Amazing. Met Katherine Grainger this evening at Investor Allstars and we chatted about rowing and marathons! Here we are! Her gold medal is much heavier than I imagined.
She is a truly remarkable and inspirational athlete.
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Fame at last! The Oxford Mail has kindly supported my fund raising efforts with an article and, much to my amusement, included a photo on the front page! Thanks to MeatMasters for letting me train in their freezer. The wholesale butcher was the perfect place to test gear in cold conditions and to throw a punches at a lamb carcass. For an instant, I felt like Rocky Balboa (spot the difference)! http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9937926.Runner_gets_set_to_brave_Arctic_chills/ with six weeks to go, my marathon training plan (see Advanced Marathoning - up to 55 miles per week) calls for the start of a series of long runs. This has opened up a new dimension to my running. New tech toys: In planning these routes, I have found a great iPhone app, Outdoors GPS. It allows you to plot routes using a detailed Ordnance Survey map and upload it directly to you phone. Brilliant - especially when combined with my other gadgets such as my GPS watch. New routes: Longer distances offers the opportunity to try new routes and break the monotony of training routes. My first long run (pictured) allowed me to run from Cuddington to Berkhamsted along the Grand Union Canal. The second was around the Chiltern Hills and the next one will be part of the Oxford Greenbelt way as part of a 53 mile relay team. New pain: With distance has come the niggles and pain that all marathon runners have experienced. In my case it seems to be spread all over my thighs, but the calf muscles seem to be holding up well. Fortunately, recovery has been rapid and I have felt able to run again the next day. New elation: I now know I can go the distance and the long runs have given me great confidence. The rush of endorphins has been great as well. This has been boosted by the generosity of friends and family who have helped me raise over £3,000 to date. Well on the way to the £10,000 goal. Just seven weeks to go. More niggles as a result of running five times a week. Despite some physio treatment and specialist exercises a pain in my right leg is not going away. It seems to be around the tendons of of the Tibialis Posterior, a muscle in the lower leg which wraps around the ankle and holds up the arch of your foot (more info). A visit to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre should shed some light on the issue. Despite the strange noises of the MRI scanner and the challenge of lying absolutely still for an hour, I am fascinated to see the inside of my own leg - so much so, that I wish to share it with you. So here is a screenshot of my Tibialis Posterior, inside my own body! I have no idea how to interpret it and await the report from the radiologist and the consultant... With just 60 days to go until the polar marathon, it is time to kick start the fund raising. We have already raised £565 - so a big THANK YOU to those who made early contributions as the job is much easier. Yesterday marked my last triathlon of the year ahead of the polar marathon. A great one to end with as the Jenson Button Trust Tri was in aid of one of my chosen charities - Help for Heroes. Unusually, the event involved two races in one day with the top 50 in each heat making it to the final and racing against the F1 champion himself. i came in 27th! Officially, we all beat him as he quit during the bike leg! Since we are both supporting the same charity, he kindly agreed to have a photo with me, proudly wearing my finisher's medal. So PLEASE, sponsor me and join my journey for the last 60 days to the arctic race. The badge of 'serial entrepreneur' is one that more of the UK's top business talent aspire to and this is to be celebrated. Thankfully there is an upturn in second or third time entrepreneurs starting new ventures as David discovers in his article for The FT.
As published in The Financial Times on July 20th 2012 In the past, successful British entrepreneurs who reached their goal of selling or listing their business would all too often hang up their business boots following years of toiling against red tape, unsupportive capital markets and other obstacles. They would buy an old vicarage in the Cotswolds, or similar country retreat, and devote their time to collecting antiques, perhaps restore a classic car and occasionally dabble in local politics. In contrast, the received wisdom is that entrepreneurs from San Francisco, Tel Aviv or Shanghai would take the weekend off, before diving into their next venture. Fortunately for Britain, this “vicarage syndrome” appears to be on the wane and a new pattern is emerging. In the past five years Oxford Capital has seen a dramatic rise in the number of investment opportunities that are led by second or third time entrepreneurs. Second-time entrepreneurs have already made the most common start-up mistakes and usually they have learnt some valuable lessons. This means that the probability of success second time round is increased. Much has been discussed about Mike Lynch, entrepreneur and founder of Autonomy, one of the UK’s most successful IT companies, and his exit from Hewlett-Packard less than a year after his business was acquired by the US-based computer company. Those close to him note that success has not dimmed his continued entrepreneurial ambitions. The badge of “serial entrepreneur” is one that more of Britain’s top business talent aspire to and this is to be celebrated. Many successful entrepreneurs dream of selling their business to a major acquirer. All too often though, big company processes stifle their entrepreneurial spirit. There are more conference calls, new managers, more stringent governance and dramatically slower decision making – the very reasons why the entrepreneur may have left the corporate world in the first place. Is it any wonder that over a quarter of Autonomy’s 2,700 staff have joined Mike Lynch and left the company since its