About my challenges

The 2016 challenges

In 2016, I am taking on three major challenges to raise awareness of Pregnancy Sickness Support and hyperemesis gravidarum.

Challenge 1

The first of my challenges is a triathlon on 24 April which involves a 400m swim, a 20km bike ride plus a 5km run.

Challenge 2

The second of my three challenges is the one that will definitely cause me the most sleepless nights. On 9 July I will be swimming (or at least attempting to swim) ONE KILOMETRE in open water in Lake Bala! Not only will the distance itself be a massive challenge for me, but I will also have to contend with the weather conditions, very cold water and other swimmers around me.

Challenge 3

My final challenge will be ... *drumroll* ... the Great Birmingham Run (Half Marathon) on Sunday 16 October. It's more than twice as far as I have ever run in my entire life!!

Unlike last year, I'm not asking for sponsorship. Instead, I'm inviting you to support the charity's campaign to raise enough money to have its information leaflets included in Bounty's Pregnancy Packs. These are given out by midwives to pregnant women across the UK. 

The charity needs to raise enough money to cover the cost of printing 800,000 leaflets. Achieving this goal would enable the charity to reach every single mum-to-be in the UK with details of the support the charity can provide and ensure that more women struggling to cope with severe pregnancy sickness and hyperemesis gravidarum are able to access the vital support and treatment they need. How amazing would that be!!

You can help by texting NOHG16 £AMOUNT to 70070.

THANK YOU!!

The 2015 challenge

In July I will take part in the City of Birmingham Triathlon, my first ever triathlon, to raise money for the charity of which I'm a trustee, Pregnancy Sickness Support.

This is a BIG challenge for me and it's way out of my comfort zone. You see, I have never been a swimmer, a runner, or a cyclist.

At the beginning of last year I couldn't swim front crawl at all and even now I am pretty mediocre. I have never swum in open water and, to be quite frank, the thought of swimming in a cold lake without the security of a lane rope to grab terrifies me. I haven't been on a bike much in the last few years and as for running, well, at the beginning of last year I could only jog for a couple of hundred meters at a time.

My embarrassingly low level of fitness is the result of a knee injury which has plagued me for over 20 years. However, after surgery to reconstruct my anterior cruciate ligament, I began a programme of physio in 2014. Gradually, I started to run a bit (gingerly), swim a bit (slowly) and ride a bike a bit (in the gym). Little did I know it at the time but this was the start of my triathlon journey.

Inspired by my wonderful son, who completed his first triathlon last year at the age of 7, I have decided that 2015 will be the year that I complete my first triathlon. I will do this to raise much-needed funds for a charity close to my heart.

The charity

Although a nation-wide charity, Pregnancy Sickness Support receives no external funding and relies entirely on donations from kind individuals. It is desperately in need of funds to carry on providing support and information to women suffering from the relatively unknown condition, hyperemesis gravidarum, and to improve the medical care they receive. I have suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum twice and so I understand only too well the devastating impact of the condition.

How you can help

I can't quite believe that I am planning on doing my first triathlon at the age of 42, particularly having been inactive and unfit for so long. I have been working hard over the last year but I know there is also a lot of training ahead of me.  I know that I will be spending many lonely hours over the next few months in the gym, in the pool, running or cycling and I will need all the encouragement I can get to keep me going.

You can keep up to date with my progress by following this blog.

If you would like to support me in my efforts, you can sponsor me by clicking here. Thank you.