Best Week!

Something clicked last week (about time eh?). Not a physical clicking (my knees already crack, so does my back. My neck clicks too oh and my shoulder) although these do occur briefly. Sometimes on a training run, or ride or swim everything clicks together and for however brief a period I feel I am running like Mo, cycling like Cav or swimming like.....a really good swimmer! For me these moments are fleeting but they often occur and when they do I feel strong, my breathing is perfect, my timing is spot on and for that second I feel like it will last forever. I also think that for that brief moment if someone saw me they would be more inclined to applaud me rather than the usual glance of concern and dialling of 999 for ambulance services!
No, this was a mental click - its like an acceptance of fate. I can run and ride faster than I could this time last year. I have trained more regularly over the last 6 months than I did during the same period of 2012 and I have avoided injury (smacks head on wooden desk top!) so it follows that I am in better shape to take on Outlaw! Granted my swim training had been non existent until last week but it is was it is.
The click occurred last Sunday when I followed my regular weekend fail to get out of bed for my 'long' ride with two short rides on a journey I would normally do by car. It was a springboard to my best week of training ever! A 4.5 mile Monday run was followed by a mile in the pool. Tue saw a pre breakfast 25 on the Merida. Wednesday an 8 mile lunchtime run and Thursday another pre breakfast Merida jaunt of 24. The nice thing was not only had I hit all aspects of triathlon for the first time in a long time I felt strong doing it! I enjoyed doing it! It built me up nicely to 76 Merida miles on Friday which included some good hills, good heat coping training, good fuel practice but most importantly I didnt wilt at any stage. I never felt it was too much. I could have cycled on at the end had time restraints not caught up with me. I eased down on Saturday with a slow/steady 5 mile run and completed the week (week 5 in the countdown to Outlaw) with a mile swim and a 4 mins improvement on the previous Monday.
A bit more of the same this week and next and then a little taper to the big day will see me at the start, Morphed up and in better shape than last year. The suit is off to the printers this week and whilst a sponsor would have been a financial help in funding this challenge I am secretly pleased I couldnt attract one. This means the suit design will be all about Outlaw, BCH, Poppy, Mrs B and the rugs, some general inspiration and one or two suprise acknowledgements for last years race and the last years prep. Pics to follow.
With 4 weeks to go (3 weeks 6 days to be precise) many people believe that what I do now wont make a difference to my Outlaw experience. I cant get a lot fitter or stronger during this time but I am not worried I need to. I dont normally do predictions and for this my second triathlon the target remains completion/survival but 2 + 7 + 6 = 15......just a thought!
I accept I am unlikely to win, I may even miss out on a PB but I am damn confident I will do it and I will be the first Ironmorph to cross the line on July 7th!

Respect?

It is not that I lack respect for the sport of triathlon or for the Ironman challenge itself that I fail to prepare properly. It is not a lack of respect for the event that I am taking it on in a Morphsuit. It is not that I take the challenge lightly. I respect the challenge and the people taking it on immensely! They truly inspire me in their effort, commitment and sacrifice in pursuing their goals. It is more a lack of respect for myself that drags me into the mess I find myself in. The same mess I was in around this time last year (see Heart & Guts post). The main difference being that last year the mess was primarily caused by injury (just another excuse in reality) but ultimately due to slackery.

So I find myself in a world of self doubt and self loathing. This is a big problem when belief and mental strength are such a huge part of being able to complete this challenge. The doubt is broken down as follows:-

The swim of 2.4 miles. I know I can swim that far but I haven’t swam for months, I haven’t got the adapted Morphsuit in open water yet and I haven’t tested an increasingly tweaky right shoulder over any kind of distance.

The cycle of 112 miles. It is fair to say I am faster by 2/3 miles per hour over my shorter rides than this time last year which must mean that I am fitter but I haven’t tested my endurance at all. I’ve not cycled over 50 miles yet. I’ve not cycled more than 3 hours in the Morphsuit. I’ve not practised/tested fuelling at all!

