Why we need change

Yesterday Mind published a report which really highlights why change is needed when it comes to the way we deal with mental health.  By using freedom of information requests, Mind collected data on how much local authorities spend on mental illness prevention.  They were shocked to discover that nationwide only 1.4% of local authority budgets for public health was spent on prevention of mental illness.  This amounts to a total spend of roughly £40m a year.  This is only a quarter of the £160m spent on aiding those aiming to cease smoking as a comparison.

Sadly this isn't all that surprising.  In April 2013, as part of the reforms to the NHS, the responsibility for mental illness prevention was passed from Primary Care Trusts to local government. With minimal guidance and advice it's no surprise many local authorities haven't provided much support for preventing mental illness.  Yet it is exactly this support that is most critical in treating mental illness.  

So very often early action can help people who are developing mental health problems.  Much like most illnesses prevention is key to treatment.  You wouldn't wait for someone presenting with heart issues to have a heart attack to think about putting them on a course of appropriate treatment yet all too often this is exactly the situation people with mental illnesses face.  Often In the case of depression  (as in my case) once someone first sees a doctor they are diagnosed, started on a course of antidepressants and referred to some sort of talking therapy (such as CBT) .  This sounds like a great approach to take, and in theory it should be the best support we currently know how to give. Unfortunately the reality of what this entails is less than ideal.

More often than not there is a very long waiting list to get on to talking therapy (thankfully Cambridge have their own counselling service so I only had to wait a month to be seen).  Yes you read that right, I was thankful to only have to wait a month.  Imagine presenting with a broken arm and being given some painkillers and told you've been referred to an orthopedic specialist but you'll have to wait until they're free, and it's typically at least a 6 week wait but can be up to 6 months or even a year.  How ridiculous does that sound?  Yet sadly it's a reality with mental illness.  Waiting times can be as long as 6 months.  So either you've got to be lucky with where you live or be fortunate enough to have the money to pay a private counsellor or else you're on your own until a slot frees up.

Oh and it doesn't just stop there.  The side effects for antidepressants is an impressive list (I might share mine in a later post, but yeah I'm still taking them, as is almost always the case) but there is a warning that stands out more than any of the mentions of nausea, restlessness, lethargy, weight loss, weight gain etc.  This is the warning that tells you, especially in the case of those younger than 25, taking antidepressants has been shown to be linked with an increase in suicide risk.  Yes, the very pills you get given to help you cope until you finally get other help might well make everything worse.  But you're on your own with this one until we have the funds to get someone to talk to you.  (It does say to get in touch with your doctor if you start to have suicidal ideas, but trust me that's easier said than done, especially if you've already told them about them when you get diagnosed)  It's no surprise that suicide is the leading cause of death in those aged 20-34 in the UK

Not only this but estimates say that mental illness accounts for roughly a quarter of all illness in the UK and yet only 13% of the total health budget is spent on treating and preventing mental illness.  It's a well-quoted statistic that in any given year 1 in 4 of us will suffer at the hands of mental illness.  Yet so few people feel able to talk open about their illness, seeing it as a weakness.  It's long past the time the stigma attached to mental illness is done away with.  When someone is battling cancer they are rightly described as brave and a role model, yet if someone declares they are battling with mental illness they are all too often called pathetic, weak and treated with disdain.  It's time we treated mental illness like other crippling illnesses.  (Please know I only make this comparison to highlight  the plight those with mental illness face in society, I'm absolutely not trying to belittle anyone who has to battle cancer.  It is a disease I would wish on no one I have nothing but the utmost respect and support for anyone who has to battle such a horrible condition.  They are rightly seen as sources of inspiration and strength).

This is where Mind come in.  They are doing so much work to break down this stigma and get people talking.  Not only this but they campaign on behalf of all those with mental health issues.  They also do so much work to support those struggling.  They have a comprehensive website.  This has lots of info about all kinds of mental illnesses and how to get support and this kind of knowledge can really be a life saver.  I really do urge you to check it out if you have any spare time.  I'll also add a list of awesome depression related resources at the side near the top if you ever want to learn more about the illness or how to help someone.  If anyone reading this has any resources they want to add for any kind of mental illness please do send them to me and I'll happily add them.  It's time we started talking.

As always if you want to donate to my cause I will greatly appreciate it.  The link is near the top on the right

Jon

New Events Entered

So as promised in my post in my second week blog I have entered two more events.  The first of these is called the WildMan Trail Run.  This is a 10km cross-country run.  It's at an army training ground and promises to be painful.  But I might have a few aims to do with running that I will reveal later this year so this seemed like a good place to start.  You can find out more about the event here.  It's part of a series of three cross-country races (the other two are in the new year) so you might want to watch this space.

