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** Newsflash!** 'How the Route of Champions' bike ride became the Route of Pain and backhanders....
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Don't you hate it when the stupid voice in your head gets the better of you?!
Well Rich and I (along with my mate Jaf) decided to up the training and cycle 400ks in 4 days across the north of England just 2 weeks before the triathlon (from Old Trafford to the Stadium of Light in Sunderland via the Lake District).
Highlights of the trip included a paddle in Lake Windermere, pub quizzes, seaside fish and trips and the ups and downs of the rugged Yorkshire dales before an ill-advised night out in Newcastle. We didn't make the detour to Sunderland because my knee wouldn't leave the 'as the crow flies' route to Newcastle but we did pass the Reebok Stadium in Bolton and in so doing followed in the footsteps of Sam Allardyce.
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Now we're back in London Rich has continued his training while I keep my feet up in the hope my seriously swollen knee becomes usable again - otherwise I'll be completing the one legged triathlon and have my name added to the list of people that headed to Newcastle in pursuit of glory only to face the axe weeks later!
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Please do sponsor us both and help push us towards our £2,000 target by race day next Sunday!
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River Thames: Clean enough for salmon, clean enough for us
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At the end of March scientists and conservationists heralded the re-introduction of salmon to the Thames, the river is now clean enough for them to breed in following an absence of almost 200 years...
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For Richard, Jason, Simon and I this was great news - 'cos if it's clean enough for them surely it's clean enough for us?!
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Caught up in the disease of a generation (well two generations if we include Jason’s) we thought doing the London Olympic Triathlon on 5 August this year would be the best excuse to put our feet up thereafter
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- 1,500m swim (roughly 5-10 years of summer holiday ‘get-fit’ swimming binges)
- 40k bike ride (probably all the cycling your 'average Joe' has done since they wobbled through the park without stabilisers)
-10k run (2 corporate fun runs that get your colleagues off your back during an otherwise long and successful career).
So please sponsor two 'average Joes' (Richard and I) for one of the following reasons:
· We’ll be able to justify a lifetime of inactivity afterwards;
· We’ll be swimming in the Thames – which ain’t really that clean;
· It’s actually a fairly gruelling challenge and you’re a little bit impressed; or
· You disagree with all of the above but think we’re doing it for a worthwhile cause!
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… Speaking of which: Richard and I are swimming, biking and running in support of the Foodchain (TFC). This is a great charity for whom I do a fair bit of communications work, cooking and navigating outside of work. They give nutritional support and advice to people living with HIV (from hot Sunday lunches, to shopping advice to fit with combination therapies, to recipes and a support line).
It really is a great charity; if you want to find out more please visit www.foodchain.org.uk/ .
All that remains is for us to say thanks for visiting our page; please check back for updates on training as we near the big day and give as generously as you can!
Chris and Rich
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