sponsorship, sponsorship, sponsorship

So i've been away for a while again. This time to Oxford to rejoin my old college boat club and start a coaching job. I am going to be there for 4-5 days a week and then back in Suffolk to train at Sudbury at the weekends. I've been put in charge of the lower boats squad as it might be a bti strange to be coaching the 1st VIII and people that i was rowing with just a few months ago. I can already tell that it's going to be a lot of fun though. The girls have a lot of potential and just being back amongst the spires is inspiring me to get on with the challenge of raising money! I've realised that i actually miss studying though so can't wait to go back to uni in September.

So how has training been going? Not that well to be honest. I got back from Italy and it was all good but after a day of catching up on sleep and refuelling, the dreaded lurgy got me (and pretty much the whole crew apparently). It wasn't bad at all but just enough to prevent me from sitting on the erg for too long. I've done something everyday this week but not as much as i would like. Hopefully going back to Sudbury tomorrow will help get me back into it as i can always erg down there. It seems to be the right temperature and have the right environment for hard work. Next week i'm taking my road bike to Oxford so i can have the option of going for a ride or popping on the turbo instead of erging all the time. I'm finding variation very helpful at the moment.

And finally the age old question of sponsorship. it's not going great. I have been sending out lots and lots of emails this week and phoning up companies to get contact names but to no avail. It really is about getting the information to right person and that is not easy. Websites sometimes help but as most companies don't advertise their staff members, it does normally mean sending them to enquiries@... or info@ addresses. I'm going to send letters and phone and generally try to make myself a nuisance. I really need to do more for local companies though. But again, getting the names if a problem. If anyone out there knows somebody in a position of responsibility in a firm, in advertising or marketing or just the top honcho, please let me know! I will do all the leg-work but i need the name first.

I'm going to put the names if people who have supported me so far on the this page somewhere and also on the main crew website which has now been constructed. The address is www.piraterow.com and you can see more about the rest of the crew and the boat on there.