I've also entered my first proper cycle event.  This is truly a first for me and will be a 118km (73mi) ride around West London.  This will be good practice for ride London later in the year, and a challenge in its own right.  It should also help with keeping motivated through the colder months (did someone say turbotrainer...)  This will (at the time of this post) be my longest ride ever and should be a big step in preparations for my 100mi ride.  I'll also be entering lots of sportives in the new year so again keep checking for updates.  You can read about this sportive here

Until Later

Jon

Second Week of Training

After my race on Sunday I had a lovely relaxed afternoon to recover.  But come Monday it was back to training again.  I planned to have  a recovery ride at a nice easy pace on the bike.  I set off in lovely blue skies and this time my wheel was the correct way around.  I went out light and stuck to my plan.  But after 20km of riding my eagerness won over.  I turned and headed further from home and cranked the pace a bit.  A small hill and 10km later I finally made a turn to return home.  Now it was flat all the way.  However the skies decided to open 10km from home.  A lovely rainy trip home... Ah well I had 45km under my belt, not bad for a 'recovery' ride.  I do need to work a lot to get my pace back up, but at least I have my excessively keen streak back.  It'll help a lot when I have to ride 100 miles.

On Tuesday (aka day 8) I went back to the local leisure centre to get some more swimming in.  This time I came armed with goggles and a heart rate monitor, it's time to get serious.  I had a much more productive session than my first.  Finally I braved lane swimming and found it's not all that different (apart from when you forget to spot and narrowly avoid swimming face first into someone's backside).  I managed to crank out a 150m piece (new PB distance) before hitting some exercises.  I decided to finish the sessions with one more 150m swim but my eagerness took over.  Hence I know now I can swim 200m. Onwards and upwards I say.  (On the ride home I stopped of at Sainsburys to pick up some stuff for my mum leading me to invent a rather odd new take on a triathlon)

Future Olympic Sport?

Also on Tuesday my Mind sports kit arrived.  I'm gonna have to start wearing it for my events.  I have to say it's all really good quality, especially the cycling jersey which has a secret zip pocket inside one of its pockets.  I'm very pleased with what Mind gave me (I requested extra kit for all my extra events and they sent me it for free).  Thanks Mind.  Inspired by this I entered my first cycling event for training.  I'll be riding the Evans Ride-it West London Sportive in January.  (See separate post)

Great kit! I LOVE the shade of blue!!

On Wednesday I decided it was time to take things a bit more gently having not had a rest day yet.  So I went for a slightly more relaxed run with my dog Barney.  He certainly loved it, though it might take a few more years of training (and some evolution) before I can keep up with him.  Anyway, it was a very nice to make a change of scenery and run cross-country.  I'll try to get some photos this year, but the lakes just opposite my house are beautiful and a great place to run.  40 minutes of running later and I couldn't tell who was more tired, me or the dog...

On Thursday I was planning on going cycling since I was planning on visiting my girlfriend in Cambridge from the weekend and was unlikely to be able to get out on the bike for a while.  I got up and really didn't feel like going for a ride, but I forced myself to get ready and head out.  Just before I left home to go for a steady simple 20km cycle I finally found my motivation.  I ran back inside, grabbed some energy gels and set off with the plan to go cycling to Richmond Park.  It's a lovely park and well known by cyclists (it was even used in the Olympic Road Race in 2012), but it is 20km away.  So I went for a long ride and braved some very fast and busy roads.  I only managed to fit in one lap of the park but I did see some deer and get amazing views of London.  56km later I was back home (I then had to rush to get to London to meet a friend to go to a gig: Wolf Alice for those who want to know, go check them out, they are awesome).  This park is also home to the London Duathlon which takes place next September (funds permitting you might want to watch this space)

Look closely and you'll see a deer

Come Friday it was back to the pool with me.  This session was a bit more structured than my last two.  I went out with the aim to repeat my 200m feat and maybe even push on to 250m (a third of my eventual goal).  I ended up managing to go 300m in one go with front crawl alone and another 350m piece with a couple of lengths of backstroke in the middle (practising in case I should need a breather in the race).  I'm finally starting to notice ways I can really improve my technique and getting more confident.  Maybe I'll even come to like swimming eventually.  I may also have entered another event today (see the next post)

At the weekend I took my first rest day.  I travelled up to Cambridge on the Saturday using my energy to drag a bag around in place of training.  It was great to see my girlfriend again.  Less great was getting ill.  As a result I spent Sunday as a rest day as well, feeling truly sorry for myself.