The run of 26.2 miles. Again I am noticeably quicker than this time last year. Almost 1 min per mile faster on runs up to 10 miles. Again this must mean that I am fitter but this year I don’t have the psychological strength of knowing the endurance is there from having done a spring marathon.

If 80% of this challenge is psychological (which it is) I am going to be in big trouble this year unless, over the course of the next 5 weeks 4 days, I get my act together. I can go into this and succeed if I am physically under prepared as long as I am mentally ready and strong. At the moment I am about 30% of where I need to be mentally. The self doubt is truly overwhelming and the self loathing is off the scale!

I sound like a broken record if I now go on to say I will do this and I will do that to sort myself out over the next few weeks. The reality however is that I just embarrass myself each time I then fail to get out and do what I was planning to do. This creates more self loathing and increases self doubt.

Some people have said the challenge is hard enough as it is without adding the Morphsuit but the Morphsuit justifies me going back to the same people again and again to ask for sponsorship. It is no longer enough to do an Ironman – the stakes have to be higher. If I complete Outlaw in a Morphsuit I hope to have raised £10,000 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital and their research and treatment of child brain tumours over the course of 2 yrs 2 months since my first marathon in Edinburgh 2011! I am currently on £9,200! It’s not a lot compared to other fundraisers that can raise tens of thousands from one event but it is all I can do in reaction to and in support of my niece Poppy and her brain tumour fight.

Motivation isn’t an issue. Inspiration isn’t an issue. Support is never an issue. Self discipline, self respect and self belief however are sadly lacking.

I know what it takes and I know where I will fail. I overcame a big wobble last year and I know I can again. Will I be at the start of Outlaw? Definitely! Will I get to break the finish tape again? Well, that remains the big question.  

Baby Baby Baby Light My Way

I’ve said it before that Mrs B is my pride, my confidence, my heart and my happiness. In fact that was the basis of my very short Groom speech at our wedding nearly 14 years ago. On Sunday she kind of took strength and determination to a new level too! Certainly, she has given me another kick up the backside to be stored in the mind for the next time I am whinging about training, or moaning during an event, or giving in because it’s just too hard!

She has always maintained she has a high pain threshold. She had no pain relief when giving birth to either of our Rugs for example and didn’t scream (like I did) when having a sports massage last week in preparation for the Lichfield Half Marathon. She has however been ill. A couple of weeks ago she saw the doctor about a persistent cough and associated discomfort when breathing. He thought she had a chest infection and a course of antibiotics should clear it up. She took the antibiotics and eased her training and whilst it did improve it didn’t go away. The cough had got much better but she was suffering a shortness of breath. She got back in to see the doctor last week. He sent her for an x ray (results awaited) and blood tests (due this week) and gave her an inhaler ‘just in case she needed it for the run’ for which she should ‘take it easy’. At least that was how it was relayed to me!

Come race day we were up early enough to have some breakfast, get ready without having to rush, even my 3^rd attempt with contact lenses went well ie got the things in the right way round and without an hour of swearing and stress! I was so looking forward to running my first race (other than a 2.5 mile Tamworth Castle grounds run during winter which didn’t really count) with Mrs B. Her training had gone well and her longer runs of 10, 11 & 12 were comfortably around 10 mins/mile pace with some left in the tank. Her previous PB was her only other half marathon being Birmingham 2009 and 2hrs 17mins. We were hoping for 2:05 – 2:10 or at least I was. Mrs B, with hindsight, was probably just hoping to finish and run relatively pain free but then I had not been privy to the conversation she had with her doctor! Everything seemed relaxed and we were ready.

Mrs B & BCH Morph pre race!

The race starts from my old school King Edwards VI Lichfield. Parked up in plenty of time to strain the greens one last time before going Morph! Had a chat to a few people during the warm up on the field, spotted a few mates and old school friends and even MS Morph that I had run with at Birmingham last October.

