I am a 45, year old male of average height and average build. I eat sensibly and exercise moderately. Like most middle aged men I have weight to lose but generally I am fairly fit. Up to my late twenties I played football, rugby and kept myself pretty fit but as time passed playing sports has been replaced by watching them from a comfy chair in front of the TV. I have a young 2 year old son who takes away my sleep and keeps me active but generally my life is pretty sedentary. I work in an office with no physical exertion apart from several walks to the coffee machine for my caffeine fix. Running although not alien to me is something that I have only done over short distances in order to keep my weight down. At the start of training the furthest I had run was four miles. My pace is slow, so slow that on my morning runs I struggle to overtake dog walkers and paperboys on their morning rounds. Despite this I enjoy running or to be more precise enjoy the feeling that I am doing my body some good and hopefully prolonging my life to some degree. Since I started running my weight has dropped only a few pounds, much to my annoyance but I do feel fitter and healthier than I have for some time.
Some friends of mine were scheduled to run in a 10k Run For Life event in aid of Cancer Research. Knowing I was running every day (well Monday to Friday) they suggested I sign up to run with them. To be honest I was not keen but as they pointed out my own Mum sadly passed away from Breast Cancer two years ago so perhaps it was time I did something in her memory. The following day I took the plunge and signed up to do a 10k run on behalf of Cancer Research. I was now officially a runner. I spoke to my long suffering best friend who agreed to run with me and help support the cause. We discussed running and what it would be like to run a Marathon, how hard it would be and what it would feel like to cross the finishing line after 26.2 miles.
The seed was sown and over the course of the next few days I went online and entered another 10k race, two Half Marathons and a full Marathon in December. My friend was shell shocked but agreed to accompany me. I was excited, exhilarated but most of all scared. As I said earlier I have never, ever run more than 4 miles and very soon I will be running my first Marathon.
I gave myself six months to train, get fit and prove to myself and others that I could really achieve my goal. The training has been hard work especially the high mileage weeks but now with only two weeks to go I feel good and ready for my biggest challenge. I have the support of my family and a lot of good friends which keeps me focused on the task ahead. Most importantly the run is for my Mum who I miss so much, hopefully she will be proud that I have raised a lot of money for Cancer Research UK. You can never replace your Mum but hopefully through my running I will make sure she is never forgotten. The journey has been long and hard but in reality it is only just beginning.