On to week 3

Jon

Leatherhead Duathlon (aka my first)

Having just got back in to training it was already time for me to take on my first race.  I'd entered just days before so was far from being at competition fitness.  Even still I used the experience to get some competition in my legs and to try my first transitions.

I woke up at 6 in the morning on a Sunday.  It's been a long time (thankfully) since I've been up that early for sport.  As I set off in the car with mum it was still dark and I had no idea what to expect.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous on the ride over.  When we got to Leatherhead I was met with a largely empty transition hall, save for a few keen athletes.  They were clearly here for business with some really expensive bikes.  Ah well, I wasn't there to win.  Time to learn from the pros.  I picked a spot near the entrance to transition and set my bike up.  Then I warmed up, listened to the briefing then headed over to the start line of my first (sprint) duathlon.  I was to muscle through a 5km run, 26km cycle and finally a 5km run.

As we lined up the ominous clouds that predictions had said would rain on us started to clear. Thankfully they held off for the duration of the event, but they had been busy through the night. This made for slippery roads and a muddy cross-country run route.  But that aside it turned out to be a lovely morning for my first duathlon.  After posing for a photo we had a count down and an air horn started us off.

See if you can spot me

Turns out I was rather ambitiously keen.  I started rather more close to the front than I meant to.  I was sixth over the line to start.  I went out hard to get my heart rate up, and for a couple of km I held off most people behind me.  Then once I was comfortably into the race I settled to my sustainable pace and held that for the rest of my run. Being as slow a runner as I am I got overtaken by about 30 people in the course of the run.  This certainly wasn't helped by the hill we had to manage.  Although the course was advertised as flat there was a long slow drag up a road during the run followed by a wet muddy descent.  Each 5km run was also made up of two laps of the same course.  Boy did I not love the hill on my second pass.

Far more happy after 5km of running than I should be

Soon enough the run was over and I came to my first ever transition.  This went much  more smoothly than I had thought it would.  I got to my bike, first helmet on, then change shoes.  And now grab bike.  Exactly as I had practised in my head.  I ran out of transition and before I knew it I was on the road.

The ride started up my favourite hill from the run.  Only on a bike it seemed much less deadly.  I quickly started to move up places, picking off those who had overtaken me last and were weak cyclists.  Oddly though my cycle computer wasn't working.  Then it dawned on me; I'd put my front wheel on the wrong way around.  Not a big issue, but I knew things had gone too smoothly thus far. Not a couple of minutes later I approached the first turning, close behind two other competitors.  They both followed the sign and eventually ended up on the pavement and, having followed them, so did I.  Seems mishaps were multiplying.  I quickly realised our error, got back on to the road and followed the roundabout on to my course.  I even obeyed the legal and correct way to navigate the roundabout, unlike the other two racers.  Though after my bike crash in March at a roundabout I've always been rather cautious.

The rest of the ride was pretty straight forward, if lumpy and unpleasant.  I did have a bit of a problem as I entered the longest descent.  No sooner did I get up to speed then my saddle bag made its bid for freedom  Turns out I'd caught its catch in transition (thank god for velcro straps).  So I had to pull up once the descent was over.  Otherwise the ride went well (if a little slowly for my liking).  Back in to transition.

Great pose by me, but nothing comes in the way of heart rate data

This transition went equally as smoothly.  Looks like I might be okay when it comes to August, but I think more practice is always good.  I don't remember a lot of the final run.  Only that it hurt and that I had to do that blasted hill twice more.  But eventually it was over and that was it.  I'd finished my first duathlon.  Just under 2 hours.  28th of 52.  So not exactly inspiring for my standards, but you know what I managed it.  Added bonus it came with a sweet medal.

Then it was time to get a lift home and there just time to stop off at mcdonalds for a recovery Chicken & Cheddar Classic.  I have to recommend it, it was just what I needed.  Now for some more training before my next race.

Jon

First Week of Training

SO there I am, plans made, events committed to.  Time to start training.  I'm taking day 1 to be 14th October for the matters of anyone who wants to know.  So where to start.  I have a list of events I'm currently trying to select from to fill my time from now until August.  But on this list was Leatherhead Duathlon on 19th October.  So why not I thought, a nice week of training to be ended with a sprint length duathlon (5km run, 22km bike, 5km run) to get some practice at transitions.  Nothing like a baptism of fire.

