Early to bed, pain and a wave across the road

It's only 10:08pm and here I am, back from another 3-mile tyre drag tonight and suitably fed and watered so it looks like it could be an early night which is good because I slept like a log last night after the gym but looked tired today .... according to Dora the Explorer.

So it's just a quickie tonight.

Started the drag tonight with one tyre again to maximise the distance in the time I had and it requires a much shorter warm-up for my muscles to avoid problems. In fact it was so short .... err I didn't do one so you can imagine my surprise (not) when I got a pain in the bridge of my foot and then a burning sensation in my lower calf after about 1.5 miles. That got me wondering, how would I react if I got an injury?

What would happen if my Achilles snapped or if one of the yapping dogs in the park decided to take a chunk out of my leg or if, while racing 'Grandad Vickers' down the stairs at work, he pushed me and I tripped up and broke my leg?

I think that follows on from the theme at the weekend when my Mum said she'd shown a friend and one of her neighbours the article in the Yorkshire Evening Post; one of them said he admired my courage and determination .... especially with the crevices that can appear at any time and 'woomph' you've suddenly fallen down a 200ft drop. Nice and encouraging : /

Of course that can't top the talk amongst my colleagues about some morbid bl**dy sweepstake they're planning (polar bears, thin ice or Trek lead getting whiteout madness and turning on us all seem to be the leaders at the moment). And just when you thought team spirit was dead.

The 'drag' tonight started poorly after I met a woman walking her dog. She asked what I was training for and I puffed my chest out with pride, smiled modestly and said "Oh I'm training for a trek to the North Pole next year". Well if I was expecting a sharp take of breath and a 'wow' look in her eyes I couldn't have been further from the truth. "Oh one of the blokes at work is training for that next year" she said nonchalently.

I suddenly felt like a balloon in a cactus farm, my pride popped a million times but towards the end of the drag the nicest thing happened and it's made me smile ever since. Rather than tell you about it, check out this 'special messages' video clip.

Fame ...... fame at last !!  I'm ready for my close-up now Mr deMille. Thank you whoever you are for shouting me, waving like mad and saying those encouiraging words. At least that's what I THOUGHT you shouted.

And so dear reader I'm heading to bed; busy day tomorrow at work and then got to talk to my girls over the weekend about my upcoming 50th birthday. Strange isn't it that at the age of 47 I suddenly decided to ramp up the element of adventure in my life by training to cycle across Cuba and now I'm going to go to the North Pole.

Can't WAIT for my 53rd birthday to do the next wild thing on my list !!!  Good night.

A summers eve; what an idiot !!

Dont .... stop it ..... I can hear you now; some of you are tutting, some are laughing as you finish off another cold drink now the BBQ has died down, some are simply shaking their head in disbelief but yes, this evening I went out with one tyre and did a 3-mile drag.

I had hoped to spend as long as required to cover 6 miles but it was far too hot today and it would simply have been madness. Instead I stayed in the back garden and read the Sunday Times, did some VAT analysis and completed a report.

But as the afternoon came and went I had clearly been stalling for time, almost putting it off until tomorrow but I decided enough was enough and suddenly felt a surge of determination. Oh don't worry, it will pass quickly but boy was I suddenly up for it. Here's a little clip of just how much fun I was having ......

I was going to talk about the physical pain, the psychological torture, the brief but good chat with 4 lads who looked as if they could drag five tyres before breakfast, and the two very pretty young women who were brave enough to ask what I was doing but no, I'll sum up the 'drag' with the briefest of text exchanges with Stephen: -

GM - "It's still at least 75 degrees; what the **** am doing I pulling a tyre for 2 hours?"

SV - "Or you will die in the ice"

GM - "Fair point well made"

And so I carried on, not for 2 hours (as the midges were starting to feast on my legs) but I did 3 miles and yet, at the end, I was left cold and saddened ...... the 'Twitchers' are moving house. It's the end of an era, the crumbling of our national pastime, the signal for a dynasty to fade away.

