Race Plan Schedule 2016

2015 is coming to an end and therefore, we need to start thinking about 2016.

After having thought carefully about the types of events I want to take part in in 2016, I have decided that almost every month I will be racing, in order to get fit enough for 2017´s big event, the toughest Iroman in the UK.

From the list below, you can see that February and December are two months where I will be doing a fundraising extreme event. Also, July is the month where Jenna and I are getting married, and disappearing for a bit, which means that I will be doing a lot of snorking and sunbathing, visinting wonderful places and maybe doing some running if Jenna allows me.

Race Plan Schedule 2016

January	(Peak District)10th	Fell Race	30.4 Km
February	(Yorkshire Dales)27th	Duathlon Fundraising event	81/30.4/81 Km
March	(Lakes) 20th	Duathlon	9/24/9 Km
April	(Rippon) 3rd	Cycling	136 Km
May	(Horwich) 1st	Triathlon	450/40/10 Km
June	(Lakes) 5th	Swim	3.8 Km
July	Wedding
August	(Lakes) 21st	Swim	3.8 Km
September	(Lakes) 4th	Triathlon	1.8/80/20 Km
October	(Thirsk) 4th	Cycling	145.6 Km
November	(Marsden) 1st	Fell Race	48 Km
December	(Lakes)3rd	Fell run Fundraising event	80km

I hope people undestand that behind all this training and races and fundraising events, there is a Charity Project. This project will not go ahead if we don´t raise the required funds that we need to build the school.

All the funds, even if it is a really little donation, will be really appreciated and will be very valuable in the small village in Kenya, where we are going to build the school.

Donations can be made at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/racing4education

Please help us to combat poverty in Kenya. I am sure that all those children will be very pleased when they see the school fully finished.

David

The perfect running weekend

Life cannot get much better when all you do is eat good food and run up and down the mountains with people that have the same kind of interests as you. Last weekend, it was all about running and meeting other trail runners, something that we all loved and thoroughly enjoyed.

This trail-running weekend was organised by High terrain events, and I've got to say that I am very impressed with the way it was all prepared and delivered.

A week or so before the camp took place, we had been emailed by Paul with the outline schedule plus options for the first evening meal at Derwentwater independent hostel by the side of Derwentwater lake. It all looked fantastic and I coudn´t believe I was going to spend a whole weekend running in the lakes, and it was just a matter of time before I arrived at the fantastic hostel and was received by the High terrain team.

Derwentwater Independent Hostel

Friday:

After having checked in at Derwentwater hostel and met the team, I was taken to our communal room, WOOW I said as soon as I got in. Those high ceilings and big windows with perfect views over the Derwentwater lake put me in the right mood straight away.

More people arrived and the room began to get full of running trainers, running pants, GPS watches, and head torches.

Before I knew it, we were off to do our first evening run around Derwentwater lake. The run was a steady and flat one around the derwentwater sores, which had been flooded a day or so before due to heavy rain. It was raining a little bit but it felt so nice to be running on new ground with new people and of course after the 3hr journey from Leeds.

When we got back to the hostel, after a 50minute run, we all had a well deserved hot shower and got ready for the evening meal and the post-meal chat, with the presentation and overview of the weekend followed by a presentation and discussion on equipment and kit selection for ultra running by Paul Watham.

I was impressed with the hostel and its amazing hot showers, I had met some nice people already, the food was delicious and the High terrain team had been very friendly and approachable.

                                                        

    Ready to rock

Saturday:

As we were told the night before, the weather was spot on. The first thing I did was look out of the big window near my bed. My smile was about to get bigger and bigger when I moved the curtain across and saw the blue sky and the mountains half covered with snow. The weather coudn´t have been better after the recent heavy rains.

Breakfast was amazing, I really had to control myself  to not get carried away with the food. I knew that if I ate too much I was going to have stomach problems during the long morning run.

    Magic lakes

After having had breakfast, we were taught how to get our muscles ready for the run by doing some warm up exercises and a few stretches by the 9 bar athlete Victoria Mousley. While we were getting ready for the long run, the trail runner Ricky Ligthfoot arrived. He was going to spend the rest of the weekend with us sharing his kwnolege and passion about running . He didn´t disappoint us at all.

 

 Perfect weather for running

                                                 

The run was incredible. We got to choose between two levels (steady pace and slightly shorter route and faster group and longer route) and of course I chose the longer one!
The weather was perfect and the landscape was gorgeous. We were delighted with the views and very happy to be running on these stunning trail paths. We also stopped a few times to be shown some off road running techniques taking in different terrain and gradients.

