I suppose the best place to start would be at the beginning...
In 2008 I tore my ACL while playing football. I'd love to say it happened as I heroically threw myself in front of a shot destined for the back of the net, preserving my team's delicate lead and ultimately winning the match for us. Unfortunately, I can't. It was a friendly and I was nowhere near anyone. I turned left, my knee popped, job done. I have no idea if we even won that match.
After some duff medical advice*, I made numerous attempts to return to football. The result? 3 operations on my knee and taking early retirement from the sport I loved in 2011. Until then, I had enjoyed an active lifestyle, but now I had a football shaped hole in my life which needed filling. Like any self-respecting, retired sports star** I filled this hole with curry, beer and weight gain.
Fast forward 7 years and it’s a different picture. Still with a dodgy knee and carrying a few of those extra pounds, I’m relatively healthy. This is predominantly down to 2 things – cycling and an incredibly supportive, motivational fiancée.
I started cycling in 2012 and in 2016 I took part in my first long distance ride (picture above), covering 120 miles from London to Brighton and back. In the immediate aftermath, fuelled by the high of completing my first long distance ride, I had a million and one ideas of what challenge I would do next. 120 miles wasn’t enough. I wanted to push myself to my limits…
… A month later I was drunk, celebrating my 30th birthday, with no intention of physically challenging myself ever again!
Fortunately, in 2016 I also met Hollie. Hollie seemed to be able to strike the perfect balance between fun and exercise. She did things like the gym… and running. She had recently completed a half marathon and aspired to complete the London marathon. All this while managing to maintain a thriving social life. Hollie inspired me and motivated me to push myself again. The following May I would complete my 2nd long distance ride, taking on the Herts 100 - a feat I would repeat in 2018. This was now becoming a tradition.
In 2018 Hollie and I got engaged. Knowing I would be getting married in May 2019, I confidently stated that there would be no more big bike rides until after the wedding. I just wouldn’t have the time. The fact that I’m writing this blog tells you how wrong I was.
Everything changed when Hollie got a place in the London Marathon, which would be taking place just 3 weeks before our wedding. Maybe it was her dedication to taking on this challenge that inspired me? Maybe it was the need to shift those last pounds before the wedding day? Or maybe, just maybe, I didn’t want to be outdone on the stupidity levels so close to the wedding. Whatever the reason was, my plans to be lazy had been thwarted. I scoured the internet looking for a new long distance ride to take on. And then I found it. The Birmingham and Midlands Velo! 100 miles through closed roads, with 17,000 riders… and only 6 days before the wedding!
I signed up instantly, deciding to raise funds for YCT (more on them next time) and was joined by a good friend, Kyle. My training would start 2nd January with a simple 10-mile ride to get back in to the swing of things after a good 6 months off the bike. Now 31st January, the end of the month, I have covered a grand total of 8.5 miles. What. A. Start.
Only 100 days and 100 miles left to go...
*Now at this point I'm keen to point out I am an avid supporter of the NHS, understanding the pressures and restraints they are under. This is in no way a criticism of the incredible NHS staff we are lucky to have, nor the work they do. IF you want to find criticism here, let direct it solely at the decision makers who have left our NHS underfunded and over worked.
**I’m probably overselling myself here. Honestly, I don’t think you could have even described me as an amateur athlete
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