Me and my running, 2008

Judging by my training record for 2008 so far (and I doubt there will be significant improvement in the remaining 7 weeks of the year) I've got some way to go before I'll be writing my own version of Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.


Mileage on the vertical axis, this year day-by-day on the horizontal. The blue bars are organised events that I've entered.
(Click on image for larger version)

Still, on the positive side, I'm quite pleased with my increased effort in preparing for the Cardiff and Birmingham half marathons. Obviously not an ideal training schedule but a lot better than some of my previous efforts.

A massive THANK YOU to everyone that sponsored me for those events. I raised over £400 which far exceeded my expectations - you are all very generous.

Getting 'On The Wagon' to run two half marathons

You may have noticed the justgiving.com widget that's appeared on the right hand side of this page. What's it all about?

Well, despite common sense suggesting otherwise, I decided it would be a good idea to attempt two half marathons just one week apart and, given my usual pathetic attempt at training for these things, have also commited myself to 6 weeks without alcohol in the build up.

More specifically:

• I will be running the Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday 19th October 2008.
• Seven days later I will be running the Birmingham Half Marathon, on Sunday 26th October 2008.
• I will be giving up alcohol for 6 weeks, from Sunday 14th September until after the Birmingham run on Sunday 26th October.

To make the most of my stupidity I have decided to raise money for the British Heart Foundation in the process... so please sponsor me now.

More information on on my justgiving page.

Phew!

13.1 miles completed in 1 hour 49 minutes.

It must have been the new shoes.

[update] I came 421st out of a total of 1,505 finishers according to the results list - that'll do me.