  The team

We got back to the hostel at 2:30pm, and had enough time to get showered, do some stretches, get changed and make a tea or coffee before lunch. After lunch, Ricky talked to us and explained how to train and plan the training efficiently while balancing training and commitments. After having listened to Ricky and having had time to fire some question at him ,we were off again for a evening run using our head torches, but this time up the fells.

                                               
 My welsh friend Emlyn enjoying himself in the water

My legs were very tired after having done 22,2km a few hours ago. However, sometimes, you just need to forget about the stiffness and the pain of your muscles and just start running again. Yes, the first few minutes were tough, but quickly I started feeling great and soon was speeding up while running up the hill.

   Sam Atkinson, definitely a very talented runner

Running at night is such a great thing to do. When running with the appropriate head torch, you shouldn´t have any problems in term of visibility of the ground. The only problem was that we didn´t know the route, and on the way down we left the main group behind us and kept running down hill like mad people. We ended up doing a couple of kilometres extra as we missed the right turn (or not).

 

Magic lakes

Sunday:

Another early start, although this time my legs were at a ridiculous level of stiffness not known before. As the day before, breakfast was ready between 7:30 and 8:30 and by 9ish we were getting ready for another morning run. This time, the route was suitable for everybody as the pace was meant to be "steady". We managed to do a 10.6km run around Bleaberry fell, which also included sessions of hill climb repetitions and descending techniques. The visibility wasn´t as great as the day before, but the feeling was the same. Being out there, feeling the cold air in your face, running up and down the mountain, surrounded by snow, was such a wonderful experience and something that I won´t forget. When I run up the mountain, I don´t need anything else. I am just happy, no matter how steep the hill gets, no matter how hot I get, the fell keeps absorbing me and I cannot stop loving that feeling because it really makes me feel alive.

Thank you to those who made this weekend such an enjoyable trail running camp.

I hope I see you again on the fells, or if not in the pub after a long and steep run.

David

Build Schools, Fight Poverty

 

When I first decided that I wanted to use my experience of training for and doing an Ironman to fundraise to help a school in Africa, I really had no idea where to start. I wanted to fundraise for a project where I would know exactly where my money was going and what it was being used for. I initially thought of setting up my own charity, but Jenna quickly convinced me that this would be more work than necessary. She set about looking for a small charity, and came across Basik, an Ilkley based charity. We sent them an email, and a week later found ourselves sat in a local bar, getting more excited by the minute at what we might be able to achieve. The minute we met Chris, we knew this was the charity for us. His passion and enthusiasm for the project they are working on is tangible and contagious. This was it. We'd found out project. Since then, we've met Chris again, this time with his Mum, and have started to discuss more concrete ideas for fundraising and all I can say is watch this space. 2016 is going to be an exciting year.

 

Basik is a family charity that was set up in 2006, with the moto 'Build Schools, End Poverty'. When on a family holiday in Kenya, they came across a local school, held in a mud-hut, and on return to the UK, decided to start fundraising in order to build a more stable building. That school now has a brick built building, complete with toilets, running water and more teachers to meet the demands of the local population. Having completed this project, Basik started to work alongside Simon Musila, a Kenyan who runs Tsavo East Community Development Initiative. The TECDI has the same outlook as Basik- educate children to fight poverty in the long run. During their time working together, they have built two classrooms at a local school, and sponsored a number of children to attend the school, with the first starting university this year. 

                                Extension of the existing classroom 26/08/2015

                             Construction process, two more classes on the way!

 

                                  Completing the the new three classes school

                            Opening ceremony of the new extension  29/05/2015

However, the project doesn't end there- they are now beginning to fundraise to build a third classroom, a staffroom and a lab, as well as continuing to sponsor children to attend school. In their own words 'They may be small but they are active'. This is where I come in- hopefully fundraising together, we can raise enough to give James Ndonyi Memorial Secondary School the facilities they need. 

 

For more information on Basik, please go to http://basik.org.uk. 

 

Build Schools, Fight Poverty.

 

 

Not the best weather, but definitely the best company

As we´d planned James got to my place and the coffee was ready. A big dose of caffeine was going to be needed on this day.

Today, it was cycling, we had arranged this ride a few weeks before, and as expected it did not disappoint.