Oh well : )

A MONSTER of a post (including the event at Zinc)

Well hello again; how was your day? The sunshine certainly made a refreshing change and yet we English are perhaps just as likely to complain that it's too hot tomorrow and the gardens and reservoirs could do with some respite. Bit like my mindset this week I guess.

After last weekends return to the gym I was lucky enough (yes, I meant to use the word 'lucky') to go back to the gym on Wednesday morning and again today. We'll come back to today's session later but firstly let's focus on the fundraiser at Zinc Restaurant Bar & Grill in Manchester on Wednesday.

The afternoon was intended to be a leisurely drive over to Manchester with a 4pm arrival at Zinc to help prepare things. Well that didn't go to plan did it; the morning (and parts of the previous week) had been spent trying to track down easels for the artists to display their work with the final blow being the biggest easel hire company in Manchester telling me "Yes sir we usually have 80-100 easels in stock ... but this week they're all out on hire".

What with that and the Unison conference in town sending hotel room costs through the roof (even the 3-star Novotel was offering their standard £79 'family' room at £244 a night !!!) I should have known it was going to be a bit stressful. So no easels whatsoever, so I set off from Leeds and got to junction 20 (Rochdale and Oldham) at 2:30pm ..... and decided to head back to Leeds, with my own money, to buy 5 easels.

I felt relief at doing so and truly calmed down for the first time that day but it messed-up my casual easy-going arrival at Zinc. Still, Su, Craig, Elvis, Isaac and team did a MAGNIFICENT job of making organising look easy and by 6:15pm Lucia and I were changed and back at Zinc, ready.

And so the scene was set for the 60 diners to arrive.

At the back of the restaurant is a conservatory area and that's where the art was set up and where most of the attendees gathered before being seated. Here are a few of the photos (Tomas did a great job taking over 300 on the night which he has whittled down to 200 - all will be available to view on a CD in a week or so and on-line, and any are available for £1 each; 50p for Tomas to cover his time and expense and 50p to charity).

Early arrivals enjoy space to move and a glass of 'bubbly'



It soon got pretty full and artists were talking to the aficionados ... and Jason

A split-second after this photo was taken I hear that David McComie managed to blag a second free glass of bubbly



Some of those arriving late were either suffering from anxiety, trapped wind or simply angry as they'd heard they had missed the free bags of Quavers



Chris directed the seating plan. It was 'Eat' versus 'Starbucks' on that table.



"You see my hand remains steady despite that extra glass of bubbly"

Sometimes even Gooners need to listen (Arsene are you taking note)

It's amazing how happy someone can be when they sell two paintings

And so, despite 8 no-shows (some proactively called to explain why .... and some didn't call at all) I think the evening was a huge success. Food was good, company was great, the price was outstanding value and each of the 4 people displaying their wares sold some. In total and with a WONDERFUL donation of £1000 from Zinc itself, the evening raised over £2300 which was pretty much what I could have hoped for.

The most exciting parts about the art sales were someone put in a bid for one piece and they were nothing to do with the event itself, just a customer on his way back from the gents, and the mysterious anonymous bidder for 3 pieces of art/photography ..... who promptly got tipsy and started telling everyone they were the anonymous bidder. Err maybe someone should have a word with Mr you-know-who about the definition of anonymous!

*************************************

Since Zinc I've apparently been in a world of my own. You see I can't help but wonder how I could turn this sort of thing into a life and a career that pays the bills? My cousin Mandy met someone who does just that; Yaser Martini (no seriously that's his name) so who knows what the future may hold. Hey a guy can dream can't he?

And so after a 2am finish Wednesday night/Thursday morning, Thursday became a late night as did Friday (arriving at an airport hotel with Lucia at 10:30pm and we still had to eat) with a subsequent 4am alarm call this morning. So this morning (Saturday) I left Lucia at the airport in Liverpool at 6am and headed back for an 11am appointment at the gym. After a few minutes warming-up, the work-out went like this: -

1 minute of squats with 2 x 16kg weights
1 minute of seated shoulder presses with 2 x 8kg weights
1 minute of ab crunches

30 seconds rest

Repeat as above but add a further minute of sit-ups

1 minute rest

1 minute of chest presses with 2 x 14kg weights
1 minute of static lunges with 2 x 8kg weights, per leg
1 minute of torso stretches using dumbell rollers

1 minute rest

1 minute of chest presses with 2 x 14kg weights
30 minute of static lunges with 2 x 8kg weights and 30 seconds without weights, per leg
1 minute of abs crunches with knees in the air and legs bent parallel to the ground

And then LOTS of stretching out. After which it was the usual domestic god stuff, a visit to my Mum's for her 79th birthday, e-transferring money to my eldest daughter who was stuck in London and now it's 00:18am and time to go to bed.

