And so it begins...

It is T minus 82 days until my very first Half Marathon and I am quite honestly petrified. I am no natural born runner, au contraire I am a natural born eater. I have spent the entirety of my life taking my pride in my No Running Rule. This rather elaborate rule has restricted me to only running very short distances when absolutely necessary: For trains, planes and the odd ice cream van.

So the question does remain, why now? It was a mere 8 months ago when I decided to throw caution to the wind and sign up for the Royal Parks. 10 months ago my mom was sadly diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. The cancer had already spread across her lungs by the time they caught it but luckily she was just in time to treat it with aggressive chemotherapy. After watching my brave mom don her best Rocky face and enter the ring to fight Cancer I knew there was no option for me.  I decided to do something I hate to raise money for charity. It was either running a marathon or climbing Everest. I knew I would never climb Everest (clumsy doesn’t even begin to describe me, it would be a comedy of errors) so marathon it was.

 Owing to my aforementioned No Running Rule I have arranged a rigorous running schedule for myself and I am delighted to tell you that I am now a “Real Runner”.  Move over Dame Kelly Holmes, there is a new kid on the block. Not only have I now managed to run a hefty 14km all by myself,   I have even sustained my very first Sports Related Injury! Ok, so it wasn’t that bad, but I did manage to hurt my knee a little – just enough to warrant an ice pack and some nuerofen.

 So here we are. There is less than three months to go and I have nowhere to turn. My training is underway I have had more than my share of running in the rain (thanks to our lovely British summer)! I have run the Bupa London 10K, tried my hand at the Clapham Common series and just completed our annual Race for Life. So watch this space, because as much as I hate to admit it.... I am beginning to think running isn’t all that bad...

www.virginmoneygiving.com/AmyWoolf
http://cancerhelp.cancerresearchuk.org/type/lung-cancer/ 

Fact of the Blog... according to Cancer Research UK in 2005-2009, 9% of people in England survived their lung cancer for five years or more.