United Morphs

We hadn’t known each other before Birmingham but ran together as united Morphs. It was great to see him again even if I was totally jealous of his VLM2013 Morphing exploits. He was grateful for a few pointers I gave him following my Morphing of VLM2012 that I had bored him with around Birmingham! I mentioned that I had gone to school at King Eds and he said he did too. Turns out he was in the year above me – bloody small world this running community! Pete Yates if anyone remembers him? His wife Sophie was running too and I wished them luck as we moved towards the start. The plan was for me, Mrs B and Nick to run it together and we all seemed very relaxed as the starter set us off.

Now, I had kind of said the route was flat. Unfortunately it seems my memory isn’t as good as it once was. There were flat bits and a nice downhill around 2-3 miles but the rest did seem to be a steady climb. Soz! We were all running comfortably. Me and Nick chatting away and Mrs B running strong. I couldn’t really see much because of the Morphsuit.

Morph Vision

Thats my garden shed and washing line through the Morphsuit! I certainly can't see peoples expressions but Mrs B was reassuring me, when asked, that she was fine. I could hear her have the odd inhaler blast but no more than once a mile. Certainly there was no moaning (but then she wouldn’t would she) or wheezing.

Half way came really quick and I was enjoying it. The support at Lichfield is sporadic but good with the main support spots away from the start and finish being Whittington (at about 4 miles) and Fradley (at about 8 miles). We ran strong to Fradley and got a good boost from our chief support team of Veronica and Jason (or Sweden and J). I arsed about a bit in the suit to get some laughs despite my natural inclination to shy away from attention and it was going well.

Extra loop - arsing about!

At 9 we passed a squaddie being treated roadside by an Ambulance and I was again surprised when 10 seemed to suddenly appear.

Mrs B had asked me and Nick to run on a couple of times early on in the race but then it had been out of politeness with her not wanting to ‘hold us up’. I was always going to run with her because I love it and Nick was just happy to get a half under his belt and bury his Birmingham 2012 demons (although at 1:51 finish time I still cant work out what demons he could have!). When she asked us to again around 10 the tone of her voice suggested it was more of a personal need more than one of politeness. I recognised the tone of the request as I had done the same to Si Buckden at Liverpool when I was really struggling around 17 miles! We stayed with her but I began to listen closely to her breathing. She was now using the inhaler several times a mile and I could hear her wheezing more and more. The run up Netherstowe lane is quite hard at the best of times but Mrs B really began to struggle. I tried gentle encouragement, made sure I matched her pace when she slowed and tried to make sure she took it steady up the hill. I reminded her she can stop or walk at any time and it wouldn’t be a problem. Getting her breath was the priority. Whilst she was not for stopping she did candidly confirm that she had a lot of pain in her chest, she couldn’t get a decent breath and that the inhaler was now pretty much useless.

We were agonisingly close to the end and with a mile to go Nick whizzed on for the finish. Mrs B then decided to tell me the doctor had advised her not to run! What could I say? Hardly a good advert for taking advice myself all I could do was stay by her side to the finish. Whilst it was tempting now was not the time to issue a bollocking! (not that she would listen anyway!) Mrs B somehow managed to get her emotions under control. We walked for about 1 minute as she tried to get enough of a breath to take on the last mile and then she was off. Just wanting to get it done!

As we turned off the road onto the finish straight she put her game face on and even applauded the supporters at the finish before we crossed the line (2:16) hand in hand (which I thought was a nice touch) to the sound of the announcer mentioning my number and misreading the runners list to tell the crowd that ‘its Owen Phillips under there’!

The Finish straight!

She still kept it together as I whizzed her straight through to the medical tent optimistically thinking they may have oxygen there to help her. They didn’t! Instead after 15 minutes of the recommended ‘sit down’ (they had nothing more helpful than her own inhaler) Mrs B was posing for finisher photographs with me and Nick.

Nick, BCH Morph & Mrs B - done!

