A great start in a small world

Would you Adam and Eve it.... (actually its Helen)

So I ask my network of clients and associates for suggestions for a local charity to support as I have entered this mad boat race thingy with a crazy bunch collectively know as the Wolfgang. A relatively new client of mine, (whose name is Adam), suggests that I speak with his wife, (her name is Helen, not Eve).

Helen is a matron at the Bristol Childrens hospital and manages the oncology, bone marrow and transplant units. The hospital is doing great work for the children in its care and is apparently due to be nominated as a centre of excellence in the UK.

I give her a call, tell her about the race and she tells me about the holistic support services unit that provides a variety of alternative treatments, primarily massage, to her patients varying in age from babies to teenagers. The positive effects of this service in improving the quality of the childrens time in hospital and sometimes their short lives cannot be overstated. Unbelievably however, the whole service is funded purely by charitable donations. They need in excess of £20,000 per annum just to maintain the current levels of the service which is available for only 15 hours per week but with additional funding they would extend the service.

Well how could I say no, they are now my nominated charity.

And then we get an email from John Price the man who is building Wolf our boat and I quote;

"I looked at your charity page and noted that you are supporting Bristol. This is great as our eldest child had a very very much life saving open heart there some 18 years ago. As a family and company we do make a number of significant donations a year and this whole thing seems to tie together whereby we would love to donate £1000 to you fund."

A big thanks to John..... A great start in a small world.

Guilt got the better of me......

Rumour has it that in order to ease the guilt of the Mac Attack on Monday last a certain marketing whiz was seen disappearing into the canteen at lunchtime with the healthy option bucket of Kentucky Fried Chuck......(yes, we have spies everywhere)

It seems we have work to do......

I suppose you could consider Chicken a move in the right direction...beats a carton of Tropical fruit and a soggy banana....truth be told I'm struggling......help.

Just got signed up for a 6 month stint in the Gym at the local spa..... I have been given an appointment to see Manuel the resident genius and apparently he can transform me in a matter of weeks. First I have to have a assessment..... "Then vee can work out ze program" he said smiling and finally "I shout to you tooo maka you run a lot"

Now I know we are supposed to be having fun but this is going to hurt. All the while Stevo from marketing is following a far more satisfactory program. Ouch.... Who's the idiot?

Mac

Speaking of the correct wrist action.....

It may come as a suprise but I think I have found one of the 6 missing packs. Not in the best of shape I may add but there never the less.

The training is going at such a lick that I reckon I'll be down to 12 stone by the beginning of the race. It's only the start of February and already I'm down 18lbs and in another way up £500.

You see, Steve our Marketing whizz and alround good guy (round being the optimum word here) bet me he could loose more weight during our Race preparation than I could based on percentage lost from a starting weight (which shall remain confidential). Unfortuantely he got mugged on Monday by a Big Mac and to sort himself out he selflessly ate it. Them's the breaks...

Now see, I reckon he forgot this little wager but now that it's alive on the website and that he will have difficulty denying the very existence of said wager perhaps he would like to pay up. No point in going on is there. Be a man, admit defeat, and move on I say....

I'm seriously thinking of asking our I.T. boffin to put up a belly cam to see and monitor his progress. Protect the investment and the like.

Wrist action is another matter altogether Maps.... and just to be clear, it's all about .....
Beer.

Mac.

p.s. Steve, not Big Mac, just Mac.

In search of the missing Six Packs...ouch!!

Personal fitness training for this epic challenge is, I am finding, a serious challenge in itself!!!
I went along to a "friendly" fitness coach at the local university for some advise. I told him about the challenge and the sort of pounding we are likely to take. I told him I hate long distance running with a passion and with that in mind could he put together a training plan for me? Well he did but he did not listen to my passionate dislike of running.......or so I thought!!!!