Might just be a big day tomorrow for tyre-pulling so I need my rest but my thanks once again to Tina B and Annamarie for trying their hearts out to find me some easels, to Zinc for helping put on what was for them a really busy Wednesday night, to Alison, Ben, Lucia and Mark for putting their products on show, to Tomas for capturing the images and to all the wonderful people who attended the evening and were just fantastic.

Sleep well.

Here's what's coming up folks

Morning (because it is 00:08 when I'm starting this blog entry).

Isn't it funny, you're tired and then you check one more thing on the internet and (in true 1960's Batman style) BAMMMMM, THWACK and KAPOWWWW!! Something shocks your brain and even though your body is calling-out to go to bed after a long day (more on that soon), your brain is going bonkers.

Oh, for those readers who don't know who Batman is let alone can't imagine the stunning special effects and choreography of those fantastic fights scenes all the way back as far back as the 1960's, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ose0R85rY4&NR=1 (it's only 24 seconds long but that's MORE than enough to give you the idea).

Well here I am, bammed, thwacked and kapow'd after seeing the comment from Mark Evans on my 51st blog entry. Mark, you're a altruistic superstar so don't you go overplaying my challenge and implicitly underplaying your amazing efforts both financially and in terms of the time and patience you give back. You are a role model.

Anyway, wide awake I thought I'd let you know some of the things to come shortly: -

a) Photos from an amazing evening at Zinc in Manchester last night (well, technically the night before given it's now Friday). Wednesday 22nd June was the first ever event I've arranged and the people who attended were just magnificent helping raise over £2300 for the charities I'm fundraising for. Lots of photos (assuming Tomas has done a good a job as I expect he has).

My day started at 5:30am on Wednesday morning and ended at 2:00am Thursday morning; anxiety all the way until 4pm and then .... blinkin' marvellous fun !!

b) The gym sessions last Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday morning have really kick-started the cardio again; already back up to 2 x 16kg for squats and now only 30-seconds to rest between every 3-minute round of exercise (I tell you a minute of squats with 32kg, followed by a minute of reverse lunges with 16kg and a minute of bench jumping just KILLS the thighs). More tyre pulling as well as the gym, coming right up.

c) Phil Pond is a Yorkshire Mafia member (a LinkedIn group) and he wants to come and pull the tyres AND write on his company's 40 000+ subscriber blog about my Involve ethos. How cool is that?!?!

I've also had a few other YM LinkedIn members talk about having a go at pulling the tyres so watch out for a YouTube channel on the Trek with clips of a variety of people pulling the tyres .... maybe including some celebrities.

d) Advert ready for the Beyond magazine and editorial being finalised as well. Can't show you the ad because it's PDF and this blog won't allow PDF's to be displayed.

e) I always wondered what it would feel like to wear 9 layers of clothing, so I'm going to try with my normal clothes. Watch this space for a picture diary of me turning into the 'blimp'

f) After the Zinc success, bring on Leeds Restaurant Bar & Grill with 200+ seats to fill. This time (and then in Harrogate and Sheffield ... and maybe York) I'm going to make those a massive success with loads more added-value

g) I need more photos with other charities' t-shirts on. Mark Van Spall (MVS photography) is taking me onto Saddleworth Moor for some PR shots dragging the tyres; which charities can send me a t-shirt (already got Heart Research UK, Yorkshire Cancer Research and Candlelighters).

h) I feel a PPiK Indoor Karting charity challenge coming on and must chase the Arndale Centre about my specific idea for there.

