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The finish-line approaches

Today is my last day of training before my last event of the runglassonrun challenge. I’m doing 50k on my mountain bike along the the towpath and in Richmond Park – in the dark and rain – in a desperate effort to cram a bit of MTB endurance and technique in before it’s too late. A couple of hours in the Surrey Hills last week is the sum total of my mountain bike training for the year. With 3 days until the next race I’m so undercooked that I’m practically raw. The Helly Hansen Adventure Race this Sunday is event number 5 of 5 of what has been a gruelling 6 months. I’m looking forward to the event, but probably I’m looking forward more to being able to get some rest afterwards. The last 5 weeks has been the toughest period of the challenge: NY marathon; 2 week gap; Hellrunner; 3 week gap; HH Adventure Race. It’s been fairly relentless, and cumulative fatigue is beginning to tell. HH race is a team event, which means there’ll be no slacking, but no shortage of moral support (generally in the form of shouted abuse) either. So once more unto the breach, and then let the Christmas parties begin in earnest…

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Why am I doing this

MacMillan Nurses
Macmillan Cancer Support improves the lives of people affected by cancer. We provide practical, medical, emotional and financial support and push for better cancer care. Cancer affects us all. We can all help. We are Macmillan.

Last year my mother died of cancer. Our whole family was shocked and devastated by the suddenness and unexpectedness of her death. Everyone who knew her remembers a funny, generous, loving person in perfect health and the fitness that came from a life spent with dogs and horses. Sadly she died too quickly to benefit from the support of a Macmillan nurse – but as mum had been a nurse for her whole working life, raising money for this great cause seemed to be a very appropriate way to remember her.

Countdown: -273 days

Race list

L’Etape du Tour

20th July 2009
The Vitruvian Half IronMan

5th September 2009
New York City Marathon

1st November 2009
Hellrunner

15th November 2009
Helly Hansen Adventure Race

6th Dec 2009

Training blog

Photos from HH adventure race December 9th, 2009
The final reckoning December 8th, 2009
Done! December 8th, 2009
The finish-line approaches December 3rd, 2009
Photos from New York Marathon December 3rd, 2009

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Latest on Wed, 01:58 pm

Matt Bee: I'll still beat you at Vitruvian, I hope!!

Scott Emond: All the best Richard. May the wind be at your back and your mom guiding you from above.

Tittel: I think you might be crazy. If in doubt just stop and enjoy the scenery. Good luck!

Lineda Sahi: Wish you all the best especially for the 'Le Mont Ventoux', the toughest I think. And as the French saying goes : "N’est pas fou [...]

Alex C: Rather you than me!

Richard's Big Sister: I always said I was the sensible one.

Amy (Niece): Wish you luck for all the racing.

Lizzie Baker: GO RICHARD! GOOD LUCK!

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Helly Hansen Adventure Race

And to round things off, there's an off road adventure race, which includes cross-country running, kayaking, mountain biking, assault courses and any other abuse the organisers choose to throw at us over the course of three or four hours. It's a team event and to compound the misery I'll be bullied round the course by an ex Royal Marine. I'm not expecting a relaxing day.

http://www.trailplus.com/helly_hansen.cfm

L’Etape du Tour

This is the daddy of them all. Racing a stage of the Tour de France is always a challenge, but this year it’s on Mont Ventoux, ‘the Giant of Provence’. This is the hardest stage there is, bar none. It’s legendary among cyclists for being the climb where British rider Tom Simpson died of exhaustion in 1967. The entire stage is 172km, with 3000 vertical metres gained over the course of four category 1 climbs, and the 22kms ‘hors categorie’ finish up Mont Ventoux. In the words of Lance Armstrong: “It’s a tough mountain, a really stiff challenge, probably the most difficult climb in France.”

http://www.letapedutour.com

The Vitruvian

A half Ironman triathlon comprises a 1.9km swim, a 90km bike ride and a half marathon to finish. The Vitruvian is one of the most challenging courses on the circuit. The bike route has 1000 metres of climbing in the hills of Rutland, including two ascents of the notorious ‘Rutland Ripple’. Perhaps the best description of this race comes from the organisers: “This is a full on tough quad crunching, lung buster of a race that will push even the toughest of the longer distance triathletes to the limit.”

http://www.pacesetterevents.com/vitruvian-triathlon.php

The NYC Marathon

26.2 miles of running on an undulating route through the city’s 5 boroughs, ending in Central Park. Perhaps the world’s most famous and best supported road race, it should be a great experience. It will be my 3rd marathon – but for each of the others I had 6 months of running training, for this one, I will have 6 weeks. That is a massive challenge.

http://www.nycmarathon.org/

Hellrunner

My penultimate event, and one which defies description. To really make it a mental challenge, you never know how long the race is going to be, even when you’re standing on the start line. All you know is that you are going to be up to your waist in mud and water, freezing cold and utterly exhausted for as many hours as it takes. Words of encouragement come on the event’s website from a previous competitor: “It was incredibly hard, and just when you think you've got to the end the crowd-lined 'bog of doom' is there to totally destroy your morale. By that point though you're so tired, upset and distressed you really don’t care.” Anyone want to join me?

http://www.hellrunner.co.uk/index.htm