Week 1

13^th – 19^th November

Miles run – 3.66

Amount raised – £0.00

Outlook – Baby steps

So technically my first run back was on Saturday 12^th however it was easier to start this blog from Sunday to Saturday, so we’re discounting that. Therefore, second run, a cheeky little 5k-ish number to get the legs moving. Nothing much to say really managed a 09:30 or so minute mile which is good, gotta get some speed in my legs during all this training. My half marathon in the summer was sloooooow and I don’t really feel yet that I've found my pace. I always feel like I could be running faster, but then on the other hand I never want to wear myself out too much so I don’t push as hard as I could.

Gemma (housemate) tells me one of her colleagues at work helps to run a local athletics club and that she’s told him about me. I’m going to get his number off her as I think that might be helpful to keep me focussed and push me during my training. No sponsorship effort made yet, only just got the justgiving page updated. Will ask close family and friend to start me off before the hard yards start. Preparing a ‘Where in the World is Santa?’ game ready for December as another way to raise some dosh, I think this is especially good in the month before Christmas when people don’t have a lot of money to spare - £1 a go isn’t too expensive and gets some money in the bank early.

Week 0

6^th – 12^th November

So here it begins, getting ready for training week 1 for the London marathon. First I should start with a bit of background I guess, slightly more detail than my justgiving blurb that I posted for my first message above. I am indeed running the marathon next year, with a couple of friends of mine. First is Justine, my running coach and ambition enabler. Justine is a marathon pro, this will be number 4 for her (London, New York and Berlin so far) and she isn’t starting training until the New Year, whereas for us beginners the training starts now. I had agreed in principal to run the Chicago marathon with Justine next year – she’s on her way to completing the big 5. But when she got her spot in the ballot for London our plans changed slightly. We’re now possibly looking at 2013 for Chicago; however I’ll see how London goes first!

The other person we’re running with is Terry; he’s one of Justine’s friends and completed Berlin with her this September, stating at the end I might add that he was never running again! Terry is going to be my companion on the way around the course I think as I think we’re going to be slightly off Justine’s pace and I’m sure she’d love to beat her previous London effort.

My plan is to start getting the long runs in at least before Christmas, build the weekly mileage up gradually and then push on with a major training plan once January comes around. I must admit since the Duathlon in September I’ve done very little running, the occasional parkrun on a Saturday or gentle jog with Hannah, so I’m not looking forward to this very much, I think it’s going to hurt quite a lot.

I’m going to try to blog weekly to update on progress, miles run, how I feel about everything and how I’m doing on the sponsorship front. I’m hoping that doing this will help me to keep motivated and get through the training during the cold winter months.

So it starts here kids, off we go!

Why am I running?

Hi everyone,
As some of you may know, I started running back in February as a way to relax from an increasingly stressful job - when you have three lots of road rage on your two mile commute then something needs to change! I found it a great way to relax, and started challenging myself to see what I could achieve. To that end last July I completed my first half marathon, and in September my first, and possibly last, duathlon.

After surviving (and on occasion enjoying) that, I wanted a further challenge and what better way to test yourself than completing one of the world's best marathons, in a year where all eyes will be on London for the Olympics.

Having made that decision, then I wanted to find someone to benefit from this challenge - as great as the positives are for me (less stressed, infinitely fitter) if I'm going to put all this effort in then someone else should definitely benefit from it as well!

I decided on Whizz-Kidz as the charity that I am going to run for. Whizz-Kidz are a great organisation that are working towards getting the 7,000+ disabled children in this country more suitable wheelchairs and mobility aids to allow them to lead full and active lives like any other child. We all know what standard NHS wheelchairs are like, we've seen them at hospitals and that's no wheelchair for a child - they are difficult to manouevre and often require someone else to push them. Whizz-Kidz want to provide disabled children with wheelchairs that can keep up with whatever it is that they want to do, be that going across the mud in the park with their friends, or being independent and getting themselves around town. The best part is that they not only provide chairs and aids that help them to get around, but they also provide them with safety training so that when they do go out and about on their own they can do so in a safe way.

So please, dig deep and donate, and help me to not just meet my sponsorship target but absolutely smash it! And if you're available on 22nd April 2012, you know where I'll be.

Many thanks
Stephanie.