Ok so i don't have so far to go with the challenge on the rowng machine, under 5,000 km to go. This weekend provided a bit of break from riding on top of the Red Funnel ferries. In preperation to row around the Isle of Wight myself and some students are going to row at the Ryde/Shanklin regattas. This basically involves rowing 1000m in a coastal four doing a bouy turn and then racing back another 1000m. The fours are the same as those we will use to row around the Island in. Enduring the seas around means a couple of things including getting up close and personal with the fith most recognised landmark in the UK - the needles!

At least it provides some distraction from the task of dealing with my Mum's estate and eventually selling the house. This is a place where i have witnessed suicide attempts, heartbreak and death. It can be a happy warm home for someone it's my task to lay the foundations for that.

In the mean time it's a case of selecting a good group of tunes to listen to whilst i train. A bit of rock, dance (garage or hardcore), pop and if all else fails the radio on my mp3 player.

The London Marathon one of the biggest participation one day sporting events in the world and a tough challenge. For me this one was going to be a battle to continue bringing back my mental toughness. It was also a chance to enjoy a larger than life event and watch some other very colourful colours.

I made my way up by train on saturday with my friend Jon Sowden who was also running. The expo where you pick your numbers up is the size of an air craft hanger. There are a number of different stands advertising clothes, events and also promoting charities. One of the race sponsors gave everyone the opportunity to put a personal message on a piece of card that matched the one your race number was on.
My simply read "For Mum, miss you angus"
After i made my way to my friends flat in Clapham Junction. James an old university friend and his girlfriend Fini not only kindly put me up for the weekend but also fed me as well.

On sunday i made my way to the start line by train, you know when your going in the right direction when hundreds of people with the same kit as you are on the same transport. The you start to see some of the costumes other people are wearing. One guy a well know fundraiser was running in a huge robot costume on stilts.

We finally got underway and i settled into a nice pace. It does not really hit you until you get there how many people are running for good causes. Its also a rare event in terms of the support you get. Thousands of people came out to cheer you on and help you get through the course no matter where your from. Which is just as well because the weather was harsh for running something of that distance. I battled though the pain wasn't the barrier it was the constant replay of mums heart attack from cancer. You clung to the land marks such as tower bridge and almost pushed yourself off them. For a large part of the race i seemed to be followed by a guy in a somic the hedgehog costume. I just couldn't shake him it seemed, very bizare. It is a good idea to put your name on the front of your running vest, you get a lot more support.

Holding the medal was true testament to flexing my mental strength muscles. Looking around seeing those exhausted but relieved individuals with their medals let me know i had been part of something special. Bring on the rest.

What a difference half an hour makes. The last time i graped the seat of my bike, my mothers heart attack from cancer happened within minuites after. I had move it about but because of the strong association with that morning would not touch the seat. I realised that in order to make a difference and complete my aims i would have no other choice.

I set it up in my rowing club Coalporters on the static trainer and cycled for half an hour. It was good after and i felt such a release. I have started putting a diary of fundraising events im attending this year, which include:

Row distance of Southampton to New York (5503.03km) On concept2 rowing machine (1st Jan to 9th August)

13th April London Marathon

Row around the Isle of Wight June 2008 (Weather dependent)

Evening Triathlon Dorney Lake Windsor (25th June)

Box end park longswim 3.8km swim 13th july

JP Morgam sail around island 28th June

UK Ironman 17th August 2008

Ride lands end to john o groats and back 6th Sept - 17th Sept

Rowers revenge october 2008

New York Marathon November

I spent half the Easter break rowing on the ferries, steadily covering my distance. I also managed to raise over £700. The running is finally improving, just in time for London. All good news as Easter was another tough first to get out the way.

So at the beginning of last week an opportunity presented itself. The company I work for Skandia was taking part in Sport relief by having a dress down day on the Friday. One of my colleagues suggested I set up a rowing machine up and collect from other members of staff. After a bit of digging around eventually I managed to arrange to set it up for the afternoon. It was just deciding how to do it? I decided to do a marathon (26.2 miles), it was going to provide me with an idea about how fit I was for the London Marathon.

At 12.30am I started to row and kept going. Initially not many people showed interest but after a while donations were put in the bucket. After half way through the BBC showed up to film me later that day I appeared on South today and on Sunday the Mile show. I finished three hours and 48 mins later. Afterwards I found out I was on the staff intranet with members of staff emailing me congratulating me on how I done.
It was good first step in raising awareness of this year’s mission and proved I was fit. The next step is plucking up the courage to get back on the bike…..

One of the keys to making the distance is effective training. However if your carrying something on you mind it can make things ‘sluggish’. In this particular case it was carrying the blame for the loss of mum. Despite the face the cancer had spread so quickly I felt there was something I could of done to help her. It took a friend outside the family who has some experience in these situations, to help me understand it wasn’t.

This lightened my heart enough to help me really get things going again. Returning to Dorset I found myself enjoying my running again. What’s more the swing is back in my indoor rowing. Whilst I’m focussed on covering the distance of Southampton to New York on my rowing machine the first big one-day event is coming up. The London Marathon is taking place in April. I regard the New York Marathon as a tougher course and I managed to pull myself through that in November a week and a half after we cremated mum. It was a very laboured battle but I completed it. Now I will have to see whether the new mentality will help me produce a better performance in London.

THE FIRST STEP

Having someone pass away in front of your eyes is enough to blow away the confidence of any person. With so much cancelled last year there was little part of me that was starting to wonder whether anything would go right. The came the Southern Indoor rowing championships and while it wasn’t perfect it was enough to give me the first step on the ladder to achieve my aims this year. It was consume my week from Wednesday 13th February to Sunday the 17th February when I finally dropped the van off. I can honestly say I was responsible for over six hundred people racing.

The Thursday saw us set up the machines with the first group of children arriving in the afternoon. The schools from around Hampshire arrived to compete in the after school competition. Friday featured every single year from Bellemoor school in Southampton compete against each other. The Saturday featured the most diverse age range out of the three days. It started with Katie Metalli and finished with Charles Morely. Katie beat the boys in her age group and won the first gold medal of the day. Charles Morely was the oldest competitor of the race at seventy six. The manic team races follow and 500m followed. There were gremlins but the day worked out and I was grateful to everyone that competed. We got the machines back to Nottingham and had to turn around on a penny then come back to Southampton at 1am on Sunday morning.

I however had to get the van back to Dorchester. Leaving at 5am I drove back to Dorchester leaving the van at U Drive. Any ordinary person at this point would have stopped and rested. I however had a commitment to row on the ferry. I grabbed my car, drove back to Southampton and got to the Red Funnel ferry in time for the first sailing at 9.20. Where I summed up the energy to row 40km on the ferry I don’t know.

If I can master the determination and skills I will make all the targets I’m aiming at. I of course caught up with my rest, my heads not just a hat rack my friend!