Saturday 2nd May

TTT - Day 7 - The Three Peaks Challenge

Ben Nevis

After a good night’s rest following the exertions of the LE-JOG attempt we arrived at Ben Nevis on what seemed to be a fine morning for a hike. The knees were feeling fragile from the off but the climb wasn’t too painful up the tourist path. Eventually I approached the summit where the weather took a bit of a turn for the worse. I quickly found myself in a blizzard with no more than 20ft visibility - making it difficult to locate the path and avoid the sheer drops near the summit. And though there were plenty of hikers along the lower parts of the track, it was pretty desolate at the summit. Finally got to the highest point and started the long and painful descent as soon as I could. Very wearing on the knees on the way down, managed a bit of a jog towards the end and soon set off towards the Lakes... 

Scafell Pike

This was an experience to say the least. We arrived at around midnight at which point I set off towards Scafell Pike with the help of Tom - there was no way I would have been able to do this one solo. The weather started off fine but once again things turned nasty! A hefty storm worked its way over the mountain and we soon found ourselves engulfed in mist with strong winds and heavy rain to contend with. To make matters worse, we managed to lose the track which meant some tricky and slippery scrambling sections to overcome as we made our way to the top. We eventually reached the summit and at this point the rain had turned to hail. The wind was right in our faces for the descent making for a very unpleasant 45mins or so as we slowly negotiated our way down, finding the path again by chance. This didn’t last long though and the conditions coupled with fatigue caused us to once again stray off the beaten track and we finished the descent by taking a somewhat dangerous route down the river.

Snowdon

The weather was finally on my side as I set off on the miners track towards the summit. The path starts very easily and is fairly flat, requiring a fair bit of scrambling during the later stages. Fantastic walk and although I couldn’t force my knees to go very fast, I loved every minute of it. The summit was clear and this was the first time I’d been able to soak in the views from any summit in the past year or so as every other hike has been marred by bad weather. After taking a few minutes to enjoy the vista, I headed back down slowly as the knees were fairly buggered at this stage. Upon reaching the flat part of the track I ran as far as I could - which at this stage was probably just under a kilometre - before giving in to the knee pain and resigning to a brisk walk to the finish. Completed the three peaks in around 25hrs 10mins and slept all the way back to Brum. 

Friday 1st May

TTT – Day 6

Last day on the bike!

Set out in perfect weather conditions from just south of Inverness. The right knee finally buckled from having to do all the work for the past 4 days, leaving me with 2 duff knees and plenty of hills to navigate.

Made great time for the first 50-60 miles despite a ridiculous amount of pain from both knees. Finally hit 85 miles before heading into a sunny final approach into John o’ Groats.

Over 400 miles in 5 days, post marathon, with a bum knee ain’t too shabby! On the 3 Peaks tomorrow, should be an awesome 24 hours!

Thursday 30th April 2009

TTT – Day 5

Rain. Lots of rain. More rain.

Set out from Perth after a late start in awful conditions and struggled through yet another 80 miles past our destination of Kingussie.

For most of the journey, the roads were terrible to ride on and morale was low all day. So I was most definitely satisfied to make up the distance! Especially as the (formerly strong and dependable) right knee was starting to tire.

Let’s hope tomorrow brings better weather!

Wednesday 29th April 2009

TTT – Day 4

We decided to get some extra rest this morning and set out slightly later than usual. This helped me to get my average speed up slightly and cover another 80 miles in a much shorter time. Reached Glasgow in plenty of time to receive my sports massage. But absolutely knackered, after passing through Preston, Penrith and later Kirkpatrick-Fleming and Moffat.

Tuesday 28th April 2009

TTT - Day 3

Set off from Bristol on a sunny yet misty morning feeling (relatively) good after yesterday’s sports massage. I was determined to match yesterday's 80 mile cycle, but the was getting steadily more painful.

After an awesomely flat and scenic ride up the A38 and ploughing through Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Worcester, Kidderminster and finally Bridgnorth, I reached and surpassed the 80 mile target.

I’m still disappointed at not being able to reach the proper mileage, but given the knee injury I think I’m keeping the tour respectable. Looking forward to tomorrow, knee don’t fail me now!

Monday 27th April 2009

TTT - Day 2

Set off from Land’s End in miserable weather conditions. The injured knee and the loss of training over the past few weeks soon took its toll as I was unable to keep up a decent pace. After a 60 mile slog, disaster struck – 2 punctures in as many minutes. Bummer.

