Well, it's done - the miles run and the blisters acquired, but all four of us completed the Reading Half Marathon within our target times and we have raised over £8,000 in total for our three charities which is brilliant news.
The race itself was suprisingly enjoyable for all of us, it was a beautiful sunny day with no wind and quite a few people cheering us on. Putting our names on our vests was great as it meant lots of nice people cheered for us all along the way which does make a difference. The race was really well organised and there were lots of fundraisers running.
For those of you interested our times were:
Carys - 2:07:08
Rhian - 1:26:59
Bethan - 1:45:50
Elinor - 1:49:59
Think we were all pretty happy with the results and I know everyone's times were well deserved as they put in the training and the long hours. All three started out not being runners, trained hard and even said at the end of the race that they would do it again...
I was pretty happy with my time, not expecting to run inside 1.30 but was up on time at about 6 miles, and then at 10 miles I was 8 minutes up and thought well have come this fair better just plough on. I knew I was seeing my family and my boyfriend at mile 11 so I thought oooh better make sure I still look good. So there you go, it was vanity that got me a PB.
So, Team H-J - what's next. I think London Duathlon is a good place to start...
Friday 9 April 2010
Sunday 14 March 2010
Saturday 13 March 2010
Windsor and Eton Express
http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/article-15330-war-hero-s-family-to-raise-money-for-injured-soldiers/
Front page article in the Windsor and Ascot Express - you need to buy the paper for the full story...this is just a teaser!
Front page article in the Windsor and Ascot Express - you need to buy the paper for the full story...this is just a teaser!
We were also featured in the Windsor Observer, so here's hoping this too will help with the fundraising.
Only one week left now until the big day and the jazzy vests have arrived so we will have a proper team outfit to wear and everything! On the bright side this means the last weekend of training, and a slightly easier week to taper nicely and ensure we're ready for action in a week's time.
Did a nice 5k race this morning in Finsbury Park just to get some speedwork in, and then ran 8 miles home. I look forward to going back to the days when a 5k race was enough on a Saturday. According to my training log I have done 299.9 miles since 1st January 2010 which is pleasing, but also slightly frustrating - am tempted to go back outside and just do a little sprint around my front garden to break the 300 barrier...
Visit www.runnersworld.com/log if you want to start your own training log, it's really handy and also quite nice to have to look back through now, a week before the race - which tends to be the time when I panic and think aaah I should have trained more, I should have got more miles in blah blah blah - and see that you have done all your sessions and helps keep track of your pace/mileage etc. Quite useful if you're a geek like me.
Wednesday 10 March 2010
Not long to go...
With only 11 days to go until the half marathon, thoughts are beginning to turn to the day itself rather than just being focused on training. The post below from runnersworld.co.uk has useful tips for first time runners that help with nerves and race day preparation. We've done all the training, and covered over 1,000 miles between us in the last 12 weeks so with one last week of our schedules left, it will soon all be over! Thought I would include a link to the below, these little things are brilliant. I used one in my marathon last year - they are temporary tattoos which detail your mile splits and are transferred onto your arm with a bit of water. They only cost a few pounds and help keep your time on track, so definitely worth it. Plus Chanel has been featuring all sorts of temporary tattoos on their catwalks this year, so we're on trend...
www.pacetat.com
We are in the process of ordering special 'Team H-J' vests with our names on the front, all the better for people to cheer us on when we go round. We've also had a few calls from local papers asking about the race, so fingers crossed we might have a few more stories to match our ones in the Doncaster Star and on www.sport.co.uk. They were quite keen on interviewing Mark so he is becoming quite the local celebrity. Any articles or pieces might encourage people to donate so it's all great news, plus we have now raised in excess of £4,000 which has smashed our original target.
Some days when it was super cold and snowy and my duvet seemed particularly snuggly I remembered that people were paying for me to get out of bed, get my ski socks and five layers on and get out there - so it has definitely been inspiring.
www.pacetat.com
We are in the process of ordering special 'Team H-J' vests with our names on the front, all the better for people to cheer us on when we go round. We've also had a few calls from local papers asking about the race, so fingers crossed we might have a few more stories to match our ones in the Doncaster Star and on www.sport.co.uk. They were quite keen on interviewing Mark so he is becoming quite the local celebrity. Any articles or pieces might encourage people to donate so it's all great news, plus we have now raised in excess of £4,000 which has smashed our original target.
Some days when it was super cold and snowy and my duvet seemed particularly snuggly I remembered that people were paying for me to get out of bed, get my ski socks and five layers on and get out there - so it has definitely been inspiring.
Saturday 6 March 2010
Team H-J's adventures in Gibraltar
Thanks to Betty who organised a very successful pub crawl in Gibraltar (although lets be honest it must have been quite a short crawl...it's only about a mile wide!) and raised over £500 for the Coldstream Guards Charitable Funds and Project Mobility. She sold wristbands (available on the link above if you're interested in one) and collected donations on the night. She has also organised a raffle with local businesses donating prizes so she has done brilliantly. Big well done to Betty.
Not long to go now, I'm just in the process of ordering our team vests so we can all be matchy matchy on the day. Got to look good.
Friday 5 March 2010
2 WEEKS TO GO...
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/beginners/your-first-marathon-words-from-the-wise/2800.html
Advice for a marathon, but useful nonetheless for first time half marathoners! Only 2 weeks to go until the big race which means one last week of hard training and a slightly calmer week the one before...
We've notched up over 700 miles now over the course of the 2 and a half months, which is pretty impressive going (over 1,000 if you include my bike miles, hmm definitely think I will include them, over 1,000 sounds pretty good!)
Still waiting for Bethan's report on her Gibraltar fundraising, but she did pretty well indeed and raised in excess of £500 which is brilliant news.
Advice for a marathon, but useful nonetheless for first time half marathoners! Only 2 weeks to go until the big race which means one last week of hard training and a slightly calmer week the one before...
We've notched up over 700 miles now over the course of the 2 and a half months, which is pretty impressive going (over 1,000 if you include my bike miles, hmm definitely think I will include them, over 1,000 sounds pretty good!)
Still waiting for Bethan's report on her Gibraltar fundraising, but she did pretty well indeed and raised in excess of £500 which is brilliant news.
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