She never ceases to amaze me, she has a capacity to deal with life’s shit like you would not believe and displayed a strength and determination on Sunday that brings a very proud tear to my eye! We do these things because there is not a lot else we can do to help the children that will follow our niece Poppy through the doors of Birmingham Children’s Hospital. We do them when sometimes we shouldn’t because the money pledged does make a difference and does, absolutely does, help save lives. I make no apologies for asking you to text LICH78 £5 to 70070 if you think Mrs B’s effort is a worthy one because by sending it you will have made a difference. Thank you all for the support and sponsorship and a big thank you to Mrs B for lighting my way!

The Bling!

What's it like?

Amongst many questions such as ‘are you insane?’, ‘what does Mich think?’, ‘are your kids ok with it?’ I often get asked ‘what’s it like?’ to run or ride or swim or just casually chill out in a Morphsuit. I’ve covered the running in a few posts before and the disaster that was the swim is well documented. A jaunt on the bike however was a new experience.

My main fear was that unlike when running, if something goes wrong on a bike the repercussions can be more serious both for me and fellow competitors. When running if I miss a pothole or raised area and stumble or I only spot a fellow runner at the last minute the worst that can happen is a bit of a fall at a relatively slow speed. Likely outcome being damaged pride as much as anything else. However, on a bike even I can reach speeds of 30 mph which brings with it a massively reduced reaction time and massively increased damage potential.

Normal Vision

Morph Vision!

I had put off the Morph cycle experience for long enough so I arranged a 3 hour jaunt with Carl at 6am the other Sunday. I opted for the trusty 2XU tri shorts and a long sleeved skin under the Morphsuit. I don’t have contact lenses but my glasses are pretty fixed when on so I was confident I wouldn’t have to add to the risks by riding completely blind! I checked my bike over, checked myself over and wheeled the Merida onto the drive. I zipped the hood up completely, popped the helmet on and secured my glasses. I took a deep breath, clipped in and off I went. I only had to cycle a mile or two up the road to meet Carl and so only had to negotiate 3 islands, 1 crossroads and a T junction. It was at the third island Carl (who can only have come from the opposite direction) caught me up and made me jump out of my skin with a ‘Good Morning’. It was a worry that I hadn’t seen or heard him approach at all! We cycled on to a safe spot and pulled over to sort the route and for me to get a pic!

So, ‘what’s it like?’. Well, if you imagine a bank robber with a stocking on his head it feels much like I expect that to! My nose is pressed flat against my face; the suit is tight across the nose, eyes and mouth. Breathing is harder, peripheral vision is massively restricted, forward vision is reduced, looking behind over the shoulder is pointless and hearing is reduced. The body bit is great. Legs, arms and torso all neatly held in and it is probably quite aerodynamic as a result. Unfortunately the senses take a battering in addition to the annoyance of my eyelashes scraping on the inside of the suit. I can drink through it while riding but the intake is reduced by about 70%. I quickly had to make a few facial adjustments when breathing. Breathing in has to be through the mouth to get a reasonable intake but if I breathe out normally the warm breath air stays close to the face and steams up my glasses. To combat this I have to breathe out using the ‘make a whistley noise by blowing over the top of a beer bottle face’ to try and blow down to keep it off my face! This is an annoying additional face ache I had not previously considered.

We covered 46 miles that day and I stayed fully suited throughout. While the sun came up ahead of me I could see next to nothing as the sun just lights up the inside of my suit. I made a slight helmet adjustment to bring the small peak on the helmet down slightly to give a bit of shadow from the sun but I may need to wear a peaked cap under the helmet for Outlaw. When the sun was behind me I felt much happier! I was reluctant to take the lead as I was comforted by focusing on Carl’s rear light to keep my bearings on the road. I also went much slower than I usually would on descents! It is as claustrophobic as ever but I can deal with that as mentally I will be prepared for 8 hours on the bike in it. It does hold sweat though! Coupled with the fact that I produce a shed load of the stuff this may be a problem. The back of my neck and middle of my shoulders were definitely feeling the moisture build up and associated cold and this became very uncomfortable toward the end. I also had to keep stretching my arms, hands and shoulders as the constant ‘pull’ of the suit can get quite uncomfortable. Having to stop and de-hood to eat will be a pain but there is no way around it.

