A Marathon Effort
With less than 60 days to go until Audrey and I embark on the huge challenge of the Loch Ness Marathon, I thought I'd take this opportunity to write a wee update, publicly record our gratitude at the help we're had thus far and maybe try to prise a couple of quid out of some tight Scottish (and other!) wallets.
July saw us top 100 miles each as we build up our legs for the long distance event. Without wishing to tempt fate at all, we both seem to be in good health and spirits (no, not those spirits - I'm aff them til after the race) andenjoying determinedly taking on the challenge through.
Saturday saw a punishing (short!) 12 miles across the capital, including a clockwise circuit around Holyrood Park (trust me - that's the hard way!). By the end neither of us were feeling particularly good but we had run a fairly decent and consistent pace. And from this week, we've started incorporating some speed interval sessions over 800m, which I am thoroughly enjoying (although perhaps lasagne is not the best pre-training meal).
I have a busy weekend ahead at the Keith Country Show where I'm due to compete in a 10K (6.2 mile) race at 1.30pm followed by a 6 mile hill race... which starts at 3pm. Not much in the way of recovery time there! Those 12 miles are, of course, in addition to the 14 miles Audrey and I have scheduled for Friday. Naturally I'm taking the Saturday and the Monday off running!
And that brings me to our local press. The Keith paper - The Banffshire Herald - did a spread covering our preparations on the 24th of July and ran an update last week (31 July) publicising our fundraising site. Unfortunately, it is not available online, but my mother has scanned the articles and you can (perhaps) read them if you click on the images below. Big thanks to Caron, who has blogged an update on our progress and to everyone who has tweeted their support.
Finally, I get to the proper thanks bit. Thanks to everyone who has taken out their wallets to sponsor us. We're running for the MS Society Scotland which, if you've read my previous pleas, you'll know is a charity that raises money to help those with Multiple Sclerosis, a disabling neurological condition which affects young adults and in Scotland there are approximately 10,500 people with the disease - the highest proportion of a population anywhere in the world.
We reached our original target of £500 within 10 days of setting up our site, and decided on a revised target of £1,000. Two weeks later, and we've almost hit that target too. Huge thanks to everyone who has sponsored us. If you haven't yet, there's still plenty time. A couple of quid, a fiver, whatever you can afford - it'll make a huge difference. I can speak from experience when I say that, when training is hard, knowing people have sponsored you some of their hard earned cash to complete this challenge helps to get you through the difficult sessions.
So thanks again - and keep it coming! And if you are on Facebook and want more regular updates, sign up to our marathon group here.
July saw us top 100 miles each as we build up our legs for the long distance event. Without wishing to tempt fate at all, we both seem to be in good health and spirits (no, not those spirits - I'm aff them til after the race) and
Saturday saw a punishing (short!) 12 miles across the capital, including a clockwise circuit around Holyrood Park (trust me - that's the hard way!). By the end neither of us were feeling particularly good but we had run a fairly decent and consistent pace. And from this week, we've started incorporating some speed interval sessions over 800m, which I am thoroughly enjoying (although perhaps lasagne is not the best pre-training meal).
I have a busy weekend ahead at the Keith Country Show where I'm due to compete in a 10K (6.2 mile) race at 1.30pm followed by a 6 mile hill race... which starts at 3pm. Not much in the way of recovery time there! Those 12 miles are, of course, in addition to the 14 miles Audrey and I have scheduled for Friday. Naturally I'm taking the Saturday and the Monday off running!
And that brings me to our local press. The Keith paper - The Banffshire Herald - did a spread covering our preparations on the 24th of July and ran an update last week (31 July) publicising our fundraising site. Unfortunately, it is not available online, but my mother has scanned the articles and you can (perhaps) read them if you click on the images below. Big thanks to Caron, who has blogged an update on our progress and to everyone who has tweeted their support.
(the article about the "Trailer Theft" is not part of our fundraising effort!)
Finally, I get to the proper thanks bit. Thanks to everyone who has taken out their wallets to sponsor us. We're running for the MS Society Scotland which, if you've read my previous pleas, you'll know is a charity that raises money to help those with Multiple Sclerosis, a disabling neurological condition which affects young adults and in Scotland there are approximately 10,500 people with the disease - the highest proportion of a population anywhere in the world.
We reached our original target of £500 within 10 days of setting up our site, and decided on a revised target of £1,000. Two weeks later, and we've almost hit that target too. Huge thanks to everyone who has sponsored us. If you haven't yet, there's still plenty time. A couple of quid, a fiver, whatever you can afford - it'll make a huge difference. I can speak from experience when I say that, when training is hard, knowing people have sponsored you some of their hard earned cash to complete this challenge helps to get you through the difficult sessions.
So thanks again - and keep it coming! And if you are on Facebook and want more regular updates, sign up to our marathon group here.
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