Welcome! (see below for training diary)

 

Hello there!

Thank you for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page!

On Sunday 10th October 2010, we will be attempting to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon across the beautiful parks of London. Although we have both done small fundraising events previously, neither of us has (a) run any distance nearing 13 miles! and (b) raised £1000 for charity. We are therefore facing two challenges - and we would love to have your support!

We are raising money in aid of Practical Action - an international development charity with a difference. Practical Action works with some of the world's poorest women, men and children, helping to alleviate poverty in the developing world through the innovative use of technology. Practical Action believes that the right idea, however small, can change lives.

Do please visit the Practical Action website to find out more, or just ask Ella (as she works for them!) There are also some great little videos here on YouTube to enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JHs2y9x-pw

If you do feel inspired to give, we - and Practical Action - would be very grateful indeed. Any donation, no matter how small, will go to help someone, somewhere in the world, to improve their life and take the first step out of poverty.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for Practical Action!

Thank you for reading this far - we hope you now want to take some 'practical action' on behalf of Practical Action!

George and Ella

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Tuesday 21st September 2010

 

One of the biggest challenges during my half-marathon training has actually been the sheer length of time that this activity necessitates. Although I am often in need of a good burst of exercise after a long day at my desk, I don’t usually want to hit the streets running. A dance class followed by an hour of yoga would suit me just fine. By the time I start my run, it’s usually close to half past six – and by then I am distinctly faint because my lunchtime soup feels so very long ago.

Last night I ran for 57 minutes, covering a distance of 6 miles exactly. I seem to be slowing down from my original pace of an 8 minute mile – perhaps my achy body has realised that there is absolutely no point speeding through the first mile when so many follow it. I had thought that I wasn’t too concerned about my time on the day of the race, but the prospect of running for over 2 hours now fills me with slight terror. At the moment I only seem able to run 30 minutes comfortably, followed by a 2-3 minute jog which prepares me for the next long slog. Can I really do this on the day though? Can you fast-walk (for that, essentially, is what my jog is) a marathon?!

Anyway yesterday, after an hour of running and a good 15 minutes of stretching and warming down, it was nearly 8pm by the time I arrived home. I realised I had been out of the house for approximately 12 hours. This seemed like an endless stretch of time. I thought back to something which I read recently and to which I alluded vaguely in my first training post: the fact that for some women across Africa and Asia, the walk to collect water can take an entire day – the equivalent of my 12 hours spent working and running and enjoying a pot of tea with my Mum and baking cakes for the ‘small and beautiful’ cake sale in the office to raise funds for the half-marathon. I can’t imagine one activity consuming all of these hours – my run of 6 miles lasting a mere 57 minutes seemed long enough.

Practical Action works with some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities across the world to ensure that finding safe water no longer takes all day. I recently read about a Practical Action project which installs communal water points across villages in . £1000 can purchase all the materials necessary to build a communal water point, which will then provide clean water to hundreds of people. I like the idea that the £1000 I raise (if I achieve it!) could potentially save not only people’s time, but in some small way, give life too. Not having to spend hours walking for water means that women can instead use their days to grow crops, or children have time to attend school.

If you like this idea too, then perhaps you might consider helping me to reach that golden £1000! Please click here if so. Thank you!

PS – any half-marathon tips?! Feel free to email me on ella.jolly@practicalaction.org.uk

Ella x

 

Tuesday 7th September 2010

Unlike rugby-loving, sport-mad George, for most of my life I have cultivated a pure hate/hate relationship with physical activity. As a child I much preferred the more motionless pursuits of reading Roald Dahl books, or sharing my impressive Barbie collection with my sister, or drawing endless ‘princess’ dresses, or escaping to a perfect Disney world at the cinema. During PE lessons at school, I strived to adopt the positions which required least movement – bowler in rounders, or goal defender in netball, or goal keeper in hockey. Inevitably there would be some horrendous occasions where endlessly enthusiastic games teachers would spot me dawdling reluctantly to the sports field, and attempt to perk me up with the cry of “you can be winger today Ella!”

I hated those days. Chasing an unfriendly ball across a frozen slither of grass, the bite of an icy morning slicing at my throat and a vicious wind whining until my ears were raw, all I would feel was the sheer and utter pointlessness of ‘exercise’.