So, I booked the event and got around to getting back in to training.  On day 1 I pulled on some running shoes for the first time since running Reigate Half-Marathon with my girlfriend in September.  I only went for an 8km run, something that used to be a cool down at my fitness peak.  Not so much now.  This time it hurt, quite a bit, but it was nice to get back in to things.  I decided to do the same thing again on day 2, same run, same pain.  At least this time I knew what to expect.  Sunday sure isn't going to be easy.  I'm just glad there will be a 20km bike to break up my 10km of running.  Here enjoy one of my many photos:  (I'm taking at least one every day to produce an album of my year)

Come day 3 I decided it was time to bring out my road bike.  Since my injury she has sat unused for quite a while.  I tendered to her with some TLC and took her out for a spin.  40km later I got home.  It's safe to say I've spent a long time off of the saddle.  My legs hurt, a lot.  I've learned a valuable lesson; bring food! After an hour in the saddle you'll sure know if you don't.  Well lesson learned.  I have to take care of myself if I'm going to be able to ride 100 miles in August.  For now I've settled for a quarter of that, and hopefully in time that'll get longer and longer (or else I'll be stuffed come August...)  Here have a photo of my beautiful bike in question.  Yes I'm a bit nuts and talk about my bikes like they are people and call them things like beautiful and loyal.  Just ask my friends, they'll tell you all about my bike obsession, what with the 6 I own... (I'll get to that in another post)  Anyway here's my bike:

By day 4 (aka Friday) I'd spent enough time lying awake at night with visions of being in choppy water in a London dock, flailing in a useless manner to decide it was time to learn to swim properly.  I cycled off to my local leisure centre and hit the pool.  I haven't gone really swimming in a long time.  It was time to find out what I can do.  The answer is this, 100m continuous swimming.  I guess it's time to get cracking.  I'm going to do a lot of work on my technique and confidence.  Two sessions a week for now.  And in the new year I'll start arranging some open water sessions.  This is going to be my biggest challenge I feel.  Here's a really hot swimsuit selfie for those who want one (and for those who don't)

I think the horror there in my face perfectly sums up how I feel about the swim section of my triathlon.  There are certainly more restless nights to come.  With my race on Sunday I decided to take a nice light session on Saturday.  Just a low intensity 20km bike ride to get some more riding in my legs before my first ever duathlon.  On to that next...

P.S. If you want to see more photos there will soon be a link up on the right to the album, the same album is linked to my donations page so you can see it on there too.

Thanks for reading,

Jon

Start of Challenge

So here it is, my first attempt at a blog.  My inspiration for starting this blog is my grand plans to raise money for charity this year.  My means by which I intend to do this is through gaining sponsorship by taking part in lots of sporting events.  My chosen charity is Mind, the mental health charity.  In this post I hope to outline my major plans, my motivation and explain a bit about what Mind do.

So first I promised an out line of my plans.  But to understand these I think I should tell my back story first.  This summer just gone I finished my third and final year of my maths degree at Cambridge.  I had originally planned to go on to study a masters in Systems Biology at Cambridge this current year.  Things didn't quite work out that way.

MY STORY

For a long time I have been an avid rower (a little over 8 years but who's counting?).  All that time I had long dreamed of rowing for Cambridge against Oxford.  Now ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you aiming for the actual Boat Race would be just a little too ambitious.  However, Cambridge and Oxford have a Lightweight Boat Race too.  In my final year I decided to trial for Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club and was surprised with how well things went.  I made it all the way to March and was still in contention for a seat in the final 8-man boat to race Oxford on the 30th March 2014 ( a date so etched into my brain that I'll never forget it).  Hopefully I'll have the time in the future to tell the story of my trialling and explain a bit about lightweight rowing.  Suffice to say with under a month to go my dream was within reach.

This all came to a crushing end at 10am on Tuesday 11th March.  At this time I was cycling to lectures in the morning when I was hit by a car and knocked off of my bike.  I went to A&E and was told I had separated my shoulder.  Rowing was out of the question for at least 2 months and there was a chance I  might need surgery (thankfully it wasn't that bad in the end).  I went through a barrage of X-rays and inspections.  I'm not ashamed to say I cried once I was left alone in A&E.  My dream had gone, almost a year of training was wasted.  That day my life changed.

In the following weeks I supported my fellow triallists as best as I could.  And I celebrated with them when they absolutely destroyed Oxford on the 30th.  Then I went home and had time to let things settle in.  I had missed out, I couldn't row, I'd lost my biggest passion.  I really really struggled.  I returned to college to start preparing for exams in late April.  Up until this point in the year I had been maintaining a strong academic performance, much like in my first two years.  I needed a 2.1 to come back for my  masters and by all measures this should have been possible.  But that all changed.