But first it's bed, then work, then taking Lucia to the airport, then home to the gym, then domestic god stuff followed by more training and hopefully an amazing photo blog of the Zinc evening. Can't thank Su, Craig, Isaac and the team enough for their wonderful support.

Oh yeah, and I'll try to do all the things I didn't finish last weekend. Bugger !!  And now it's 00:46 so good night zzzzzz

You have to watch this !! PLEASE

Respect to Dr Jon Hastie and the amazing life he is leading. My admiration for you Jon is immeasurable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svu0zQvOaOU&feature=player_embedded#at=46 which is just one of the video extracts from http://www.alifeworthlivingfilm.com/

We met Jon when we went to the House of Commons (see http://a-reet-yorkshire-adventure.blogspot.com/2011/05/dose-of-reality.html for more information). 

Spinning plates; will some fall?

Hello and welcome to this, my 51st blog entry. I'm writing to you with quivering knees of jelly and a determined streak running through my shattered body again (the 'streak' is happening again; my body is constantly shattered these days) after a heck of a PT session with Paul; my first in over three weeks.

Rather than my usual review of tyre-pulling activities I thought I'd reflect on what's happening in my life on this Fathers Day weekend OTHER than pulling tyres.

The thought for this entry began yesterday with a headache and the myriad of things running through my mind; time running out to complete them. Thing is the tyre-training and my commitment to my client is just part of what needs to be done, over and above my girls, my time with Lucia and a little bit of sleep. It takes so much more than simply fitting some training in around work commitments when you've got £100 000 to raise (and we'll not even TALK about the need to learn to ski yet).

I started to then reflect on last Saturday when my 'boss' Stephen brought his son over to see me and have a go at pulling the tyres. Anyone who catches up with this blog on a regular basis will know about that.

It wasn't just good fun and nice that they made the effort but until he pulled those tyres, he probably had no real comprehension of what it takes to train for this Trek. After that little 100 yard yomp, it became a little more real. In fact later in the week, sat in a discussion with him and Andrew, Stephen said "You know, having pulled those tyres it's only now I realise just how much effort, time and commitment Geoff has to put in to his training".

Oh hold on, I'm going a little 'misty' here after that supportive statement from Stephen at least that is until a  text arrives from him; it will probably say "I was feeling sorry for you you pathetic old man, not being supportive" ... and that from a 44 year-old. Pah !! (Happy 44th birthday for tomorrow Mr V).

By the way before I forget, if you didn't see this article in the Yorkshire Evening Post on Wednesday about my tyre-pulling, here it is. Of course if you DID see it then .... here it is again (or you could always close your eyes, count to 10 and ask someone to scroll down for you). The reason I look like a barrel is because the special tyre-pulling harness is under my t-shirt. Oh yes it is !!

Anyway, today's gym session was the first with Paul (my PT) for over 3 weeks and I was knackered before I started so you can imagine my state after we 'gently brushed off the cobwebs'. It was so bad that I was doing squats with only 24kg in weight and static lunges with only 20kg in weight, so even though I was intending to have a thoroughly selfish day tomorrow (apart from the 4 taxi trips for my girls too and from work), I'm now going to go to the gym again (and twice during the week and 4 times the week after when Lucia is away).

Thing is the selfish Fathers Day is about as likely as a triple lottery roll-over jackpot win given I also want to cram in: -

a) Writing to Caroline at the cheeky little marketing agency Ohh-La-La about the proposal we discussed

b) Sort out my eldest daughters birthday card

c) Draft my column for http://www.troymedia.com/ (750 words)

d) Go to the gym again tomorrow

e) Sit and relax with the Sunday Times and a book all day tomorrow (yeah right)

f) Find a provider of 15 easels for the Manchester fundraiser on Wednesday (three potentials have all said they can't help ... aaaargh)

g) Write this blog (tick, done)

h) Complete the silent auction leaflets for Wednesday

i) Read the information at http://www.alifeworthlivingfilm.com/ which is a project Dr Jon Hastie (the Muscular Dystrophy sufferer Lucia and I met at the House of Commons Parliamentary reception in May (see blog entry entitled 'A dose of reality')) is creating, managing and presenting, and then reply to Jon.

