As you may know, at the end of last month NAM launched a campaign to find an enthusiastic, and committed person to take up our one place in the Virgin London Marathon 2011 and we are delighted to tell you that we’ve found her!
Janey Sewell is a staff nurse in the HIV/GUM Outpatients Clinic in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and tests patients for HIV on a daily basis. Janey knows NAM well and recommends NAM’s resources such as the booklets and aidsmap.com when people have tested positive so that they can get more information about their diagnosis. Janey was incredibly excited when we told her she had got NAM’s marathon place and was happy to keep a diary of her training sessions so that we can hear all about how she’s getting on - check out her blog below.
If you would like to sponsor Janey and help her raise money for people with HIV all over the world, visit her fundraising page.
Blog # 2
The Christmas and New Year gave me a great opportunity to over-indulge whilst smugly proclaiming “I’m in training.” Reaching for my umpteenth mince pie I was challenged to prove my claims by my twin brother (who happens to be in the Marines and according to him, the definition of an elite athlete.)
Having put off the inevitable since arriving home on the 23rd, I glumly reached for my trainers on Boxing Day and trudged off in to the snow with Pete jogging along far too comfortably behind me, barely out of breath as he chatted away happily. As I could scarcely string a sentence together as I was struggling to breathe and run at the same time, I made do with occasional groans and mutterings about the snow making the going not my usual training conditions. As I was assured that “pain is just weakness leaving the body” I appreciated quite how weak I must be as I seemed to be experiencing a stitch in every conceivable part of my being.
Despite the initial shock to my system it was great to be running in the quiet lanes, fields and river meadows blanketed in snow without traffic, pedestrians, cyclists and general London buzz. That evening Boxing Day supper tasted all the sweeter for having accomplished a 6mile run in the morning (and possibly because I had second helpings of pudding to celebrate.)
Returning to London and finding routes to run was surprisingly enjoyable and I came to recognise the feeling that I was experiencing before running was actually pleasant excitement rather than fear and loathing. Admitting this out loud has caused mixed reactions from friends and family, my particular favourite is shock combined with disbelief that causes a hilariously confused look on people’s faces. As they struggle to match the words they hear with the person that’s saying them there is some involuntary mouth twitching and eye-brow wiggling followed by an over-hearty “good for you” as they hastily attempt to rearrange their features into a look that is interested and supportive but ultimately disbelieving. I’m not offended. I’m as surprised as anyone.
This staggering change of heart has made it all the more annoying and frustrating that for the last week my left ankle has had different ideas about the kind of athlete I am aspiring to be. The pain came on after a short run (past a chocolate factory in Birmingham-a very enjoyable experience) and despite rest/ice/anti-inflammatories, my ankle still refuses to recognise that it is a fundamental part of my training.
Advice/massage/stretching techniques/acupuncture has been gratefully received from friends and colleagues and I am substituting swimming and cycling as less high impact exercise for the time being. What I would never have anticipated was the feeling of frustration I have as I see other runners everywhere I go. Another week of ice, elevation and rest stretches ahead and my trainers stare at me reproachfully as I write this…
Blog #1 Trainers and Training
My excuse for increasing my pastry consumption - a London Marathon application form filled out on a day when the sky was blue and the sun was out - has well and truly come back to haunt me.
With the realisation that I will actually be running that marathon in 15 weeks (oh my god 15 weeks?! aaaaaaagh!) I have had to come to terms with the fact that this is serious. So I headed to a running shop and had a chat with some experts. They asked me what type of trainers do I normally run in. Ummm blue ones?
Onto the treadmill I hop. Appearing suspiciously like someone who has never been on a treadmill before I almost fall off the back of it before my brain engages and I attempt to run. The treadmill did seem to go on for a while, I must have run at least half a marathon and was certainly quite out of breath before I was allowed to stop a few minutes later.
Apparently my feet splay out and my knees collapse in, a good start for my epic journey. Fortunately technology can correct this and I duly tried on different pairs of trainers and waited patiently whilst my boyfriend discussed their credentials with the expert (the expert has been running since he was 10 years old, he looked confused when i asked him why). In the end having mentally weighed up the in-step/cushioning/support/cost/weight blah blah blah I chose the red ones because I like the colour!
Then I went next door and had a coffee, a healthy sandwich and a large pain-au-raisin. Yum. The training begins…
Sponsor Janey today!