Within a few days of returning to college it was clear something was wrong with me.  My driven motivated self was missing.  I went to the GP with my mum and sat as she explained how I felt since I couldn't bring myself to do it.  I had reached out to her the previous day and she rushed to my side and made me see my GP.  I sat and cried and my mum explained.  And that was it, I was officially depressed.  I started on a course of anti-depressants.

In the end things got better, but time waits for no man, and I was incredibly under-prepared for my exams.  I came out with a 2.2 and missed my offer.  I'm now waiting on an appeal to return for a masters next year.  But as it stands I now have an unscheduled year out of education.  I might elaborate on my illness in a later blog post, but take my word for it, you would not wish depression on anyone.  No matter what.  It is a horrible, all-encompassing illness.  Not an excuse for laziness, not a state of mind you can chose to have or not have, but simply an illness.

Sorry for the essay.  The main points are these: I was ill.  I missed my offer.  I have an unscheduled year out of education.

MY PLAN

So I have  a year out to do with as I please.  What should I do?  Well part of the effects of my depression was my stopping regular exercise.  I got out of shape.  Hence I'd like to use this year to get fit again.  Not only this but in my state of illness I came to really appreciate the difference that the support of others can make.  I know there's a reasonable chance I wouldn't have made it through my depression without the support of those close to me.  So for that I will always be thankful.  Thanks Mum and Dad, you were always there for me no matter what, I love you.  Also thank you Rob and Sam, you didn't pressure me, you just gave me the support I needed to get better.

Sorry for the intermission, back to my plans.  I have been inspired by what support can do for those suffering from mental illness.  As such I wanted to give something back to those who give that support in the hope that it can help others who are suffering.  Hence I decided to take on some sporting challenges in the hope I could raise money for a great charity called Mind (see later for more on them).

I've always enjoyed dabbling with road cycling so I decided to start there.  I signed up as a member of team Mind to ride the Ride-London event next August.  This is the nominal event for which I am raising money (but all my events are done with the hope of raising sponsorship).  This is a 100 mile cycle over a lot of the Olympic cycling route and by no means an easy challenge.  For more info see here. 

No sooner did I sign up for this then I had another idea.  I decided to sign up for the London Triathlon (see more here).  This was a very bold move on my behalf.  I've never been much of a runner and I've never swum in open water.  In fact at the time of speaking I've only swum a maximum of 100m in one go.  I've signed up for the 'sprint' distance.  This is half of an Olympic length triathlon and so consists of 750m swimming, 20km cycling and then 5km running.  Also this race is ONLY 6 DAYS after my 100 mile cycle.  It's going to be a challenge.  Only time will tell if this was a brave or a foolish idea on my behalf.  But yes, I'm going to be doing a lot of swimming this year.  

I will also be signing up for a lot of smaller scale events in the run up to practise and get fitter.  I'll keep you updated on these here on this blog.  But I've never done a multi-discipline event before so this is going to need practice (A slight lie as this post is over due, see my next two posts).  Anyway suffice to say I will be training hard and doing a lot this year to support my cause.

MY MOTIVATION (aka why Mind?)

I've already explained this in the most part.  I suffered with depression.  I now have a year to do with as I please.  I want to help others.  So why Mind?

Mind is a truly amazing charity.  They do a lot of work to support and help those with mental illness.  They also provide support and information for people helping to support those close to them who have mental illness.  Mind were a great help to me in my worst days.  They helped me understand my condition and made it easier to explain it to those close to me.  I could go on and on about how amazing they are but this post is already long enough.  Anyway the whole point of this story and my year is this: I am taking part in a whole bunch of physical challenges to raise money and support for Mind.

If you want to donate to my cause to support mind please do (I'll be eternally grateful).  But even if you do not want to, I urge you please to take the time to check out Mind's Website.  If nothing else please read about just one illness.  Knowledge is power and, in the case of mental illness, can be lifesaving.  The stigma associated with mental illness is long out-dated.  1 in 4 of us will suffer at the hands of mental illness and yet when we are most in need society makes us feel our most out-cast.  Mind does a lot of work to help break this stigma and make mental illness a matter for everyone to concern themselves with, like other major illnesses.  SO PLEASE, if nothing else, just a read a bit about mental health.  You never know, one day it might help you save a life.


I want to thank you for reading through my essay.  It really means a lot to me.  With your help we can change the way mental illness is treated for the better.  Any support you want to give me will be met with open arms and a beaming smile.  If you want to learn more about my experience, or about mental health in general, please get in touch.  I am more than happy to share as much of my experience and knowledge as possible in the hope it can help people in the future.  Thanks again for your time.


Should you want you can make a donation here:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=JonathanWilliams28

Jon