j) Write 15 letters to potential corporate sponsors for the Trek.

k) Contact possible sponsors, attendees and beneficiaries of the Harrogate and Leeds fundraisers at Restaurant Bar & Grill .... and contact Sheffield Piccolinos to start the discussion about one there. Thank you to the lovely Anna for her time, patience and enthusiasm yesterday in Harrogate (and I'll be buying some caffeine because it clearly works ha ha).

l) Set up a web page for my Trek to bring the disparate pieces currently on the web all together, including the idea of the 'Wall of Fame' for all those people who have tried to drag the tyres for fun. There seems to be a growing desire for the fad - Caroline plz take note.

m) Bank the £48 that the Hanging Ditch branch of Starbucks raised for my charities on Friday 17th June as well as write a thank-you letter to them (and see if I can start a competition amongst the Manchester and then with the Yorkshire branches. Hmm need to write another letter .... groan).

n) Scribble down all the other ideas I have just thought of, along with the ones I've just remembered.

o) Thank Tina Bonetta and her friends for the offer of organising a fundraising event for me. Oh for more people with a generous nature like you Tina !!!

Then there is the obvious need to work to pay bills, to be able to pay the remaining £15 000 balance of the Trek and save money as my current aspiration (based on this mornings gym session and the fatigue after 6 miles over 2 days pulling the tyres last weekend) is that I work like hell until New Years Eve and then hope for some part-time work from January 2012 through April 2012 to allow myself to drive forward with my preparation for the Pole.

And of course I also need to promote myself more during this time, thus the article in 'Beyond' magazine that's coming up .... see photo below (copyright MVS Photography 2011, all rights reserved).

I must also think through how I push to get myself on local TV. Visibility hopefully means increased likelihood that someone will want to co-sponsor the Trek. Hell, next April suddenly feels awfully close.

And so dear reader, feel free to arrange to come and drag the tyres and feel the scale of the challenge (see Hiten, there are muscles in those lillywhite legs ha ha).

As for me, I'm now going to eat, clean the house, put the washer on for a 3rd time today, go to the supermarket and do my taxi trips for my girls to and from work .... and smile at the thought that one day I'll NOT have a tyre-pulling harness strapped to my body and will be able to walk through the park and look relaxed, happy and stress-free with Lucia (and yes Ant' you're right, she is). 

Right now though I'd love to look forward to my Fathers Day morning; a freshly made latte, breakfast and the Sunday Times without a million things racing through my head and just my beautiful girls to take to and from work. Yes I know, but a guy can dream can't he?

Enjoy your weekend; one more blog entry to try to do tomorrow, so watch this space.

Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning

I'm sat on the mezz having completed 2 miles yesterday afternoon, 2 miles this morning and preparing to head out again .... but it's started to rain. Below is a picture of the 'world famous' mezz and one of the three Velux windows that are smattered with raindrops as the sky turns from a beautiful clear azure blue to a troubled deep dark grey-blue.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON
One thing that did happen yesterday was a Close Encounter of the Twitcher Kind. As I was unloading the tyre from the car I looked up and, at exactly the same time, Mrs Twitcher turned round from emptying her bin. Dressed in an aggressive apron and a fierce pair of camoflague slippers that would blend in beautifully with any plaid carpet, she froze. So did I.

Time stood still for (well at least) 3 seconds as she and I assessed the situation. It felt a little like two wild animals in the jungle, hunters suddenly catching sight of each other, deciding whether to fight or move on to find their own prey whilst ensuring the other didn't lunge with a sneak attack. She put her hand in her apron pocket; I tensed. She slowly pulled out a ................................................... clothes peg and resumed her watchful gaze as she diappeared into the house. Phew, I could finally breathe aagin.

Other than that yesterday was pretty uneventful although the 'junior fan club' had grown in size and one lad (bless his heart) offered me the £2 in his pocket as sponsorship. Another one wanted to try the tyre harness ... why are the ginger-haired ones the loudest and most irritating? No Stephen that's NOT a point you should refer me back to in the office tomorrow!!

