There has been a change of plan due to a stupid virus which put me out of action with a tight chest and cough until only 5 days before the Sydney Marathon, so....i will only be running a half marathon on 20th September BUT i will be going down to Melbourne to run a full marathon on 11th October!!
Please make sure you click on 'read more' on the bottom right as the most important part of what I have to say is there! so here goes...
Well, my life would be so boring and pain free if I decided not to set myself a little challenge every now and then! And in an effort to keep me out of trouble and lose my 'Sydney stone' I have decided to 'run' the Sydney marathon on 20th September, unfortunately my efforts failed (well the keeping me out of trouble and losing weight anyway!) but because I have put in all the hard work training I thought I may as well give the 26.2miles (42km's) a shot!
It isn't bad enough that my body is now not just fat; it is also a big giant chaffed blister! Or that I have to run 26.2 miles at the end of all my training, but to top it all off I have also injured myself which means I am currently visiting the physio who leaves physical bruises on my legs from the agonizing massages and also with only 3 weeks to go I am not allowed to run at the moment so I’ve had to adapt my training to other things including a session of over 3 long boring hours on the cross trainer in the gym!!
The main reason I am happy to go through all of this is because I hope that by taking part in this event I will raise much needed funds for the Greenwich and Bexley Cottage Hospice, which is where my Mum passed away last year. Marathon day will be 17 months to the day since Mum died and my world was turned upside down, things will never be the same and not a day has gone past in this time that I haven't missed her so much it hurts and wished she was still here. The G&B Hospice did such an amazing thing for my whole family; they gave us the support, strength and privacy we needed to say our goodbyes properly. When you know that something so tragic is about to happen it is almost impossible to find any kind of happiness or comfort, the hospice helped us find a bit of both of these! I got to be Mums roomie and spend every precious moment we had left by her side and in such an amazing place, the hospice didn't just look after Mum, they looked after me too!
Since Mum's death I have found it very hard to deal with the emotions and grief of losing someone so close to me, for a long time I didn't think I was going to ever get back to my old self again! For the second time the hospice came to my rescue and provided me with bereavement counseling which has helped me come to terms with such a huge loss. I feel forever in their debt, and I hope by running the marathon I can raise money to help the hospice continue providing such amazing care to families like mine.
Please dig deep and help me raise lots and lots of money for this great cause!
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