Diary of an aspiring half-marathoner!

Crazy. What was I thinking?

I can’t do this. I’m doomed to fail and i’m going to let everyone down. OMG what have I done? Help! Damn you Prosecco!!!!!!

These were some of the first thoughts that passed through my head the morning I received confirmation of my acceptance onto #TeamAnna100 running the Royal Parks half marathon this coming October (the others were all expletives which I couldn’t possibly repeat in polite company!).  To date the longest event I’ve participated in is a 10K - so what on earth had possessed me to sign up?

I had received an email from one of the SLJ coaches earlier that week, telling the heartbreaking but inspiring story of Jess Lewis and her goal to raise a total of £250K in memory of her daughter Anna – she was looking for 99 ladies to run a half marathon with her in October, each pledging to raise at least £350 for the charity she had set up in Anna’s memory in collaboration with Great Ormond Street Hospital (The Anna Lewis Brighter Future Fund) therefore raising at least £35,000 towards her goal. Her story was so moving I felt compelled to help.

Added to this, I was still feeling the lingering effects of my recent (albeit short, but motivational) run with the amazing Ben Smith during his 229th consecutive marathon out of 401, not to mention watching & supporting two of my lovely friends as they completed the recent London marathon. And finally a glass or two of prosecco on a night out with a group of enthusiastic & encouraging running buddies might have also been partly (ok, largely!) responsible!  All in all a dangerous combination and before I knew it, I had emailed Jess to say I’d be honoured to be part of #TeamAnna100 if she still had places available (bloody smart-phones!).

So there you have it! I’m in, signed up – and I’m not scared to admit that I am totally bricking it right now! But much as I would love to make my excuses & retreat, I won’t.  Instead I’m telling myself that “there’s plenty of time”, and “if you can’t run it all you can always walk the last mile or few if you have to!” in the hope that if I repeat these mantras enough I might eventually start believing them!

So, for now I have a daunting training schedule ahead of me - but one thing I can be sure of is the help & support of my SLJ family along the way, fueled as always with our Saturday post-run coffee and chat which somehow always makes life seem that little bit brighter. 

If I’m going to face this challenge, I couldn’t think of a better bunch to face it with!