Injury and Christmas

Well it's been a while since i wrote last and that's because nothing much has been happening. I've had a few weeks off training to rest a niggle i had in my lower back. Just lots and lots of core work on the gym ball. The break coincided with Christmas which was both a good and a bad thing. It meant i had more time to enjoy it and relax but it also drove me mad. I'm not the sort of person who can just stop training completely and i found it really hard not to go and do a light session. In the end i had to keep telling myself that a break now means that i can start training properly again in the new year with nothing to hold me back. Now i've got all the Xmas food to work off as well though so extra long sessions on the erg!

I did go on the erg yesterday to see how i was progressing and managed to do 1.5 hours with no pain or niggles at all. It was a lot further than i was expecting to do (i was thinking 45 mins) but i just kept on going with the people erging next to me and the time flew by. I reckon i should cut it down for a weeks or so though just to make sure and out the resistance right down to reduce any pressure put on my back. And do the most unnatural thing for a rower - pull lightly. It is surprisingly hard to pull lighter than you are used to and is (well i find anyway) more tiring. I'm starting to train using heartrate now, which means that pull at a rate/speed to keep your heartrate in a set region. it's a lot of getting used it but i could really feel the difference in my fitness before the injury hampered things. Now i've got to back to that level but slowly. I'm going to see a chiropractor as well as it's better to get some expert help especially with what's at stake. One thing i know though is that i felt so good after doing that erg. There is something about exercise that makes everthing so much better.

Contact Details

I'm having a few problems with PayPal and setting up a way to donate directly so until that is sorted if you want to make a donation please contact me at the email below
indianoceanrow@gmail.com
and i will send you the account information.

Thanks

Publicity at last!

Great news. One of the local newspapers (Suffolk Free Press) is going to run a story on me and my quest. They are coming down to the Pudding races at Sudbury on Sun to take photos and get a bit more info and then hopefully will run it next week. There might even be the opportunity to have a proper feature for the duration of the fundraising and the race! This is a massive development and is the first time that anyone has shown interest in the race. Hopefully this will lead to more publicity and to more sponsorship.

On a separate note, training has come to a halt. An old back injury has started to flair up again so i'm resting it for a couple of weeks to stop it getting any worse. It's not exactly great preparation and i'm finding it increasingly hard to not do anything but i've got to be sensible for once. There's no point carrying on now and potentially risk doing the row when all it needs is a short break. Well that's what i need to keep telling myself. It's so frustrating!

Easy ways for you to help raise money!

There are now two easy ways for you to help raise funds for Indian Ocean Row.

Shop Online and Raise Funds
easyfundraising is a shopping directory listing some of your favourite online stores including Argos, Next, Debenhams, John Lewis, Toys R Us, HMV and over 600 others. Just use the links on the easyfundraising site whenever you shop online and, at no extra cost to you, we'll receive a free donation of up to 15% from every purchase you make.

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If you shop online anyway then why not raise valuable extra funds for us by using this fantastic scheme. All you need to do is visit http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/helentaylor and when you register, select Indian Ocean Row - Helen Taylor as the organisation you wish to support.

Search the Web and Raise Funds
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When you search the Web with easysearch instead of Google or any other search engine, you’ll raise funds for us with every search you make! Just like easyfundraising it’s completely free to use and if you make just 10 searches a day, you could raise £20 a year - or more - for us, just by switching to easysearch.

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Check out our unique easysearch page at http://helentaylor.easysearch.org.uk and use it every time you search the Web.

CHARITY

I forgot to say that i will be raising money for charity throughout this endeavour. My chosen charity is Scope Short Breaks: Suffolk. Scope is a UK disability organisation whose focus is people with cerebral palsy. Their aim is that disabled people achieve equality: a society in which they are as valued and have the same human and civil rights as everyone else. Scope Short Breaks: Suffolk is a respite care centre for children with cerebral palsy in my hometown of Bury St Edmunds. The centre gives children the chance to stay for anything from a day to a couple of weeks to allow themselves and their families a relaxing break.

A Just Giving webpage will be set up shortly as well as a PayPal account so that there is a choice whether to give directly to the charity or to go towards raising the sponsorship money to get to the start line. Any money raised in excess of the amount required will be given straight to the charity.

Indian Ocean Race 2009

Next April sees the first ever Indian Ocean Race and hopefully i'm going be there! I have joined the squad for an eight - the first ocean going eight ever - and if selected for the crew will be the the first female to cross the Indian. Lots of firsts on offer. The crew is going to be multi-national with people from the UK, US, Belgium and Australia and there will be 6 men and 2 women inclding me. The other woman is a Beijing paralympian who has already rowed the Atlantic and has vast experience of ocean rowing. I'm also going to be the youngest person in the crew and one of the youngest to attempt to cross an ocean.

The race is over 3000 nautical miles (roughly 3500 miles) and we are aiming for 50 days. The Indian Ocean is a completely different challenge to previous races across the Atlantic with hotter weather, 50 ft waves, no helpful 'trade winds', lots of sharks and wildfire and general unpredictability. All this on a 29ft long boat with nowhere else to go. This is going to be a massive challenge both mentally and physically and a real chance to test myself.

I'm going to need all the support i can get for this adventure. First challenge is raising the money to able to go on the trip. I need to get £15,000 in sponsorship to be able to get to the start line. If you are interested or know anybody who would be interested in supporting this project then please get in touch. I have sponsorship packs with more information available to anyone who wants one.

I will also be running a few events over the next few months to raise some funds so stay tuned!