Edinburgh Marathon - Training Plan Ready

If you read my New Year Goals blog, you will have noticed that I am going to be running the Edinburgh Marathon to raise money for Cancer Research UK and dedicate it to my Aunt Linda.

Having never ran a marathon and really had no intention to either until I made this 'wise' decision, this is definitely going to be a challenge and a half.

January saw me gently get myself back into the swing of running again after taking some time off due to injury and losing my mojo. Good preperation for when the training starts on February 9th.

The training plan is also sorted out, and let's just say I am scared. Accordingly to my schedule, I will have completed nearly 100 miles in February alone!!!

Plus, I still have to get over the fear of running on the roads. 10 miles on a treadmill is fine, but I don't think 20 is acceptable. I need to get myself used to roads. This is going to be a routine that I am not used to either.

As well as my training schedule, I have also got my sponsorship page up and running. I have to raise a minimum of £750 before gift aid. However I have set myself a challenge to raise £1,000 instead. So help me out and get sponsoring people!!!

Bloggers Unite

When re-designing my website at the beginning of 2007, I accidentally deleted half of the content from my computer and the server. And although I could start from scratch for the majority of it (albeit a bit of a ball ache) there was certain parts which I thought were lost for good, such as my blog. Let's be honest I can't remember what I did last week, so trying to remember a couple of years stuff was out of the question.

While doing a clean up of my computer, moving stuff to me external hard drive, I came across an old version of my website. I was able to locate my original blog, so decided that the best thing to do would be to put the information together

2 weeks later and over 300 posts, both blogs are now united. Some of the dates I just had to guess because I didn't provide them and the majority of the images I used were lost. But now it is done.

While doing the move I read nearly every single blog (didn't change anything), and it was quite entertaining to see what rubbish I wrote. I was more open than I was now, but it had a lot more of what I got upto and it was great to reminisce back to those times. So maybe I need to have a median between this. Who knows.

The Next Iconic Advert?

Over the years, there has been many iconic adverts which you just seem to remember, such as the British Airway's Face and Cadbury's Smash.

Last night while watching Big Brother, T-Mobile showed a 2.5 minute advert which played on the Flash Mob craze:

I have to say that this is definitely one of the best adverts to be shown in a long time. be interested to see if t Mobile intend to do similar Flash Mobs in the future. Could this be an iconic advert that people talk about in the future?

Talking of iconic adverts, what was your favourite one from your lost youth???

Happy New Year...Happy New Goals

I have not made a New Year resolution for several years. To me resolutions are there to be broken, so in the end are totally useless. Why put yourself through that agony, when deep down you know you are gonna start whatever you have deprived yourself again in a couple of days, or if your lucky, weeks?

A couple of years back I decided that instead of resolutions, I would do goals. What's the difference? Well goals don't have to be started straight away. It's something that you can work on through the year to improve, stop or lose. And if you fail first time; then you can dust yourself down and try again and you don't see yourself as a failure.

Last year I didn't actually write anything down about what my goals would be. I don't think I created any. I'm not sure why, but it's most likely because I couldn't be arsed. Well at least I am honest!

However, this year I have decided that I will make sure I get them written down and then review again at the end of the year.

So here goes:

Goal 1 – To run 500 miles
This would be your equivalent of a 'getting fit' resolution. Although I wouldn't exactly say I aint fit, just that I could do a little better.

I enjoy running. And last year saw me do over 170 miles. Last year also saw me get two injuries, with the last nearly making me stop running all together out of pure frustration.

When I first set the goal I thought I was mad. Especially as it is more than double what I did in 2008. However, when you break it down it's less than 10 miles a week and even with injuries, holidays or whatever, the target is still achievable.

If you fancy cheering me on, you can do here. It will give you a lovely update on how I get one. I shall also get a widget added to my website aswell.

However, what will also help me with the challenge is my second goal

Goal 2 – To run the Edinburgh Marathon
On the way home from the club on Sunday (always a wise time to make a decision), I decided that I was going to run the Edinburgh marathon. If I am honest, I have no interest in running that distance. I'm quite happy with 10km and probably the occasional ½ marathon and that's it. But I want to run Edinburgh marathon this year and there is two reasons for it.

Firstly, I get to go back to Scotland and see my family and secondly for my Aunt Linda.

My Aunt was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years back and everything looked like it was fine when she was given the all clear. But just after my birthday my mum told me that the cancer had come back and far more aggressively. To say the least I am gutted.

My aunt is a fitness freak, so it seems fitting that I run the marathon dedicated to her. In the process I will also be raising money for Cancer Research UK so expect me to start pestering for sponsorship soon.

You will be able to be kept updated by my blog as I go through the training highs and lows.

Goal 3 – To recycle more
Granted I already do a bit of recycling, but could be doing more. It's difficult to recycle in a flat and since my blog at the beginning of 2008 the council seem to be do nothing to help make it any easier either.

So this year, I want to do more than just recycle a bit of paper. So I am gonna take things into my own hand and do something about it. And Chris, if you read this, you will also being doing your bit too, whether you like it or not!!!

Goal 4 – To blog more
I have sort of been neglecting my site, including my blog, just recently. If I am honest, sometimes I do wonder why I bother because it's not like I have thousands of people looking at the site. But at the end of the day, I do it for me really. It's like my scrap book come diary, just a very public one.

And maybe my blog isn't being read from it's original place, I do know that just recently people have been having a gander via Facebook (hello Facebook buddies – all 3 of you who read this lol) because they left comments there and anything. So at the end of the day, people are interested. Seriously guys, why?

If you fancy leaving a comment at the actual site, then feel free.

Goal 5 – To actually suss out what I am gonna do this year
This is a goal that I know I am going to achieve. Simply because I have no choice really. It's got to happen whether I want it to or not.

Later this year I am going to be made redundant. So what I do after leaving the company I have worked at for over 9 years, I have no idea. And this is what I need to work out.

So what is planned for me now? Well I don't want to go back into finance. But then looking at the current climate, I think I would be lucky with whatever I can get my hands on.

I'm currently doing a web design course, but I have little confidence in it especially after the amount of mistakes I found in the first text book. Plus, I am so bored of the current subject. Home courses are definitely hard because you have to find the motivation, which I am lacking. So should I go to uni instead? It's something that I have been thinking about, so who knows. I might actually be a proper student.

Only time will tell...