We averaged 15mph which I was really pleased with for a first Morph cycle outing. It was quite scary but great fun. As we passed through various villages a few of the locals probably gave me a strange look as I shouted ‘good morning’ but to be honest I couldn’t really see their faces to tell you!

The best thing was that I had survived and with a few kit and body adjustments I am sure I can do the Outlaw ride. My one and only Morph run will be this Sunday at the Lichfield Half Marathon when I am running my first race with Mrs B.

It was a confidence boost and it removed the final ‘unknown’ from this challenge. There is no doubt now in my mind I will be tackling Outlaw fully Morphed and I am relatively confident I won’t die!

Boston & VLM

I think I need to get this down for my own peace of mind because the morning after the bombing of the Boston Marathon it is hitting home just how much of an impact the challenges I have taken on have affected me. I don’t mean the soul searching, the euphoria, the fear, the excitement, the failure, the determination of doing the challenges at the time (those are all well documented). I mean the impact the ’community’ of people has had on me personally.

Me and Mrs B watched with overwhelming sadness and disgust the horrific scenes unfold at Boston. Mrs B was visibly shaken as events unfolded. I suspect this was because despite the events being thousands of miles away they were just to close to home. We have both stood at the finish supporting, our kids have stood at the finish supporting and we have both been participants on many occasions!

I don’t directly know anyone that was running or supporting at Boston (and whether you are running or supporting the emotional rollercoaster is very similar!). Through Twitter I follow a few American runners and triathletes and I am friends with a couple on Facebook too. I have never met these people but we share a common interest. Taking on challenges for charity, or personal improvement, or both. Despite, what I consider to be, my well founded agnostic beliefs one of those Americans is a Pastor (I am sure that’s the correct title?) who is an actual proper runner. He was introduced to me and the Poppyfields Appeal by a mutual friend and has supported me in my endeavours and the charity for some time. We have talked previously about running the NY marathon together for Poppyfields (albeit that he could run it twice, shower, have breakfast and still be waiting at the finish for me) and I was very relieved to hear via FB that despite him initially having a place at Boston he was unable to run so he hadn’t travelled to Boston!

I still have the dream to run in the States with Matt Dobson but if I ever make it over there we have agreed we will run Boston together instead. Whilst it doesn’t make a jot of difference to the people of Boston and the direct victims of yesterday and whilst there isn’t actually anything I can do personally to help, it would be, for me, a way of showing support. Of course every runner and charity challenger will now be keen to run Boston because I am quite sure everyone in the ‘community’ will feel the same way. That’s why you will see thousands of runners wearing black armbands in London on Sunday, or with a written message on their shirt, or just running with Boston in their heart.

It is also why thousands of people will run today. They may have planned to anyway, or they may rejig their training plan to run instead of ride or swim, or they may feel under the weather but I get the sense the ‘community’ will be out in force because we perhaps just don’t know what else to do.

It is easy for me to say London should go ahead because I am not running this year as I couldn’t get a place. Only people in the position of having a place can make the decision as to whether they run or not and additionally whether they take their family to watch! Such a decision can only be right for them. I would like to think I would run. I would want to defy whatever invisible unknown lunatic is responsible for such cowardly inhuman acts and I would want to visibly show support for Boston. Would I want Mrs B and The Rugs at the finish waiting for me? Of course I would. Would I allow them to be? You see….on that question I am not so sure!

If I didn’t have a family I would think it is a no brainer! The nearest personal experiences I can relate it to are the shootings in Lichfield of two Soldiers in the early 90’s and the disruption of the Grand National in the mid 90’s. The first incident was, I think, a Friday or Saturday night. I was due to meet friends for drinks in Lichfield but that afternoon the news broke of two soldiers being shot dead at Lichfield train station by the IRA. As a young irresponsible man and with no responsibilities it was an easy decision to make to find another way into Lichfield (the trains were cancelled for obvious reasons) and carry on with my planned night in defiance of what had gone on. It was the only time I had seen armed police on the streets of Lichfield and probably the only time I had witnessed a completely incident free evening with any arguments and animosities put to one side.

