It’s just shy of a fortnight since Heart Research UK agreed to take a chance on me and welcomed me onto their London Marathon Team.
The fundraising is going brilliantly – a huge thank you to everyone who is supporting me – and I’m staggering reasonably well towards the miles on legs target. I’m up to 40 a week, completing my longest run to date on Saturday: 18.5 really-blooming-hard solo miles. Same again this week, and then I’ll hike it up the week after.
Just to be clear, in case anyone is thinking that I’m some kind of running wunderkind, I haven’t started from scratch.
Previously, on Little Miss Mileage...
I gave up smoking, almost four years ago, and began running in a regular but, truth be told, desultory fashion in an effort to combat the post-smoking weight gain. I was amazed to discover that I actually rather enjoyed it. So, I ran as part of a marathon relay team – we ran about six miles each – and completed a six mile Race for Life. I was hooked.
Then, when contemplating the big four-oh at the end of 2009, I drew up a little list of things I wanted to achieve at the grand old age of 40. Running a half-marathon seemed like a really good idea. I know, I know. What was I thinking? So, I trained and, in the end, actually ran three – all around the two hour mark.
Then, in Spring 2010, I was lucky enough to meet – let’s call her SG (she knows why) – my running buddy of almost a year now. After quite a long injury-break, she was keen to get back into running and wanted someone to cajole / encourage / bully her into training for the London Marathon 2011. She is running for the mental health charity, Mind.
Having worked hard with her, running a marathon seemed like a fantastic goal for me in 2011. I know, I know. What was I thinking? So, when a place running for Heart Research UK came up, I jumped at the chance.
The ad I responded to in my local freebie newspaper.
Anyway, because this is more than likely a once-in-a-lifetime thing – who am I kidding, I’ll be surprised if my body ever agrees to run again after 17 April – I thought I’d keep a bit of a record of my knee-crunchingly foot-sore progress over the next couple of months and share it with you online.
Please visit my fundraising page at
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