From good to gout..

Well what a mixed 2 weeks it has been for me.

Following the dragon ride I decided to take a well earned weeks rest which was nice, I then took part in the Southend Park run which although hot was ok and I felt fine.

Also during the week I received the news that I had won a place to go for a bike ride with the Olympic legend Sir Chris Hoy. 

This was completely unexpected as I'd only entered the competition the day before the closing date.

Then it came to the Sunday evening before I was to go on the ride with Sir Chris and this was when I started to feel a bit rough and had that horrible aching feeling. So I decided to get an early night especially as I had to be on a 6am train to get over to Richmond Park!

The alarm clock rang and despite feeling a bit groggy I dragged myself out of bed and managed to make it to the train on time. Now I knew when I got on the train that I wasn't quite right as I'd only cycled 2 miles an the sweat was pouring off me! Not good!

So after 3 trains and a few miles of cycling I made it to the venue to meet Sir Chris.

He was a really nice and genuine guy and it was an awesome experience to be able to ride alongside such a legend.

At the end of the ride he stayed around for photos and signed autographs for at least an hour while we ate cake and drank tea!

My plus one for the day was also my wingman from the dragon ride Russ Mac who was clearly trying to explain to Sir Chris that indeed black is slimming!

So with the morning complete and Sir Chris heading off for the next stage of his tour I was left with either getting 3 trains back or plead with my wingman for a lift that would only take him about 50 miles out of his way!

My grovelling and puppy dog eyes worked as Russ kindly offered to take me  to my office in Barking.

As it turns out this was a blessing as I started to take a turn for the worst. This involved me shivering yet sweating at the same time!

Following my rapid decline I managed to get home and went to bed where I remained for the next couple of days with what looks like some sort of virus, was it a reaction to an insect bite I got on my leg in Richmond Park?

Fortunately I managed to recover in time for my sons 5th birthday and his party although still not feeling 100%.

Then just as I thought I was on the mend properly I started to get a familiar plan in my big toes.....that's right gout!

Now being a relatively fit 35 year old man you would be questioning this cant be true?

Well as much as I'd like to say it isn't it is true. However unlike previous attacks this one has affected both my big toes.

So what can bring this on...well a whole host of foods including -

Meat such as beef, pork chicken and turkey!

Seafood including tuna

Vegetables including mushrooms, peas, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots!

Fruits including bananas and pineapple

And finally various alcoholic beverages including beer.

Now looking at the list above I'm surprised that the last attack I had was back in 2009!

So other than avoiding the foods above and taking medication I need to rest and keep my feet elevated.

Clearly this unexpected rest could be a welcome blessing but considering Challenge 7 is in 2 weeks it doesn't mean a great deal of training will take place between now and then.

Is it my body telling me I've done too much? I don't think so although I need to convince quite a few people of this.

My view is if I'd done too much why now as I have been training since October!

Unfortunately there's not a lot I can do about it now other than wait for the swelling and pain to subside so its feet up and eat pasta, something I've become accustomed to over the last six months!

Every little helps...

This is a bit of a plug for SportPursuit who provided me with some coverage of my challenge several months ago as a guest blog.

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It's all down hill from here!

Well yesterday (Sunday 9 June) was probably one of the longest days I've ever exercised!

But after 11hrs and 58mins and a number of climbs being over 1600 feet I completed the 132 mile dragon ride!

It was a long day all round, with us being up a 5am to get ready and fuel up for the day.

Russ mum was a legend and got up too to sort us out with porridge and a bacon sarnie!

We knew it was going to be a hot day when you wake up to a clear blue sky at that time in the morning.

We got on the road and headed to the start with a few nerves kicking in. The start was just as beautiful with the sun starting to hot up.

After putting the bikes together we got down to the start area and were marshalled through to the holding pen ahead of our start time.

We set off just before 8:30 and we were both in good spirits and the fun word was used.

We were making steady progress and at this point the route was relatively flat something that wouldn't last for long!

We got to the first feed station and I was having a few issues with my bike, fortunately at events like this they had mechanics on hand!

So after a bit of fine tuning and actually attaching the front wheel properly (oops) we had a quick bite to eat and was back on the road again.

It was shortly after this that the roads started to go upwards and we had to take on a couple of cheeky little climbs, I say little but clearly they weren't and in fact they were the size of some of the hills in Essex but in comparison to what came later they were little!

We now reached black mountain territory and we started to climb and climb and climb some more until finally reaching the summit which was 1635 feet.

We set off again but this time we could enjoy a zigzagging down hill section which was over all to quickly.

The hills and the heat was starting to take its toll on both of us but we pushed on through to the next feed station around the 60mile mark.

At this station we were listening to other riders talking about what we had still to come and bearing in mind we were only 60 miles in the fun word was never used again!

One thing you could say was how beautiful the landscape was and with the blue skies to help it really did look amazing.

When we reached the third feed station and we had a conversation about being able to complete the course. 