The lad, Jake, did about 100m in 22.1 seconds with one tyre and seemed please with himself although I have to say I was particularly annoyed on my return trip when I found the leaflet they took to look at (about the trek) torn in two and left to blow across the park in the spring breeze. Disrespectful little &*£$@# !!

One of the girls (who had a go pulling two tyres a couple of weeks ago) asked me why I was only pulling one this time; I figure variety is a key part of training so sometimes I'll pull the full weight for strength training and sometimes I'll pull a lighter one for distance training - the intent is the two things come together around January 2012 and I can pull both weight and complete distance too. The photos below show what the sled looks like during a packing phase (with thanks to Hazel Kurz who succesfully completed the Trek in April of this year) and hopefully the type of terrain we WON'T really come across in April next year (thanks to Google and Catlin Ice Survey; those guys and gals pull 90kg sleds!!).

Other than that and a plethora of humour from passers-by, the only moment that stands out was the moron who shouted out of his van window that "Looks like you're dragging 3 tyres around you fat b*****d". Ha ha such wonderful wit; a joy to know mankind can be so thoughful and uplifting with such prose.


SUNDAY MORNING
This morning was just jolly nice with a few people shouting encouragement, a really nice chat with one woman at the start, which flowed seamlessly into a chat with a blind couple (they offered me their dogs as huskies bless them) and another couple who stood nearby and tactfully tried to listen, although how you can tactfully try to listen when you're only 4ft away, have no dog busying itself and no grandchildren playing with twigs I'm not sure, but they loitered and also offered their good wishes once the blind couple had moved on before sauntering out of the gates.

Oh and I found a £5 note in the Park too so that will go to one of the charities.

Right, food time and let's hope it stops raining as I think I'll head to Barwick this afternoon and try to do 4 laps of the football & cricket boundaries. Hopefully there'll be a bunch of bored cricketers, some of whom I know, ready to laugh but dip their hands in their pockets for an ex teammate. We'll see.

In the meantime please feel free to admire the following; it's a piece of art by my girlfriend Lucia. The photo doesn't really do it justice. She too will be displaying some of her work; like Alison she is self-taught and has only been painting as a hobby for a year but hopefully she can get some praise and a sale or two. This one sold for £50 just over 5 months ago

You can see more at the Hanging Ditch branch of Starbucks (opposite Urbis in Manchester) on Friday 17th June as they host a fundraising day for the charities I'm supporting. Specially priced coffee and cup-cake deal on in-store too so get yourself down there.

And no, in case you're interested, it's not stopped raining. In fact it's heavier now and the sky is a solid blanket of pale grey : (

Saturday, part 1

Lunchtime and while my Shepherds Pie is cooking thought I'd report back on my Saturday morning tyre-drag (the first of two today).

I actually didn't make it out last night to drag the tyres (the lure of Tescos' was quite simply just too much for a man of low morale standards and little physical substance) so I decided that this morning I'd take 2 tyres for a 2-miler and then a single tyre for a 2-miler this afternoon. Sunday SHOULD be a single tyre for THREE 2-milers ... but let's wait to see if it's peeing it down or not first.

Oh before I move on, it was great to see 'young' Anthony on Thursday evening at Mark Byrne's leaving-do, even though he had his pale blue Henri Lloyd polo shirt completely buttoned up (yes Ant' you're right, the chavs and the fashion victims who are under 22 years old DO wear their polo shirts like that). Now get hunting those BUPA exec's with the large Marketing budgets and even larger hearts.

So this morning; a 2-mile 2-tyre drag, a photographer from the Yorkshire Post newspaper, my 'boss' and his son and a German shepherd (a dog, not actually a 'German shepherd' wandering round Rothwell Park for goodness sake) and yet it all started so badly.

I hadn't gone half a mile when my legs and my head started shouting at me ... "Stop, you're just not going to be able to do this this morning" ..... What?!?!? Hang on, I'm supposed to be building up to becoming a reet 'ard Polar explorer and you're telling me to give up this morning???

I stood and literally gave myself a good talking to and, after 30 seconds of self-berating activity, I carried on in that strange psychological state of being humbled that I'd been told off and yet also proud that I'd told myself off. Err isn't that a little schizophrenic?

