blonde poker forum

First, the running bit.  Having not done any running since the Berlin Marathon back in September I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed a new goal to work towards to get me back out pounding the streets.  Seeing that one of my cousins planned to run the British 10k in London in July, and having run it last year and enjoyed it, I signed up.  I wasn't planning on running for charity this time, or attempting to do anything other than get round the course in one piece.  That's changed over the last couple of days.

Let me tell you about my auntie Maureen.  My family is a large but close and loving one.  Auntie Maureen was the epicentre of that - a loving mum to her own four children and their kids, but as close as you could come to being a second mum to the rest of my generation, her nieces and nephews.  Well all knew that whenever we were in trouble or needed a hug, words of wisdom, or a place to stay, Maureen would be there with an open door, open arms, emotional support and practical help.  I went through a particularly traumatic experience in my late teens and it was Maureen who took me in and stood by me.  I'll never forget that. 

In March of this year Maureen was taken ill with suspected gallstones, and went into hospital for a scan to confirm.  It was discovered that she had pancreatic cancer. The prognosis for that is not great at the best of times, but Maureen was identified as a candidate to undertake some new treatments being trialled at Guildford Hospital.  She remained positive that she was going to beat the cancer, and her bright outlook was infectious.  She was due to start treatment next Monday, 20th May.  Late last week Maureen became ill with a suspected infection, and was taken back into hospital, and last Friday it was confirmed that the cancer was also in her liver and that she did not have long left (they had previously believed growths on the liver to be cysts).  She came home to be with her family on Monday night, and we all gathered round to spend time with her.  She sadly passed away yesterday, just a month after her 60th birthday.  So many people are going to miss her so much.

I'm now going to run the race in memory of this amazing lady, and will be training hard to get a PB.  I also hope to raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK in the process.  This horrible horrible disease needs to be beaten.  There is a link to my justgiving page in my signature, any contributions will be gladly received.

sorry about your loss

good cause and good luck with the run.

Made an iccle donation. Gd luck with this.

Thanks guys. Have raised a whopping 86% of my target in just a couple of days - really overwhelmed and absolutely determined to smash that PB! :)

Sorry to hear of your loss, will donate at the end of this month, really good cause, and hope you complete the race and make your Auntie proud xx

Training starts this weekend!  Have already exceeded my original target of £250 but further donations more than welcome.

We laid Maureen to rest yesterday in a beautiful service.  I wanted to share this poem that Hannah, my ten year old, wrote and read out at the service to a church full of several hundred people:

The lady that was caring and put people first,
Sadly got ill and had to be nursed.
She closed her eyes on the 16th of May,
And now she peacefully lays.

The lady that was a loving Mother and Wife,
Made the most of her life.
Many people admired her,
But now she is calmer.

The lady that was the best,
Now can calmly rest.
Whatever she wanted to do, she could,
The lady that was called Maureen Hood.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/clairep75/7aed2879-bb25-478d-bd8c-4fff444c5369.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/clairep75/media/7aed2879-bb25-478d-bd8c-4fff444c5369.jpg.html)

Just over four weeks to go until race day.

One thing i've learnt since taking up running is that training for a race *never* goes to plan. On the flip side, it's always been alright on the night :)

Got a couple if short slow runs in as training commenced, and felt that getting back up to covering 10k in the time, and hitting a pb along the way, should be well achievable.

The spanner in the works came last friday - running to cross the road on my way to work i felt an excruciating pain in my calf as i landed on my right leg and couldn't put any weight in it at all without being in agony. Initially thought that would probably see me out of the race, but recovery seems to be much speedier than i hoped. Already seem ok to walk a mile or so unaided with minimal pain and, all being well, will try a tentative jog this weekend.

Not sure whether the pb is going to be doable now, but i relish the challenge and it would have been dull if it had all just gone to plan :)

Sorry to hear about your loss.  GL with this.  Donation sent.

Thank you so much Tom, and to everyone else who has donated

Touch wood i think the leg is going to be ok. Went for a very short (half a mile) jog around the block last night and it held out fine. Dan stopped me getting too far ahead of myself as i wanted to go out on a park run this morning but he banned me as i've only been 5 days off crutches and still got a chesty cough at the tail end of a cold.  glad he's here to keep me in check as i know i'm impatient and sometimes push myself too hard and the last thing i want is to jeopardise being able to race.

Wen't out for a slow two miler instead - just over halfway the calf started twinging - a few minutes walking as soon as i felt it seemed to keep it in check though. Chest seemed ok too but felt a bit light headed. Hopefully in a few days i'll be properly shot of all the problems and can start getting some serious training in :)

Dan goes out to do a parkrun every Saturday morning (for those that are unfamiliar, these are free 5k timed runs held in parks across the country every weekend). Today was my first time, and Hannah also came along to run. I didn't want to push it hard today, so ran round slowly with Hannah. Dan ran back to meet us when we had just passed the 4k mark, so I was able to run a bit faster for the last stretch whilst Dan ran in with Hannah. My time was around 33 minutes which I was pretty pleased with in the circumstances. More importantly, no niggles at all from the calf.

