George Does Twenty-Six Point Two

Now I know this is a marathon and fundraising blog, but I’m going to go off piste a little bit with this post so please bear with me…

In 2009 I successfully (arguably!) completed my first ever triathlon. It was a “sprint” distance, part of the Bedford Sprint Series, comprising of a 400m pool swim, 24km cycle and a 5km run. I finished in 1:51:00, with the split times shown in the link below… I know there’s a lot of improvement to be made – especially on first transition, but that’s another story!

http://tinyurl.com/GSTri2009

But on that day I achieved so much personally. I achieved four PBs during that one event! Ok, so three of them probably don’t count as they were “firsts” rather than beating a time I’d already set, but the 5km run was a personal best for me. I went home that day feeling like a champ, and I wanted to do it again! Unfortunately, just a few months after that event I was only 6 weeks into marathon training when I suffered a stress fracture and that kind of ended my run/bike/swim enthusiasm for a while and I struggled to get back into any training consistently until nearly two years had passed.

Thankfully I have now regained all of my previous gusto and 2012 is the year of my return to endurance events.

Having done a Level 2 Fitness Instructor course, and having worked in a business environment for several years now, I have learned the art of “SMART” goal-setting. The elements of a SMART goal are that it is:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Relevant

Time-bound

I think setting SMART goals is a really good way of keeping yourself motivated, challenged and focussed for the things you want to achieve. And that’s why I have come up with these, my two main training goals for 2012:

• Complete my first marathon… in less than three hours and 50 minutes. Brighton Marathon, 15^th April 2012.
• Complete my first Olympic distance triathlon. London Triathlon, 23^rd September 2012.

Along the way, I have set myself other mini-goals. These, ordinarily, would be big enough goals in their own right but, because of the mountain I have decided to climb, they are now more like stepping stones to keep me feeling the way I did when I finished that triathlon in 2009. My mini-goals are:

• Complete my first half marathon. Great Bentley, 5^th February 2012.
• Run a sub 1:50 half marathon. Silverstone, 11^th March 2012.
• Run a sub 50 minute 10k. Race and date undecided.
• Complete my first open-water triathlon. Shock Absorber Sprint, 10^th June 2012.
• Beat my sprint distance triathlon PB.  Dunmow Triathlon, 9^th September 2012.

The last goal may have to be adjusted slightly because the cycle leg of the Dunmow Tri is 1km shorter than that of the Bedford Sprint where my PB was set, but I’m sure I can time-adjust as necessary!

So that’s it – those are my SMART goals for 2012. Have you set yourself any goals for this year? Are they SMART? What are they? I’d love to hear from you!

Brighton Marathon Elevation

This is one runner’s output of the Brighton course with elevation and all. It looks like the biggest climb is 86 feet over 1.5 miles at mile 7 of the race… not too bad. With one of my training routes incorporating Hamlet Hill at 167 feet over 1.2 miles I think that’ll be a good place to practice!

Brighton Marathon 2012 Course

This is the route I’ll be running for the Brighton Marathon. I love the fact that well over half of it is along the coastal road… just hope there’s no sea breeze to slow me down!

Over the last few weeks I have been doing some of my longer training runs with my friend and triathlete extraordinaire, Wendy. It was during one of these runs that we were talking about her upcoming marathon – she’s doing the Virgin London Marathon on the 22^nd April 2012. Wendy suggested that if I was also doing a marathon we could do some of our training runs together… any of you fellow runners out there will know that running with someone else really does help make the experience a much less painful one as you natter your way through the miles. This then planted a seed. A seed that was watered by hearing talk of the various Harlow Running Club members that are taking part in a spring marathon, and then by just casually looking at the Stroke Association Events page… BAM!! That, my friends, was the sound of the seed suddenly spurting into this huge plant that will no doubt take over the next few months of my life (I know, very dramatic!).

On our next run, I told Wendy about the minimum fundraising target of £750 for the Stroke Association Gold Bond spot for the Brighton Marathon. “Piece of piss” was what Wendy might as well have said! She had so many fantastic ideas of how I could raise the dosh. So many that I have now decided to make my target £1000 as I think this is a much nicer, round number. And hey, you might as well aim high huh?! :)

So that was Sunday, and today is Wednesday. And in that space I have applied, and been accepted, for said charity place, laid the groundwork for a few fundraising events, set up a JustGiving page (which I am astonished to see has already reached £115, or 11% of its target in less than 24 hours!) and started this blog. Busy bee!

“But when on earth are you going to train”, I hear you say! Well, that’s another story.

Yesterday, Tuesday 29th November 2011 at approximately 5pm I heard the words “Welcome to our team”. Those four words came from the mouth of Anna Lee, the Stroke Association’s events coordinator for the South of England. Those four words mean that I am now committed to running 26.2 miles at the 2012 Brighton Marathon. Those four words mean that I will be spending the next three and a half months training in all weathers, through the aches and pains, even when I would rather be snuggled up on the sofa with my boyfriend, a hot chocolate/glass of wine and a Blu-ray. Those four words also mean that I will, hopefully, be raising £1000+ for the Stroke Association, in memory of my Grandma and Granddad.

As you may have gathered from the very link that brought you to this page, I have decided to supplement my training and fundraising activities with a Tumblr blog. Anyone who knows me will know that I like to talk… so this will, from now on, be my main means of release for all these pent up thoughts and feelings that will just be bursting to come out!

So let’s start right at the beginning – with how I came to the conclusion that signing myself up for a charity place in the Brighton Marathon with the Stroke Association was the best idea ever in the World.