Fundraising struggles & great boyfriend

Told Dion yesterday that I was starting to get really worried about my fundraising and that I might have to donate a large part of it myself. Hate asking people for money, even if it’s for a good cause. Feel like I’ve been sending out so many emails/invitations etc that people must get really sick of me. At the same time I’m putting in a lot of hard work and yes I’m doing it partly because it’s a dream of mine to run the marathon, but a big part of why I’m doing it is also so to help HEART UK keep on doing a great job and save lives. I chose the charity because of what happened to Dion’s dad and I know there are a lot of people that can relate to having lost someone close to them due to heart disease/heart attack.

Got a long email from Dion today about how he’s been thinking of how we together could raise some money and it really touched me that he’s been spending time thinking about it. Then he pointed me to his facebook profile which made me just as happy.
I’m the first to admit that it’s hard doing this on my own. All the training makes me more tired (and emotional) than usual and worrying about not being able to raise enough… spins in my head. So thanks Dion for being so considerate and supportive and thanks to everyone who have already sponsored me and to those of you who will. It means the world to me and to the people that money will go to.

Hard run

Went for a 2hrs 15min run today through Hyde Park, Green park St James park, over westminister and all the way over to and around Battersea park and then up via Sloan square back into Hyde park and home. The run was a lot harder than the other weeks. Think I was wearing too many clothes and waited too long after breakfast so didn't feel that full of energy. Plus my knees were taking a toll as well. Was pretty painful towards the end and it got me really worried.
Starting to doubt that I'll be able to run it under 4 hours and I suppose is ok, I did after all miss a months training due to illness, but if me knees are hurting this much after about 23.5km, what are they going to feel like after 42km?!
Feeling a little bit down...and scared. Today's run wasn't fun after 1hrs 45min so I'm starting to get worried about how I'll feel during the actual run. I know there will be lots of supporters there, but still. Tiredness I can cope with but when I feel my body is giving in... that worries me.

Time to put ice on my knees and try to keep the pain away :(

My sports bra gives me bruise like things

A bit of a random post but… I ran 13km (just over 8 miles) this morning and noticed afterwards that I had a couple of centimetres long red line in the middle just underneath my breasts, right there where a normal bra joins in the front. Have gotten smaller red lines before, but today’s one isn’t that pretty. It doesn’t hurt or anything but it makes me wonder what I’m going to look like after 42km.

Getting closer

The countdown on the Flora London Marathon site says 1 month 26 days left. Can’t believe it’s so close!!! I’m starting to feel really nervous, super excited, a little bit scared but also a bit sad. Sad that it’s all going to be over soon. Sure, I feel a bit tired and it’s not always fun to put on the running shoes, but I’m really enjoying it all.
Met up with HEART UK at the Holiday Inn – Blomsbury on Monday. Some of the girls that I met at the training seminar was there and no matter how nerdy it sounds it’s great to be with them, talk about how the training is going, share your concerns and not the least get really excited about the day. I’m really going to miss it all when it’s over. Thinking about joining a running club to keep up my motivation and have other people to share it with.

Other than loving being part of the big buzz my training is going really well too and I love it!!! Can definitely feel that my shape has improved immensely since I started my marathon training in November. This morning I cycled into work, did pretty hard interval training for 30 min plus ran another 30min and I didn’t even feel tired afterwards.
This Saturday I’m having my last drink until after the marathon and it’s time to really get-serious and be good to my poor body that puts up with all the hard work. I’m doing 5 days of training this week and are going to keep it up until tapering time a couple of weeks before the big day. That combined with cycling 40 min back and forth to work 4 days a week, should hopefully improve my stamina even more and get me well prepared on the big day.

A little bit sad

It’s great, but it’s also a bit sad. As soon as I see someone being out running I really envy them and wish it was me. Today is an absolutely gorgeous day. The sun is shining, the air is really clear… Cycling to work this morning through Hyde Park all I could think of was that I wanted to go out for a long run. I kept looking over to the trail where I ran yesterday, thinking of how good it felt to be in that complete running mode where you don’t really have to do anything but your legs just keep moving by themselves. You hear your steady breathing, your feet touching the ground, the music in your ears, Nike+ giving me constant updates on my progress… I want to go out again, right now!!! Can’t wait for the mornings/evenings to become a little bit lighter so that I can start running into/back from work.
I think it's fair to say that I've gotten properly bitten by running and am starting to get addicted to it. Oh dear...

Just ran half a marathon and got my first blister

Today I went out for my second long run since after I've been ill. The weather wasn't as nice as last Sunday and a lot windier too but too my surprise I've realised that I actually like a bit of head wind. Probably pushed it a little bit running just over 2 hrs and 21 km (half a marathon - yaaaaay!!!) compared to last week when I ran 1hr 33 min and 16.3 km. I know it's the worse thing you can do but the excitement from yesterday really filled me up and my knees where fine for most of the way so I kept on going.
I took in what Sam Murphy said yesterday about not doing your long runs at a really slow pace but somewhat closer to the pace you expect to run the actual marathon. I didn't want to push it too much so ran at a really comfortable speed and only started getting a little bit tired during the last couple of kilometers. It was no way near the feeling I had after the half marathon I did in 2004, which must mean I'm a lot fitter today :) The thought of running the double distance in 10 weeks time is scary, but I'm running half a marathon at a easy, steady pace in two hours, without having to walk, so I'm sure I'll be able to do the double distance :)

Flora London Marathon Golden Bond training seminar

Today I went to the FLM training seminar for all of us guaranteed place runners. It was a really good event and I met my charity, HEART UK, and some of my teammates. Being there and hearing all the advices from amongst others David Bedford, Sam Murphy and Liz Yelling about nutrition, training, how to prepare for it etc, has completely sent my motivation level raising to the sky. They showed a video of what we can expect on the day and I nearly started crying. The feeling and the day itself will be amazing and since HEART UK are one of the two official sponsors of the marathon, we'll be a really big group so look out for the red vest and the red shoelaces :)

In a world that's so full of constant wars and battles it's great to see that the event has such a great support. Obviously we as runners are putting in a lot of effort but everyone who is sponsoring us... wow! The average amount that was raised per runner last year was around £3000 meaning that the average single donation from each person sponsoring is about £40! It's really amazing how generous people are and I'm so thankful for the people that have sponsored me already. I really didn't expect some of you to dig so deep.

I'm so excited at the moment I can hardly sit still. I'm really looking forward to my long run tomorrow and after having met the people from my charity, I've really realised what an amazing job they are doing and what a difference it makes. All that is needed to save lives is creating awareness and I'm so proud of running for them. I'm really going to do all I can to support the charity of the next few months and tomorrow my redlaces, which are a symbol of HEART UK, are going on my shoes.