In fact, I rather enjoyed my stationary self. I didn’t want to be one of those sporty girls with long shiny hair and healthy cheeks. I much preferred being an indoorsy, arty type, with pale skin and a solemn spirit, who sat reading poetry and thinking. I am now somewhat ashamed to admit that at certain points I entertained the arrogant assumption that these intellectual activities were somehow more worthy than physical ones.

This continued throughout my three years studying English Literature at university, where the most exercise I gained was meandering around the streets of Liverpool whilst pretending to be in Paris, or occasionally whiling away a sweaty night in a grubby club dancing to the strains of soul or indie or drum and bass. The drinking and smoking that accompanied such pastimes ensured that the only attitude I had towards my body was one of complete carelessness.

My first job after university involved lots of train travel across the , and in an average week I would travel up to 800 miles. This constant movement of my body was punishing; the hours I spent in drizzly train stations waiting for delayed trains simply exhausting. In one three month period I found my tonsils swelling up, reliable as autumnal rain, every four weeks. So in January 2009 I made a promise to myself. This would be my year to ‘get healthy’.

Seeing as I was a vegetarian who drank at least 8 glasses of water every day and enjoyed 7 hours of sleep every night, and I had already given up cigarettes and alcohol after graduation; the only path to a healthier lifestyle seemed to be one of exercise.

So I ventured into a previously unknown place: the gym. I remember feeling as alien here as I did when I travelled in . People spoke a different language, mostly comprised of scary acronyms: BMI, BIA, PAR-Q, VO2. It took courage to weight my newly trainer-ed feet to the cross trainer and not run (or walk) in the other direction.

I was determined not to give up on this embryonic relationship. And over time, I detected small but empowering changes. In aerobics, I learnt the art of a grapevine, box step, squat, lunge, jumping jack, burpee, and relished the magically fast-paced steps my feet could trace. During weights sessions, I discovered that it is in fact possible to tone muscles in your shoulders and back. Before this, ‘muscles’ were something in your biceps, and you only had them if you were an oiled beefcake sort of a person.  My lovely and wonderfully patient yoga teacher coaxed my ill-used body into strange and exotic positions. Eagle anyone? Downwards facing dog? Lotus? Full bridge? I can do all these and more now. In pilates classes I learnt about the body’s ‘core’, and the unusual stretches necessary to strengthen it. I love the idea that these movements fortify what lies at the very heart of my body.

Nearly two years months after I embarked on this relationship, it continues to be one of the most positive things in my life. My favourite thing: a lightness of body and soul that was previously unimaginable to me. When I think back to the sluggishness of my old life I often wonder how I survived. My entire existence was tinged with a sort of lethargy which affected everything. I have now learned how to enjoy my body: the little muscles pushing out the old squidge of fat, the deep clean breaths during meditation or a dance class, the power in my legs after a sequence of sun salutations.

So although I have not yet run anywhere near a half-marathon, it is a physical activity from which I am not shying away. In fact, I am very excited about the challenge we face. It is now just over a month (33 days) until George and I have to move our bodies through those 13 miles. Last night I thought it was high time to begin my training officially. I managed to quite happily run 3 miles in 26 minutes, so if I continue at this pace, the full run will take me just under 2 hours. This does seem like a hell of a long time to keep running – the most I usually do is 60 minutes – but I hope that continued dedication and hard work over the next 4 weeks will pay off, and result in a shorter running time.

I plan to keep a brief training diary – so do keep checking back for updates!

One final thought – in Sudan some women walk up to 6 miles to collect water for their families, trudging another 6 miles back through the heat to quench the thirst of their families. In places like – where conflict is still present – these walking women are vulnerable to mugging and rape. This happens today, and will continue to happen tomorrow and the next day, and the day after, unless we take practical action.

Every mile I run I will think of a woman in . I will run those 13 miles so she no longer has to walk 12 for water.

Please click here if you would like to read more about Practical Action's work to improve people's access to water.

Practical Action, George and I would all very much appreciate your support – both financially and emotionally! – so please do rummage around in your hearts and in your wallets and give generously. Thank you.