THE HARDEST PART - FOR ME ANYWAY

Training plan well and truly underway, injuries being remedied, cross training set. You would think that would be it, just work your way through those miles Lara, keep injuries to the minimum and continue the cross training with a day or 2 of rest. No, the hardest part was still to get underway, asking people for money!

I would take the training over fund raising any day of the week, I find it very hard to get out there and basically put out a sign that says SPONSOR ME.
That's why I chose a charity which I felt seemed right and I would feel comfortable asking people to part with their hard earned cash for. The Blurt Foundation http://blurtitout.org/ is in it's infancy, although they have set so much in place already, they are working on setting up some inspiring initiatives when looking at stamping out the stigma of depression. I especially feel that their school programme is a much needed resource within our educational systems. We have all read in the last year or two the heartbreaking "headline" stories of young adults taking their own lives, for one reason or another. Many of these young adults felt that there was nowhere to turn and the understanding of others was not there. The stigma of depression.

My choice of charity was reinforced whilst reading the Saturday Guardian, the article detailed how a woman had thrown herself in front of a tube train in order to end her life. It moved me to the core as being a mother I can not imagine taking myself to that place knowing I wouldn't see my boys again. The sentence that struck me the most is that she still feels the shame of suffering with depression when talking about the incident. This is where the Blurt Foundation are making inroads.
To read the full article, the link is below:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/27/i-threw-myself-under-a-train

Right then the next part of my marathon training is set in motion. The Blurt Foundation use LocalGiving to ensure people can donate securely and with ease. This makes this part of the marathon that much easier for me, as I can offer this out to all you lovely people. You don't need to have me shoving a sponsor form in your face or getting you to come to N Dorset to watch but if you would be so kind as to visit the link below and make a donation I would be so very grateful.

http://localgiving.com/charity/theblurtfoundation

To all those who run with me at RATS then I am hoping to do a few fundraising Cake Bakes on a Tuesday evening at the Hut, so please look out for advance warnings of sugary delights being offered, with all donations and proceeds going towards The Blurt Foundation. As you may know already, I run purely to eat more cake :)))