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*****************************    UPDATE - 30th September 2009    ****************************

Well, I survived....

I have to say that the New Forest Half-Marathon was quite possibly the most difficult run I've ever done, even more so than the London Marathon that I completed 10 years ago! It was rather hot on Sunday, and despite being called the "New Forest", a lot of it is actually not much more than heath, and there is NO shade from the sun at all!

I'd run out of energy by about 7 miles, and so the remaining 6 were completed at not much more than a quick shuffle, hence the fact that my target time of 1h 45m was missed.... According to the official timing, I crossed the finish line in 1h 57m 1s. To be honest, I was just glad to finish, although obviously disappointed to have missed my goal by such a wide margin.

For the last couple of days, pretty much everything below the neck has hurt. Feet, knees, shoulders, back, you name it. Surprisingly, very little muscular ache though - certainly no more than a heavy training session, which I guess is a good thing. Knees were the worst by far - thankfully today I am no longer hobbling around like a 300 year-old man!

A few more days off now (celebrated with a pizza last night, for the first time in ages!) then back on the training for the GSR on the 25th Oct. I certainly hope that it will be a bit cooler by then!

Thankyou all again for your fantastic words of support and your generosity. As I type, I have raised a total of £500 (and still rising), plus my company's generous donation of £300. It would be fantastic to break the £1000 barrier in total, so if you know anyone that you think might be willing to donate, please send them this link:

http://www.justgiving.com/bigjules-Crusaid

Keep checking back for more updates - I'll post the results of the GSR here too.

Jules


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*************************************    UPDATE!!!!  **********************************************

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of you all, I have now reached my initial fundraising target, so thankyou, thankyou, thankyou a thousand times for all your support!

Unfortunately, due to the vagaries of HMRC legislation, it is apparently not possible to set up fundraising on a JustGiving page for more than one charity, so all the money donated so far will go to NSPCC. So... I've had to raise the bar! I have set up three more JustGiving pages for each of the other charities I wish to support (see below for details), so can I please ask you, if you are thinking of making a donation, to go to one of these pages and make a donation there instead of here. That way I can spread the happiness around a little! The other pages are:

http://www.justgiving.com/bigjules-RBL
http://www.justgiving.com/bigjules-ANBMT
http://www.justgiving.com/bigjules-Crusaid

Scroll right down for this week's running update!
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Thanks for visiting my begging page! Somehow I seem to have managed to convince myself to complete two runs in two months - not a lot for some seasoned athletes, but a lot for me!

I'm doing the New Forest Half Marathon on Sunday 27th September, and almost exactly a month later, the Great South Run on 25th October. At least I'll get the more difficult one out of the way first! With a bit of luck I will be finishing the half-marathon in around 1h 45m, and the GSR... who knows? Last year it was 90 minutes, mostly due to starting right at the back of the grid - this year I'm going to infiltrate the elite athletes at the front and get a head start! With luck (and a following wind!) I should be crossing the finish line in around 75 minutes....

At the moment training is going OK - my legs seem to ache constantly, but I'm sure I can get over that, or at least learn to ignore it! I've decided to do my own thing in terms of fundraising this year, rather than taking a charity place. So... please please please please consider making a donation in respect of my completing both races.

I'm actually collecting for more than one charity - I support 4 on a regular basis, and the money you give will be divided between them. They are:

NSPCC - no introduction needed! http://www.nspcc.org.uk/
Crusaid (supporting people living with the consequences of HIV / AIDS both in the UK and abroad) - http://www.crusaid.org.uk/
The Royal British Legion - supporting both verteran and active serving servicemen - http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/
Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust - one of the largest bone marrow donor registers in the world, and vital research into leukaemia and related diseases - http://anthonynolan.org.uk

I hope you'll be able to help me in supporting these most worthy of causes. Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings! I'll update you all on my progress as I go, and of course, post up the race results, so you can see if I've been over-confident in my abilities!

Cheers all

Jules

***********UPDATE - 14th September 2009************

Last week's training consisted of one attempt to run the full half-marathon distance. Well, as usual for me, things didn't quite go according to plan! I plotted out my route, which consisted of a big loop, starting from the office here in Kings Worthy, going all round the country lanes, and back again. No problem. Apart from the hills! The damn hills!

Now I normally like running up hills, actually, I'd say I love it (most people call me a masochist for that!). But this route turned out to be a bit of a killer. No matter which direction I went in I seemed to be running up hill, with not a lot of "down" to go with it! The route recorded by my trusty iPhone (using a great app called TrailGuru, for those of you who also own one, and who run / cycle and want a way to keep track of your progress) said differently, but believe me, it certainly felt like an up-hill struggle!

And then, the final nail in the coffin. Stupidly, although I planned the route, I didn't recce it first. And thus it was that I found myself running all the way through the military quarters at Worthy Down, only to be confronted by the security gateposts and fences of the camp itself! So much for my shortcut - I had to turn round and run all the way back!

As a result I ran out of steam about a mile and a bit from the office and had to walk the rest of the way back. The only damn bit of downhill, and I walked it!! Ah well, lesson learnt. Thankfully this week's training doesn't involve any great distances, so I shan't be calling on you to come and pick me up from some remote location and drive me home!

More to come....

***********UPDATE - 22nd September 2009************

Well, into the final few days now. Yesterday was the last run I shall be doing before the big day. Did a 12km loop around Kings Worthy / Winchester - not the quickest time ever at 1h 7m, but at least I got some mileage in. Got the odd "twinge" here and there- top of my left foot, left knee, right shin, so having the rest of the week off seems like a good idea!

It's going to be an early start on Sunday - the race starts at 09:30 so that means leaving home around 07:00 (a.k.a. "stupid o'clock") to make sure I'm there on time!! Looking forward to the free food afterwards though - after a week of pasta, pasta and more pasta, a hog roast is going to hit the spot for sure!

Wish me luck - I'll post the race results here later on Sunday. Thanks for all your messages of support (and your donations, of course)

Jules