The afternoon brought fair weather and after 80 miles (and around 11 hours) on the saddle, we decided to cut our losses and drive the rest of the way to Bristol. Disappointing but necessary. Given the knee situation, I think the TTT will have to continue this way – me just doing as much cycling each day as I possibly can.

After a sports massage and physio session courtesy of Tim Hill, we went for some much needed grub and settled down for the night. I will set off from Bristol in the morning as planned…

Sunday 26th April 2009

TTT - Day 1

After a sleepless night spent wandering whether or not the injured knee would last the full 26+ miles of the London Marathon, I soon found myself lining up at the start alongside the thousands of other runners preparing to tackle the course.

The whether was hot and sunny, with very little shade on the course – this would make things even more difficult! I started strong but after 16 miles the knee became very painful. The last 10 miles was a slow-paced slog, but I eventually finished in 4hours 38 mins.

Aside from the knee I felt great after the race, the modestly-paced running doing little to tax my core. After receiving a sports massage from the good folk at the MS Society, I set off towards Land’s End ready for the first phase of the LE-JOG cycle tomorrow.
Overall, not as quick as last year’s 3 hours 37 mins, but much more satisfying. Bring on the LE – JOG cycle tomorrow morning – 200 miles here I come!

24/04/2009

Crunch Time...

The tour is fast approaching and this past month has been a race against time to get the injured left knee ready for action. Finally had a breakthrough at the physio this week and managed to run for a couple of hours pain-free, hopefully this means I’ll be able to have a good go at the marathon before settling into the lower impact cycling portion of the tour. Might just be able to pull this off after all!

Thanks for all your support so far, we’re still short of our fundraising target so please head to http://www.justgiving.com/triplethreattour to make a donation and spread the word! 

12/03/2009

Back in Brum for the last 6 weeks of training and it’s going to be a mad rush to get in the right kind of shape to complete this tour on time. Training today consisted of an early morning run, an upper body strength session, a quick interval cycle and a core strength session. Feeling positive and finally feeling like my energy and drive are gradually returning to pre-crash levels. I honestly have no idea at this point if I’ll be able to finish this thing but it’s going to be a whole lot of fun finding out!

Training track of the day: Battery - Metallica (S&M). (Top training tip – don’t deafen yourself with metal before going for a cycle, you will not be able to hear the traffic and this is not good).

21/02/2009

Today we planned to conquer Scafell Pike. After a hearty breakfast we set out on a ridiculous route to Wasdale Head, making our way along a treacherously steep and winding set of mountain roads. All credit to Tom for some cool-headed driving along the tricky route. Credit is also due to Bianca, the Sat Nav responsible for selecting the rugged route in the first place. Thanks. The early blue skies soon faded and we were faced with yet another misty hike with poor visibility. Regardless, we set out on the hike at around 11.15am and made good time along the initial stages of the ascent.

The diversion: Thinking we were following our instructions, we got a little lost. Instead of taking the obvious route up, we stuck close to a random stream. This would prove to be an interesting decision. We soon found ourselves scrambling up the river with some very loose material underfoot. This “waterfall route” was definitely challenging but worth it - it felt great to find ourselves off the beaten path. Once clear of the river we had to find our way back to the designated route. At first we were a little disconcerted and disorientated – the mountain was very quiet and eerie at this point, but luckily we passed a couple on their way down who helped us to re-orient ourselves. They also provided a friendly warning that the path became impassable ahead...

The way is closed: Despite the warning, we decided to march on. However, the mist was getting thicker by the minute, as was the snow, and neither myself nor Tom were well-equipped for scrambling up in the wintery conditions. Nevertheless, we struggled on for a fair while, following in the footsteps left by others, until we reached a sheer climb where the footsteps diminished. After much deliberation and a few small surges forward, we decided to not risk injury on a training session and turned back.

Why walk when you can slide? The disappointment of turning back vanished instantaneously when Tom suggested saving our energy by simply sliding back down the snow – well, it was more a case of Tom shouting “Hey Matt, check this out...” before launching himself down the slopes. Who was I to argue? This was the most fun I’ve had whilst training in a long time and I particularly enjoyed getting in a couple of Superman impressions. Swish!