There was a cut off time from which the race organisers wouldn't let you carry on the ride and there was some confusion around as to what that time was. 

Whatever time it was it was 15 miles away which given the fact that we had already cycled 80 by now and it was already 4pm it didn't look good.

We set off again and it was at this point that Russ and I split up, not in a your never going to be my friend again way but I pushed on to try and reach the cut off point close the the time and if I had to beg them to let me through or cry on them.

Then came a timed climb which was a bit of a king of the mountain type thing it was only about 1.5km in length but had a gradient of 20%, which is probably like going up a set of stairs in the house.

I pushed on and I certainly didn't win any prizes for being the quickest but I got up that bad boy without getting off the bike and pushing although it was very tempting.

When I got to the top the following 10ish miles were down hill and I made it to the cut off point (95miles) at around 5:15, fortunately no one was there from the events team so I carried on with a big sigh of relief.

After another monster climb I reached the final feed station which was at just over 100 miles and by now most of the food had gone so I stuff down a couple of bananas and an apple pie and get back on the bike. The saddle at this point was beginning to feel like a razor blade which was not nice knowing I had another 30 miles to do!

The scenery continued to be amazing.

I knew I still had 2 more climbs to go before the 15 miles of down hill to the finish and to make things worse I'd been told that the last climb was the toughest and the highest!

However I got through it and to the top but by now I had been on the road for 11 hours!

Here I met a guy called Adam from Billericay of all places. We stayed together and helped each other get to the end with the last 19 miles taking only an hour (I did say it was downhill!)

So that was it after nearly 12 gruelling hours on the saddle I'd reached the finish!

What about Russ I here you say, he did an awesome job and got through to the 100 mile mark before the hills finally broke him.

But true to form he got the minibus driver to drop him off before the finish so he could cycle over the finish line so he now has an official finish time 1 hour quicker than me!!!! Although I did forgive him as he did treat me to this bad boy at the end!

But joking aside he did an awesome job and it was great to spend some time with a quality friend that I just don't see often enough!

So that is it I am officially at the halfway point of the 12 challenges in 12 month!

As you can see from the stats below I've covered quite a few miles since training began back in October.

But there is no time to dwell on this as the job is only half done and we don't quit at halftime! 

I've now got 4 weeks to recover before I take on 124 miles in and around Newbury.

Please help spread the word of my challenge and let's smash the £5,000 target for Spring Board.

As ever to donate please visit -

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/averagejoe

Pre Dragon nerves

Tomorrow is a landmark for the average joe challenge as I reach the halfway point with Challenge number 6.

From what I've seen so far it is going to be very picturesque and the weather is going to be beautiful but there is one thing I have seen lots of and no not the typical welsh stereo-type "sheep" but hills lots of the bleeders everywhere you look!

So what will tomorrow bring.......who knows but I've got great company in Russ Mac!

As for now....bring on the Dragon!

Video Clip - Day 5 of the 6 Marathons in 6 Days

I really want to thank Andrew Kendall not only for cycling along side me on day 5 of the six marathons but for also filming some of the journey which is a great record of the challenge. 

Please take a look at the following You Tube clip I hope you enjoy it! - 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LpJXFZHhHs

Time to be a dragon slayer

Well it's been an bit of a mixed few weeks since completing Challenge 5 this included me taking a whole week off from training, something I've not done since before October last year.

The plan was to spend some time with the family as it coincided with the back holiday however the lovely bug that's been doing the rounds put paid to that as the kids and wife were all unwell.

Despite the week off I still managed to clock up 370 miles in May, most of which were completed on the bike, I did do a couple of runs and what became pretty clear was the fact that I need to keep running as it was tough going.

So I have had a rethink about my training over the next couple of months and I plan to mix it up with a bit of running and cycling just to keep the running legs ticking over.

My bike went in for a service last week so on Saturday I went along to the Southend park run and it was hot! But despite that I completed the 5k course 50secs off my PB and came 17th in a field of 146 which was pleasing although I did end up looking a mess!

I finally got my bike back late of Saturday and along with the service I've asked them to help me to get up bloody big hills, short of fitting an engine they have added a bigger cassette to the bike (I'm not the technical sort but the bigger the rear cog the easier the gear which should mean I can get up hills easier than before).

So I took it for a spin on Sunday and there was a definite improvement in getting up hills however the hills in Essex are not quite the same as the hills that I'm going to face on Sunday in Wales.

That's right it's Challenge 6 time the Wiggle Dragon Ride, 134 miles in the welsh valleys and a course that includes the Black Mountain! The start and finish is at the Margam Country Park and following a loop of Port Talbot we head of to the Black Mountain.

I'm also not alone on this challenge as I have a new wing man in Russ McLoughlin who is a top bloke and also quite nifty with a hockey stick! He too has an issue getting up hills so I think it will be an interesting 8/9 hours!

I've pimped my bike a little bit which I'm sure will raise a few comments from certain individuals!

So the next few days will be about resting up ahead of what will probably be the hardest cycling challenge!