London Marathon 2015: I'm in!

Yesterday I got the best email, telling me that I have a place to run the London Marathon 2015 with the charity Mind. To read the words on that email was a complete eureka moment. I had to reread it several times to make sure I'd read it properly, then I called my husband and shrieked down the phone at him. I still can't believe I've got the good fortune to have one of those highly-coveted places, and to run for such an amazing charity so close to my heart is a massive privilege. 

Mind is a charity which supports anyone suffering from a mental health problem. So many people suffer from mental health issues in one way or another these days, but there is still so much stigma surrounding the subject. We've all heard the euphemisms "bonkers", "off their trolley", "barking mad" and some other less tasteful ones, but would anyone speak so derogatorily to someone with, say, cancer or heart disease? No, they would not. So why is it acceptable to marginalise those with mental illnesses but not those with physical illnesses? This is where Mind come in. They work to make sure that people with mental health problems get support and respect, and aim to spread awareness and remove the social stigma attached to such illnesses. 

Most people who know me know that I have struggled with depression and anorexia for much of my life. I am now at an ok state. I'm functional. My depression is mostly controlled by medication, and I eat to survive, which is good enough for me. I have good days and bad days, and a whole lot of ok days, but on the whole I can get by. I am fortunate in that I am supported by a loving husband and family and friends, and my three beautiful children can make the most miserable of us break out a smile. 

I started running at the end of last year as part of a body attack class at the gym. The first time I had to do it I was worried; my body wasn't what it once was after having 3 children in 3 years and we all know about the importance of good pelvic floors! But just running around the studio during the running track made me wonder what it would be like to pop on a treadmill and have a bit of a better run. So on 31st January 2014, whilst at Eden Hall day spa, I jumped on the treadmill and ran 1km. It felt great! Over the ensuing weeks I slowly built my distance up until I hit 5km, at which point I started running outside. That felt so good I decided to enter the Race For Life, and for the sheer challenge of it I entered the 10k race.

Me at the end of the 10k R4L with my son

Doing the Race For Life changed something in the way I viewed running. Whereas before it had been a matter of train hard enough to do the race then go back to my usual training, I realised I really enjoyed it and wanted to capitalise on what I'd achieved so far. So I signed up with Mind to run the Great South Run, and my relationship with this great charity and with racing as opposed to just running began. Since then I have started my own kind of training regime, and do my long runs every Sunday morning, something I am grateful to my husband for because he looks after the children allowing me this time and space. The rest of the week I do a mixture of cross training, strength training, short runs and intervals. It is important to me right now that, although I'm obviously very excited about running VLM, not to let it detract from the great honour of running the Great South Run. 

I intend to use this blog to keep people up to date with my training until the big day, and hopefully raise a bit of awareness for Mind at the same time.