So, I'm not quite where I'd have like to have been with just three weeks to go until race day, but I'm pretty happy with how things are shaping up. We're all parkrunning again next weekend, but this time Dan will run with Hannah and I'll treat it more like a race and hopefully get a better idea of how achievable a sub 59 min 10k is going to be.

In other news, the company where Maureen worked are planting a tree in her memory, and will be using part of Hannah's poem on the plaque :)

Cool diary.

Fav Nandos order?

Thank you.

Medium chicken breast pitta with halloumi and chilli jam, creamy mash and macho peas.

Incred coincidence as I have just saw your check in at Nandos.

Enjoy.

haven't been for about 6 months, so yes, pretty incred.  It was like the Nando's gods were making me go.  Fancied it as soon as I answered your question, then about 10 minutes later Hannah said 'can we go to Nando's?'.  I can't be ignoring signs like that - I had no choice ;D

For completeness, today I had cheddar instead of halloumi and garlic bread in place of macho peas.

Macho peas? I dread to think what they are :)

Shite, that's what they are.

Has dan recovered from his traumatic after Nandos experience?

Ha - I was actually really puzzled by this until he told me to check his facebook page.  What's not to love about window shopping for cushions and bed linen?!  As an added treat that was followed by a walk around Staples.  I have a bit of a weird stationery fetish.

Parkrun again this morning. Mainly positive - was really pleased with my time of 29.15 which is faster than I thought I was capable of atm.  Also no niggles from the calf (in fact, legs felt great throughout), but was battling with my general (un)fitness. I was pretty much wrecked afterwards (to the point where some woman came over to check I was ok as she thought I might be having a seizure - I reassured her I was just having a nice little lie down on the grass :D).  

Keeping up that pace over 10k, which is pretty much what I'd be needing to do to get my PB, really doesn't feel like it's going to be possible in a fortnight, so I'm going to be relying a bit on adrenaline on the day I think!

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/334899148

With less than a fortnight to go and still nothing further than 5k covered in training I decided to attempt to run home from work this evening.  It's just over 7 miles, with a few steep hills along the way.  I went out with the aim of running at least half, and walking where I needed to, which is what I did.  Pretty pleased with 10k in 1.09 given aforementioned circumstances and the heat.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/336055265

Had a really good parkrun this morning - was pretty hot even though it was early, but managed a new PB and felt much more comfortable over the course than I did last week - my fitness is definitely returning, and I reckon the 10k PB next week could still be a goer :)

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/338143820

Only six days to go until the race, and feeling really positive all round (in fact i'm finding it hard not to feel super happy about anything on such a beautiful day as today!). Tonight i'll be doing my last 'long' run before the race. Taking a new route home from work, about 5-6 miles of which will be along the grand union canal - itching to get out there now! I'll probably then just put in a couple of 2-3 milers wednesday and friday, then all set for the 10k on sunday.

On the fundraising side of things, donations to cancer research uk hit £385 yesterday - a whopping 154% of my original target. Thank you so much to those of you who have generously given - it really will make a difference - i'm truly humbled.

Enjoy the sunshine all 8)

GLGL.

On the tube heading for the start line - it's already hot :/ good luck me!!

GLGLGL

Blimey - that heat was brutal. Nowhere near a pb - took me 67:26. Just glad to have finished in one piece though. Now stuffing my face in maccy d's ;D

Like.

Weather like this isn't for PBs.  It's about getting round in one piece.

:)up

 :respect: ;applause;

Just about recovered now!  There were 25,000 entrants today, and getting through the fairly narrow start on Piccadilly is always going to take a fair while.  By the time i got over the start line it was already 10.15 and heating up.  I'd been pretty good at keeping myself hydrated over the last couple of days, so didn't envisage any problems there, but i think a combo of not being quite fit enough and the heat just got to me, and i found my legs really aching after only 3k. Stopped briefly around the 4k mark to stretch, but didn't seem to have much effect, so I walked for a few mins and found myself loosening up.  Realising at this point that the PB was out of the window I slowed to a plodding jogging pace for the rest of the race, and just enjoyed the atmosphere and the iconic route without pushing myself too far.

Slightly disappointed not to have gone faster, but not going to beat myself up about it -  If I'd got the PB today I'd be paying for it for a while I think.

Really happy to announce that the grand total raised for Cancer Research UK was a whopping £415 - super chuffed.  If anyone is inclined to make a late donation, the link to my just giving page is in my siggy and will be open for another 3 months :)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/clairep75/3166671a-e8f3-4dd0-b5d4-5276fa6a6381.jpg)

Well done claw.

Is that tattoo 'My little pony' ? Looks pretty cool anyway

Well done today

yes, yes, very good.  It's been pretty much lasered off and ready to cover up for over a year now - just waiting til I've got some spare cash to get it covered up with something uber-cool.  So probs going to have half a pony for the foreseeable future :)

anyway, cheers for the dosh - hope you had a good birthday old man x

a very un-hot picture of me being very hot.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/clairep75/british10k.jpeg)