Hello!
Thank you for joining me as we review week 9 and 10 of training for the Burgess Marathon. The last two weeks have been solid everything is starting to bed-in. I feel stronger however there’s still a long way to go.
This week I want to share the following;
What marathon training I did over the last two weeks
The Big Half is coming! - a special training run
Fueling the mind - YouTube motivation
Succeeding against the odds - a story of determination, courage and resilience
What’s in the store? - helping me to retain focus
What marathon training I did
Week 9 running training
Tuesday - 10k easy run
Thursday - 11k easy run
Saturday - 5k - Panshanger parkrun
Sunday - 32k
Total - 56k
Week 10 running training
Tuesday 6.5k easy
Thursday - 8k easy
Saturday - 5k hard - Church Mead parkrun
Sunday - 20k easy
Total - 39.5k
You can follow my training at Strava or message me if you’d like a copy of the full plan (which includes the strength workouts).
Week 9 was wonderful. The easy runs were easy and the Panshanger parkrun on Saturday was beautiful, you can read about it here.
On Sunday I ran to Victoria Park and met my friend Alice who I hadn’t seen in ages. Alice has running pedigree having completed Marathons in Rome, Bournemouth, Brighton, Valencia and London under her belt. She’s currently training for the Berlin marathon on 28th September which is the same day as the Burgess Marathon so we have a very similar training plan. I love running with Alice and the 18k passed effortlessly.
Week 10 was called a ‘de-load’ week. It’s meant to be less intense to give the body an opportunity to recover but it was still nearly 40k 😀
The Big half is coming!
On Sunday 1st September The Big Half, organised by the London Marathon Events, will be taking place. It’s an inclusive half marathon with a festival atmosphere. Starting at Tower Bridge and finishing at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich it takes in some of London’s best sights and has amazing crowds and a festival in Greenwich Park at the end. Participating elite runners including some of our recently crowned Olympians. There’s always a buzz in the air and I’ll be running it as part of my marathon training plan!
Once again Become the charity which supports Children in Care and Care Experienced young people will have a contingent of runners all raising money for the charity.
When I completed this event in 2022 there were 70 other people running for Become. It was great having solidarity and connection with people over the course. I even managed to persuade one of my clients to do it too. He hasn’t stopped talking about how incredible it was.
Become staff and supporters gathered on mass to create a ‘Cheering Point’ just after Mile 11, 2mins from the Surrey Quays station which was epic!
The Big half is a great day out and you’re welcome to come along! Become are hosting a Post-Race Celebration between 1100-1500 at The Old Brewery. There will be a complimentary buffet and you’ll be able to chat to other #TeamBecome runners and meet some of the Become staff team as we celebrate this fundraising event.
Whilst I am raising money for Become, I’m asking people to sponsor me for doing the Burgess Marathon (double the distance) on 28th September please feel free to make any contribution now by clicking here. I’ve currently raised about 30% of my target, I’m hoping together we can do something special. A huge thank you to everyone who has already contributed and please spread the link far and wide.
Fuelling the mind
One of the things which has fuelled my love of running is following the YouTube channel Messy Happy. The channel started in 2018 to document Ben and Mary Bridges, school teachers in England, who wanted to complete 40 challenges before turning 40, as a way to focus on the positives following personal difficulties. They are genuine and relatable people.
Fast forward and they’re still teachers but now teaching in a school in Thailand and their channel has documented all of this. Their transparency, optimism, and joy of running is infectious. It shows the transformative power of running, combined with a positive mindset. They now offer coaching plans, an online community and the biggest dose of dopamine for viewers. Go watch them on YouTube (click here) and be inspired to do more than you thought was previously possible both in running and life.
Succeeding against the odds - a story of determination, courage and resilience
I started working with this client, an unaccompanied minor in November 2017. English was not their first language but they embraced education and commenced a level 3 Travel and Tourism course alongside working hard in their English classes. As they started their final year in September 2020 our thoughts turned to what next, as the Home Office still hadn’t processed their asylum application and they wouldn’t be eligible to apply to UCAS for fees to attend University. College was going very well and continued through the transition to online teaching as a result of Covid and the national lockdown. However on 01/07/21 I received the most upsetting call from them. Attending their fortnightly Home Office appointment they’d been detained, taken to a detention centre, Yarles Wood and told they were going to be deported. I heard my client’s voice break on the phone.
After numerous phone calls and emails I discovered their now departed solicitor had not submitted various forms. A new solicitor was sourced and a visit by me to see them was arranged. It took a few weeks and finally my client was released but at a cost: it had been a traumatic experience.
Then a week after returning to their placement my client was informed that they were receiving a notice to quit the accommodation and that their case was being closed by the department. With help from other organisations and our Careers Adviser, and having obtained good grades, my client secured a place at the University on their Foundation in Social Sciences course which did not require them to pay fees.
The decision to close their case and terminate support was formally challenged and reversed as under the Children Act 1989 they had remained in continuous education which enabled the local authority to continue providing support whilst the Home Office processed their asylum application. I am very grateful I did my Social Work degree.
My client excelled on the course going on to secure an offer from another University to do a degree in Business Management on a full scholarship which I supported them to apply for.
When I spoke to them last week they had just completed their 2nd year. They continue to work with the South London Refuge Association as a spokesperson and representative for change, having met with parliamentarians. They are also currently volunteering with Age UK and told me they would like to become a Social Worker in the future.
It really is great to be back at work.
The store
This week I wanted to share a few books and resources which have contributed to my approach to running and life.
Feel Good Productivity by Abi Abdaal - there’s a lot of talk about ‘the grind’ and ‘hustle culture’. This guy is the opposite, he’s all about how to make work fun to increase your productivity. I’ve been applying his ideas in how I go about my marathon training and career and it works!
The 4hr Work Week by Tim Ferris - yes it’s a clickbait title however it was recommended to me. I read it and got annoyed. I read it again and got strategic, and more productive. It has totally changed how I approach my work/career and the value I place on my time. It’s an old book with timeless approaches for working in a global economy in a digital age. It’s particularly valuable if you feel time poor.
Show Your Worth: 8 International Strategies for Women to Emerge as Leaders at Work by Shelmina Babai - I’ve been guilty of expecting my employer to recognise my value and to give me my flowers and then getting frustrated when they haven’t. This book has changed my mindset and given me the blueprint for a more satisfying career.
Any purchase you make I will get 1% which I will add to the fundraising.
Thank you!
And as I’ve mentioned books I thought I’d mention this;
Speechify, text to audible software.
In my roles sitting on Fostering and Adoption panels I have to read a lot of papers. I have servere dyslexia, this software is the answer. Designed by Cliff Weitzman, who has dyslexia, it converts all text into audio which I can listen to when I’m washing up or walking to the nursery. You can choose voices and change the speed. It is difficult to measure the positive impact this has had on my life and productivity.
Click this link for a $60 discount and 1 month free.
Here is an interview between Ali Abdaal, author of Feel Good Productivity and Cliff Weitzman, the founder of Speechify, it’s an absorbing and inspiring listen, click here.
I continue to recommend and use the following to protect my feet;
I’ll be back in two weeks for an overview of how the next two weeks go (11 and 12) including running the Big Half. I hope to have a new pair of running shoes to review too.
Until then.
Stay safe, stay well and happy running
The Burgess Marathon
The Burgess Marathon takes place on 28th September and will involve me running the Burgess parkrun course 8.5 times with the final 5k to commence at 0900 to conclude the challenge with the official Burgess parkrun. You can donate to my fundraising page for Become Charity here;
Full of good stuff and thoughts to ponder on!
Awesome as ever