500k!! HALFWAY!!!

On Wednesday I reached halfway with 500k.  This morning's 10 mile run puts me at 522k so far, 136 of those in August. 456 of those have been in the last 4 months, so I am feeling very good about getting the last 478 done in the coming 4 months.

This has been a good running week. On Monday I joined in with the Malvern Joggers Pubathon, raising money for the local Community First Responders by running 10+ miles and making 12 pub stops. Had half a pint of Guinness in every other pub and was still standing at the end. :)  On Wednesday I hit halfway, Saturday was Ryan's first parkrun (that he finished) and today I ran 10 lovely miles on the Malverns. :)

Ryan's been wanting to run both laps of our local parkrun all summer. It's a 5k (3.1 mile) course, every Saturday at 9am, completely free and run by amazing volunteers. He's tried it a few times but his leg gets sore so we've stopped after the first lap but this week he was determined and he did it!! It took us 55min, a mix of running and walking, and he's now sporting a huge blister from his splint rubbing :( but he's so pleased with himself and we are so proud of him. The parkrun community is amazing, so supportive - all the marshals were there to cheer us on, lots of support from the speedy runners when they passed us on their second lap, and a group of the lovely Malvern Joggers came back to find us and run in with Ryan. It meant so much.

Coming up in the next 2 months:
On 21st Sept is the Worcester City 10k, which should be fun. I might be running a 24hr team race next weekend but still waiting to hear on that one, and as usual- getting the runs in towards that 1000k goal.  I'll keep running parkrun with Ryan and Natalie, though I do worry he will be too tired for it with starting back to school this week.... but I hope not!
On 19th October I run the Great Birmingham Run (half marathon) - that one's on tv so you can watch for me! I'll be wearing my hemi racing top!!

What Hemichat has been up to this summer:
Meets have been taking place all summer, at places such as Drayton Manor, Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Hastings seafront, Peppa Pig World..... with many more events on the calendar for the coming months. Funds raised for the charity help these meets to happen, and allow children with hemiplegia to spend time with each other, as well as letting their parents meet and become friends and offer support to one another.
You can 'like' Hemichat's Facebook page to see more about what we're up to. :) https://www.facebook.com/Hemichat?fref=ts

July roundup, parkrun August!

It's been a good running week to end July and begin August. :)  Despite the hilly start with West Malvern on Monday and British Camp to the Wyche and back on Weds..... I had a lovely run with Natalie on Thursday, quickly followed by another lovely run with a good friend! :)

Today's fun came in the form of a family parkrun.  I'd said I would do 'parkrun August' and run all 5 this month, including when we're on holiday in 2wks time, and the children have all been keen to do it with me, so Mark got the honour of running with all 3 of them, with the idea that I'd double back when finished and find them to help run the rest together. What fun to wake up and realise that it was raining and not looking likely to stop!!! Hmmm.... Still, we headed off and were encouraged by the Worcester parkrun Facebook post which assured us that the course was dry.... for now.  Things started off well, but about 10 minutes in the heavens opened, and what was a dry course (ours is 2 laps of woodland trail) turned into a swamp!! Having done last week's in the very hot sun, I can say hands down that I preferred the rain, and it seems my body does too, as I came in with a massive PB of 26:55!! Very pleased with that as I was just hoping to stay under 30 minutes.

I had wanted to get a few more miles in today, so as soon as we were back I headed out for a 'cool down' run. I didn't look at my watch and just ran - it's nice to do that every so often and I was very pleased to see I'd run just over 5k again and managed to do it in 29:11.  My speed is slowly coming back. :) Rest day tomorrow after 23 miles this week!


So July -
I managed to run 81.8 miles, which is 131.6 kilometers. I got out and ran 20 times over 31 days, this included a 10k race, a 5k mud run, and a 5k parkrun.  I also started running with the Malvern Joggers on a Wednesday night. They're fab, we do around 5 miles in my group and I really look forward to it each week now (might help that we go to the pub after a run for a quick pint and some chips....). I am loving the running right now, and feel really excited to tackle August and eat away at this distance challenge a bit more!

Here's an entertaining photo of my friends and I after our mud run a few weeks ago. It was on a day like today that was just POURING with rain.... but was so much fun! And here's the state of my running kit!

August is going to be about getting the miles in. I'm at 395k right now, and plan to be over 500 by the end of the month.  I need to up my long runs in preparation for my half marathon in October. Monday's run will be 9 miles, hopefully round the Severn Way for a change of scene. :) I'm looking forward to the parkruns, especially on holiday when we do the Lanhydrock one!

I'd love to set the challenge of running 100 miles this month. It'll be tricky with a week on holiday - I do plan to run while we're away, but it may not be the 20+ miles I've been doing each week recently! Though if anyone fancies setting me the challenge then I'll take it up- if I can get to £500 on my JustGiving page by the end of next wk, I'll do it. Now's your chance to donate if you haven't already, I'll see where the total is next Sunday evening!

Remember, all money goes straight to HemiChat for the fantastic work they do linking families of children with hemiplegia. Natalie, Ryan and Lucas are very excited to be joining in with the running this month, they'd love to hear that they've helped get people to donate too, so if you leave them a message on my page I'll make sure they read it!

Til next time,
Emily