acquisition? Since its creation in 1996, Autonomy has created many millionaires and nurtured an extraordinary pool of talent. The HP deal will have infused many programmers and managers with the confidence and opportunity to take their own entrepreneurial steps and create new companies. They are not alone, as there is a growing entrepreneurial talent pool in the UK as the workforce becomes more attuned with entrepreneurship. Companies such as Powderject, ARM Holdings, CSR, British Biotech, Bookham Technology, Oxford Instruments and Betfair have each spawned new generations of entrepreneurs and angel investors who have brought incredible energy to the UK’s technology sector. Today, the UK ranks closer than ever to its entrepreneurial peers in the US, Israel or China. Entrepreneurs who have succeeded are now much more likely to get stuck into a new business. The web has transformed the business landscape and pulled down barriers to entrepreneurship. The thrill of creating a business again is driving more British founders to become serial entrepreneurs. In 2011, entrepreneurs saw the lifetime allowance for entrepreneurs relief, within which they pay capital gains tax of just 10 per cent, double to £10m. In 2012, the government’s flagship Enterprise Investment Scheme, familiar to most of our investors, was expanded to include tax breaks for investment into companies employing up to 250 staff rather than the overly restrictive limit of 50 staff. These moves are welcome and can go further by removing barriers to entrepreneurial activity and targeting support at serial entrepreneurs. But we can and need to do more to foster a spirit of entrepreneurialism and support the talent pool of serial entrepreneurs. The UK is home to much entrepreneurial talent. We already have a reputation as a country for creating great ideas and it’s our successful entrepreneurs that can help turn them into world-class businesses. Let’s help to get more of them out of the vicarage and back into business. The much anticipated freezer training session took place on Saturday 30 June in the glamorous surrounds of an Eddie Stobart refrigerated truck at Magna Park industrial estate near Northampton. Thanks again to Matt at Coca Cola for making this possible. Thanks also to Alistair for joining me. I was struck by the number of my friends who were washing their hair that day! We got the trailer interior down to around -12C. Inside a 40 ft cavity was ours for the morning and we quickly got into our cold running gear. I was looking forward to testing my kit and working out the number of layers I would need for the race. Some snags... there were no lights in the trailer - pitch black, but we eventually found the switch. Of greater concern was that quickly realised that the doors did not open from the inside and our minds thought through various scenarios of how long we could last inside before freezing to death. The walls were insulated and thick, the noise of the chiller unit and fans was deafening. No chance of getting rescued if the door was locked accidentally or otherwise... Panic over, we wedged the door ajar and got on with the run. As you can imagine, 40 ft is covered quite quickly in just a few steps and we ran hundreds of laps. The fans added some wind chill factor mimicking polar conditions, but the rumble of the chillers did not. The gap in the door was letting in warm air, so after half an hour, we stepped out, shut the doors to cool down the space again. After a few minutes we jumped back in and did two 30 minute circuit sessions - steps (to mimmic hills), squats, press ups, skipping, cleans, lunges, etc In the end, a great work out. Got a good feel for my kit. Two layers on my legs will be more than enough. The buff i was wearing around my neck was useful to keep my face warm but also stopped heat getting out of my jacket. Need to fine tune this. Check out the gallery page for some more pictures. If you are nuts enough and want to join the next session on 8th September, get in touch! Finally - many thanks to my early sponsors First chance to test running in cold conditions. Join me for a cold run on Sat 30 June in Northamptonshire. With the kind support of Eddie Stobart, we have access to one of their refrigerated trucks for the morning. Ideas for things to do in a freezer are gratefully received. apparently it is great for fat burn... 3 runs this week plus 2 cross training sessions focusing on core and leg strength. Total distance of 43.1km, short of the plan of 53km. Next week's goal is higher with a total of 58km to be covered. i have also invested in a new gadget, the latest offering from Garmin the Forerunner 910xt a multisport GPS running computer - computer being the operative word - it is certainly not a watch and offers a whole load of data, stats and analysis - it will satisfy my geek appetite for some time! 17 weeks to go... (Pic: running down from the Chiltern Hills at mile 14) Three runs this week totalling 40km. This included one of my longest and hilliest runs ever, 25km up and down the Chilterns. Muddy, but sunny and a beautiful day out in the countryside, running with Dr David Taylor. I am now 18 weeks away from the marathon and it is time to start a proper training programme. Several people have recommended Advanced Marathoning and I have bought the book. It is a little bewildering, not least for two points that i picked up from flicking through a few pages! Firstly, there are three training programmes based on running 88km, 113km and 137km per week. The most basic one involves doing up to twice the distance i did this week! Second, it is advised that you are consistently running at least 40km per week before starting one of the schedules. Despite stepping up my running significantly and including some cross-training, cycling and occasional swimming, i have struggled to do more than 30km a week. Time to step up the training programme. |
About meCo-founder of Oxford Capital Partners. Husband, father, adventurer and polar marathon runner. Represent Great Britain at master level in Modern Pentathlon. Archives
May 2023
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