Walk in the park
So where do I start, has been a rather full on month or so. We started 2015 with a real bang, pushing hard to reach out to sponsors and really looked to get some decent training under our belts. Both have been a lot tougher than we had expected, there is nothing glamourous about going to the gym at 9/10pm after a day in the office, but its training sessions like these which will be invaluable later down the line. We have also been in discussions with a number of potential sponsors, but as of yet have not managed to secure one fully, but we are both a super confident it is only a matter of time.
We got our first bit of press this month, from the illustrious Farnham Herald, which has helped drive further exposure for us, which is great! It is amazing how quickly something can get to so many people, within the first 24 hours of us posting the update on our facebook page, it had reached more than 4250 people!!! We just need a few more updates like that, and everyone will be speaking about Saddle Sand Sea.
In recent news, we just got back from a great weekend down in the West Country, where we took part in the Endurance Life south Devon coastal half marathon. We signed up for this quite a long time ago and hadn’t fully appreciated what we had let ourselves in for. On the scale of 1-5 (5 being the toughest) this came in with a solid rating of “4 – Severe”, so to say there were a few nerves heading down on the train would be somewhat of an understatement. But watching England beat Wales in their own backyard whilst wolfing down copious amounts of pasta helped us prepare mentally for the next day’s ordeal.
Following an unnecessarily early alarm, we headed off to the coast fuelled by porridge and the wonder that is KISS FM blasting out the radio. We had somehow managed rope a friend ours, Sam Dawson, into signing up for the event as well, so was great to go down all together. I think it was at about this time that Sam was somewhat regretting his slightly intoxicated decision a few months ago!
We turned up at the start and immediately felt like we might had bitten off more than we could chew. It was freezing, the wind was blowing a right gale and there were a lot of very serious people with all the right kit, unlike us. There was even a dog better kitted out better than us looking rather smug whilst wrapped up in a massive jacket.
We waited around for our briefing and joking how underprepared we felt and then it began! There was an initial rush as people were vying to get in a decent position given the first 4 miles were down very narrow coastal paths. After this initial surge the field spread out more and you were able to get into a bit of a rhythm and start plodding away. It was tough to not be completely blown over by the wind, but also the stunning scenery. You were able to see coastline as far as the eye could see which really helped alleviate any thoughts of pain.
But then we turned in land and the hills properly started! There were a couple of pretty horrible moments where you had been working your way up to what you thought was the top, to head round a corner to reveal you were less than half way up! But we managed to persevere and all came in under 2:30mins, which given the terrain we thought was not too shabby.
Feeling rather chuffed we headed back to Seamus’s parents’ house for a well-earned
rest and some awesome food. It was a really great day out and would highly recommended anyone to give it a go. There are loads of different events so is easy to pick one for what you’re looking for.
I think we were both quite surprised how “OK” our bodies were the next day. It would seem that the hours doing squats and on the stepper machine are starting to pay off, so we have Rich our trainer to thank for that.
We are just about to enter our third phase of training, and is starting to become very real that in only a few months we will be having to cycle our way up a mountain or two! So I think there will be a few more hours in the gym and on the bike to come. But we are both super excited about everything and hope that we keep you somewhat entertained/enthused throughout.
Before I sign off I should say a massive thank you to Seamus’s parents, Roy and Jackie who were exceptionally kind all weekend, even when we could hardly move off the incredibly comfortable sofas!
Until next time where hopefully we will have an update or two about sponsors! If there is anyone you think might be interested or would like to get in touch, please let us know on our email – saddlesandsea@gmail.com
ATB,
Team Saddle Sand Sea
