Oh yeah,
I got a call from a the producer of the Brig & Lehmo for Breakfast show on Gold FM Melbourne a few weeks ago. He knew about Seb Terry's 100Things phenomenon and had actually interviewed him in Sydney a while back on the Johnno & Danno show. Because Seb is now helping others tick off their own bucket lists, he wanted to use me as a follow up to that.
Anyway, Seb did an interview with them and this morning I get a call from Clint asking me to call in and talk about the trek. What timing, I had my 3 year old begging for breakfast, my 6 month old under my arm, also begging for breakfast and my wife was still at work from he night shift. So, unfortunately, I couldn't speak to them live on air. I love my boys but they will owe me big time by the time they fly the coop!
So, instead of chatting to me they used my email from a while back and described what I am doing. They also put a link on their website and suggested that I'm looking for equipment and sponsors.
So, you never know where these things will lead but in the mean time, big thanks to Clint from Gold FM and the Brig & Lehmo for Breakfast show for getting the word out there in the public forum!
Time to chase something more local....Manly Daily time!
http://gold1043.com.au/shows/breakfast/
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Monday 27 February 2012
Fresh Start with Freshstart
Hi Everyone,
Yes, it has been a while since my last blog but I'm hoping that today's blog will refresh your interest in my trek, despite the fact that it is now 16 months away rather than 4 months away! But as they say, good things come to those who wait!
As I type this evening, there is a pain in my neck shooting down my arm and making typing with already fatigued hands even harder, so please forgive any spelling mistakes. Why am I in knots I hear you ask?!?! Well, last week, on the advice of an old mate of mine who is ex Army and current Navy (so he knows about this sort of thing), I approached Scott Flint down at Freshstart at Narrabeen to see if he would be interested in training me up for the big trek for Camp Quality. Without a moments hesitation he he agreed. It turns out that Scott trains people for 'big adventures' a lot and had just finished training a local guy to compete in the Molokai Championships in Hawaii. Great timing, looks like he needs a new project!
So, what that means is that I have secured my first sponsorship, and a very generous one at that. Scott is going to train me from start to finish, helping me build strength and endurance, far beyond what I would have achieved by simply pulling that tyre up and down Newport Beach for what would have been a total of 19 months! Don't worry, the tyre and I still have plenty of time to reacquaint over the next year and a bit, but for now it's all strength, strength, strength. We are going to work out exactly how much water I will be consuming per day, when I will consume it and in what quantity. I will be conditioning myself to the point where I can make a definitive decision on how long it will take, what routes will be opened for me to choose from, how much water I will need and how much total weight I will need to pull. These are all very important factors that need definitive answers before I can mount such a huge physical challenge, something that was completely lacking from my strategy for a 2012 attempt, but are now, thanks to Freshstart, a reality.
Today was my first session with big Scott (I call him big because he is 6ft 6in in the old scale). He checked over my old bones and rickety joints before sending me off on a very painful (and eye-opening) fitness test. The fitness test lasted 16min 35 sec and hurt...a lot! The pain started about, say, 20 seconds and lasted until, ah, actually, I'm still waiting for it to stop. Apparently a good time is 9 minutes! Hmmmmm.
Anyway, a massive THANK YOU goes out to Scott Flint at Freshstart Narrabeen. Not just for taking me on but for taking one look at me and not saying, 'Mate, I think you should think smaller!'. Maybe he sees me as the challenge of his career, I don't know, all I can say is thanks and I won't let him (or Camp Quality) down.
Next on the agenda, securing more sponsorship to the approximate value of $20,000 to get this trek to happen. Any ideas??
p.s. If you are looking for a great gym on the Northern Beaches, check out Freshstart. It's big, clean, full of all the equipment you could ever need and the staff are awesome!
FRESHSTART
Yes, it has been a while since my last blog but I'm hoping that today's blog will refresh your interest in my trek, despite the fact that it is now 16 months away rather than 4 months away! But as they say, good things come to those who wait!
As I type this evening, there is a pain in my neck shooting down my arm and making typing with already fatigued hands even harder, so please forgive any spelling mistakes. Why am I in knots I hear you ask?!?! Well, last week, on the advice of an old mate of mine who is ex Army and current Navy (so he knows about this sort of thing), I approached Scott Flint down at Freshstart at Narrabeen to see if he would be interested in training me up for the big trek for Camp Quality. Without a moments hesitation he he agreed. It turns out that Scott trains people for 'big adventures' a lot and had just finished training a local guy to compete in the Molokai Championships in Hawaii. Great timing, looks like he needs a new project!
So, what that means is that I have secured my first sponsorship, and a very generous one at that. Scott is going to train me from start to finish, helping me build strength and endurance, far beyond what I would have achieved by simply pulling that tyre up and down Newport Beach for what would have been a total of 19 months! Don't worry, the tyre and I still have plenty of time to reacquaint over the next year and a bit, but for now it's all strength, strength, strength. We are going to work out exactly how much water I will be consuming per day, when I will consume it and in what quantity. I will be conditioning myself to the point where I can make a definitive decision on how long it will take, what routes will be opened for me to choose from, how much water I will need and how much total weight I will need to pull. These are all very important factors that need definitive answers before I can mount such a huge physical challenge, something that was completely lacking from my strategy for a 2012 attempt, but are now, thanks to Freshstart, a reality.
