The Gauntlet

The 1st of April sees me running the Gauntlet which is a very muddy 12km race. An doing this as part of my training for Tough Mudder and so on the way to the Challenge.

Having said that if the hose pipe bans and drought are anything to go by who knows if there'll be any mud.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Busy times

It's been busy times for my slave days.

Saturday saw a day digging borders for Teresa Alvarez. It's drizzled most of the day but we still go the work done.

Today was clearing up from a previous slave day. So it was about 3 hours chainsawing firewood up and then another few hours stacking it all.

Tomorrow then is one in the village. Sounds like I'll be weeding and sorting out some edging.

Hopefully Wednesday will be a chance to rest as the ME is fighting hard.

I've decided not to accept any more slave days otherwise I'll run out of time to train. People on the challenge website are doing 15 mile walks and mountain practice so I've got some catching up to do. Problem is there aren't many hills in Essex. Ah well. Time to hit the stairs.

It's been too long

It's been too long since my last confession. Oops. Wrong blog. It's been too long since my last blog entry. It's been an ups and down time with several colds one after the other and lots of work on.

So as a catch up. Yesterday was my latest slave for a day. It involved a lot of bramble clearing so my fingers are like pin cushions today.

Having said that I've done a decent session at the gym with 30 sets of weights and the 50 mins on the treadmill. Now having a well earned coffee with the England France rugby match.

Got another slave day next weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. At least the nights are lighter so I should be aw to get out and do some decent training.

First target hit

Woohooo. My minimum target of £1300 is hit. Thank you to everyone who has supported me this far. Keep the money coming though. Everything extra is icing in the cake.

I've done two more slave days. They both went very well though I am paying for them ME wise. Been barely able to pick up a cup today. Will be glad when my beans are back.

I need to get out there and get training now. Will up date soon.

The quiz was a blast

The quiz last night was a blast. I was really nervous before hand but was ok once we got started. There were 13 teams fighting it out and lots of banter.

A huge thanks to Dave the landlord for hosting the quiz, to Anne for he support setting it up and for selling raffle Ickes on the night and of corse to my sparkly assistant/wife for the moral support/more raffle ticket selling/and genius maths adding up all the scores on the doors.

Overall we made £200 and the winning team The Beer Stains even gave their winning £20 back in to the pot.

So that takes my total to £1050. Really pleased.

Now that's done and the snow has gone too it's time to get out there and build up the training.

Two more slave for a day days this weekend. I'll let you know how thy go.

It's slave-tastic

It’s slave-tastic at the moment.  In other words the slave days are going well.  My last one was last Saturday where I did some tree work for Julie Raymen.  Thanks again to Julie for the support and the amazing chilli lunch.

 

This week is a busy one for fundraising.  On Thursday night is the big quiz at the Queens Head Pub on Lower Anchor Street in Chelmsford.  So far there are 14 teams already booked so we are looking at about 56 people so far.  The winning team will win £20 cash and the losing team some chocolates.  During the quiz there will be a £1 fine for any use of smart phones and web searching.

 

Along side the quiz will be a raffle with some great prizes including gym vouchers from Nuffield Health, a hairdressing voucher and some champagne.

 

After that I’ve got Friday to recover before doing another two slave days over the weekend.  Saturday is with Fiona Wilson and I’ll be helping clear and construct some raised beds for veggies.  On Sunday I’ll be back over with Susan Sawyer, this time in her back garden doing some crown reduction on a few large trees.

 

So it’s all going on.

 

Now the snow has gone along with my cough I also need to get out there and start the training.

 

Please keep that sponsorship coming. http://www.bmycharity.com/5PeaksChallenge

 

 

Neil

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Next slave for a day

It's my second slave for a day session on Saturday. Looking forward to it. There one tree to come down for sure. Not sure I the stump has to come out too. I so I hope the ground defrosts a smidge. It'll be a pick axe job if not.

Had two lovely walks with Freddie to do today in the snow. He loves it. Runs like the wind and rolls around in it. It's been a lovely day of work. Back in to nightmare of work tomorrow. So it'll be the usual 5am walk with Fred. It's already -4 eeeek.

Also it's a week on Thursday till the quiz. It should be a good night. Since its going to be a late night I've got the day after off work to recover otherwise my ME would give me hell. After that it'll be two slave days and then a weeks hols at home. Woohooo.