52425

I have no idea how I've gone from having 14 weeks to 2 weeks ahhhh!!! But I guess I'm feeling as ready as I'm ever going to and I can't wait to get it done now and get my life back!

My curry night went really well, I raised over £717 on the night which was mad. Loads of people got some pretty decent raffle prizes and I had a good time. Thanks to everyone who came and supported me on the night, it means a lot.

My training is back on track after a few weeks off long runs because of the snow and work. Last Sunday I did 20 miles in a decent 3hrs 48mins, happy with that! I could've carried on too so I'm feeling good about the day, not so good about the days after as my legs have killed me all week and I'm not liking stairs!! This weekend I've got a little 13 miles to do and then it's all downhill to the big day :) I remember after my first ever 10k my mum said I should do a half marathon. Nahhhhhh I said and now they're my smaller training runs😂

The food and drink stuff is tough. I'm trying to cut down on everything and even turned down a night out with my mates last Saturday because of the 20 miler. Had a blip in Bournemouth this week visiting uni, I was forced into a spoons and made to eat and drink all night...

Anyway with 2 weeks to go, registration day is coming up fast to go and get my timing chip at London Excel. I got my runner number this week, 52425 so I can be tracked on the day if you wanna get the Spectator app. It's been a massive relief to hit my minimum fundraising target of £2k for Willow, no-one wants just the minimum though so I'd still like to raise a bit more! If anyone else would like to donate follow the link below and help make some people happy with a special day. I can raise money for about a month after the marathon too so you can wait for payday if you're broke like me.

Thank you to every single person who donated money, raffle prizes or came to the charity night!!! Good luck to everyone else doing it, see you on the other side!

Click here to donate!!!!!

Charlie

Not much to update on the running side of stuff thanks to the snow but I'm getting back on track this week with a 17 miler this weekend :)

Most people know I'm doing the marathon for Willow because they helped a close family friend out when she was really ill but most of you don't know her and probably don't get why I'm doing this. So this is Charlie, she's one of my mums best friends and she got advanced hodkins lymphoma. Cancer. This could literally happen to any of us at any time, to our parents, family or friends.

Charlie has been around since I was 5, when my mum and her met doing some massive charity walk for breast cancer. My mum was doing it in memory of my nan, and Charlie was just doing it because she's Charlie! She does tons of stuff for cancer charities and for the homeless with her husband Nick. They're pretty inspiring to be honest!!

When she got ill she had 3 young kids (4 including Nick), all under 12 and she was a mental health nurse. I don't remember much about it all except running around a Race for Life in Chelmsford with a Charlie, Mum and loads others, Charlie having literally no hair, and Lauren breaking out in chicken pox when Charlie was round our house and everyone going mental because she was in the middle of chemo! But it felt weird that someone so close to us who was young and had kids younger then me could get cancer, the disease that basically killed my nan when I was 3. Charlie was given a special day from Willow to go and see Take That with her family in a limo and it made such a difference to them that ever since her whole family have done loads for Willow, and some other charities. I know how much the special day meant to her and I hope I can make another family feel better with the money I am raising.

The pictures show Charlie before, during and after her chemotherapy. She even did a Race for Life in between chemos!!

So yeah I'm running more than I wanna be and I'm trying hard to raise money for Willow but it feels like nothing compared to what they went through. I hope people will understand why I'm doing this, forcing myself to eat fruit, halving the beer intake, being forced out of my bed before it's even light and nagging everyone including strangers to give me cash and raffle prizes. If it happened to Charlie, it could happen to any of us.

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=jackwatson31&pageUrl=2

62 days to go...

So in my last post, the furthest I'd run was 6.5 miles and I was seriously worried about the jump to 10 miles. Pleased to say I completed  the 10 miles in 1 hr 44 mins, which was quite quick compared to my normal pace, and this week I did just over 12 miles in 2 hrs 13 mins!! Posted a picture below to prove it. I can't believe I run almost double the distance and it felt surprisingly decent if I'm honest. It was a much slower run but in my defence it was 7am on a Sunday morning and I had to slow down and wait for Mum to stop her bike and take photos...so not really my fault!! I managed to run it non-stop and included a couple of mountains on the route. Had my first gel thing, it was tropical flavour but it tasted like more like shite and I can't tell if it even made a difference or not.

