Oh! No! He isn't

This week I have a visit to Breakthrough in London in the diary plus the Vodafone World of Difference program starts in earnest with a visit to the The Custard Factory in Birmingham. In the middle of all this I am off to a Panto (For my American friends: Men dress as women, the principle boy is a girl, food fights, and extreme silliness they even have a superhero called Dick Of Damascus. I can almost hear it ringing in my ears now "Ten miles to Damascus and still no sign of Dick!"..... actually, you'll have to come over and see one.) Traditionally they are at Christmas but this is an AMDRAM version in Worcester. It may seem a little like a blog storm but I'll up date you all next week about the two visits, in the meantime, the week that was went like this!
One day with a glimmer of sunshine and we are back in the damp miserable fog! Come on Spring, get it together for goodness' sake. I need a vitamin D boost and slightly drier underfoot would be a real treat please! I have had a couple of run-outs, still testing my leg's bendy bits, before I hit any serious road work and everything is promising. What has surprised me is that my recovery rate hasn't dropped off! I'd like to thank Dr Mike Baron VAT and EOF (Exponent of the chord “F”) for this. His program has been brilliant. He has allowed me to knock it back a bit because of my short time off but I am really pleased about my basic state of fitness. Resting heart rate  isn't too bad either. I have also taken steps to really look at my diet. I have lost weight (a stone and a half) but I still need to up certain foods. Overlord Sarah of the Bean Lentil and Walnut Society is helping a treat. She sorts out all the long words and places a bush tucker trial in front of me every night. I have also been drinking a litre and a half bottle of water a day on top of other bits and bobs. (Bit too much information but my feet have lost twenty years and my hands are all Soft Soft!) As I am out five sessions a week I have put myself on a strict no fizzy fall-over juice at all until after the marathon. I'm not a big drinker by any stretch of the imagination but I would hate to not get round the marathon in April or fail on a training run because of a curry frenzy and three pints the night before!

Facebook really does shrink the world. Last weekend I was having a swift drink (Soda and lime!!!) at the Dancing Dog and someone mentioned to me that motor cycle stuntman Eddie Kidd was doing the London Marathon. Then later this week I received a message out of the blue from his wife Sami wishing me well for my London Marathon run and I felt very humbled. World record motor cycle car leaper Eddie Kidd had to pack up the wingless flying over things due to a severe accident in 1996... leaving him critically injured, in a coma and wheelchair bound ever since. Determined as anyone can possibly be in these circumstances Eddie is driven to walk again and has entered this year's event using a specially built frame. The 26.2 miles will take him an awfully long time, but he will be taking his favourite quote “Rome wasn't built in a day” with him. Need any fighting inspiration? Click on this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8JSc2SGsBM

Thank you Sami. Love and best wishes to Eddie.

It's what this is all about, after all!

There is a great local website called Rochester People. Just like the radio I mentioned last week, I like to keep an eye on all things local so I joined the site. I put the word out about it to a few folk and then all hell let loose! I was nominated for a “Local Legend” competition. Entering into the spirit I told friends about it and votes seemed to pile in. At one time I had 30% of the overall vote! I would like to win this for breast cancer awareness. The more votes we get the more chance we have of scattering a little more awareness. I would appreciate your help and votes. If we win and the publicity we get encourages one person to “Touch Look and Check” then it would have all been worth while. Please click HERE or use the  link to the right. Also use their site too. There's lots going on around here in our fair city. Thanks peeps.

In a couple of weeks time I am flying up to Glasgow to compère the Breakthrough Big Night Out, arranged by Palma McKeown...The event at the Avonbridge Hotel in Hamilton has sold out!!!! Brilliant news and congratulations to Palma and her team. These days when money is so tight people's generosity amazes me. I am looking forward to meeting everybody and having a great night.

OK, the time has come. I have been waffling on week after week about training for the London Marathon. You know about the falls, knees, brushes with Satan, dog poo, cold weather, so on and so forth. I am doing the marathon for two reasons. A personal challenge and to raise as much money as I possibly can for Breakthrough. Remember, every little helps (Oooo I came over all Tesco then) £5.00 all in, a pound a mile (I'll chuck in the 20p for the last bit!) Sell your 2nd car, go dog walking for a week, have your kids clean cars! Or have your kids clean! I don't mind. Send me your stories and I look forward to your donations. I have a £2,000 target that I set my self and it's going well. With over 47,000 women diagnosed annually in the UK and 300 men too I really don't mind asking for donations. I'll avoid doing a “Bob Geldof” but you know where I'm coming from! We have a fight on our hands chaps. Breakthrough is making advances and I am so proud to be associated with them. So please dig deep.
It's simple to donate, use the Virgin Money Giving link on the right. Please Please remember to tick the gift aid box and the government will tag on 25%. Lovely!

In Memory
Seven years ago this week we lost Les Gray, singer, amazing front man for the 70s band MUD and from December 1998 until his untimely death in 2004 my boss. Les was a true pop legend. Funny, a lightning wit and great singer. It seems like it was only yesterday that we were back stage at the 18,000 seater Sports Palace in Antwerp watching Roy Wood, who incidentally, we had to follow and close the show. Roy was getting polite applause, and when he came off, came over to Les and said about the crowd “They're a bit tough tonight mate” Les turned to me, smiled and said “We'll see about that!” I followed the compère out and plonked my some what larger than these days frame behind the drums, on

Les Gray. Good singer, good performer, good laugh!

“Q” I kicked off “The Cat” Les wandered out behind John and Syd clapping his hands high above his head. He beckoned the massive crowd to their feet and they did! To see 18,000 all clapping along was a sight I will never forget. He had them in the palm of his hands. We took the roof off! Tough? For some maybe. One night we were doing a gig overseas somewhere,  and it came to the part of the show when John and Syd do the duck walk together across the stage, this night Les had the devil in him and followed them with a long handled brush sweeping up! I nearly fell off of my stool. It was a pleasure and privilege to both know him and work with him.
Video I found on Youtube Me with Les Gray's Mud

This week is a short week for me training wise because of my trip to Worcester. I have six days to fit the training in. Sloat will be pleased to hear that I will be wearing leg hugging shorts for the marathon so I will be test driving them soon, The cold weather will not be my best of friends. I will also have my shirt from Breakthrough shortly and I will be so proud to be putting it on. It will be much more than a running shirt to me. I know what it represents. More than a charity's corporate colours or branding. It stands for every single one of the now 47,000 plus women and 300 men diagnosed with with breast cancer in the UK annually. Here's a figure for you. I will take about 45,000 steps to get round the marathon (165 per minute x 60 = 9,900 an hour x my rough eta 4.5hrs = 44,550) That's less than a step for each person diagnosed! We all know how far and how hard a marathon is to run. Now that puts it in to perspective the numbers we are talking about! These people , their daughters, grandchildren for generations to come will benefit from advances made today and in the near future by Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Please, every penny counts.

Thank you.
See you next week.