Thank you so much for visiting my JustGiving page.

I've never been a sporty person.    Like many of us, I stopped exercising and got into bad eating habits when I married and later had children.  Whilst pregnant, I had gestational diabetes and it was a complete shock to be put on a controlled diet and medication.  Plus, once you've had gestational diabetes, you are seven times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes in later life.  There was no way I wanted this. 

I had my 40th birthday and my weight was still creeping up.  I knew I needed to do something radical but didn't feel mentally ready.  I'm an all or nothing person. 

It was 1st January 2017 - this was going to be a new years resolution I kept. I decided I needed to both diet and start exercising to achieve weight loss.  I lost over three stone.    I completely changed my lifestyle.  I started Park Run,  did an exercise class and started a healthy eating regime.  I wanted to be a good role model for my children and for them to see me exercising.  

I'm nearly 43 and I'm fitter now than 10 or 20 years ago.  I hope this sprint triathlon will be my first of many fitness challenges but this will really push me to my limits.  I've never cycled on the road before.  In fact, I can't remember the last time I cycled.  Training for this will be intense -  juggling being a mum, running my own business and fitting in training 6 times a week. The thought of the cars terrifies me and I'm quite accident prone!

I would absolutely love it and be so grateful if you can donate just a small amount, every £1 counts.  It is a wonderful charity which really makes a difference.  Music can really enrich your life, particularly for children that have life-threatening illnesses and complex learning needs. To put into context...

- £5 will provide a tool for a non verbal child to be able to express themselves beyond words through something as simple as drumsticks

- £50 will pay for a child suffering from cancer to attend a music therapy session

- £250 will pay for a full day of music therapy in a dedicated centre

I hope my part of the fundraising will provide 3 days of music therapy.  I'm racing with a team of 20 strong women - as part of the Monkey Music team led by Alison Norman, who runs Monkey Music classes for children in Tunbridge Wells.  Nordoff Robbins is their charity partner.

Donating through JustGiving is simple 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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thanking you so much for listening to my story and supporting Nordoff Robbins.