Today was my first session with big Scott (I call him big because he is 6ft 6in in the old scale). He checked over my old bones and rickety joints before sending me off on a very painful (and eye-opening) fitness test. The fitness test lasted 16min 35 sec and hurt...a lot! The pain started about, say, 20 seconds and lasted until, ah, actually, I'm still waiting for it to stop. Apparently a good time is 9 minutes! Hmmmmm.
Anyway, a massive THANK YOU goes out to Scott Flint at Freshstart Narrabeen. Not just for taking me on but for taking one look at me and not saying, 'Mate, I think you should think smaller!'. Maybe he sees me as the challenge of his career, I don't know, all I can say is thanks and I won't let him (or Camp Quality) down.
Next on the agenda, securing more sponsorship to the approximate value of $20,000 to get this trek to happen. Any ideas??
p.s. If you are looking for a great gym on the Northern Beaches, check out Freshstart. It's big, clean, full of all the equipment you could ever need and the staff are awesome!
FRESHSTART
Monday 6 February 2012
Ever So Slight Change Of Plan
OK, this is the blog that I NEVER wanted to write but it's here now and I have to deal with it.
It is with great frustration that I have to postpone my trek across the mighty Simpson Desert. It's not because of injury, work, nuclear war or anything of any real substance. No, it's a money issue and I HATE the fact that money has played such a big part. I knew it was going to be difficult to raise money for this trek but I didn't know how hard it would be, and in hindsight, 6 months is nowhere near enough time to organise such a massive event. I'm sure if it was my full time job then it would't have been a problem, but with two young boys and a burgeoning photography business to deal with, I simply need more time. On the nature front, there is also the possibility that the desert would be too wet this year as it has been for the last couple of years. There are several normally dry lakes that I would need to cross that are currently in flood, and with the rainfall of the past two years, there is every chance that I might have had to cancel at the last minute...which would have really sucked!
However, there is some relief mixed in with the frustration. I now have time to build a much better base fitness and strength. I can now do a test trek to see how much water I will need per day which may (fingers crossed) bring me back into the mix of a COMPLETELY UNSUPPORTED trek with no water drops. That also opens the door to going through the geographical centre and puts me in a category of only one other person having done that in history, which would be quite special.
As frustrating as the fact is that money has had such an influence on this trek, I also know how important it is to get this thing right and have all the safety provisions in place. Now I have more time to make sure that I raise enough so that I don't need to cut any corners!
'No Beers Till Birdsville'. Well, as much as I would like to tell you that I will still lay off them from now until Birdsville in 2013, I can't lie! However, as the trek will begin on June 29 2013, I pledge to you all now that I will have my last sip of alcohol on June 30 2012 and spend a year as a teetotaler! Again, if anyone out there wants to join me, you liver will thank you for it!
So, this is a new beginning and I have every intention of making it bigger and better than it could have possibly been this year. I will be doing some filming with some Tafe students some time this term which I will be using as part of a package to present to possible corporate sponsors. I will also be approaching the engineering faculty of universities to see if they can get their students to build me some sort of super light weight, aerodynamic cart with built in air conditioning and mp3 player, something inspired by this maybe! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3A9rLoz_0o
So please, keep following my blog, I still need your support!
It is with great frustration that I have to postpone my trek across the mighty Simpson Desert. It's not because of injury, work, nuclear war or anything of any real substance. No, it's a money issue and I HATE the fact that money has played such a big part. I knew it was going to be difficult to raise money for this trek but I didn't know how hard it would be, and in hindsight, 6 months is nowhere near enough time to organise such a massive event. I'm sure if it was my full time job then it would't have been a problem, but with two young boys and a burgeoning photography business to deal with, I simply need more time. On the nature front, there is also the possibility that the desert would be too wet this year as it has been for the last couple of years. There are several normally dry lakes that I would need to cross that are currently in flood, and with the rainfall of the past two years, there is every chance that I might have had to cancel at the last minute...which would have really sucked!
However, there is some relief mixed in with the frustration. I now have time to build a much better base fitness and strength. I can now do a test trek to see how much water I will need per day which may (fingers crossed) bring me back into the mix of a COMPLETELY UNSUPPORTED trek with no water drops. That also opens the door to going through the geographical centre and puts me in a category of only one other person having done that in history, which would be quite special.
As frustrating as the fact is that money has had such an influence on this trek, I also know how important it is to get this thing right and have all the safety provisions in place. Now I have more time to make sure that I raise enough so that I don't need to cut any corners!
'No Beers Till Birdsville'. Well, as much as I would like to tell you that I will still lay off them from now until Birdsville in 2013, I can't lie! However, as the trek will begin on June 29 2013, I pledge to you all now that I will have my last sip of alcohol on June 30 2012 and spend a year as a teetotaler! Again, if anyone out there wants to join me, you liver will thank you for it!
So, this is a new beginning and I have every intention of making it bigger and better than it could have possibly been this year. I will be doing some filming with some Tafe students some time this term which I will be using as part of a package to present to possible corporate sponsors. I will also be approaching the engineering faculty of universities to see if they can get their students to build me some sort of super light weight, aerodynamic cart with built in air conditioning and mp3 player, something inspired by this maybe! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3A9rLoz_0o
So please, keep following my blog, I still need your support!
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