So we took the plunge and entered our first full Olympic Triathlon for 2016.
I’ve never done anything like this, but my pal Rachel has done a couple of sprint type triathlons, but with a little bit of encouragement, we egged each other on and signed up for the Brighton & Hove Triathlon 2016.
We went for the full Olympic length (1500m swim x 40km bike x 10km run) as felt this would be the hardest challenge for us.
The only problems for me are that I haven’t owned a bike in over 10 years and I’ve never done any running. Literally…I’ve done no running. Ok, so maybe for a train, or after my 3 year old, but I’ve never donned a pair of trainers and said… “I’m going for a run”. Swimming on the other hand, that I can do. Instead of running, I’d always preferred to grab my goggles and head out into the sea/ pool / any water I can find. My folks always said I learnt to swim underwater and I think I carried that through my whole life!
So… let the training commence.
I’m aiming to keep this updated with how the progress is going, what we’re up to, but also as another way of raising awareness of organ donation. I quite selfishly wanted to complete this triathlon as my own personal accomplishment, but I also want to raise as much money as possible for Harefiled Hospital, who looked after my dear friend Emily before she left us at the end of 2014.
After speaking to her lovely family, I decided it would be most fitting to raise funds for Harefield, who throughout her short life had saved Emily’s countless times. I visited Emily a couple of times in that hospital and they were always so amazing to her, though that might of been because they knew that really, she was the boss of the ward! Either way, they were incredible people.
I aim to raise as much as I can to help Harefield with funds going towards projects that could help save countless more lives.
If you’d like to donate, that would be awesome – you can here
If you don’t fancy donating, that’s absolutely fine. All I want from you, is for you to sign the organ donor register, to help give people like Emily a second chance at life.
Thanks.
Matt
