5 Challenges

As my last two posts have been very focused on jogging I thought it may be sensible to explain why this is as if any one actually reads this blog they may be surprised by the sudden change in focus.
As I have previously said my Mum passed away in December, my Mum was a massive inspiration to me and so, as I think is practically unavoidable, I started to think of what I could do to honour her, she was not a big one for sentiment for sentiments sake so I doubted that buying a plaque or other memorial would be worthwhile so instead I thought I should raise money for the pancreatic cancer trust - pancreatic cancer is the 5th most common cancer and people diagnosed are afforded just a 3% survival rate. - my plan therefore was to run the marathon for PCT, the only problem being that I doubted I could run down the road yet alone 26 Miles!

Last year however a very good friend of mine decided he was going to run the London Marathon, when he announced it in October I think most people found it hard to believe as he was not someone you would have thought of as a marathon runner.

After 6 and a bit hours however he crossed the finish line showing everyone who had doubted him that they were wrong and showing me that if you had the spirit and motivation that you could achieve your goals. So now I had decided next year I would be crossing that finish line either by jogging or pure determination, but I would be doing it.

But what to do and when? My first plan was to run the Windsor half marathon in October and then the London Marathon in April. However whilst working towards this (including a very sobering 1st Mile jog that really showed how much work I had to do.) I was asked through my work to join the 10,000 steps challenge.

This challenge involves walking 10,000 steps a day - as an office worker I was currently on about 4,000 so it is a substantial increase. - as it fit into my training schedule and the money I raised still went to, pancreatic cancer I  agreed and now had three challenges.

The next big change to the plan happened when I went online to book my place at Windsor only to find that they were full. As my training would take at least 20 weeks I couldn't really bring the half marathon forwards and I am going to Florida two weeks after so I did not have many options as to when I can run - to be honest the 7th October was my only free day, so I needed to find another half marathon on that day. As luck would have it there were several including the royal parks and one in Surrey, unfortunately as my luck would have it they were sold out too.

At this point I started to worry that I would not get selected for the London Marathon, as the public ballot isn't until October, and by that time everything else would be full so even if I didn't quit I may end up failing just through not being ready to commit in time. After a considerable period searching I found the Bleinham Palace half marathon on the right date, although not particularly near to home. The main problem however is that it is for the British Heart Foundation and I had intended to do both runs for Pancreatic Cancer but I am sure my Mum would have forgiven the deviation and it is still a worthy cause, and fits into my schedule. At the same time I decided I needed a back up plan in the likely event I am not selected in the London Ballot. Looking at other local marathons I saw that it was the last date to sign up for a guaranteed place for Brighton so I signed up there and then to at least make sure I had a half and full marathon booked, even if they wouldn't be my first choices.

So with three challenges set in place I started to like the idea of completing 5 challenges, if I am honest I picked 5 only as I think it sounds good. My 4th challenge is a family affair as I will be completing the Chiltern 3 peaks challenge with my Dad and my Sister to raise money for Ian Rennie Hospice at home (I know I had planned to raise all the money for PCT and this is in fact my third charity but Ian Rennie really helped my Mum so my Dad wants to give something back and again they are a great cause so I still think it is good.)

So that is my current plan.

2nd July to Mid August = 10,000 Steps for Pancreatic Cancer Trust

September = Chiltern 3 Peaks for Ian Rennie Hospice

7th October = Bleinham Half Marathon for British Heart Foundation

14th April 2013 = London or Brighton Marathon for Pancreatic Cancer Trust

As you may have noticed this leaves me short by one challenge and to be honest I have no idea what to do for it. But the way things have been so far I am pretty sure something will turn up.

Serious runner, or forget everything.

Had a big decision to make today, 2 months into my training and my wife offered to get me custom fitted for some running shoes as an anniversary gift. Whilst this may not seem like the biggest decision in the world it was huge for me as if I let her purchase them for me then it increases the pressure not to give up on my training, for the first time someone else has invested in me and shown belief that what I am doing is serious and more than just the usual post Marathon season fad. This morning if I quit it all I would be letting myself down, now if I quit I would be letting us both down.

In the end what swayed me to get it done was the same reason that it scared me. That someone believed in me enough to put their money on backing me not to give up.

The custom fitting was done at Running Free in Parkstone in Poole http://www.runningfree.net/ the actual fitting took about 15 minutes and involved running up and down the shop then swapping shoes and trying again. Luckily the shop was mostly empty so it wasn't too embarrassing (always the main worry for someone of my protracted knackerdness) after three trips up and down the store I was informed that I needed lots of support for my arches (This is about as technical as I can get) but the long and the short of it is that I left the store with a new pair of Nike Zoom structure+ 15.
Now to make sure I don't let her down.

Jogging in Poole

As I was down in Dorset to visit my Nan my jog today was in Poole. The plan for today was for 4 Miles so I ran around Upton Lake, it was a far cry from my usual exhaust filled runs on the A23. The sun was bright but had not got too strong and the breeze coming off the lake was very refreshing, although got a little too blowy at times. The path was good condition and smooth - another welcome change to street running. Only real killers were the inclines that went over the railway and the lakes inlets but a good bit of hill training always mixes it up a bit.

The jog was my fastest yet coming in at 7 MPH and taking only 30 mins to complete 3.8 miles. The path I took led to the gates of Upton Country Park so a great deal of scope to extend the run, just a shame my next jog will be back home swapping boats and breezes for Crawley in a rush hour.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/108482449