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 :)))

BORDER CROSSING BLOG BIRTHDAY RUN!

It's your birthday, it's your birthday, we gon party like it's yo birthday.
Well as it is Maid In Cornwall's birthday I celebrated in style - by going out for a wonderfully sunny long run today. The weather could not have been better, clear skies, slight chill in the air and a lovely 13 mile loop planned to take in the amazing countryside.
It has to be said I did not pick a flat route but when can you when you live in these parts?! At 4.5 miles the altitude changed from 150ft through to 500ft within 1.5 miles. Think these mud runs are helping my training so much as I just kept ploughing on up, neither wanting or needing to rest up.
I went along country roads, only saw 1 cyclist and no runners whatsoever. I did however go right past Avril's home @eightsmd and stopped for a quick chinwag! Then off up the mighty hill.
Views along the route were amazing:

No iPod, no running buddy, no distractions and I have to say I enjoyed it. This time of year is somewhat prominent for me as 9 years ago I grew from being what I can only describe as "the old Lara" to "the new Lara". A heart wrenching experience had to help me along the way and yesterday's anniversary never gets forgotten. It helped me to grow as an individual and helped me to understand alot about myself and my relationships with others. Basically it sent me back to my core, it was hard, so very hard.

Day's like today make you feel the simple joys, the joy of your body getting stronger, your mind overpowering those thoughts of stopping as you incline a tough hill and for the ultimate pleasure of just being. I have my family who give me so much love, support and joy. Two boys I am privileged to share my life with and a man who continues to encourage and support me in all that I do without stifling me. Friends who "get me", as well as a sister, nieces, nephews, in laws, mother, father & extended family members all near.
Blessed - me, yes I think so.

JANATHON - WAS GOOD WHILE IT LASTED!

Myself & Janathon were getting along just fine until a week or so ago when my neck randomly decided to go into muscle spasm overnight.
It has taken a week for me to feel "normal" again and able to exercise in comfort.
I'm afraid not only my neck suffered but my Janathon jogging, blogging and logging suffered too, I neglected you and now feel like I did you a disservice.

It was great while it lasted though, thoroughly enjoyed the encouragement and general support from other Janathoners on Twitter as well as the feeling of getting my training off to a great start. With my marathon on 6th May and a half marathon on 26th February and 4th March I was into my stride.

So even though I have not executed Janathon as it was intended I still feel I gave it my best whilst I could. The hardest part for me was the blogging each day, finding something of interest to say about my activity that day was sometimes harder than others. There were days when out on a run that I had the opportunity to show readers & twitter followers the gorgeous sections of our coastline that I have been lucky enough to run throughout January. I filled blog posts with the sheer joy of running our lovely North Cornish coastline.
There were days when swimming a mile in the pool could not be expanded much further than just documenting that detail.
Nevertheless I enjoyed the experience while it lasted, a short but sweet experience.

Today has been a weird one really, as I was taken to task by a parent whilst doing the school run (for matters relating to a PTA event I am helping to organise), missed my pilates class for one reason or another and then had to re-organise childcare for TJ as my mum could not collect him after saying that she could!! I did however get to have lunch with friends, celebrating Mrs C's birthday and enjoyed a wee Bucks Fizz - in the middle of the day I might add!!!!

All in all an early night is on the cards, looking forward to tomorrow as a long run looks set to come to fruition and it is MY BLOG'S BIRTHDAY!!!! It will be 1 year old tomorrow!!

LONG RUN - JANATHON DAY 15

Last night after arriving home at a fairly reasonable time, before the van turned into a pumpkin, I felt ready for my long run - 11 miles was on the cards today. Picked my route which took me down country lanes, the beach and then along the canal with a few inclines along the way!!!
What a wonderful day for a run, it was crisp out so utilised my base layer as well as a long sleeved tee, gloves and nutrition at the ready.
This was a view from a climb early on in the run, looking right over to my final destination.

What a view

Taking me into Bude I chose a route which took me over the downs in order to make sure I took in the sea, it was beautiful, several surfers and even some paddle surfers were out this morning. I just had to stop again to take a photo. This is the stuff that makes running so emotive for me, it's when you really know you are alive. Your body is tingling with the endorphins pulsing through you and at this point I always feel like I could run forever. The brain then returns some level of sanity and says something different!!

Overlooking Barrel Rock

Needless to say I didn't run forever, I did however feel strong throughout and felt really comfortable. I arrived once again at the swimming pool to meet my family and then decided to have a wonderfully chilled day. A day of the children drawing, playing out ad generally enjoying some home time.
Food is always a great motivation to have a long run and today was no exception. A lovely chicken, apple and cider dish with roast potatoes & veg were on the menu, so too was Nigella's delicious Chocolate and Pear Pudding. Isn't this what all Sunday's should look like?? In my book it couldn't really get much better.