It was neither big nor clever to be stood on the course at Aintree, fuelled with drink, singing ‘No Surrender’ as the police tried to clear the course due to a suspected bomb threat from the IRA after only the third race. It was, however, the only defiance we could display!

London will be super charged with emotion for the runners and the supporters. I can only liken it to the visit of Leeds Utd to Aston Villa the week after two Leeds fans had been killed in Turkey. Wreaths were laid by Aston Villa at the away end, there was an impeccable minutes silence and both myself and Mrs B experienced the super charged emotional atmosphere where traditionally (ridiculously) violently opposing fans were united. It was a rare moment in football but humbling to be part of it.

The London Marathon of course already has an international ‘community’ of runners and supporters, it is already emotionally charged, it is an epic event to take part in but on Sunday I would imagine all of that will be taken to another level. I ‘said’ on FB yesterday ‘I don’t know much about much. I am not a proper runner or athlete but I do know that a marathon is built on goodwill and with good intentions both personal and charitable. A marathon doesn’t segregate by wealth, race, class or religion. The running/charity community provides huge support across the globe. Sundays London Marathon will be hugely emotional in support of the people of Boston. I know loads (of people) running London. Run safe, run proud and have a place in your heart for Boston. Run safe!’

I will run today because I don’t know what else to do. It may help order my thoughts, control my emotions. I will watch London on Sunday entirely jealous of everyone who is running and then anxiously await the race reports, tweets, texts saying ‘I finished, I’m safe and my time was….’.

My heart goes out to Boston and my very best wishes to everyone at London! Enjoy and Race safe!

Commitment?

Commitment – either you do or you don’t. There is no in-between!

A holiday is supposed to recharge the batteries right? Give the body a break? Allow it to repair and prepare for the final 12 week pre Outlaw onslaught? I loved my holiday in Cornwall. Lots of walking and climbing, nice food and quality family time. I had allowed for it in my training schedule. Unfortunately I didn’t feel recharged when the holiday ended….just gutted to be back to reality! I did sneak in a 9 miler midweek  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/295103539 which was a great test of strength and stubbornness due to some fantastic hills and a miscalculation resulting in the run being 3 miles further than I had planned.

This week was supposed to be bike based. Take advantage of the Easter school break (meaning I can commute at 6am or 7am) and rack up 48 miles a day. I wanted to do this on three days during this week and run the other two. Sadly due to my own laziness and lack of will power I haven’t got on the bike yet this week and only managed a 4.5 mile run on Monday. I have seriously pissed myself off – as I often do.

The situation I find myself in now is that I have only got in the pool on a handful of occasions, I haven’t been on the bike enough and certainly not logged enough ‘big’ rides and I’ve not really run more than 10 milers for 6 months. This induces swim panic, ride panic and run panic! I can try and make myself feel better by pointing out that my run pace has improved dramatically (but not tested over distance!), my ave speed on the bike has improved (but not tested over distance) and weirdly I seem to think I will be ok on the swim anyway! Ultimately of course I don’t feel any better and with a little less than 12 weeks to go I can’t afford to be arsing about.

I think I’ve slipped into a ‘comfort’ zone of doing something without the ‘push’ required! This will put me at risk of clocking another whimpering Outlaw effort. Don’t get me wrong I was very pleased with my 2012 16:45 Outlaw time but that was set against an injury hit prep and it being my first triathlon. This time I have to be better, fitter and faster. There are no excuses not to be.

I want to go away from posting this all fired up to get out there and nail some training sessions. To push harder, further, faster. To sort the Morphsuit bike testing (still not done) and to sort the Morphsuit tinkering for the swim (still not done) but, at the moment, I wonder if I have convinced myself? I probably won’t have until I actually get the sessions under my belt!