After having sorted a few things out we were off. It was approximately 9:15am and the weather wasn´t too bad, it was quite cloudy, although the temperature was fairly mild for the beginning of November.

 

We started cycling quite fast as you would expect, and in less than half an hour, we got to Otley. By this time, the rain had arrived and we were pretty wet, not a good start I would say. Fortunately, the rain stopped and the route became stepper and stepper which helped dry the clothes out quite fast. We kept cycling at good pace, enjoying the turns and the down hills on the Askwith Moor Road towards Pateley Bridge. The views were absolutely stunning, we were in the middle of the country side, approaching the Yorkshire dales, and it hadn’t rained since we left Otley, what else could we have asked for??

The road was starting to have more ups and downs as we were getting closer to the Yorkshire Dales. Suddenly we got to a crossing with the wanted sign post, “Grassington 10”. After, an extra 10 miles of up and downs we approached the lovely village of Grassington in the heart of the British Yorkshire dales. Our next stop was Burnsall, just a few miles from Grassington and with the nicest tea room I have ever been to. The delicious soup of the day and home-made cakes were waiting for us along side the very friendly ladies that run this tea room.

After having had a fabulous brunch, and hearing some interesting stories from the ladies we were off on the bikes again. On our way back to Leeds and just 15 minutes after having left Burnsall we cycled past the ancient and iconic Bolton Abby.

 

 

The head wind had now arrived and cycling back to Leeds was starting to become a hard task. The long up hills on the A59 were not helping either, and the legs did not know what was happening to them (especially mine). James was cycling like there were no up hills or head wind. This moment is when I began to think about my Iroman and realised that throughout my race I will be having a lot of moments like this one. My legs were trying to give up, but obviously my brain was sending messages to them saying- What the hell are you doing? We´ve got to keep going and you are not going to give up! Fortunately, after a few more ups and downs we were off the main road and onto a nice quite and FLAT road. Although, my legs were tired they seemed to accept the fact that we still had at least 20-25 kilometres to go and that they had to keep moving.

 

 

Soon, we got to Pool in Warfedale and 15minutes after to Harewood house. Here we hit the last hills, which left us in a bad state, where I had to stop and stretch my legs off a bit to avoid cramps and James was feeling sleepy as his levels of sugar were touching the ground. We had done more than 70 miles so far and our bodies were struggling.  Resting for a bit did us good and after a 5 minute break we were on the road again and less than 4 miles from home “sweet home”.

 

 

After, 76.8 miles (122km) 5,861ft (1.722m) of elevation and 5 hours and 5 minutes riding, we finally got home.

 For anybody based in the Leeds area and wanting to do a great ride on the bike, I would highly recommend this route. For those that want to spend half a day driving a car or riding a bike on country side roads and having a lovely lunch in a great tea room I would also recommend this route J

 

Brief(ish) personal introduction (in Spanish)

Hola a todo el mundo,

Mi nombre es David, y desde el año 2011 he estado viviendo en Leeds, en el norte de Inglaterra. Yo siempre he sido un persona que ha hecho deporte o al menos lo he intentado. Los deportes que solía practicar en España eran las escalada, la natación, la bicicleta de montaña, el esquí de montaña y algunas veces también salía a correr. Sin embargo, desde que llegue a Inglaterra he estado en contacto con el mundo del triatlón.  El triatlón es un deporte, el cual requiere un esfuerzo físico y mental bastante alto ya que en una misma carrera se practican tres diferentes deportes: la natación, el ciclismo y la carrera de pie.

Al principio de este año decidí que quería hace un Iroman ya que después de haber hecho varios triatlones de varias distancias, estaba viendo que los resultados estaban siendo bastante buenos y queria dar el salto a la distancia Iroman. pero, qué es un Iroman?  Bueno un Iroman es una triatlón en el cual las distancias de las distintas modalidades que tienes que completar son muy largas.

·         Natacion = 2.4 Millas/3.8Kilometros

·         Cyclismo = 112Millas/181 Kilometros

·         Carrera a pie = 26Millas/42 Kilometros (maratón)

No contento con intentar hacer un Iroman, decidí que tenía que hacer un Iroman un poco diferente; así que decidí que iba a hacer el Iroman más duro que hay en Inglaterra (o en el mundo como la pagina web dice!!) Esto quiere decir que la natación se llevara a cabo en un lago de montaña, la carrera de bicicleta se desarrollara entre carreteras de montaña y con una distancia superior al de un Iroman en 28 millas/44kilometros y con un desnivel total de 12,000 ft (3,700m). La carrera a pie consistirá en subir corriendo al pico más alto de Inglaterra “Scafell Pike” y bajar corriendo o como se pueda, y tendrá un desnivel total acumulado de 5,000 ft (1,400m).

