Well its almost 2011. I'm sure many people are still thinking about New Year resolutions. Personally, I gave up on New Year resolutions years ago. Experience has shown that they rarely work. If you really want to make a change you shouldn't need to wait until January 1st to set wheels in motion. The fact that you do is an indication that your heart isn't really set upon the change you want to make, whether its to give up smoking, lose weight, start exercise, or whatever. If you want to do these things, then just get on and do it. This is why most resolutions are broken before the end of January.
However, I do like to start the New Year with a new challenge. It stops the rot from setting in and helps focus my attention on what goals I want to set myself for the year ahead. Friends will remember that last year I set my sights on running my first ultra marathon. This I did back in June, so that box has now been ticked and will be revisited at some point in the future. I've been thinking of my next goal ever since. I am also motivated by the idea of raising money for charity, but as a keen marathon runner it gets harder and harder to ask friends to sponsor me for running The London Marathon. Therefore, each year I need a new, more daring challenge. For 2011 I have decided to run a marathon in each calendar month of the year. Make no mistake, this will be a huge challenge for me. I have run 12 marathons in the last 7 years. I now plan to double that number in just 1 year.
My chosen charity for 2011 is SOS Children's Villages. This is a charity based in my home town of Cambridge, whose main focus is on providing orphanages in 124 countries. You can read more about their valuable work by clicking on the following link:
http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/
I'm aiming to raise money for a new project in Zambia, where work has started on constructing a new SOS Children's Village in Chipata. Work is expected to be complete in early 2012. 10% of Zambia's children are orphans, of which 88% have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. By 2011 the number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS is expected to exceed 33,000. The new village at Chipata will provide a family home for 130 of the most vulnerable orphans. It will also provide a centre for general medical care, and a nursery school and primary school to serve the local community. You can read more about the work being done in Chipata by clicking on the following link:
http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/archive/2010/09/new-sos-facilities-taking-shape-in-zambia?searchterm=zambia
That's my aim and my charity covered, where have I got to in training? Well, on Boxing day I completed an 18 mile run following a path alongside the River Trent in Nottingham, where I was spending Christmas with my in-laws. The route was pancake flat, so it felt like one of my many usual runs in Cambridge, but with different scenery. The run felt reasonably ok, although I felt full of turkey and Christmas pudding from the previous day, not exactly the best carbo loading. There were times when I thought about cutting my run short by 'just' doing 15 or 16 miles. However, Ruth had dropped me off at the start of my run with instructions to return 2 hours 20 minutes later to pick me up. I, therefore, realised that cutting my run short would serve no advantage, as I'd just end up waiting around in the cold for her return. So I pressed on and retraced my steps once my trusty Garmin had beeped to let me know I'd run 9 miles (where would I be without my Garmin?). The scenery was quite nice, with snow covered rolling hills to the south of the river and mostly flat farmland to the north, the side that I was on. There were many large family groups out having a post-Christmas walk, but very few runners. There was no human activity on the river itself, in the summer months it is usually busy with pleasure craft. However, there were lots of aquatic birds, which made me wish, once again, that I was a better ornithologist. I saw lots of coots, tufted ducks and the odd heron, but many birds that I didn't recognise. At least they provided something else to look at.
Yesterday morning we were visited by two of Ruth's old school friends, J&T. We haven't seen them for several years, so it was good to catch up. I often find that I'm hungry all the time the day following a long run, and yesterday was no exception. However, whilst J&T were visiting I felt it would be rude to go off and help myself to some food. I'm not a great conversationalist at the best of times, and less so when I'm hungry, so I hope I didn't appear rude or disinterested as I sat listening in on the conversation and only adding the odd comment. I was quite pleased when it was time for them to leave so that Ruth and I could have lunch. Following lunch we said our goodbyes to Ruth's parents and set off for home.
Now that the blog is started I have a little more unpacking to do and this afternoon I will head off to do something like a 9 mile run. So, until next time, adios.
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