It was at this point Stephen (my 'boss') sent a text to say he and his son were on their way over to watch me pull the tyres. What he ACTUALLY said in his text was "Josh and I are coming to see you. Josh has a bag of stones to throw". So I dragged as I waited for the laughter, the mockery and the stoning.

About 35 minutes later James the YP photographer (or was it Chris) turned up and started taking photos of me through the trees and using flash-guns on tripods in the middle of the Park. Attracted a bit of an audience actually. Mind you my legs have NEVER ached so much as they did whilst holding a couple of 'dramatic poses', all in the name of art you understand.

He was good though and I'm looking forward to not only seeing the photo they choose for the paper but hopefully also the photos Heart Research UK (who arranged the article) and I can use. I got so excited I decided to play amateur paparazzi on James (or was it Chris) ....

It's okay, you don't have to say anything as the National Museum of Photography have already told me not to bother asking for a knighthood for services to photography. In fact they have even barred me from buying a visitors ticket to the Museum.

After cramp had set in for the 4th time, he finally admitted he had enough photos and we parted company which was good timing because Stephen and Josh had arrived, albeit at the wrong end of the Park, so we all set off to meet somewhere in the middle.

(My buzzer is going off so I'm just heading downstairs to get my Shepherds Pie out of the oven. While you wait please take some time to admire the art work from my friend Alison who will be one of those displaying their wares at the fundraiser at Zinc. Alison only picked up charcoals about 6 months ago, yes for the first time EVER in her life, and she's now producing stuff like this ... all self taught too!!)

And I'm back. Now where was I .... oh yes, Stephen and Josh.

I could hear Stephen laughing 300 metres away. I must have been a strange sight as their dog stopped in its tracks and you could see Josh move visibly closer to Stephen; he clearly felt he really should hold his Dad's hand for protection.  As they got closer Stephen was good to his promise of a few months ago and he immediately and gladly gave me another £10 donation for laughing at me.

Josh on the other hand was fascinated; so much so he let go of his Dad's hand and started to smile. It was like one of those horror-movie moments where the innocent boy seems suddenly unafraid of the psychotic monster whilst the audience are screaming in their heads "Don't do it little boy, don't go too close". Sadly for Josh he did. In an instant he was wrapped happily in the harness and ready to give the tyre-pulling a go ......

Sadly he has a little way to go before he can even MOVE the tyres. It was as if they'd been super-glued to the floor but he had a good time and I'm sure his Mum will love to see the photos : )

Of course once Josh had had a go, it was only a matter of seconds before 'Big Daddy' did too.

Stephen clearly found it easy, although he seemed less than keen when I said he could pull it to the goal posts and back (they're the little white dots in the distance ...about a 1/4 mile round trip at the most I'd guess)

And so I re-took the harness and we all walked, quite slowly I have to admit, almost to the goal posts (and yes Tom Chadwick I'm sure I really could be doing more than a mile an a hour but give the old guy a few months to get fitter and you'll be trailing in my wake young man).

We noticed a German shepherd dog and Stephen recalled the tale of how he lost part of his bum to a German shepherd (a German shepherd DOG!!!! Do you know you just CAN'T get the quality of audience these days).

Oh and here's a question for all you dog lovers. Why are small dogs so brave that they always run up and pee on my tyres when that great big hairy scary German shepherd dog has just run a mile at the sight of them?? Actually that was pretty much the behaviour of the owners as I offered them a leaflet about my Trek and Charity Challenge (the organisers) but they took it.

Anyway just after that little episode, Stephen felt a 'hunger gap' in his stomach opening so clearly the McDonalds breakfast hadn't filled him up as much as he'd hoped ... hmm was wondering why they were late ..... so we parted company and I turned and headed back towards the hill for the final pull.

And so that was pretty much it for this morning. Time for a cup of tea before I get ready to do my afternoon stint and then shower, change and head over to Manchester for the evening, Maybe next time Andrew and William will come and watch me drag the tyres but, for now, Peter and Stephen clearly have Andrew far too busy, working at his desk.

I'll type to you later folks.

