Date published: 08 April 2016 by Digital Team
As you get older your life becomes more hectic, leaving you less time to keep yourself in shape. One day you are 13 stone of pure fitness (slight exaggeration), playing rugby and football, going to the gym every day, then suddenly you are 2 stone heavier, unfit, no longer playing sport and paying for a gym membership when you haven’t stepped inside it for months.
It has long been an ambition of mine to run the Bath Half Marathon as I grew up in the city, but I have never taken on a challenge like it before. When I found out Rainbow Trust had places in the event, signing up was an easy decision to make.
My eldest daughter, Emily, is 17 and she has a degenerative illness called MPAN which affects her mobility and cognitive skills, causing loss of sight and regular choking episodes. We have had amazing support from our Rainbow Trust Family Support Worker Jayne, who visits us regularly and spends quality time with all 4 of us, as a family and individually, we find this a great help to cope with our difficult situation.
I am always keen to give something back and what better way to do that than by getting fit and fulfilling a personal ambition?
My training began in November and I was smoothly up to regular 6km distances, but I came down with a gastric infection at the end of November, which took me off the road for a month. I restarted my training with a 6km run at 8am on New Year’s morning, so I am now back on track!
I’m using the training plan supplied and have corresponded it with my busy work schedule, finding time to run as and when it suggests. I mostly run around Melksham, where we live, increasingly doubling up the distance until I can get to around 10 miles in one run.
Crossing the finish line seems a long way off! I felt great after my 6km run yesterday; out of breath but not as much as I was a couple of runs ago so my fitness is definitely improving. I spoke to my sister Kimberley, who is also running it for Rainbow Trust, and she was pleased to have managed 2 miles at the gym. I reminded her that was only about a sixth of the distance, then I quickly realised that I am only up to about a quarter of the distance myself, so we have a lot of work to do before race day!
I will supply photos to the Rainbow Trust team during my training, so hopefully we can all notice some improvement to my physical shape as I get fitter!
The support we continue to receive from Jayne is second to none. We have many brilliant health and community professionals now involved in Emily’s life, but Jayne is the only one we can truly call a friend. When I do finally cross that finish line I think I will feel a mixture of amazement, relief and pride at having achieved something so worthwhile for myself and for this brilliant charity.
If you are considering signing up for a challenge, you too can get fit and raise money for a brilliant cause at the same time.
“Please run for Rainbow Trust and help them to support more families like ours.”
If you would like to run for Rainbow Trust, check out our events for ways to get involved.
