Countdown

It's a little over a week to go until I run the London Marathon. 

http://www.justgiving.com/RhianChapman

That is a very scary thought.

A better thought is that I am suddenly so close to reaching my fundraising target! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I could never have raised so much money if I didn't know so many kind, generous people. Each and every person who has sponsored me has given me a push towards the finish line.

Besides which, I wouldn't be able to actually run the marathon if it weren't for the rest of the team doing it with me - and for the same cause. It's been a help, all the times I had to go out running, knowing I wasn't the only one going through it all.

The rest of TEAM! are doing so well, both in their training and their fundraising. Some of them will beat my goal time considerably, some of them are training much harder than me, some are much more stylish than me - but all of them are raising money for Diabetes UK, Em's chosen charity. 

It was a year ago that Emily died. I do hope that - wherever she is - she's getting some enjoyment out of watching us all slog our way to the marathon! 

To Run Or Not To Run...

...that is the question.

Well, not really a question so much as a general musing. Obviously I have to keep running.

In fact, not only are my waking hours seemingly full of going running, thinking about running, talking about running and writing about running, I'm now dreaming about running. Yes, for the last two nights, I have had dreams about running. I ask you, is that fair?!

But in all honesty I'm taking a short break from the running this week to rest up my left foot. The pain I developed in my instep on Sunday was, I believe, due to a muscle cramping up and then me continuing to run on it, causing bruising across the sole of my foot. Consequently I haven't been able to run this week - I managed a gym session, although I was limping a bit - and instead I've been regularly massaging my foot. I'm hoping that a few days off will put me right for this weekend's long run.

In other developments, I've just passed the £1000 mark in my fundraising, which means I'm more than halfway towards my target. (Hooray! And thank you so much to all my wonderful, generous sponsors.) It feels very aptly timed, just as I turn to face the half marathon next week. 

If I look back a year ago, I could never have seen myself doing this. That all changed with the tragic event of Emily's death. Not long after she'd gone, I wondered if there was something I could do as a tribute to her life. Running the marathon did occur to me, but a quick bit of research convinced me that I just didn't have the strength or reserves of willpower to get through it. Obviously I changed my mind; it's amazing what a difference TEAMwork can make. 

When we're done, we'll have raised thousands of pounds for Em's chosen charity, Diabetes UK. Hopefully we'll have raised some awareness of the risks of diabetes, too. Em wanted to help fund research that worked towards curing diabetes. I hope that the money we raise in her memory will contribute towards that goal. 

TEAM!

Today was our first Team Em And Me (a.k.a. TEAM!) meet-up. There are 15 of us in the team together but although we all knew Em we don't all know each other, so the TEAM instigators arranged a lunch gathering and even provided homemade cookies. 

Yes, potentially we could all have met up for a run - but there is a vast disparity of abilities across our group, and I'm not sure how successful a mass run would be! Maybe we'll try something along those lines closer to the Real Thing, once we've all got a bit more training under our belts. 

Anyway, we didn't get everyone there but it was good to put a few more faces to names and chat about the various trials and tribulations of long distance running. Several of the team have run marathons before as well, so they had some tips and tricks, and I will definitely be hitting them up for more advice in the future.

Also, it turns out that one of our TEAM members is a bit of a Master Baker - look at this:

Purple laces and everything! (Also, it's a healthy snack, so there's no guilt attached.)

Onwards, TEAM!

__________

P.S. In checking that the links in this post worked I discovered that our TEAM effort so far has raised nearly £4,000. That's one hell of a tribute to Em already - and we're nowhere near done yet. 

Winter Is Here

Today's run: 5.46 km (3.39 miles) in 40:00.
Injury check: All clear.
______

Cold. Really cold. It was sunny this morning, at least. But it was cold. 
I layered up and ran anyway, but I was cursing the cold most of the way round. 

I overheat like a [insert sweaty thing here] so I did warm up eventually, but when that icy wind picked up it was still so cold.

I ran the footpath again, which was actually a bit nicer than before because there weren't any damp leaves underfoot this time. I had to walk some of the way back today though, simply because the cold took so much out of me. 

I got a few stares from the cows in the field I run past, so I said hello to them (because I know that's what Em would have done). I also passed another runner going in the other direction, who looked like he wasn't even breaking a sweat. Hmph. 

Did I mention it was cold?

Purple and Lovely

I'm running the marathon as part of Team Em And Me - see here for why we're all doing it and meet us all here. 

Our first full TEAM meet-up is now in the calendar, and to keep us motivated through the many (potentially lonely) miles of training the Chief Instigators have issued us all with some matching laces to help remind us that we aren't alone:

Ready to go

They are indeed purple and lovely and I will wear them with pride. 

Why?

I've never run a marathon before. I've never wanted to run a marathon before. So what made me decide to do it now?

In April 2012 my friend Emily died, aged 29. It was in her sleep, due to complications arising from Type 1 diabetes; it was completely unexpected. She will be missed so much by so many people. As I type this I don't think a day has gone by when I haven't thought about her and the things we did, the things we were planning to do - and the things we never got to do. 

I knew Em for more than ten years. One of the most impressive things about Em was that she never stopped pushing herself. When she succeeded in one challenge, she set herself another one. Academically, physically, emotionally, she never stopped; she always had another goal in mind. It made the rest of us feel positively lazy. 

Em took up running a few years ago, starting with 5k runs, then 10k races, then half-marathons. The next challenge she set herself was to run a full marathon. She trained for it and she got a place in the 2012 London Marathon, running for Diabetes UK. I was looking forward to being there to cheer her on. I had absolutely no doubt that she would achieve her goal. 

Em never got to run her marathon. So a group of us, friends and family, decided to run it in her memory. 

I never had a reason to run a marathon before. This is why I'm running it now.

Em finishing a London 10k, 2007