Well here we go. On 16th July I will be "competing" in the Austrian Ironman, a 4km swim, 180km bike followed by a marathon to finish things off nicely. To help you imagine the distances it is the equivalent of swimming the Bristol channel then cycling to London in time to do the London marathon. To put it another way, hopefully not more than 13 hours of sweat and maybe a few tears.

A lot of you have questioned the reasoning behind my participation, which is only fair. Peer group pressure certainly played a part (as did my inability last September to conceptualise how hard it is actually going to be). However, the strongest incentive to train has been two charities which are very close to me.

Dan's fund for Burns  was founded by Polly Miller who lost her husband, Dan, and some close friends in the Bali bomb in 2002. She herself suffered serious burns. I don't think much more has to be said other than the good work this charity does to aid fellow burn victims is testimony to Polly's strength and positive attitude.

My second charity concerns a close friend of mine Nicola Doyle (pictured with her husband Jeff). She was diagnosed with Mixed Connected Tissue Disorder in her lungs a couple of months after her wedding last year.  Essentially this is a degenerative disease with the specifc issue of lung fibrosis. Again Nicola is facing this challenge head on and looking to raise money for research into rejuvinating lost lung function. The proceeds will be split 50/50.

Both Nicola and Polly have been an inspiration to me and I can only implore you to DIG DEEP, both these charities are small and specific so you can really make a difference.

Lets do it!

Thanks for your support, it really is appreciated.

Doogle,