I'm feeling pretty good about my training and glad I'm up to date with the distance. Got 14 miles on Sunday which should be great fun woopieeeeee and I have 5 weeks to hit 20 miles. Wow. On Boxing Day when I run my first 2 miles round the field opposite my house I was like nah thanks but now I feel like a full on runner, but I still get out of breathe walking up the stairs?!

The curry night is still on! 29th March, come and join me for a night of madness and help me hit my £2k target for Willow. Charlie (in the 2nd picture) and her family will be there and it's for her I'm doing this. She was diagnosed with cancer in her 30's and had 3 young children at the time. Willow gave them a brilliant special day and since then, her and Nick have done so much to repay them for making a difference to her during a really difficult time. They have both inspired me to do my little bit for Willow and help another family like them.

Thanks for your support, fundraising link is on the left if you've got any change to spare ;) see you after 14 miles (hopefully!).

12 weeks to go....

So me and my new tights have started clocking up the miles over the last 2 weeks. Today I was up at 7.30am and I did just over 10k with a snotty nose and a slight limp. I need to hit 10 miles by next Sunday to stay on track for my training plan and I'm planning on doing the Sunday long run with the running club to give me the best chance. It is quite a big jump from 6.5 miles to 10 in just a week, but against all the odds today I still managed to run in the wind while not feeling well, so who knows how 10 miles will go surrounded by other runners.

I also have some new gels for long distance running. As I'm closing in on an hour and a half of running a session, they will be there for those lengthy runs as it gets closer to the date. I also have new running socks, vitamins and some knee support thing as my knee's hurting and giant strawbs as 1 of my 5-a-day! Grapes have replaced the satsumas...

Fundraising is going pretty well, I've got £792.50 in donations including gift aid and it's amazing that I've had donations from so many people, some who barely know me or don't know me at all!

The curry night fundraiser is booked!!!! Everyone is welcome to come, bring your family, friends colleagues and pets, it's on Thursday 29th March (the night before bank holiday Friday) at the Tandoori Parlour in Thundersley and will be £12 each for an all-you-can-eat buffet. I know it's a bit of a trek but it's the biggest venue with a separate bar and gave me the best price for a charity night. There's gunna be a raffle, bonus ball game and other games fun fun fun with loads of chances to win some great prizes...who knows what else ;) So far 60 of you have said you'll come and I'm really grateful to everyone, you won't be disappointed! I hope you are all looking forward to it as much as I am! We are getting together some incredible prizes so if anyone has any ideas or gifts to put forward for the night, or knows of any companies that might be willing to donate something, let me know even if it's just an unwanted xmas present.

Alternatively you can just donate to my page, the links below, every pound helps and you're doing an incredible thing in supporting me.

Thank you to everyone that supports me, I couldn't do it without you all :) 12 weeks to go, a few grapes to be eaten, and £1207.50 left to raise!

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=jackwatson31&pageUrl=2

14 weeks to go...

Happy new year!

It's been an eventful month since my last post so this could be a long one. I discovered that I cannot ice skate!! I've completed my personal statement, university applications and had to make submission films with about 2 days notice. My official London Marathon training plan started on Boxing Day... yep Boxing Day...when most of you was recovering from the christmas booze, so was I but I went running. I'm doing 3 runs a week based on time instead of distance, starting on 20 minutes on Boxing Day and now up to 45 minutes this week.

Big news... I've also joined the gym! A new one for me but it's a chance to spend time with my mates and do my core workout 3 times a week. Biggest news ever... tonight I joined a running club. Christ! No-one ever thought I'd say that!! Running on my own has been really hard, it's way too easy to stop and chill, or check my phone so I've been bullied into joining the Southend Flyers and tonight was my first night at Garon's for some serious track running. It was so much easier running with other people, the distance felt easier, it went quicker and it was much more enjoyable. Gotta say thanks to Karen for taking me and introducing me to all the other mad marathon runners. I'm hoping to pick up the Sunday long runs with them too when I get to that level which should help me reach the 20 mile mark before marathon day. Another thing no-one ever thought I'd say is that I'm now the proud owner of some running tights... I look great I must say!

