Saturdays = Parkrun

3 Parkruns in a row in beautiful sunshine

I have been quiet on the blog front since the Sunderland Half Marathon but I have been quietly adding to my run total by attending Bedford Parkrun every Saturday. The weather has been so good and it has been the perfect way to start the weekend. I am continuing to improve and finally broke the 25 min barrier on Saturday with a PB of 24:36. I even persuaded my friend Amy to come along and join me and she completed her first Parkrun with me three weeks ago. Thank you Amy for joining me!

The next few weeks will be a bit more hectic with a Parkrun on Saturday and a Half Marathon or a 10K on the Sunday. This will be the case for four of the next five weekends with a week in Cyprus to relax inbetween. The reason for this is that my overseas deployment was brought forward by six months and so I will unfortunately be leaving the country in the middle of July. This means I have to try and cram in as much as I can before I go as I don’t believe they have many races going on in the snow! However if everything goes to plan I will only be 20-30km short of my target and don’t see any issues getting then completed in a virtual race or during my RnR.

As for totals, I am happy to say that I am 88% of the way to my target and only £235 away from my £2000 goal. Thank you to the Maidments who have donated since my last blog. It is all very much appreciated!

Can you help me reach my £2000 goal? Then please donate at:

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HelenFrancis10

I am so close!

KM Complete: 176KM

KM To Go: 124KM

Comments

It was raining.....

I completed the first 5k of my challenge on Saturday at Bedford Parkrun. It was raining....a lot! So I managed to drag my freezing cold and wet behind around the course in 29:24 placing 233rd out of 418. Not my best time but definitely a good place to start. I am planning on doing the Parkrun every month this year and hopefully with some more training and some better weather I will look less of a mess than I do in this picture! Please visit my fundraising page and help support me in this challenge. I am still looking for that first donor to get me started. Will you be the first?? https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HelenFrancis10

Half Marathon Success

Slightly red faced after the Hampton Court Half Marathon This morning I had the pleasure of getting up at 5:30am and travelling to Hampton Court for my first half marathon of the challenge. It was absolutely freezing when we arrived but by the time the race started the sun had come out and it was perfect running conditions. Despite arriving only thirty minutes before the gun went off and navigating my way through the insanely long lines for the toilets, I was ready to go at 8:30 am and start my run around the Thames Ditton area accompanied by a slightly wheezy Batman and a gentleman who loudly shouted encouragement to himself when things got tough! The first half of the race was fairly sedate but I managed to push through the second half and storm down the finish coming in at 2:03:32 which was over ten minutes faster than my current PB. Woo hoo! It only got better when I looked into my goody bag and discovered a Tunnocks Caramel Wafer! That made all the pain worth it. The hour an

Wish Me Luck, I’m Going to Need It!

It has been a really tough month in my marathon training and I am hoping my luck will change NOW! After the success of the Hampton Court Half Marathon I unfortunately had to take nine days off training due to a bad cold. Whilst I was annoyed that I was ill I thought “Well at least I am getting the illness over with now” I was wrong! Raring to go after my forced rest the Beast from the East had me running in -4 temperatures and forcing me into the gym to run on the treadmill which I absolutely hate. I managed to get out and run 16 miles once the snow had melted before being hit with the flu on Mother’s Day. We are 13 days on from then and I still have a chesty cough and have managed to pull the muscles around my ribs from coughing which is painful to say the least. Tomorrow is the Bedford 20. ‘20 Miles of Magic’ supposedly although I am currently sceptical! So what do I do? Should I withdraw from the race because running probably isn’t the best idea right now or should I give it a go

300km for Dementia UK

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