A Change of Scenery

So after a pleasant and eventful train journey, I was finally home for Christmas back in little old Cranleigh; all the worrying about trains not running and bad weather preventing travel were misplaced, and I was very glad. My training has been a bit hit and miss recently what with all the snow and ice which seems to have stayed beyond its welcome. I've tried my best to go running as much as I can, but after slipping in to a hedgerow and falling in to a gate I have decided to put my safety first if its looking a bit dodgey.
I've now run out and round beacon hill two times which is a run I really enjoy doing, not least for the fantastic view at the top which can be seen from the point below, although when I've ran to here it has been a bit more snow covered.

For Christmas, my wonderful brother and sister were kind enough to buy me some new headphones and running gloves, which have both been put to good use already. (I sold my old headphones to my mum for a very reasonable price!) It was even a toasty 7°C when I went for a run today so it was nice not to be shivering as I plodded on down the old railway line.
Its been really encouraging to hear a number of friends and family commit to sponsoring me in the new year, I know Christmas is always an expensive time. I've got a lot of fund raising to do between now and the big day on the 17th April as well as much training to be done! If you would like to sponsor me then please follow the link at the top of the page in the description, all money goes to HOPE HIV. Student loans comes in shortly, maybe the money you save from not going out one night during exam time could put be put to better use supporting young people in Africa, not to make you feel bad if you DO go out in January, but....just kidding. Any sponsorship would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and I apologize sincerely for the delay in updating my blog.

ps. Now completed over 100 miles in training.

I need sponsorship, not conversation

Well this last week I have had the pleasure of being confined to treadmill running due to the snow. Running in the same spot for long amounts of time in front of a mirror, admittedly this is considerably more pleasant for me than most, having my handsome self looking back at me, cheeky bit of pouting if no ones watching. I managed 16km on the treadmills last Friday, I use the plural 'treadmills' correctly as I had to change machine after the one hour mark due to an unavoidable safety feature which stops the treadmill after 1 hour. Safe, if it warned you and didn't just allow you to run in to the dashboard thing. 

I was due to go for my first outside run this morning however I woke up with pains in both my left and right Peroneus Longus, which for those of you who haven't studied structural kinesiology or anatomy is the muscle on the lateral side of your lower leg, and is used in eversion and plantar flexion of the ankle joint...obviously. Heres a nice picture for you.

I think I strained them playing indoor football on Saturday where there is significantly more quick changes of direction than in 11-a-side which I usually play. Hopefully they should feel OK tomorrow after Jenny and Sarah (sports massage geeks) gave me some exercises to do.

The heading for the blog is not me being rude, I was chatting to a friend earlier and realized just how much time I now spend discussing training and the marathon, which is nice and I really like the fact so many people care about how I am getting on, or checking to see if I've given up yet. But I do really need sponsorship, I understand its Christmas time coming up (apparently) so its an expensive time of year, and obviously if you would rather sponsor me after the holidays then there is plenty of time and I would really appreciate that. It would be great if you could sponsor me now though if you are able to help me move closer to my target steadily (link at top of page) . Its so true that without sponsorship, from you all (my friends and family) then I am simply running as a hobby, it is you who is going to be making the difference to thousands of children lives through supporting HOPEHIV's fantastic work. My friend Ricardo suggested bucket collections at London tube stations which I will be looking in to, and maybe taking a few people to do it with me, but I really appreciate his suggestion, and any others people offer. Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a marvellous and snow free week.