The diet is going well, I've introduced a satsuma a week to help me get back into shape and to balance out the kebabs and Greggs. Cracked it!

Best news so far is the fundraising. Lots of amazing people have already sponsored me including people who don't even know me, and my fundraising page is already at £625 for the Willow Foundation!!! It's brilliant I can't thank everyone enough for this! I was really worried about having to raise £2000, it's so much money but I'm well on my way to my target thanks to everyones generosity.

Last bit of news is I am arranging a Charity Curry Night for March. Everyone is welcome, bring friends and family to make up a table and have a good night out to help a brilliant charity. There will also be a raffle with some great prizes such as vouchers for The Skewer House in Rochford, Adventure Island tickets, gift cards and alcohol! If anyone wants to donate a prize that would be great! The date and details will be posted here soon as possible, I hope everyone will come!

So 14 weeks to go, 14 satsuma's to eat, loads more training to do and £1375 left to raise!

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=jackwatson31&pageUrl=2

Winter

Winter

So it’s December now and Christmas is coming up fast. Pretty much broke after all the Christmas presents and it’s the beginning of the month so it’s all good.. It also snowed today for the first time this year so it’s feeling very much like Christmas!

On the other hand, the running front is going decent. I’ve been running all the way along the sea wall in Barling which is about 4 miles, which is steady progress. I start my training plan on Boxing Day which being honest I’m not looking forward too as I think following a schedule involves a dietary plan, which isn’t ideal straight after Christmas! Can’t really remember the last time I actually ate a proper salad or even an apple so I’m sure that’s going to be a blast!!

Despite this on Tuesday morning I ran 6 miles around my area and it took about an hour. I felt like I was running for hours and when I saw how far I had gone I was happy as it’s a record, but it’s like not even a quarter of a marathon! I have 20 weeks to get my shit together and get fit, as not physically feeling any progress at the moment. But it’s also hard to fit the running in, with extra shifts at work and like 3 assignments due in Friday, ( plus a social life) it’s hard to find an hour to actually dedicate time to running and go out.

I’ve also started getting pretty bored of running around the same area around Wakering and Barling, so if anyone has any suggestions of any other nice places to run, even in Southend I’d be grateful because my roads are getting pretty boring.

All in all I hope everyone has a brilliant Christmas and New Year and make it one too remember! My link to the fundraising page is on the left hand side, along with a link to the Willow website! Have a good Christmas!

3 Weeks Later

So it's been three weeks since the last post. Since then, I've gone on 7 or 8 runs on Tuesday mornings and some Fridays. The training is going well and just taking it easy for now, preparing for the 17 week training plan I'll start on the Boxing day which I'm really excited for....

Last week I ran my furthest yet; 4.06 miles, yep basically 1/7th of a marathon and I felt like I was running for a decade. I don't particularly enjoy running and don't look forward to it, so not 100% sure why I'm doing this yet. It takes serious effort to get out of bed in the morning and go out when its freezing cold and wind. But the 4 miles went well, and it took the best part of 40 minutes. It felt good to get a personal best and a good bit of motivation to carry on training. It is important to be at 10K by Christmas, and I feel like I can achieve that if I keep training like I do!

Another thing I've been doing is trying out different paces, to see what suits me best. Last Tuesday I ran 3 miles at 9:38 pace which is much faster than usual. It was a struggle to keep it and I feel as if its a bit too fast so I'll stick to the usual. All in all, the training is making steady progress and I'll probably keep it up somehow! Not sure how, but I'll work that part out.

Lastly, the link for my fundraising page is to the left, it would mean a lot if you could donate to help me reach my goal. It goes towards the Willow Foundation Special Days for the seriously ill, and would mean the world even if you could spare £1! Thank you for reading!