Just a quickie before Saturday

THE PAST

Monday evening - Rothwell Park. One man, one tyre (detachable, not abdominal thank you), first mile in 24 minutes, second mile in 20 minutes.
- Tuesday evening - Rothwell Park. One man, one tyre (blah blah blah), single mile in 18 minutes.


THE FUTURE

- Friday evening, Saturday morning and Sunday evening - Rothwell Park. One man, one tyre, two miles on each occasion to test out how my legs and back respond to three days in a row. At least I'll have the Yorkshire Post Newspaper photographer tagging along on Saturday morning.
- To be able to walk Monday


THE ASPIRATIONS

- To find another park to use from time to time, so I can hand out more leaflets to unsuspecting members of the public.It's a charm offensive don't you know (probably more 'offensive' than 'charm' but I live in hope)
- To show the sort of bravery over the next 3 months that Emma (aka Dora) showed when she did the London marathon just 6 weeks AFTER a serious leg injury threatened to stop her fulfilling her promise to her Dad. NOT that I'm injured but the pain associated with the training is going to seriously ramp up in the month of July (more of that in a future blog).
- To fit into my 'aspirational' t-shirt by the end of July 2011.
- To find something more interesting to write about by the time Saturday evening comes round. Who is that cheering in the background?? It's not big and it's not clever.

Cobwebs, opportunities and a game of cricket

Well it's been a while for sure but after a lovely two weeks looking after my girls and a nice (but horrible) 5 days looking after a poorly Lucia, I'm now back 'in the saddle' and went to the gym tonight to blow the cobwebs away.

Oh yes, must remember; some people have reminded me that anyone reading this blog for the first time will perhaps wonder what it's all about so here's a quick summary ..... I'm 50 years old this year but I've decided to live life ("turning life up to 11" as my friends at Roxstor used to say) so after cycling north to south across Cuba in 2010 for charity, I'm now in training for an 8-day ski trek to the North Pole in April 2012 to try and raise £100 000 for charities.

Okay, summary over so back to what's what.

Inbetween having my girls and playing doctors and nurses for Lucia (behave, I don't mean it THAT way and you know it!!) I managed to be part of a charity cricket match; something I suggested when India and England drew their match at the 2011 cricket World Cup. The charity match featured a Co-operative Financial Services team versus an Infosys team (photo of the winners below and yes that's me sprawled on the floor in pads and gloves).

Anyway after that moment of glory tonight was the start of a 4 visits in 5 days kick-start back into training so a 45-minute blast on the cross-trainer felt good, as did getting back into the fundraising mindset.

* I'm now hopeful that Jen of the Leeds-based team at the Individual Restaurant Company chain are up for a fundraising night (pencil in Wednesday 28th September for now folks), I'm meeting Anna of the the Harrogate/York team next week (pencil in 14th July as that's what I'm aiming for if the Candlelighters team can get me as part of their Great Yorkshire Show presence) and the Sheffield manager is going to contact me soon.

* I wrote to my local supermarket about fundraising opportunities so hopefully there's going to be a reply from them soon.

* Fingers crossed that a rather audacious plan for an event in a northern city gets the go-ahead, but now I've probably damned the idea to a quick and painful death before it even gets past the first step.

* Agreed with Mark Bowness of Beyond Magazine about a large feature on my Trek preparations etc (see http://www.beyondmags.com/) so looking forward to that. Big posh glossy magazine; buy one it's great.

* The lovely Tina Bonetta has agreed to co-plan and co-organise an event with/for me. More on that as we move forward.

* Hoping Will Jones of Heart Research UK has whet the appetite of the local TV stations enough to make them want to do a short clip of my tyre-pulling expolits.

Other than that it has been quiet but I think the whole Involve ethos is taking shape in terms of making it as big a part of my life as BlueDucks already is. Now that WOULD be an exciting step forward for the next 10 years and the North Pole thing will be dwarfed by my plans for 2014 and 2018 ... fingers crossed.

Now heading to bed with a satisfied smile that the world looks a slightly brighter place from my perspective; I'm back on track !!  Sleep well, whoever you are and wherever in the world you may be.