UPDATE 26TH SEPTEMBER 2008

It's been a difficult month.  My last update on the 18th August was my last run for a whole month.  I did some damage across the top of my left-foot somehow and it didn't get better again until last weekend - even though I ate lots of vegetables to give myself a chance!  With only just over two weeks to go now until the big day, it has left me well behind where I wanted to be at this stage and 1hr 45mins now looks very unlikely.

The good news is that all the injuries should hopefully be behind me now.  I went to Sweatshop to buy some proper comfortable running shoes at the weekend.  They got me on a treadmill to analyse my feet and discovered I put too much weight on the insides of my feet.  My new shoes have reinforced structure on the insides to compensate, and they're fluffy soft to walk on too.  Nothing can stop me now!

In other news, a mate on my cricket team is also running the same race.  I found out this week it won't be very competitive, he's looking to finish in 1hr 30mins which must be some kind of world record for a beer-drinking lad in his 20s!  Well done Dave!

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UPDATE 18TH AUGUST 2008

That's 8 3/4 miles done, 2/3rds of the whole distance, and like a little old lady, I'll need a hip replacement when all this is over.  My right hip is giving me 'jip' on the longer runs and at the moment I'm hobbling down the home straight to my front door.  Never mind, don't let that get me down, I'm coming off the best fortnight's training thus far.  I've given myself a chance of completing the whole thing in 1hr 45mins which I would be delighted with; fingers crossed!

For any other runners out there, I suggest avoiding the same park over & over again.  Dulwich park is, without doubt, very beautiful.  However I've now seen enough ice cream trucks, kids steering wildly on funny bikes and crappy tennis players to last me a lifetime; I just can't stand the place anymore.  The good news is that I'm very excited about how much money you guys have helped raise for Elizabeth Finn so far, just one big last push should get me there, please help ease my pain!

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UPDATE 29TH JULY 2008

Well I've just come back from a 6.8 mile run around south east London, that's my furthest so far and just over half of the total distance.  Let me tell you, Honor Oak Park is virtually on the top of Everest; not easy at all!  I finished it in just under 57 minutes which means I'm on target to complete the whole thing in two hours, woo!  If you'd have told me a few months ago that I could run for 57 minutes I'd most probably have creased myself.

I injured my ankle for three weeks a little while ago and couldn't run, and since then I've found it hard to motivate myself to run three times a week, usually only managing once or twice.  You know what would motivate me some more?  Donations!  Thank you so much to those people listed below, if only there were more like you out there eh? (HINT HINT!)

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Thanks for popping along to my page, I'll try to keep it up to date with my progress over the next few months...

Obviously I'm not in the kind of person born with natural athleticism needed to run 13.1 miles in under two hours, but I started running to try and get fit a few months ago.  It turns out it's quite addictive and I haven't given up yet, when a friend mentioned the half marathon in October I thought it was the perfect thing to work towards!  It's not going to be easy, my legs may well give out and my heart might pop, but it wouldn't be rewarding if it was easy would it?

You can show your support in one of two ways.  Firstly, I'm running three days a week in the build-up to the race and I'd love some running partners - so if you have some trainers and an old vest lying around, please join me!

Otherwise, please please please could you donate some money to the Elizabeth Finn Care foundation.  I think it'd be best if I let my friend explain just exactly what they do for her mother who is sadly seriously ill and unlikely to ever get better:

"Some of the key things that Elizabeth Finn do is provide funding for essential equipment when we cannot access it anywhere else; for example, they have contributed to wheelchairs and stairlifts (when social services wouldn't! - I mean, how can someone who cant walk get up/down stairs without a stairlift?!)  They will give funding towards respite care, but Mum has never been well enough to access it.  One thing they do is send Mum birthday and Christmas gifts.  She often gets a hamper of goodies and it's not generic - they remember that she is diabetic and send appropriate foodstuffs.  It's one way of making her feel special when she has very limited access to the outside world and essentially most people who visit are carers or nurses. I think Elizabeth Finn are a very supportive and personal charity - Mum said they help a huge number of people."

They've set me a really stiff target but I really hope to make it, please dig deep and remember if you're a tax-payer then for every pound you donate the Government (god bless 'em!) will give me an extra 25p!  Thanks very much, now where did I put my lycra shorts...