6,534 miles for the only medal of 2020

2020 is obviously a year which none of us will ever forget. I am very thankful however, that much of the ongoing fitness has been possible, and I have remained free-of-injury for the entire year. And the year has ended with a single medal, which took me 6,534 miles to achieve. 

Here is the medal, against the mirrored shine of Balbirnie's Long Gallery 2020 Christmas tree. 

 

As part of the scope of entering for this medal, everyone had to provide their own 20 character medal wording: 

Nicola Philp is a fellow member of the amazing, local, friendly and inclusive (£20 per year for membership) Glenrothes Triathlon Club, and was Race Director for the 2019 Balbirnie Duathlon. 

Reflecting back on my 7 year fitness journey, it's certainly fair to say, that nearly all of it has been target-driven. Sign in for an event, you know it's going to take place, fail to prepare, prepare to fail, and vice versa to the contrary! 

At this time last year I needed a really good motivational tool, by which to train for July 2020 IronMan Austria. We only found out that the event was cancelled, a few weeks before it was due to take place. By which time I was certainly fairly well prepared and ready to go. Weight continues to drop for 3 weeks through the apex of preparing for an IronMan. My summer 2020 weight dropped to near 12 and a half stones, and that was with supplementing the evening meal every night! 

So, what was the VR 3000? Virtual Reality 3000 miles. Here's how it works, 1 mile running or fast walking = 1 mile. 1 mile swimming = 4 miles running. 4 miles cycling = 1 mile walking. Annual target 3000 miles combined. All aspects must be recorded on Strava, either in the real or Virtual world. Nicola collates all accumulating records for all involved, and sends out a weekly Sunday 5pm email, so everyone involved can see where they are, and where they are meant to be! The entire challenge was split into options of either 1,000 or 2000 or 3000 miles. 

Hence, my total journey for 2020 was 6,534 miles. This equates as Markinch to Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur, host city for the 2019 global hotel awards! 

With swimming very constrained indeed during 2020, I was mostly focussed on cycling and running. Fast walking was only officially introduced as an option during Lockdown, and I had one (September onwards) 500 mile section of fast and turbo walking combined. As an average weekly basis, my commitment to achieve the VR 3000 took a weekly input averaging 11.5 to 12 hours, sometimes more than that. 

Focussed on not injuring myself, in all honesty I can certainly say that I would be able to retrospectively state that many 2020 miles could be classified by coaches in training terms, as 'age and capability junk miles', for example, 'rolling down the road' on Wattbike, at an easy pace with the singular purpose of racking the mileage. Many other hours however, were not, it's a matter of putting the body through what it can withstand, without getting an injury. The VR 3000 overview gave me a great understanding that fitness per se, can perhaps be better termed as 'conditioning', as you are 'simply conditioning' the body to cope with what will be asked of it in the future. 

Within the weekly 11.5 to 12 hours of training, there were however so many times that ever so gradually, I put myself through levels of endurance, which I hadn't done before. The results were the breaking of every single running Personal Best record, for all distances, and a steady increase in cycling capability, to reach Functional Threshold Power (the most power you can deliver over a measured sustained 20 minutes), of 267 Watts. If you want a full technical breakdown of 6 months of 2020 IronMan preparation and training, here's the 2020 fitness blog.

I finished the VR 3000 at the end of November, and during December I pretty much had the month off. First time per se, with a rest like this, since 2014. Time for body recovery, and a physical and mental rest as well. And I have to say, oh my goodness me I cannot wait to get started with training again. New Year's Day 2021, a 10k slow run beckons. 

So, goodbye to 2020, and wonderful news to start 2021. Because Nicola has offered to repeat another VR challenge for 2021! This time around, I've entered the VR 2000 section, my reasoning being that I've now nailed a 3000, and will be better placed for IronMan training focussed on 8 to 9 total hours training per week, focussed absolutely on 100% quality training, with continual provision for really punchy sessions, with many more repeating bursts of sustained speed, as I think these combine to deliver much better overall conditioning. 

Having embraced the 2020 VR in the knowledge that fast walking wasn't originally included, in many ways I've found that I absolutely Love fast walking, maybe even more so I think, than slow pace running. I'll flag this up now in case you see me heading down Markinch High St, a confession! 

Here's a link to that Nordic Walking clip. So, I'm ordering my poles! 😎 Nordic Walking, google the tutorials, this subject matter has global coaching. Simply put, the entire upper body gets a workout comparable to legs fast walking/ running. Now that has to work! There's even such a thing as a Nordic Walking World Cup! 

Nicola Philp has made two very significant VR challenge changes for 2021. Firstly, the opening challenge distance has very significantly reduced from 1000 to 500 miles. This means that someone could achieve it with two or so+ hours of fast walking per week. Maybe that someone is You! Secondly, 4 miles cycling = 1 mile walking/ running, has now changed to 3 miles cycling = 1 mile walking/ running. That's fairer and more relevant. 