We eventually made it back to Tom’s trusty car for a spot of lunch in a grand total time of around 3hrs 20mins. We covered about three quarters of the mountain, reaching a height of around 800m. All in all a pretty successful day. Despite not reaching the summit we’ve got our bearings around the area in preparation for the tour and know what we need to do in terms of preparing for difficult conditions. Also, the fact that I was completely comfortable during the whole weekend means that my fitness is exactly where it needs to be right now. Back to the B&B to rest up before possibly getting in a bit of hiking tomorrow prior to the journey back home. Awesome!

The view at the start of the walk

Matt in the snow

Tom getting ready to slide down...

20/02/2009

Set off with Tombo at around 9.30 from Birmingham to Windermere to spend the weekend getting in some much needed training for the hiking portion of the tour. Shortly after arriving at the Lingmoor House B&B (strangely located on the Land’s End to John O’Groats half way point- must be a sign!!) we set off to nearby Ambleside to fit in a few hours of light walking before tomorrow’s attempt on Scafell Pike.

After spending a few hours getting lost around Loughrigg Fell we made our way back to the B&B before I set out on a 30 min Kenyan Outback (negative split) run heading down towards Lake Windermere. Good day – off for a curry with Tombo before getting some much needed rest for tomorrow...

It must be a sign - geddit?

Matt - Day 1

A view of Lake Windermere

14/02/2009

The Triple Threat Tour: The tale of a man with the right leg of a cheetah but the left leg of a drunken antelope.

Spent 3hrs on the bike today with no problems other that the aforementioned injury. It was an incredibly dull session with the one recurring thought being the frustration that comes with my right leg being absolutely fine with all the running and cycling but being held back by the retarded lefty (by which I mean the left leg, not a mentally impaired liberal).

(Cycling track of the day: Ain't My Bitch - Metallica)

...and I promise this will be the last entry spent complaining about injuries – unless one of my legs falls off then I think I’m entitled to a wee moan. Onwards and upwards!

13/02/2009

With the recurrence of the left knee injury it was beginning to look February could be a repeat of the wretched month of January. However, by putting in a few extra hours of work (targeting the knee problem) and adapting my running style slightly, I managed to get through a slow but relatively pain-free 90mins on the road. Not quite up to scratch and it’s difficult to stay positive when I’m fast running out of time, but I’ve got a decent shot at getting in the right kind of shape for the tour if I keep my head down and work hard. Tomorrow brings a few hours cycling on the turbo and yet more time getting the knee problem under control.

Running track of the week is, well pretty much Death Magnetic in its entirety, but in particular Broken Beat & Scarred - Metallica.

Awesome.

06/02/2009

There’s treachery afoot...

Alright, first things first, have to mention that I’m absolutely loving the overuse of the word ‘treachery’ in relation to the weather. Granted it’s a mite bit slippery underfoot, but to push the usage of the word into double figures on local weather reports is a tad excessive.

Right, back to training news – had an awesome experience running in the snow t’other night. Turns out if you head out in the middle of the night as the snow is coming down and hasn’t yet been trampled into ice/slush, it provides a perfect cushion to lessen the stress on your joints whilst running. Also, at the risk of sounding like some kind of camp girly boy, it was an immensely beautiful night - the falling snowflakes creating a gentle silhouette on the settled white sheets, and the light bouncing off the surface of the snow glistening...

Right that’s enough of the girly stuff, back to manly rugged training talk...

I’m not sure if it was just the cold air or the fact that I was missing playing Ultimate after hearing that both the Oxford uni team (OW!) and the Brum uni team (uBu) had qualified for Nationals (congratulations by the by!), but I couldn’t resist the urge to do a bit of sprint and strength training during the run. As such, I started alternately sprinting and jogging between lamp posts on the Marston Ferry Road, working in a set of 20 press-ups after each jog and before each sprint. Felt great to do a bit of old school training. I didn’t keep time for a change but must have been out for a fair while as my footprints in the snow from the outward journey had completely disappeared by the time I was heading back.

The left knee problem from the Great North Run flared up again, nothing to do now but just deal with it as best as I can until the tour. I took my mind off this by carving my name in the snow with the tip of my running shoes on the way home. Once I got home, I caught sight of myself in the mirror and noticed I was sporting an impressive Jack Frost style set of icicles in my barnet - hot shower, off to bed, awesome session. 

