Am I Crazy? What have I Done?

Well I blame it on the Guinness totally! What am I talking about? I went to my running club's AGM last night and had 1 pint of Guinness and a friend talked me into running the marathon didn't she. I've always said I'd never do a marathon, as there's too much training involved, you have to be so committed and dedicated, especially over the tough winter months and I've always said it's too much as I hate the cold weather and it doesn't interest me. However, much to my surprise I said yes.

Can I just add that in my humble opinion my running club is the best running club ever, Brighton & Hove Women's Running Club, formerly called Running Sisters. Such a lovely group of ladies, so supportive and friendly. If any of you ever decide you want to join a running club, you should definitely check this group out. (Shameless plug I know!)

So where were we, back to the marathon, oh yes. I'm still trying to get my head around it, how bad can it be, surely if I put in the training it will all go to plan.....I have done the Barns Green half Marathon recently which is a bit undulating and that wasn't so bad, I enjoyed it and glad I did it. So really the marathon is the next logical step up and I do love a challenge. Also the Brighton Marathon starts from right outside my house, right opposite Preston Park so I really have no excuses. I plan to train with a group called 'Run Brighton'. All my friends say how great it is, they do great long runs on Sundays and the runs are really good and structured. Training starts with them in the next few weeks.

I've checked out the charity places and decided to raise money for the WWF .........no not the World Wrestling Federation, the World Wildlife Fund. People who know me know that this charity is really close to my heart and I support it a lot of the time. I'm particularly fond of chimpanzees and gorilla's and friends in the past have said that there is a particularly close similarity between myself and chimps, I've got no idea why! On a more serious note WWF is a charity that is really close to my heart, I think it's increibly sad that species are becoming extinct all the time and animals are losing their territories and organ-utans are losing their homes because of the world's ever increasing need for palm oil. One of the benefits of raising money for charity is I'm hoping the training over the cold miserable winter months will be made more bearable because I'm raising money for a charity that is really close to my heart. During those frost bite training sessions I can say to myself that I'm doing it for the animals, a good cause and it doesn't matter how long it takes me to finish the marathon as long as I do it. Also now that I am doing it for WWF, there's no way I can back out, I'm in for the long haul whether I like it or not. Anyway, I'm off for a training session I'll leave you with my final thought: The Panda Made Me Do It! :)

I'll be back shortly with how my training has gone so far - do get in touch if you have any questions or if you're running the marathon too!

Leonie x