The Winter Chill hits the fitness race

February has been a real pain in the arse. Having finished Jan in good spirits and well on my way to reaching half marathon fitness ready for the South Coast Half Marathon on 21st Feb, I suddenly discovered the flu. Not the man flu us gents are so often ridiculed for by the unfairer sex but real, smack in face, wipe you out for weeks type of flu.

So my training has been well and truly screwed. I spent the first two weeks of Feb sulking at home dosed up on Tamiflu, which sounds more liken a ladies' hygiene product than a medicinal cure. To be fair to Tamiflu, whilst they may have cornered the market for flu anti-viral treatment and raked in serous £££ from the NHS, the little tablets do work. Unfortunately, there is a risk. One of the disclaimer side effects is kidney problems; so, I might not have a fever, i'll just experience agonising pain from renal failure. Bonus.

It's only now at the end of Feb (Tuesday 23rd to be precise) that I've been able to muster the enthusiasm to get out and run. And i've picked a freezing day with driving, pouring rain. Marvellous. However, despite the pain and the tiredness and the overall mental desire to quit after 5 mins, I managed to drag my sorry backside round 6.5m and still do it well under an hour. Strangely, though it has ripped the lungs apart and kicked up a coughing fit, I feel mentally much better and stronger. It is amazing the impact that exercise can have on your psychological and mental balance.

So as Feb draws to a close, I can now get back on track. Alas I missed the half marathon on the 21st but there was no way I could have managed 13m after 4 weeks of no running. The next target is the Newham 10k on the site of the Olympic Park on Sunday 7th March. Fingers crossed the renal side effects don't kick in.......

Running on empty

It has been a tough first month of training to blow away the Christmas cobwebs and shed the love handles. It started so well with some new year enthusiasm but then it snowed. And it got cold, really cold. And my feet started to hurt. And I added Sky Sports to my Virgin Media package. The schoolboy error is haunting my every move.

However, through wind, rain, snow, hale and sheer laziness I've kicked myself into action and hit the road. At the start of Jan I struggled with pace and was managing 6.5 miles at around 8.15 minute mile pace. Having given myself the target to complete a half marathon at 7 minute mile pace, I was a bit gutted.

As Jan progressed, I've gradually upped my distance to 10 miles and comfortably doing this at 8 minute mile pace. However, the killer blow was a recurrence of my old ATB injury that has meant everytime I try to increase the pace, my leg falls apart and I spend days in pain. So after much soul searching, i've made the sensible (for once) decision to stop obsessing about times and focus on being able to complete my races and keep going.

I have to admit, after the initial sulk I'm now really happy that I've made the decision to focus on distance and enjoyment rather than the illusory time. I'm regularly knocking out 10 mile runs and this weekend (Sat 30th) will be the first 12 miler.

I've also being playing regular 5 a-side football on Monday evenings down in Putney and this has helped my core aerobic fitness massively. It is also more fun than running around the freezing roads of Ealing.

So all in all, a positive first month of training and now only 3 weeks to go before my first competitive race, the Portsmouth Coastal Half Marathon on Sunday 21st Feb. If you fancy helping me reach my fundraising target of £1,000 then please visit my justgiving.com webpage.

Raising £1,000 for The Rosemary Foundation

The last month has been a manic time moving into freelance world. My current Client projects and other commitments such as guest blogging for Econsultancy, I'm not gettting the time to dedicate to my personal blog to write content worth reading. As I don't want this blog to descend into the pits of content for content's sake, I'm changing its purpose.

Charity is something close to my heart. In 2009 i've not done any direct fundraising myself, having supported others instead. 2010 is the year I get back to fundraising and i've chosen the wonderful Rosemary Foundation (previously the Sue Ryder Home) to contribute to. This is a Charity close to my heart. At the end of 2008 my Grandad was diagnosed with lung cancer at the ripe age of 87. In Feb 2009 the doctors told us it had spread to his brain. The brain cancer brought a quick end to his life, in a matter of weeks. The Rosemary Foundation gave my Grandad and family incredible and selfless support during that time, helping care for him so he could bid us au revoir with dignity from the comfort of his own home, the home he had shared with my Nan for so many years. I can't thank them enough for the care and consideration they showed my Grandad and I know that he will be eternally grateful.

As with many local Charities, they are not-for profit and self-funded. Every penny counts and helps the wonderful nurses support families like mine. I've set myself the target of raising £1,000 by the end of 2010 and will be running several organises races to achieve this....more to follow.

I will be using my blog to keep tabs on progress and write about the events I enter and the joys of training through Winter.

I appreciate that there are many amazing Charities and solicitations for financial support are frequent. However, I would not be a serious fundraiser if I didn't ask for support so I would welcome any contributions, either donations (via my JustGiving website) or spreading the word to your connections and across your networks.

To find out more about the Rosemary Foundation please visit their website.

If you have any questions or suggestions for how I can hit my £1,000 target please drop by and say hello.

In the meantime, happy Christmas!

thanks

james

http://www.justgiving.com/rosemaryfoundation