Ready for Scotland

It's come around quickly. This weekend is the long awaited trip to Scotland to attempt Ben Nevis. I'm packed, confirmations have been printed and we almost have a plan for getting to the airport. This trip has not been without its issues but hopefully there will be no sprains, illnesses or freak snowstorms between now and then. With any luck we'll make it most of the way up the mountain. Support bandages and plasters at the ready!

I'll let you know how it goes and post some pics and video. As a nod to Halloween I'm taking a packet of Frightful (fondant) Fancies to eat on the way up :)

I've only managed to do a bit of swimming in the past weeks but the situation with work is calming down and I'll soon have a bit more of a base and less time will be spent travelling so exercise will become a priority once more.

In fundraising news I've now exceeded £4000! Thanks to Lucy, Angela and my grandparents (again).

Target Exceeded!

The observant amongst you may have noticed that I updated my fundraising total last week without fanfare or fuss. I hinted a while back that I'd met my target but have finally updated the total and as you can see, am just a few pounds away from a massive £4000! I wouldn't have been able to do this without my family, my wonderful Aunt who wore out a lot of shoe leather around her village on my behalf, my grandparents and my parents who have great belief in me, and of course everyone else who has donated or pledged money to the charity. Thank you all so much!

So I'm definitely going to Tanzania! I'm absolutely thrilled and so excited. Of course there's a lot of training still to do and peaks in the UK to climb, all of which I'll keep you updated on in the next few months.

Royal Parks Half Accompished!

I did it! My first half marathon in 2 years and I did it in 2:10:10. I'm really pleased because although that might not be a quick time in your eyes it's a personal best and far exceeded what I thought I'd achieve. I even got a new P.B. at 6miles even though I wasn't going all out. Something to aim to beat again at next year's Bluewater 10km. I was planning a run/walk strategy but in the end I ran the whole thing with only a brief pause at the last water station. I did get overtaken by a hot dog and a man in a lime green mankini (there was one of them at the Bluewater 10k too...) but did overtake the Cat in the Hat :)

There was a real sense of comaraderie in the tubes heading to Hyde Park, everyone in their kit waiting for the trains, little old ladies wishing us luck, discussing P.B.'s and other events. The event itself was very well organised given that there were 15,000 people running. Got a nice lot of freebies including Lucozade, Mars bars and Oasis. Not much of a goodie bag, just a canvas bag, bottle of lucozade, water and a banana. The medals were cool though, made of wood. Couldn't have asked for better weather, cool, overcast and dry. The route was lovely, going through the parks and along the river, past Big Ben and Trafalgar Square. I felt like a real tourist! I don't think I stopped grinning for the first 6 miles or so.

I only really struggled in the last three miles due to my right knee starting to hurt. Had to limp my way to the medical tent afterwards to get it strapped up and I'm now the proud owner of some ibruprofen gel and a couple of good supports. Must look after myself. That said I can't wait to do it all again. Thanks to Sarah for giving me the chance this year. Hope my time was good enough ;)

I have since found out that Ben Fogle, Charlie Boorman and James Cracknell's wife ran too. Wish I'd had the chance to meet them as I especially admire Ben Fogle. Maybe at the next one...

I've got some video footage of the race which I'll put up towards the end of the week.

Royal Parks Half

It's been a while since I blogged but I've been keeping busy. A few things have happened all at once which have meant less time for blogs and so on. I've been moved to a new assignment at work, involving hotel stays, OU exam is looming next Wednesday, Ben Nevis plans have fallen into place and the Royal Parks half marathon that I'm running is on Sunday.

So evenings have consisted of revision and running. Cycling, cross training and swimming will begin to feature again next week (after a bit of a break). I ran about 10 miles on Sunday and felt great for it and this week I've done 2.5 and 5 miles with a 3.5/4 for this evening, being the last run before the event. I was feeling pretty scared about it earlier but have found renewed faith from somewhere (did it coincide with the new Runners World magazine?) and am really looking forward to it. I'm not aiming for a very fast time. Anything below 2.5 hours will be great and a PB at that distance for me (I wasn't terribly prepared for my previous half, with hindsight). Yes I'm beginning to feel like an athlete.

Thankfully I didn't get into the London Marathon, realistically I wouldn't have time to train properly and I'm looking forward to mixing things up a bit and then having a break after Kili.

I'll let you know how I do on Sunday!