Martin Gleeson: Blue Zone

After running my marathon two years ago, I kept a reasonable base level of fitness but slacked off this year. I got very busy with running my business, and basically dropped the cycling to work and dropped back to running twice a week or so.

But I have a personal goal of doing an Olympic-distance triathlon (and maybe even an Ironman) by the time I’m 50, and I’ve been inspired by all the Olympic activity of the past two weeks and have decided to get back to peak fitness again.

After packing my running gear into a bag this morning and looking forward to a lunchtime run today - really looking forward to it after looking out the window late in the morning and seeing an absolutely beautiful August day, I went to get changed and realised I had left the bag at home.

D’oh!

But every cloud has a silver lining and I remembered that (about six months ago!) I had brought a towel, goggles and boardshorts to work and left them in a drawer, as a contingency for when it was raining and I couldn’t go for a run. Swimming is pretty important for a triathlon - you’re not going to get far without completing the first leg!

So off I went to Richmond pool for my first swimming session for about three years. I managed 10 laps of the 50m pool (with a short rest at the end of each lap). It might not seem like much, but to put it in perspective, when I started getting back into lap swimming a year or so before my marathon, I was hopeless and could barely manage 50m in one go. I was trying to swim too fast, getting out of breath, and basically had no idea. But with a bit of coaching from my friend John Bethell, I got some technique and worked out how to pace myself.

But boy, do I have a lot of work to do. My arms are really tired, and I suspect I will have a bit of difficulty lifting them tomorrow! But it feels really good to have made a start on the track to another big life goal.

Oh, and I’m back on the bike too…

I’ve just installed the Wordpress App on my iPhone, so it’s time for a post! Not much to say other than I wish the WP app would rotate to give me a bigger keyboard. And that the iPhone is simply awesome!

In spite of being a computer geekspert by day (and usually night as well!), I’m actually a frustrated sculptor. Given the proverbial lottery win, I’d most likely set myself up with a studio and become an artist, starting with sculpture. As the million-dollar cheque hasn’t yet arrived (must have been a mix up somewhere or possibly something to do with the fact that I never buy lottery tickets), I content myself with creating sand sculptures whenever I’m at the beach and the elements permit.

The family just spent two weeks on the Bellarine Peninsula, based at Portarlington. While I was too busy with work to spend the whole time there, I was able to get away for the weekends and found some great sand on Saturday at the Point Lonsdale front beach. We visited the lighthouse a few years previously, and I was also thinking of Nick heading from Portugal to the Canaries, so I made this:

Well, Movember is almost done, but it’s not too late for you to show your support!

I’ve gone the hard yards this year and grown the full handlebar mo, so it’s time to dig deep and show your support for depressed prostates everywhere (see below for an explanation of what Movember is all about).

No donation is too small and everything over $2 is tax-deductable.

Check out my Molog at http://www.movember.com/au/popups/mologs/?id=136086 to survey the damage and click on “Sponsor Me” and be ready with the plastic.

Remember…

• Depression affects 1 in 6 men…Most don’t seek help. Untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide.
• Last year in Australia 18,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 2,900 died of prostate cancer - equivalent to the number of women who die from breast cancer annually.
• Men are far less healthy than women. The average life expectancy of males is 5 years less than females.

To sponsor my Mo please go to http://www.movember.com/au/donate, enter my registration number which is 136086 and your credit card details. Or you can sponsor me by cheque made payable to the “Movember Foundation” clearly marking the donation as being for my Registration Number: 136086. Please mail cheques to: PO Box 292, Prahran VIC 3181. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.

The money raised by Movember is donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative , which will use the funds to create awareness, fund research and increase support networks for those men who suffer from prostate cancer and male depression.

For those that have supported Movember in previous years you can be very proud of the impact it has had and can check out the detail at: Fundraising Outcomes.

I’ve mentioned my good friend Nick before, and it’s time to mention him again. He’s set out to sail single-handed from Europe to Australia. Which is simply amazing. And he’s just now managed to cross the Bay of Biscay. And well into the northern hemisphere season where, frankly, you’re just meant to moor your boat for the winter and try to keep warm.

He sent me all the details before he left on Thursday: Emergency Response Beacon number, British registration number, etc. Just the sort of details that you never want to have to recite to anyone. And he said that if I hadn’t heard from him by Monday, I should start to be concerned and contact the British Coast Guard. Of course, having the utmost faith in this amazing young man, I wasn’t worried in the least. But just the same, by 9pm Monday I’m on the phone to his dad saying: “Do you think he meant the end of Monday, Europe time? Is this about the time where we should perhaps begin to think about getting concerned?”. And literally as I’m saying this, sitting in front of my laptop that I’d turned on a few minutes before, a Google chat box pops up with “made it man” from Nick. So much relief all round. Of course we never doubted him for a second, but it’s nice to know that he’s back standing on solid ground.

So head over to bigoceans.com and be sure to make a donation to a struggling sailor/artist/geek/adventurer so he can continue his incredible journey!