Por qué hago esto?

Lo primero de todo, decir que lo hago porque hacer deporte es mi pasión, y uno de los principales pilares de mi vida. Segundo, porque creo que en esta vida tenemos que hacer cosas que nos llenen y nos satisfagan, y esta es definitivamente una de las cosas que más me llena de vida y sobretodo me ayudan a seguir activo y con ilusión de cara al presente y al futuro.

El Proyecto África

Hacer el triatlón más duro del mundo va a ser una tarea ardua, ya que voy a tener que entrenar muchísimo y voy a tener que sacrificar muchas horas de mi vida para poder completar esta carrera. Por eso, para poder afrontar la dureza física y mental que conlleva esta carrera ,también decidí que necesitaba tener un plan, que me ayudaría a seguir entrenando y a no tirar la toalla en los momentos más difíciles, que por supuesto aun están por llegar.

Así que decidí que iba recaudar dinero a través de donaciones de gente y empresas, para poder ayudar a construir una escuela o ampliar una escuela que ya estuviera construida. Después de buscar en internet y haber encontrado una ONG, la cual estuviera promoviendo la construcción de escuelas en África, me puse en contacto con ellos y tuvimos nuestra primera reunión.

Este  blog, es un blog donde la gente va a poder seguirme y va a poder ver qué tipo de entrenamiento y carreras voy a ir haciendo, para que el día 24 de Junio del 2017 pueda completar el triatlón más duro del mundo. También, va a ser una ventana donde voy a mostrar noticias relacionas con la educación en África y la necesidad que este maravilloso continente tiene de erradicar la pobreza.

Espero que disfrutéis leyendo este blog tanto como yo escribiéndolo.

Racing 4 education , el comienzo de un gran final!!

David Bodin

 

Jenna y yo minutos antes de hacer una carrera de natacion

en Ullswater lake en The Lake District, UK el pasado verano.

 

 

White Rose Ultra Marathon

I thought a good time to start my blog would be just after my first ultra marathon, the White Rose Ultra 30 mile run. This was my 34th birthday present to myself, the best way to spend a birthday if you ask me.

In the run up to the race, I was pretty nervous. I'd attempted a marathon in September and had had to drop out due to problems with my IT band. Since then, training had been sporadic, and I wasn't at all prepared for what was about to come. However, on the morning of the race, I woke up full of energy and decided to go for it, and to just take it at my own pace. I planned to stop at every feeding station- there was one every 5 miles, to take a break and to stretch along the way. However, this is not how the race panned out.

I arrived at HQ at 7:15, registered, got my race number and then started to prepare myself. The atmosphere was quite tense, typical for the beginning of a long race, but also supportive. HQ was in an old mill, which was pretty cool apart from the toilets- no lights and flooded- just what you need at 7:15 in the morning! :)

We all set off at 8, welcoming in a glorious day in the Colne Valley- by lunch time it was 17 degrees and this was the 1st November!! For the first fifteen miles I stuck to the plan- took it steady, paced myself and had breaks at the feeding stations. However, by mile 15, I was feeling good and began to up my pace. In fact, after feeding station 3, I didn't stop again. My brain kept pushing me, telling me I could do better, as my legs slowly started to complain.

At mile 20, the highest point of the route, the rest of the route was mainly downhill, and this was where I really started to enjoy myself. This lasted until the last 3 miles, where the route began its final ascent. My legs started to scream but I kept pushing and suddenly there was the finish line. I'd called my fiancé (Jenna) while I was running at the 20 mile mark to say I'd be there in around two hours, but she was nowhere to be seen. To my surprise, I'd been much fasted than expected, and could not believe it when they told me I'd finished 6th after 4 hours 43 minutes! Typically, she arrived 5 minutes later!!

Ten minutes after finishing, I was sat in a beer garden with Jenna and two friends- Lisa and Gaz- and trust me, a beer never tasted so good!

This was a great experience, and the best way to properly start my training. The course was beautiful, the weather perfect and the results couldn't have been better. Bring on the next challenge- onwards and upwards!