Here goes nothing

For anyone who doesn't know i have started to train to do the Macquarie big swim- palm beach to whale beach (a ridiculous 2.7ks)- with cantoo Australia. The basic premise is they provide me with free coaching in return for me raising money for cancer research. The only issue with this is i need to raise a minimum of $1250. This is where you all come into it. If i don't raise the money these lovely altruistic people will come at me with my credit card details in hand and attack (more fool them tho- i don't have $1000 on my credit card).

Now, being completely honest curing cancer is not something entirely close to my heart. It is no doubt a very worthy cause but hand on heart i'm here for the free coaching. But the beauty part is that the program does do really good things. The money raised goes directly to funding academics researching cures for cancer. They have raised something like $2.5mill already and are keeping a whole bunch of research going. As cynical as you all know i am i do think that's pretty cool.

The real deal with why i'm doing this is because i have been seriously lacking motivation in the fitness department after the arrival of the lovely Eva and need some sort of structured routine to kick my butt into action. Also i love to swim and have wanted to do an ocean race for some time now, but again motivation has been left wanting.

So, where you all come in is twopart. Firstly you can help me raise money for a really cool cause. I know in these times we all have donor fatigue and i do appreciate any enthusiasm for this type of support. The second way you all come into it is because sponsoring me is not only giving money to cancer research but also showing your support for me : ) ie, the more people with money riding on me actually doing this thing the more obliged i am to do it. So if you have any interest in seeing me drag my lazy butt into action, or just want to see if i can actually swim 2.7ks in the ocean jump on board.

I have links on this page to sponsorship forms and an online sponsorship section if you want to start giving. My suggestion would be for people to sponsor $2 for every 100 metres i swim ($56) but any amount, smaller or larger, would be greatly appreciated. I will also be emailing and generally harrassing everyone i know over the next couple of months so you don't forget. All donations over $2 are, of course, tax deductable.

On top of you just giving me money outright i have a bunch of interesting ideas for fundraisers along the way. i don't want to give too much away but jelly wrestling is certainly at the top of the list.

Over the course of this blog i will keep you updated about my progress and give you a little insight into the inner workings of my mind. I hope it will actually be interesting and not overly self-indulgent but who knows.

I've already started training, with a pool session and a surf session and i will give you all a more comprehensive update of how it's going in my next post.

Cheers!