Whilst writing this Blog, I've just received the final 2020 VR email. 

For those us who were of a mind to try 2020's 3000 category:

A massive congratulations to all fellow finishers. NB Andrea Gillan, and what a final weekly push from Alexandra Kotowicz to cross the line, both are also GTC members. 

In the 1000 category, well that's quite a story for my very lovely wife Gaynor, who enjoyed the challenge so much, ended up more than doubling the achievement, and finishing top of the leaderboard. 

You can sign up for the 2021 VR Challenge (£22 Entry) via this link:

***365 day Swim Bike Run Challenge*** 

All best wishes for 2021, 

Nicholas 

MD Balbirnie House 

THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE HOSPITALITY TUNNEL

Our sincere gratitude to everyone who has visited Balbirnie House since we re-opened. Delivering Bistro al Fresco was a summer 2020 we'll never forget, and when we moved back inside to open 'Food in the Woods' in our Millennium Ballroom, we were truly on a roll, until we were placed under all ongoing and enhanced, accelerating Tier restrictions. 

Thank you to all who have encouraged us, and those who have sent us a never-ending ongoing stream of messages of support. This has literally meant the world to our brigade. 

The scale of challenge across the span of Scotland Hospitality was already epic beyond belief, and then came the announcement last week, of a further 3 week Tier 4 Lockdown, to begin on Boxing Day. 

In breaks between yesterday's sessions running The Pass in our main kitchens, I thought I'd share a few statistics on a thread over on our main twitter feed.

It's easy to gauge reactions, so today's Blog post is an expanded and simplified adaptation of the thread. 

Our initial March 2020 Lockdown was a £1M hit. We are now estimating a further 250k loss, trying our absolute best to trade during all imposed Tier restrictions, in the timeline July 2020 to end December 2020. We estimate that the new 2020 Boxing Day 3 week Lockdown, will cost a further 130k. This now totals a quite staggering 'differential' compared to where we would have been if Covid hadn't happened, of £1.38M ... So let's hope that it's a once in a century circumstance!

As we moved through summer 2020, we were very fortunate indeed to receive Scottish Enterprise PERF (Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund) grant assistance of £85,000 - which now equates to 6% of that differential. A drop in the ocean, therefore. 

2020 financial cover has been arranged by company directors. If we completely forget about where we would have been if Covid had never happened, and instead only consider our net position today, this is covered by the loss of previously accumulated cash reserves (which were held for a very, very rainy day), a new £300,000 CBILs loan, and a new £200,000 overdraft facility. 

But there is now light at the end of the hospitality tunnel, specifically as the Covid vaccine rollout has now initiated. 

It is absolutely staggering in all contexts, but we are now holding bookings for 190 weddings at Balbirnie House, in 2021 alone. We cannot wait to resume normal trade. 

Simply put, it's now a case nationally, of what remains of the Scotland Hospitality sector, somehow being able to sustain itself until being able to trade normally again. 

Perhaps it's the case that as vaccinations are being given to those most vulnerable first, then those over 80 years old, then those over 75 years old, and so on, that Tier restrictions can similarly and quickly reduce in a way which is ratcheted to the vaccine rollout? Until then reaching the point where we once again reach totally unrestricted trading. 

Having traded through Tiers, we now know that losses are incurred in our circumstances specifically, for illustrative purposes: 

Tier 1 £500 per day

Tier 2 £1,000 per day

Tier 3 £2,000 per day

Tier 4 (suspended trading) £6,400 per day, gradually reducing after 3 months to £3,300 per day

Whereas as a generality, if we are able to deliver unrestricted trading, we usually generate positive EBITD (Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation) with an annual average of between £1,100 and £1,350 per day. And it is possible that this may increase to circa £2,000 per day when we fully re-open, as our diary is so busy. 

Without doubt, we're incentivised to start trading normally again as soon as is possible, so we can also begin to make inroads into the negatives experienced in 2020. It will certainly take us a few years to get back to where we were. 

Scotland's entire Hospitality sector is now awaiting a promised update from Scotland's government, setting out new financial support measures. It is clearly the case, that the sector needs to be supported between now and the resumption of unrestricted trading.

The full overview is very eloquently defined by Marc Crothall in an open letter from The Scottish Tourism Alliance to Scotland's First Minister. 

In the meantime, as we are entering Tier 4 on Boxing Day, we're now going to take the 3 week opportunity to deliver a Takeaway, hereby christened earlier this morning by (Duty Manager) Lewis McNab as "FEAST IN THE FOREST!"

Whilst otherwise closed and operating in suspended trading, our wedding planning department are setting up Zoom Virtual Special Events office beside the 2020 Long Gallery Christmas tree. It's going to be a lovely office! 

Traditionally, the days immediately following Christmas, and into the beginning of The New Year, are always the very busiest of the year for incoming new wedding enquiries. Our very best wishes to everyone who gets engaged over the 2020 festive season. 

Nicholas Russell / MD Balbirnie House