The End of the Month!

Well that's it for August's training - a few downs but mainly solid, steady progress.  Do I feel any different - honestly? Yes - I do feel a lot better in myself and I can see what some people warn of when they say that running can be addictive, when Freddie Mercury sang that 'pain is so close to pleasure' he must have written that after a run!

So this is the summary of my walking/running since I started on 6th August.

43.77 miles
9.06 hours

I've lost 4.6lbs and 1.6% body fat.

Looking forward to September and October I have 69 and 93 miles of running to do - so by the end of October I will have covered 201 miles!  Not bad for a fat, old bloke :o)

!!Buzzing!!

Well after Wednesday's miserably failed attempt to run for 2 miles I was thoroughly despondent but today I absolutely nailed it - a 3 mile run with only 2 slowdowns for a total of 200 paces of walking and that was in lashing rain and howling wind and I still managed a sub 11:00 mile - feeling on top of the world this morning and I know Rhiannon would be proud of her fat old dad today :o)

Dr Who?

I sat down and watched the first of the new series of Dr Who this morning - Peter Capaldi was excellent, sharp and moody, distinctly darker than the previous two doctors and creating a blend akin to a cocktail of the best bits of William Hartnell mixed with Peter Cushing and a tad of Tom Baker - I loved...but it made me sad too...

Since 2005 when Christopher Eccleston materialized back onto our screens the return of Dr Who signalled the beginning of autumn and the descent into the long, cold, dark winter nights...it was a time when Saturday evenings were inviolate, 'Do Not Disturb' may as well have been written in letters a foot high on the living room door...for it was my time with Rhiannon...we'd grab our favourite blanket and curl up together on the sofa and watch Dr Who...she could still see when Dr Who was first relaunched and I took great delight in pretending to be scared along with her, tickling her to lighten the mood if things got a little bit too frightening...she was only 5 after all....

Now those moments are gone, with it another reminder that there is a hole in my heart, it will never heal...oh I'll function better and be able to put more of a brave face on but it still hurts...every day...there will always be reminders that she has gone...I just have to learn to deal with them for she'll never be back...the hurt will never go away...

But one thing Rhiannon taught is to make the most of everything, use every breath, every emotion, waste nothing...so the hurt and pain are turned inwards...focused into my drive to complete this and every other fundraising event I can for her...to honour her courage and bravery...even in the face of her last minutes on this Earth she was still strong and brave...still teaching us how to be better people...

God I miss her

7 down 263 to go!

Well that's one week of 'The Plan' under my belt and done.  I've run 7 miles this week (2 x 2 miles, 1 x 3 miles) and walked 2 miles as well as doing 5 sessions of intensive exercise in 25 minute sessions.

That's a lot of hard work especially as the last two runs I've done have been in the wind and rain, which just plain sucks...but then I remind myself why am I doing this and the harsh simple reality is that my daughter is dead.  We've seen a few Hollywood greats die this week (Robin Williams 62, Lauren Bacall 89) and whilst both will be missed they both lived a semblance of a full life.  Robin's death was a tragedy, driven by years of dealing with his own inner demons and the depression that came with it and he made billions of us laugh and smile but to me his death is no less of a tragedy than Rhiannon's - she brought laughter and smiles to but a few but never harmed anyone nor conceived any selfish or cruel act in her short life.

What makes her death all the more so tragic is that I believe that we have the knowledge to cure this disease, it's a question of finance to bring the disparate elements of  research together into a cohesive package...as with most things in the world today it comes down to money.

Rhiannon is dead, dozens of other children have passed away this year already from this brutal disease and in my opinion all because of a lack of funding.

That's why I'm doing this and like Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Terminator' I will not stop.

And now the equally boring but important bits
.
.
.
Weight - 215.2 lb (97.6kg) that's a LOSS of 3.6lb (1.63kg)
Body Fat - 32.5% that's a loss of 1.1%!

On track feeling fit, doesn't feel like I'm on a diet at all, just eating sensibly and enjoying life as best I can!

Onwards and upwards :o)

ZERO Hour has arrived!

Well this is it, in 270 days I will run the Belfast City Marathon in aid of Liam's Lodge and in memory of my daughter Rhiannon.

The scope of the problem is simply this....

Age - 42 years
Height - 5'10" (1.78m)
Weight - 218.8lb (99.25kg)
Body fat - 33.6% (scariest statistic of all)

I'm now the heaviest and realistically the least fit I have ever been.

The solution - get off my fat arse and do something about it!

The tools (I'm on a ridiculously low income so no fad foods, no gym membership, no £450 trainers that run themselves)
- willpower (don't think anyone has ever accused me of not being a stubborn S.O.B.)
- a few smartphone apps
         - Map My Walk/Run (great for clocking mileage and timings)
         - My Fitness Pal (great for keeping an eye on weight progress etc, watching calories)
- A 14 week couch potato to half-marathon running plan published in a magazine I picked up called Get Into Running
- My biggest expense is £30 in the sales for a high-vis running jacket and a pair of men's running tights (I live in Derry, in another month it won't get light at all and will rain until some time into the next century!)
- A borrowed copy of Shaun T's 25 minute workout DVD set which I will be following in conjunction with the running training

So that's it - day zero has arrived and my challenge begins now - off out for a 2 mile walk/run!

273 days and counting

I'm starting this blog to keep a record of my activity, as a means to motivate myself and to share my journey with others.

We are now at Uh-Oh Day minus 3, on Wednesday 6th August 2014 my exercise, diet and training regime will begin with 270 days to go before the 2015 Belfast City Marathon.

I'll be fund-raising for Liam's Lodge, a fantastic charity with great ambitions for all seriously ill children in Ireland and potentially world-wide.

That's enough to get me started, more will follow.