31/01/2009

Birmingham to Oxford Part III – Time to test out the new bike and acclimatise to the new saddle. This journey is starting to seem a tad routine now but it’s always a pleasure to pass through Long Compton and the surrounding countryside. Road works in the south of Birmingham meant that I was able to speed past what seemed like 1 solid mile of stationary traffic with a smug grin on my face – in your face drivers! Nothing amazing to report, no crashes, no injuries, just a nice steady cycle to ease back into the longer rides and the bike held up to the test nicely.

I also went for a run the evening before the cycle. This was cut short to around 7 miles as I was hit by fatigue after the events of the last couple of weeks started to take their toll. In retrospect, this made the ease of the cycle more satisfying. Roll on February!

29/01/2009

January is nearing an end and it has been a difficult month of training, not to mention keeping things ticking over at work between crashes! The legs are feeling good after a bit of light speed endurance work yesterday and a short ride on the new bike this evening...

24/01/2009 - CRASH #2!!

Can’t quite believe it. Today was my second crash in two weeks, made even worse by the fact that the old left knee had been playing up on a 15mile run yesterday. Last time round it was due to a jerk on his mobile phone, this time it was due to me getting involved in a spot of tailgating. True, the car in front stopped rather suddenly, but I took my eye off the ball for a second and soon found my face planted into back of a stationary vehicle – my bad!

Unlike the white van man, this driver came out to check I was ok before speeding off. I’m not quite sure how he came to this conclusion though - I was obviously quite dazed at the time! I do seem to remember a third party shouting “he’s fine let’s go!” rather hurriedly.

Somehow I found myself back on the bike speeding down the Bristol road not really knowing whether I was in Birmingham or Oxford and desperately trying to put together who I was and why I was cycling... slowly the pieces came back, I remembered meeting with Tom earlier in the day, I remembered details of my work, I remembered I was in Birmingham for the weekend and finally I remembered that it was January 2009.

Once I had collected myself I headed home and jumped into a hot bath, slowly remembering more and more about the day’s events. I spotted a cut on my ear and realised that, rather annoyingly, I needed to shoot off to A&E to get it glued up. Even more annoyingly I found that my bike frame had actually sustained some pretty major damage. Complete write-off, will have to get a replacement asap. (Check out the photos below...)

So, there will be no training on Sunday due to the destroyed bike and limited training for the next 5-7 days whilst the ear heals. Damn. Oh well, I needed to switch from a road bike to a touring bike anyway. So far January has been testing to say the least, but I’ve not been fazed so far and the tour rolls on.

Matt “the cat” D’Netto – 2 lives down, 7 to go.

22/01/2009

It’s been a decent week so far – getting a bit icy in the evenings though, so a couple of runs were quite tentative. Went for a short 18mile ride tonight and was highly amused when, on more than one occasion, some dude stuck his head out of the passenger side window of a passing car wearing a big smile to give me the thumbs up. Good commitment highly enthusiastic mentalist passenger dude!

17/01/2009

Just a quick one – today was the Oxford to Birmingham cycle numero deux and it could not have gone better. Set off at 8.30am and arrived in Brum at 1.15pm after spending 4hrs 15mins in the saddle covering 65miles and enjoying the scenery on a surprisingly pleasant sunny day. Beat the hell out of my previous 5-6hr effort for the same journey! Swish.

16/01/2009

Alreet – here comes a hefty waffle about the first 2 weeks of training in the year of 2009...

The combination of a cold snap and having to fit in a 2hr cycle in the evening lead to a pretty miserable experience at the beginning of week uno. The cold seemed to sap away my energy and by the end of the ride I was a jibbering wreck... not a great start but I think it’s safe to say complacency won’t be a problem!

On one of my shorter runs during week uno I came across a runner of similar pace along the Marston Ferry Road and couldn’t resist having a bit of a race – this was the most enjoyable run I’ve had in a while (since training over Christmas was a solo effort). Great to switch off and just focus on keeping up, and of course putting in the sprint finish so as not to look like a chump!

The cycling began to pick up during the second week and I was feeling particularly strong on a short yet hilly 1hr cycle. That was until my rear light conked out – complete pain in the arse! Luckily I could finish out the session along the Marston Ferry Road cycle path, nice and isolated from traffic.  I also decided to start cycling with my trusty ipod to stave off the boredom – not a great move as far as safety is concerned but it definitely made a difference.

