Well thats the team safely home folks. A glorious day through the hills and a cracking bike ride. If I want to be picky I would have a wee whinge about the headwind on the cycle leg...but to be honest I was just glad to get on the bike.....the walk was really tough this year....much rougher underfoot. (or maybe I just wasnt as fit!!)

With a days rest it all looks much rosier than it did on Saturday evening, thats for sure
Brilliant effort by Sara and Martin...and yes kids, its been a long road but We really are there now!!

Well if I was looking for inspiration then it was there in buckets last night as the British Cycling Elite Circuit Series came to Stone. Still nursing my dodgy knee I joined some friends from the Stafford Climbing club to cheer on some of the best cyclists in Britain in this inaugural event for my local town. These guys are truly phenomonal. The high street is a pedestrianised area with cobble like paving and a steady incline; the weather was not kind with high winds and persistent rain, but despite the conditions and the tight corners on the race these guys put on a great show with the winner taking the lead by nearly a minute as he crossed the line. Having spent the last few months desperately trying to get my average speed on a bike up by a tiny fraction it was a very humbling experience to see these guys fly past. I dont think we will be quite that fast on Saturday!! However the good news is that today we hit our fundraising target - thankyou everyone. I guess all that's left to do is get ourselves to the start line and keep going til the finish, how hard can that be?!

The Final Service.

This weekend sees me in a last minute panic about everything from the state of my worn out bike, to how many pairs of hiking shoes I can try on before finding ones that fit. I've ended up going for a nice pair of lady's shoes in a cute pink color.. how pretty!
The training has been somewhat lonely, as all of my friends have given up the madness of being fit, in favour of sitting in pubs watching football! I have got my own back at them though by forcing, I mean encouraging, them to donate their hardly earned beer tokens to the cause :)
Today saw my last chance at a long ride, as I am on lates next week, so I spent several hours giving my bike a full service yesterday.. I finally have the use of my big chain ring so now I can actually go even faster down hills, and I fixed the brake that wouldn't unbrake, so now I can stop before I hit the trees at the bottom!
A few last minute tweaks during the cycle to and from work, should see it in perfect condition. The weather the last two weekends has been fantastic, which doesn't bode well for mid summer.. forecast is for rain.. so I'll just have to take more waterproofs.

Karma Katastrophe

Disaster, distaster, catastrophe has struck - or at least that's what it feels like - my knee has flared up again badly and Im sure its Karmic retribution. Im hoping that writing my blog will be like cleansing my soul and everything will be ok, so let me explain: my friend Ben is doing the Snowdonia challenge this weekend, it sounds a great event for a great charity and he's been training really hard http://www.justgiving.com/snowdoniacharitychallenge2008. Last week he told me about problems with sore feet and I delivered a long lecture on getting it checked out and getting treatment and not ignoring it.
So this weeks training had been going well, not feeling too stiff after the weekend, a good run on Tuesday, and then Tuesday night my knee just gives way with a horrible owch. So here I am talking myself out of getting physio treatment and convincing myself its just the usual pre-race aches. A true case of do as I say and not as I do... So I hope Ben's feet are feeling better with his race so close and in the meantime I will be applying RICE and doing my strengthening excercises with my fingers crossed.

Well I managed a good 18 mile walk today...but the various joints know all about it now. It was very dry up on the hill so Skipper headed off in search of a drink. The next thing I knew was a very angry duck flying low along the side of a lochan, pursued, rather too closely, by a black wagging tail.....being all that I could see of the our bold lad in the heather. One very happy dog emerged from the undergrowth, while a much flusterd duck returned to her nest.

I shall miss my ever enthusiastic companion on the Cross itself.

Had a fabulous run yesterday - I did the long (17.5 mile) run round Ladybower that I did last year as I knew the route reasonably well and hoped this would prevent too much stopping and walking. Only, I seem to be reasonably fit on flat roads but not running up steep single track - bother I think I'm in the wrong event!! No matter, the weather was perfect for running and the scenery suitably distracting when the legs hurt on the ups. I had the satisfaction of beating a bunch of mountain bikers on the way down; I've always said that it was faster to run down Well, that was the last long run and now its less than two weeks to go before the big event. Gulp! I spent today being industrious round the house, lots of hedge chopping, gardening and painting, not so much training as stretching the muscles. I haven't really been out on the bike much this past week though so I best get out tomorrow if I can.

how fit is fit?

I just had a bizarre conversation with a work colleague: I was complaining that after my 5 mile lunch-time run I really wasnt feeling as fit as I was last year, in fact I ache! and they were trying to convince me that this time last year I was in an equal tiz about not being nearly ready for the event!! Either way I managed just over 16 miles running through the peaks at the weekend in a painful 3 hours something, and did 31 miles on the bike on the Sunday. I would be lying if I said it felt good but its certainly close to where I need to be.... just one more long run to go.

Thanks for the support folks, keep the sponsor money coming in :O)

Just back from another great week with Sail Caledonia and have spent the last 3 days catching up on zzzzzzzz!

Had a lovely sunny 16 mile walk on Tain Hill today. I was a bit creaky but Skipper was in doggy heaven. Certainly not as fit as I was last year, but a bit late to be worrying now. As long as the back holds up I should get there OK.