In the ‘ups and downs’ of Outlaw preparation this is a ‘down’ (without real reason), but waffling on to myself about it may just help me focus. It will at least log where I am right now which is in a better place than some. Sometimes a bit of perspective is required to remind me not to be such a whinger. Just this week @Ironholgs has announced his withdrawal from Outlaw due to injury and some barely got started before injury did for them @cpt_jacksparra

There can be no 'in-between' and i can't allow myself to drift into such an abyss! I need to up my game considerably.  

Quick reminder that @mjgreenfield1 is on stage 4 of the Marathon Des Sables. Today’s stage is 47 miles of Sahara Desert! Look him up he is running it for CLIC Sargent and updates are posted on his twitter feed! Now that’s commitment!

Morphswim Test

It seems that you can’t swim in a Morphsuit if you intend to submerge your face! Not only can you not see at all but the effort it takes to breathe out hard enough to clear the material of water before breathing in means that you take on about 30% of the air you would normally take in without the suit! You also take in an awful lot of water in each breath too. This is fine if you are swimming 10 meters or so but there is no way the Outlaw swim can be done like this. A big thank you to the staff at The Snowdome in Tamworth who let me practise after hours and for making sure I didn’t drown!

The options appear to be:-

a)      don’t wear the suit for the swim (just for ride and run which was actually my original plan)

b)      hold my breath while swimming for 2.4 miles (90 mins)

c)      adapt a snorkel

d)      swim breastroke

e)      swim in the suit with the hood down

f)        cut a hole for the mouth and eyes

B is going to be difficult, C will give me an advantage/swim aid so wont be allowed, D will take forever and miss the cut off, E is pointless and the same as A, so F seems to me to be the best option. I have my design team of engineers and seamstresses (me) working on adapting the suit.

I am hoping that with some jiggery pokery it will work and the challenge of Morphing an Ironman is not diminished too much by these necessary tweaks. The suit loves holding onto water too so it is likely I will swim in Suit 1 and then change into Suit 2 for the ride and run. Suit 2 of course won’t have eye and mouth holes.

Does this sound like it is still a valid challenge? I hope so.

In other news I’ve slacked on my weekends in training recently. It’s not a problem to not train for 2 days in 7 except when they are my long run day and long ride day. The speed on the shorter distances is improving which is great but it’s all about endurance with Outlaw for me. I particularly pissed myself off for being lazy yesterday so I had a word with myself – a stern one! I hope to make things right with a good solid week this week and next before a weeks holiday! I certainly don’t want to slip into the bad habits of last year which left me so under prepared!

I have been tinkering figures – facts, figures and all sorts of stats become relevant in the build up to Outlaw. Running is comfortably sub 8 mins/mile regularly which for me is brilliant. Cycling is hitting 17mph ave regularly which again for me is great. Last year my Outlaw time was 16:45. I was hoping to do sub 15 this year but imagine 90 mins swim, 7 hours bike and 5.5 hours run!? Suddenly 14 hrs could be on the cards…..got to have a dream!

If you have a look at this you may well get a glimpse of Cycle Morphs first outing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLanBfp-ASE

Two fellow Outlaws are struggling with injury at the moment. @ironholgs & @paintedrunner. Both are determined buggers and are likely to put the challenge before health. I so hope both of them get to the start fit and well. They will be going over and over the ‘risks v the challenge’ mental dilemma and I hope it works out right for both of them.

Mrs B is ignoring the training plan I created for the Lichfield Half Marathon on May 5^th. Saturdays 8 miler became a 9 miler. She is running so well and with such determination it’s great to see. Gonna have to up my game to make sure she doesn’t embarrass me!

Loads of people are still posting their daily exercise for the Poppyfields2013Challenge. We’ve just passed the £9,000 mark for Birmingham Childrens Hospital. Great to see so many people involved.

Finally, look out for @mjgreenfield1 who in less than 3 weeks takes on the Marathon Des Sables for CLIC Sargent. A more worthwhile cause I would struggle to think of. 156 miles in 6 days self sufficient 50c temps across the Sahara Desert! (Do I really moan so much about a training run or ride!!!). Have a look at www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/keithandmarks2013mdschallenge please.

Right where did I put my sewing kit………