Presentation to Harrogate Rotary Club

Sue Harper Todd - the Everest trek leader - and I have been working together on a Power Point Presentation that we could give to groups and organisations about the trek and the work of Women for Women International.

Our aim is to inspire people to donate, come to my fundraising events or organise an event of their own to help me reach my £10,000 fundraising target.

We did our first talk a couple of nights ago to the Rotary Club of Harrogate and I'm pleased to say it was well-received. Many of the members had brought their wives and they were all very welcoming and encouraging. We were given a lovely dinner before we had to sing for our supper! The technology tried to show us who was boss as we were setting up, with the lap-top deciding it didn't want to co-operate, but with some soothing words from a helpful Rotarian (thank you Roger!) it decided to join the party eventually!

 

Sue with David Hayes, President of Harrogate Rotary Club

Sue showed some incredible slides of her climb to the summit of everest in 2004, followed by an awe-inspiring video of the spectacularly beautiful and extremely difficult and dangerous final stage of the climb. This kind of footage is very rare as the exhaustion climbers feel at this point, not to mention the danger, does not leave much energy left for filming! Sue spoke about how she'd decided she wanted to use this experience to work with a charity and how she'd been impressed by the work of Women for Women International, its aims and the way it is organised.

Me - in full presentation flow

This led nicely into my part of the presentation. I talked about how I came to sign up for the trek and explained the ways in which Women for Women International helps women in war-torn countries. Then I tried to impress them with my training regime and my biceps! Finally I spoke about the various ways they could support me and invited them to come to my fundraising events.

Sue and I hope to do more talks like this. If anyone is interested please do get in touch.

BUPA Great North 10K - a new PB!

Well I did it!

Last Sunday - 17th July - was the BUPA Great North 10K race in Gateshead and I had set myself the target of beating my PB of 54.32 minutes.

My new PB is 53.17 minutes - Yeah!

I'm pleased with this but not THAT pleased. I started too fast as I did the first couple of kilometres in 10 minutes. And I got over-confident and thought maybe I could get close to a 50 minute 10K. The course was really quite hilly, especially at the end, and I just ran out of puff. The weather forecast had been horrendous - strong winds and heavy rain - but actually the wind was fairly light and by the time the race got underway the rain had turned to just a fine drizzle, so I really can't blame the weather.

My target for the Great North Run half marathon in September is to try to get under 2 hours. My current PB for this race is 2.07.35, so I may be aiming too high. But if I can keep free from injury and keep improving my strength and fitness, I might just do it.

Training Update

Well, so far so good. Thanks to the amazing effects of CrossFit I'm definitely getting fitter and my flabbier bits are turning to muscle. In a dim light I can almost make out the beginnings of a six-pack! No, really!! Photos of my six-pack have been banned. But here are a few recent photos of me and some of my fellow crossfitters working out -

In case you're wondering - the last photo of an assisted handstand isn't of me! I'm still at the roly poly with a bit of a bunny hop stage! It's Clare, who's brilliant at handstands and all things gymnastic. She didn't really need Pete's assistance but we wanted her to be still for the photo.

My preparations for the Great North Run, which is only just over 2 months away, are going well. I'm gradually increasing my long runs. I'm up to 9 miles now and will run another 9 miler tomorrow.

Next Sunday I'm doing a 10K race - the Great Bupa North in Gateshead. In a way it's a rest as it's only 6 miles but my plan is to try and do a good time and if possible beat my PB which is 54.32 minutes. But that was on a fairly flat course and I don't know what the Gateshead course will be like. Excuses already!

One of my main goals is to stay free from injury. Although I've been getting aches and pains and stiffness from time to time, nothing has turned chronic yet. This is partly thanks to my brilliant Sports Therapist, Libby Hancocks -  http://www.puretreatmentrooms.com/libby_hancocks.html - who  I visit every few weeks for a massage. I can't say it's always a pleasant experience when she digs her elbows or knuckles into my painful areas but it does the trick! Thank you Libby!

Calling all lovers of poetry and limericks......

Into the serious business of training and fundraising for my Everest trek a little lightness must fall....

There was a strange woman called Jack
Who fell madly in love with a yak
But half-way up Ev-er-est
She clasped him to her chest
Then ran off with a Yeti called Betty!

This is dedicated to my cousin Carole who has a bit of thing for Yeti!