I now have less then a month until my triathlon. The bike section is taking care of itself so I thought I would concentrate on my swimming and trying to raise the last £80 or so to reach my £600 sponsorship.
So, firstly I decided to try and create an incentive for people to sponsor me. Having just gained a red belt in a martial art I thought it would be a novel idea to spar with the lead instructor at the club should I get to my £600 target AND VIDEO IT!!!! All of a sudden people started to sponsor me as soon as I had emailed/facebooked this idea. I don't know whether to be happy that I am being sponsored or slightly worried that even people I don't know are sponsoring me in an effort to see me get a bit of a shoeing!!!!
Today I also had another swimming lesson. I have my triathlon swimming "tactical" plan drawn, essentially its going to be some front crawl and some breast stroke, but if I can do it all front crawl then that will be such a high. Today for me gave me a taste of that high. I was swimming along, nice and calm when the instructor made an observation about my swimming style and how tense it looked, just as a triathlete over took me. I can only describe his swimming style as what I would imagine Flipper to look like if it had been electrocuted. Now on my next length I relaxed and every thing just seamed to fall into place, and I left the other guy standing (or should that be floating!) I'm not for one moment suggesting that I am the worlds best swimmer or that I can beat any triathlete, but this guy has done a triathlon or three and open water swims and I was faster then him!!!!
I am an instructor with the Sea Cadets at Worthing Unit and have seen how much the cadets get out of the activities they do. I have also seen how much these activities and all the surrounding admin costs. The sea cadets are a charity, and I felt this was a fantastic way of raising money for Worthing in particular and also to encourage some of the cadets to try something different. If I can do it, so can they!
The gold challenge is based on the sports in the Olympics. Some of these sports I can do with the sea cadets, and I have purposely chosen several of these to illustrate the variety of activities that can be done, whilst also doing something that I think will be fun.
My challenge is to do the following activities.
1. Swim - Learn to swim - again. For those that have seen my swimming style, it has recently been described by Mrs Lawrence as "directional panic in water". DONE
2. Canoe - Learn to canoe. I have canoed in the past, but again this was a long time ago and all the new stuff I have learnt has forced this skill out! DONE
3. Boxing – Learn to box. I needed another sport and someone I work with can train this! DONE
4. Weightlifting – For those that know me, they will know how therapeutic gym time can be for me. This is a great opportunity for me to focus some of my energy on something different in the gym. DONE
5. Triathlon. This is a personal goal, to do a half triathlon. I have never done one and this is the one element that I plan to do in 2012. This will link my swimming and gym work together. DONE
6. Athletics - sprints. I was given the oppertunity to race at the 100m olympic stadium. DONE
7. Wrestling - in the process of doing the Judo section I managed to also cover the wrestling challenge, so it seamed approapraite to include it - DONE
8. Cycling. Take part in a cycle ride or three. I'm training for a triathlon. This incorporates a cycle leg, so why not do a cycle challenge too? DONE
9. 1/2 Marathon. This is similar in theory behind the cycle ride. If I'm doing a triathlon I might as well develop it further and do a half marathon. I'm not expecting to be fast round the course, just finish and not die on the way round would be a bonus. DONE
10. Judo - Try judo. To be perfectly honest, I needed another sport, as its in multitudes of 5, and this was suggested by some one at work. DONE
The challenge is to do them by the end of 2012, but I am aiming to have most of them done by the end of 2011.
Please feel free to add comments of support to this blog, and please sponsor me at - http://www.justgiving.com/alan-lawrence-SCC
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