Basically he has tuned into the need for core strength and stability, leg endurance and mental toughness. Core strength exercises involves doing various balancing acts on and with a big inflatable gym ball. The exercises look simple but are not!!! Anyway I am starting to cope with ball balancing and the whole core stability thing. Leg endurance is dealt with by doing squats and running, and more running.........and more running!!!! Mental toughness........well this is where he did actually listen to me regarding my passionate dislike for running!!! He figured that if running is the one thing that I hate most then it is the ideal exercise to toughen me up mentally........I guess there is some sort of logic there...not that I wanted to hear it!!!

What else is in my programme?

• Grip strengthening.....particularly important for me being one digit down since Christmas!!! Using squeezy rubber balls and a thing called a powerball (basically a ball with a gyroscope inside - the faster it spins, the harder it is to hold so you have to grip harder to hold it ).......yes Mac it does work but you have to get in the groove with the right wrist action!!!


• Skiing 3rd week of March.......( Don't worry Mac I won't try pushing that through the expenses!!)


• Already opting out of the mental toughness training i.e. running!!!! Instead I am playing cardio tennis twice a week and will be doing more and more cycling once the weather improves. Might even throw in some swimming and rebounding for variety....far less impact on ageing joints......that's my excuse and I am sticking to it!!!

Post exercise warming down

I have been advised that the whole immersing yourself in icy water to help muscles recover post exercise is no longer the "in" thinking....thank God !!!!! A hot bath or shower followed by a glass of red wine apparently will do just as good. I would love to believe this so I'll give it a try until I've proved it wrong or anyone else can convince me otherwise!!!
(Paul ...I am sure you have an opinion on this being a fitness guru!!!)

Epilogue

Well here's to attempting to rediscover the missing six packs that have been mysteriously absent since the late eighties........Where did they go? They just seemed to quietly sneak out the back door when no one was looking........a cowardly act most foul!!!

Say good bye to man boobs, jelly tummies and love handles and a big HELLO to Six packs... Let's round them up, bring them home and firmly shut that back door!!!!!!.......gotta aim high....... onwards and upwards!!!!

PS: Any training tips that DON'T involve self denial, pain and serious self motivation gladly received.


Guy (Maps) Hayward

Night Time Pilotage and Cough Please...

Stan and I have just spent the weekend whizzing around the harbour of Cork in the dark, wondering why the compass is off by 15 degrees.

Night time pilotage is great fun having plotted a course on 4 sheets of A4 paper and then tried to read this in the dark, at speed, in a 5mtr RIB whilst holding on and hoping the notes don't blow away.

We managed to complete the weekend without too much damage, all be it a hangover on Saturday morning, (Stans Fault) and are now fully qualified to acquire the much coveted Race licence from those wonderful chaps at the RYA. Now we just need the medical sorting.... cough now please.

Thanks to all the guys we met at the weekend, and to Eddie, Jo, Con and Crew at http://www.sailcork.com/ who guided us successfully and safely through the weekend.
(It was mainly Richards and Joes fault by the way. :o) )

Moving on to more interesting things. We have heard from our illustrious boat builders, Quinquari Marine in Wales (no comment please) that Wolf is taking shape nicely and that nearly all the components for the build are in place.

Humber have all but finished the hull and once delivered we hope to have a completed boat by the end of March. Things happen slowly in the valleys.
Subject to a satisfactory birth and of course a few rips around the Ramsey sound it's back home to Ireland for some testing, training, and weekends in West Cork.

Mac.

It's Official

Yes Folks, Its Official.......

We have our very own blog.

We will be able to keep you informed, answer any relevant questions and generally try to cover all aspects of what is turnng out to be a very exciting and busy campaign.

So far things are heading in the right direction. It has been a busy few months organising Crews and training. I did think it would be difficult for me to get other people to join me on this endurance lunacy but I was wrong.

I made three phone calls to likely suspects and whata ya know, we got ourselves a very good crew indeed. Greg Marsden and Vampire then came on board a little later and Team Pulsar was taking shape.

There is lots to blog about and over the coming weeks and months I and the crew will add their thoughts, ideas and general ramblings for all to see.

Should be inetresting.

Mac.