May 08 - From ground zero a month ago I can now run for half an hour and
ride a bike for an hour, in the gym. Lots of room for improvement as for one
thing I need to be able to run for 13 miles across county!

2 June 08 - Training going well. Joined other members of my team for a 4 km
cross country run. First time I have run in the rain and with large puddles to run
through! Had to stop one or two times but managed to run most of it. Came
back shattered but with out any issues. However, when I got home I could
not walk upstairs, my right leg would not let me! Rested for rest of week.

9 June 08 – Still have problem with leg so went to the doctor, referred to a
physio, have inflamed some muscles around my right hip. Had painful
massage and acupuncture to reduce inflammation. Probably caused by
me being very stiff around the middle and bad luck. Been given exercises
to loosen me up!

12 June 08 – Right hip is responding to treatment, however the physio has
found another problem in my lower back that probably caused the problem
in my hip! A few cracks later he has manipulated it back into place!
Physio has given me more exercises to do.

16 June 08 – Third visit to physio, all is going well, it only hurts when I go to
the physio now! Can now do bike riding and weights in the gym, but no
running. Given yet more exercises, this time for the back.

20 June 08 – Physio has given the ok to start running again, but slowly. Have a
return to running programme – walk 1 min then run for a min, repeat for 10 mins,
then if no adverse affects increase by a few mins a day. I’m really looking
forward to start running tomorrow!

24 June 08 – have now been running for the part 3 days, building up the time in the return to running programme, now up to 18 mins of walk/run with no adverse affect.
Back to see Physio on Thursday to hopefully get the all clear!

26 June 08 – Ran for 20 mins of walk /run. Been to Physio today, hope it would be the last time, back is good but the running as affected the hip muscles ... could feel it when he got to work on it ! Advised to keep running through it for the moment. Increase to 2/1 and 3/1 over next couple of runs and see how it goes over the weekend. See Physio on Monday.

02 July 08 - On Sunday did a hour and half bike ride over rough ground, still felt ok afterward.  On Monday got ok from Physio, now back to the running, can now run 2 and walk 1. Will increase tomorrow to 3/1, hopefully will soon be running for 20 mins again!  In the gym this morning (6 am) for weight and stretches. Meeting with PT tonight to review challenge and fundraising.

04 July 08 - Took donation form to handbell ringing and got £80 signed up!

13 July 08 - Been for the longest bike ride so far in a forest set up for mountain biking, covered 22 miles in 3hr 15mins and burn 2000 calories! Some the hills were so steep that the back wheel lost grip.

21 July 08 - Limited training last week as was on a course in London for 3 days. The London air is not good for my asthma, on Saturday I went for a run and could feel the difference as it reduce the distance I could run. Hopefully the affects will not last too long. However, can still manage riding a bike, did 15 miles on Sunday exploring the minor roads and tracks around Wokingham... Saw the Red Arrow's display from Finchampstead Ridges.

4 August 08 - Took part in a weekend training camp at the National Mountain Centre (http://www.pyb.co.uk/) at Plas y Brenin, Noth Wales.  Had a introduction to Kayaking and Orienteering. Had an early bath when I capsized when shooting the rapids! Orienteering was fun and managed to run between the check points, but I found a weekness in my right knee going down hill... will need to work on that in the gym.  

18 August 08 - Went to the Yorkshire Dales last week for a holiday and some hill training. Ran / Walked the three highest peaks on three separate days.

Monday - Pen-y-ghent (694 metres - 2,276 feet) 6.8 miles, 59mins to top, 1hr 57min total.

Wednesday - Ingleborough (723 metres  2,372 feet) 10 miles, 1hr 20mins to top, 2hrs 25mins total.

Friday - Whernside (736 metres - 2,415 feet) 9.5 miles, 1hr 16mins to top, 2hrs 20mins total.

Passed everyone else up and down so must be doing something right!

Found my knees suffered coming down hill on the Monday, but got better through the week. On Friday managed to run / walked up and down Whernside!

Also found that it easier when it was cloudy, windy and cool – it balanced out the effort I put in. It was harder going when it was sunny.

24 August 08 - Me and 3 other members from my team undertook a 16 miles walk along the Rideway, starting just north of Christmas Common and going north east. It was hard going at times, as it was very muddy in parts. After about 12 miles I could really feel it in my knees, which prevented from running and caused problems walking down hill! The walk took 4hrs 45mins, at an average speed of 3.3mph, slower that I would like. Also I ended up with a king size blister on my right heal!

25 August 08 - Taped up blister and went for a sole 30 mile bike ride, in a large circle around Wokingham, taking in Bracknell, Ascott, Bagshot, Swinley Forrest, Cronthorne, Finchhampstead Highest. Hit the wall at 25 miles but continued on. Ride took 3hrs 30mins.

8 September 08 - Completed the challenge 5-7 Sept my team came in 10th out of 30, which we were very pleased with! It turned into more than a challenge than expected because of the weather, lots of rain in August and 2 inches on Friday along! This made the going very difficult with rivers on the hillside in our footpaths! Also I have never seen horizontal rain, but in the open on the tops hill... For the first two days we were soaking wet all day long, and only got dry went we went to bed. The hills were steeper and longer that any of my local roads, which caused problems in the bike riding sessions, some of the hills we ended up pushing the bikes up. Thankfully the kayaking was fairly easy. It was one of the most extreme things I have ever done, and never to be repeated in a hurry! The good news is that as an overall event, we raised over £100,000 for the PT!