(Cycling track of the week: Led Zeppelin - the Lemon Song )

The end of the second week was very eventful indeed. On a short early morning cycle I was clattered by a vehicle manned by some berk chatting on his mobile phone. This isn’t the first time I’ve narrowly avoided serious injury due to drivers on mobile phones – how hard is it to ignore the damn thing and find a place to pull over if you want to have a natter!?! No serious injuries sustained to rider or bike – just a sore back and a burst tyre. On a brighter note I got the bike fitted with a shiny new pannier so I can travel to Birmingham this weekend in comfort and I also invested in a set of lights designed to blind all drivers in the vicinity...

It seems that this has turned into a bit of a rant so I’ll tie it up: mixed couple of weeks with some tough cycling, great runs and an eventful couple of days. I’m hoping next week will go a little smoother!

06/01/2009

Cycling 25miles at 8pm in the evening today was a huge mistake – James Taylor once wrote “Lord have mercy on the frozen man” – one sympathises...

06/12/2008

Right - during the Land’s End to John O’Groats cycle I’m going to have to ride up to 180 miles in a single day. So I decided to kick up the distance and attempt to ride from Oxford to Birmingham and back - just over 130miles in total (see map). 

I set out from Oxford at 6am and headed north past Kidlington where I had my first experience of cycling in a complete blackout – no streetlights, cat’s eyes or road markings to go by and I pretty much spent the entire time praying that I wouldn’t discover a massive pothole along the way; good view of the stars on the odd occasion that I felt comfortable enough to glance up!

During the blackout I entered what can only be described as the “Forest of Doom” – thick mist, a mass of spindly arching trees and the strangest sounding wildlife I’d ever heard. This wasn’t helped by the fact that I still couldn’t see the handlebars, let alone the rough winding road ahead! I finally emerged on the lovely smooth A44 heading north-west, constantly looking over my right shoulder to see the sunrise.

During the long slog towards Stratford, I spotted plenty of wildlife in the form of deer, foxes and pheasants that not only gave me a greater appreciation for the beauty of the British countryside but also kept me awake by helpfully jumping out just inches away from my front wheel! After a bit of a rest in Stratford, I set off for the last leg of the (outward) journey through Redditch and into the south of Birmingham. This was definitely the most demanding section of the trip with the final approach being nice and hilly - bit of a slog but I was soon home in Bournville at around 11.45am for a quick lunch break before setting off back for Oxford just before 1pm...

The hilly first few miles back were tough but I soon got back into my stride and began to make good time on the way back. The novelty of cycling through the countryside had completely worn off by this point and I was starting to feel the cold as the sun was setting over my right shoulder. There was nothing to do but keep my head down and keep eating up the miles. I soon found myself with just 15 miles to go to Oxford and discovered some extra energy to leather it back to my nice warm flat for a hot shower and a bit of a rest. Final arrival time was 6pm - so around 10½-11hrs in the saddle. Job done. Next time I’ll be looking at increasing the distance and cycling over consecutive days, look out for the next entry!

Also, after the journey I made it out, albeit briefly, to a birthday do for a couple of fellow DTC students - Happy Birthday James & SJ!!! Hope you had a great evening!  

29/11/2008 - 30/11/2008

With general fitness, running and cycling ability all ticking along nicely it’s time to get the running/cycling transition working. So, whilst back in Birmingham I decided to go for a 17km run followed the next day by a cycle to Kidderminster and back (around 40 miles)... see map.

The weekend went off without a hitch – next week will be a little more ambitious, watch this space...

24/11/2008

Not sure what’s going on today – I thought I’d be feeling a bit strung out from the weekend but I absolutely flew up the (now seemingly tiny) hill to work on the bike and went for a run in the evening to find a spring in my step that hadn’t been there for a couple of weeks . Today was a good day!

02/11/2008

Today I decided to take a 45 mile round-trip cycle out from Oxford to Charlbury - a village to the north-west of Oxford where my grandparents used to live. Fair weather and a quick visit to an old family friend made this a fantastic morning out.  Feel free to check out the route here... see map

28/10/2008

22/10/2008

20/10/2008

19/10/2008

With one week to go until the Birmingham half-marathon, the knee stood up to a steady 1hr run along my favourite route... see map

16/10/2008

After a frustrating week I decided to take a trip to the physio today to get my left leg fixed up. It turns out that cycling 90miles one week before the Great North Run wasn’t the best idea! The ride caused shortening in my hamstrings which led to the problems I’ve been experiencing in my left knee...

09/10/2008

23/09/2008