NYC.... DONE!!!!

So, I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who donated, baked cakes, (ate cakes) and wished me well, through my NYC marathon journey.  We raised £1666.00.. (with another couple of hundred for gift aid on top) for Get Kids Going! A phenomenal amount for a great charity.

It was 3 hard months, coming off the back of the double marathon at the start of the year that took its toll. My preparation was meticulous in this instance. I completed 97 runs, 980km’s and 85 hours missing one evening 8 km over the space of 14 weeks. It’s taken over a large proportion of my time! But being regarded as the hardest of the majors, and 35 – 40mph headwind (seeing the wheel chair race start off the bridge!) I ran pretty much my perfect race. 3.24.41, which is 4.50km’s or 7.49 min/miles… 3178^th of 50236 runners, which is the top 6%.  The fact that I actually felt like I could run again this weekend compared to when I did actually ran in London really has shown me how far I’ve come.

Boston, Berlin, Chicago and Tokyo remain on my majors list… guess there’s always 2015?!

Well done to +Iain Wallace , with a predicted time of 3.24.47 who was a mere 6 seconds out on my finish time. Great guess, and before it I’d have said it was pretty optimistic! Thanks for having the faith ;-) and also to everyone who took the time to make guess, it actually really helped and hope it was a bit of fun, and the last thing I wanted to do was hand over the winnings to a + 3.30 time!

Sweeping through!!!

We're over £700 on donations, and I'm really on track to get past the £750 I need to make up my charity fundraising! There's still time to enter the sweepstake, Sunday is the last chance to donate, and be able to add a time to the table for a chance to win! Please enter, it's all for a bit of fun, and great motivation for me! Hopefully I won't be giving the prize money to anyone who predicted over 3:30.... but you never know!!

From here on out it's a case of just trying to keep on top of the distance, stay healthy and get ready to enjoy the ride... I'm in the form of my older life... so now it's a case of delivering on 14 + weeks of hard work and having belief in my ability!

Taper Time...

So I'm slowing up a little now! The long haul runs are done, one 19km topper next Saturday then it's time to get my game face on! Trying to get organised and on top of the trip! Prepping race kit and what I'll need to survive a week in NYC! Can't believe it's here! It's been tough, really, quite a selfish endeavour. I've put the training above everything and hoping it'll pay out! day in and out who've helped me get here have all played a massive part in this!

I'm only £200 off my target total now, so any donations will make massive difference! There's still all to play for on the sweepstake, and I'm really just maintaining my fitness, so not expecting a splurge of additional pace. Now's the time to put the stick in the ground and try to win the cash prize! Thanks again for all the support!

Peak week complete!

So i ran a hefty 35km run (the longest of training) in 2hrs 53mins, which saw a pace of 4.56 min/km. So on track, although my pace was dropping, I was losing about an average 1 sec/km every 2km, the last 7km would mean I'd just be scraping the 3.30. So all to play for!

Bake sales, donating and running!

Well at the end of week 10 I'm feeling a little sore! The pace has upped to a decent level, still struggling to manage the fade, but hopefully the next few weeks will allow me to recover enough for the main event!

Fund raising has been on going, a few more donations have trickled in, and I've had a massive effort from the Lumi UK team +Hayley Yorke and +Sophie Postill who organised an outstanding Bake sales raising over £100 for the cause.

All this means I'm closing in on my target of £1500. There's a little way to go, so any help is still massively appreciated! There's also the matter of the sweepstake for donators, so it's a rare chance to give, and maybe win a big prize!

Week 10...

Week 9 was a mix of good and bad! Some of my pace has been really improving, but the long run at the end was a struggle, starting slow trying not to burn out, I just didn't run very well. A bit annoying if I'm honest, and slipped down in pace to 5.06 by the end, so just not good enough. A decent week ahead before Peak week in 11 is needed to settle the nerves now!

Week 9.. Half way!

Week 9 has been fairly good, pace is picking up and going from strength to strength. The next 32km run on Saturday will hopefully build some extra confidence into the mix. I'm feeling good and confident with this attempt at the 3.30, which is great as there's only a couple more weeks before we're into tapering mode! Wednesday's 13km was finished really strong with a sub 4 min KM. No point in holding back now!