I bet many of you are wondering what the hell I am doing. I know I often do at 6am when I get up to train before work. But hey, there'll be plenty of time for sleep another day...

In truth my story is pretty simple and remarkably ordinary. As many of you know I enjoyed six years service as a Commissioned Officer in places as far flung as Northern Ireland, Chester and The Falkland Islands. I had the great privilege of serving with some very talented and brave men and women who helped shape me when I was fresh out of uni.  Something I am eternally grateful for.

Since leaving the forces I've lost touch with some good friends, whilst making many more as I've eased into civilian life without too many bumps or bruises. But having hit forty earlier this year I discovered my waistline was larger than my age. Not good...not good at all!

Time to sort myself out and when a friend of mine suggested the Cotswold Tri it was almost inevitable that I'd be on the start line sooner or later.  I managed to delay a bit, no bad thing when you can barely run a mile or swim more than 100m, but in the end time and a guilty conscience caught up with me.  The rest is history and this is my little way of saying thank you to all who serve in Her Majesty's Forces, wherever they may be.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Many thanks, Andy

 

16th July Update: Wow, what an amazing response from you all!  Thank you so much for all of the words of support and the very generous donations.Having broken my initial target of £500 in just 24hours I've decided to raise the bar to £1,000 which will go a long, long way to helping our injured servicemen and women in their rehabilitation and recovery.  Please spread the word and let's see if we can break £1,000 by the end of the month!

Training going ok - much soreness & fatigue in my legs this week after a big sprints + run session on Sunday but nothing a good cycle won't sort, or so Cath says...roll on Saturday!

18th July Update: So Saturday has arrived. Great night out last night seeing David Gray in concert at Westonbirt Arboretum. Awesome! Still back to the grindstone now - 90min bike and then a quick run round the lanes.

19th July Update: Good and bad news today. Firstly the good - swimming is strong. Managed a mile today in 27min with the first 750m at 12min 48s. And the bad...have pulled/torn my right hamstring tonight on a 3mile run. Still at least I can take a week off running now ;)

27th July Update: Just off the back of an 'active recovery week' last week which is trainer's jargon for an easy week with just 3 training sessions, all at an easy pace. I could get used to these types of weeks ;)  Back at it today with a dawn swim in the rain. Odd how so few people try this - its amazing!

9th August Update: Blimey, all this suport is over-whelming! Thank you all for the kind messages and such generosity.  Just back from a great week's holiday in Devon. Lots of hill training both on the bike and running plus a very salty, choppy sea swim - much fun all round.  Just 4 weeks left now until the race - where has all the time gone?

26th August Update: Just over a week to go and boy has the training regime intensified.  Lots of 'brick' sessions to combine bike and run and/or swim and bike. At this rate I may just keep going and do the London Tri next year!

3rd Sept Update: Right. That's it.  All the training is done now so just a little 'carb-loading' to go. Basically that means minimal exercise and lots of pasta!  Sweet :)  Thanks to all who have dug so deeply and donated so generously.  I know your thoughts will be with me on Sunday. Just a shame a few of you can't be there to push me around the run!

6th September - THE BIG DAY! Early start at 6am with a bowl of porridge.  Slide in to the lycra and off we go, hydrating all the way!  Loads of entries this year - almost twice as many as 2008...and 104 entries in my wave. Should make for a 'washing machine' start...

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6th September 730pm.  Well the day is done and the provisional results are out: http://www.dbmax.co.uk/Sprint%20Results%20Cots%  2009.htm

Beat my 90minute target and have raised a huge amount for a great cause. Chuffed...thanks to all who supported me throughout with encouragement, jibes and such great generosity!