Shoes, shoes, shoes

Well not the greatest of marathon prep but I sit here writing this post in a pub. However, it is not all bad. Just came from Asics store in Oxford Circus. Two of our three man team went along for a full running assessment. They take a 3d scan of your feet (weird) measuring everything from the height of your little toe to the long toe nail I should of cut before going! Then they put you on a treadmill and measure you gait, not the one at the front of you house but, the length and direction of your running style. What we learnt is that I run like kaiser soze, and have been doing so for years. Apparently I have slight pronation on my right foot. News to me. This then led to a direct recommendation of the right shoe for me. In the past I have gone for the ones that look cool, what I left the store with is something that looks like I should be running on the moon with. My daughter would call them sparkly! The proof as they say will be in the pudding, hopefully these will keep me injury free and help shave off those valuable few seconds, whatever happens I should be able to run faster as my pocket is now considerably lighter. I will let you know my progress. Again don't forget to sponsor us, it won't make my wallet heavier but it will make wellchild's, a great charity helping children in the UK.
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=truegits_wellchild&pageUrl=2&isTeam=true

It's not all about running

I am finding out its not all about pounding the streets, it is also not about my new gym membership and the endless weights I am struggling to lift. One of the hardest challenges is raising money, we have an amazing charity called wellchild who do amazing work with children in the UK. But it's hard getting our message out there, we have had several brain storming seasons, some less drunken then others! And I think we have some good ideas (which will be unveiled in due course) But as a massive Arsenal fan I wanted to do something that would combine my passion for running and football. Today I had an amazing meeting with The Tollington Pub (just down the road from the Emirates) and they have agreed to help us. So together we are going to plan an amazing night for all you gunners fans, prices, excitement, 3 points! The works! So keep checking back to find out more, in the mean time please make a donation http://t.co/PCmXFrsg

It ain't grim up north!

I woke up this morning feeling fresh (as fresh as one feels after a bottle of vino the night before!) and ready to kick start my training. It was a beautiful coastal run in sunny Whitburn (although muddy, windy and wet!) and with a beach finish, Rocky Style! One down, god knows how many more to go!

Hard work ahead

Believe it or not I sit here waiting for the electric man to come and tell me my meter has not been working properly for a number of months and try to charge me more then a trip to the moon in back payments. And I just started thinking maybe I should do a page in our blog, then this lacklustre feeling comes over me and I realise it's the same when i think about running at the mo. I have been putting in a lot of effort, going further and running more then I would usually do, trying out new speed techniques (which were working but have seemed to have stopped), but I still feel lack lustre. Everything hurts, legs, feet, back and I am knackered, I think the thought of proper marathon training scares me and makes feel more uninspired. The thought of the charity getting the money and all the good work they do inspires me but the amount of money we need to raise terrorises me.

Maybe the self imposed chocolate ban that will lift this Sunday might get me out of the lol, spending time with the family will also help. It's all probably down to the fact that our summer appears to be over in March. Anyway someone sponsoring us will help.

Shoot the runner

... But I've done it, I've already taken on the beast and emerged victorious?! What's more I said to my own father that if the idea ever surfaced again, he had full permission to shoot me! I hated the cold winter nights of training in solitude, the aching limbs, the self discipline it required to run further than my previous furthest ever distance every single week!... So why?, why go through all that again, and 8 years older too!

Four reasons actually. Two of them will be running it with me, third is that I now consider running as something close to a hobby (I say close to as I'm not sure how many hobbies make you groan at the thought of it) and once it became so, it was always something that was in the back of my mind to have another crack at. Last and by no means least is the charity we are raising money for, WellChild. The biggest changes in my life have probably come in the years between this marathon and the last and perhaps the biggest of all is that I now have a child of my own, so running it for WellChild is a real privilege and their amazing work holds real resonance with me.

So there it is, with a whole year to prepare and fundraise, April 21 2013 is in the diary, let's just hope my dad forgot the deal I made with him.

Marathon - go, go, go

Well here is my first post, after taking the plunge on Monday (26th March) and signing up to my first marathon, it soon dawned on my what a momentious challenge we have all under taken, not just the fact we have to raise a lot of money, not just the fact that our chosen charity WellChild is depending on us and that children all through the UK are depending on them, no not just any of these but the fact is that it is 26.2 miles(42.195km)!!! That's further then I normally I drive!!
With my head a buzz I set off for my run home normally a steady 7.5k (we deal in km here not that mile stuff), it was about 6k, when my headphones stopped working, then i decided I would go a bit further, a bit further later at 14k and the second time I had looped past my house and was running up the hill towards Manor House station, the crazy idea to run a half marathon distance now, right here, crossed my mind. The mind was willing but the body was not able, but I ploughed threw, the pace slowed but I got there and in accordance with my good friend Runkeeper (iPhone app) bt the time I reached my door I had gone over the half marathon distance by 1.7km. Safe to say I was knackered. I could feel my legs aching so I decided there was only one thing for it, an ice bath. Which all i can say was very cold!
The next day my knees were the thing that hurt the most and the next day. So hopefully that is not a sign of things to come!
So I sit hear writing my first ever blog entry I dont know who is reading this and who I am probably boring reading this, but if you are not Andrew and Paul and not my wife then please sponsor us here
We have just signed up to Virgin Money fundraising, we have picked our name True Gits and being designers have been conceptulising the posters and marketing, so look out for a bombardment soon.