The Walker With Heart

Not a lot more to add to the title... apart from a HUGE grin, and an even bigger thank you to the people who nominated me for this honour. I'm hoping those 3 little letters will help with the awareness raising element of what I do, and work have helped in putting together a press release and getting it out today, so hopefully they'll be something to kick off 2010 with:-) http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/59282/supplements/23 TTFN Paul

This misses out the pounding around the streets of Bootle , the Wirral Way, the Liverpool Loop Line and anywhere work sent me! Liverpool Half Marathon, 1st time I followed a "running training plan" - new PB 2:40:-) Great Manchester Run-10k 1st 5miles run without walking breaks Great North Run-I still have the suntan!!!! Liverpool 10k 1st time I've done Marathon distance - 6:59:-D Liverpool Santa Dash 1st time I've run 10miles without walking breaks:-) All of which had support and help from many a foolish soul, some helping banish some demons, others on the technical side of running, more on the getting me to places (and back) and some for just pointing out when and where runs are! Tomorrow will be my review of my eating year, after I've burned some of it off with a nice 10 miler, the conditions under foot have not been up for running the last week. So I've walked c5km each day (in Xmas day) to keep my feet in;-) TTFN Paul

The walks this year, and the luck souls who've been out with me:-) Mam Tor and the Great Ridge - Gilly Jubilee Trail - 13.1 miles around London- Charlie Chester Awareness Walks - GUCHs from far and wide! Stanage Edge & Pole - Elizabeth and Gilly 3/4 of the Edale Round - Solo Hathersage to Chatsworth - Gilly Yorkshire 3 Peaks - Chris with support from Tim GWC Silkin Way & Brewood - The GUCH Walking Club GWC Thames Path - - http://www.guchwalkingclub.org.uk/ Fairfield Horseshoe - Solo Ambleside and Hawkshead - Solo Kentmere Round - Chris High Street and Kidsty Pike - Chris and Tim Snowdon - The Work Gang GWC - Chatsworth & Hathersage - The GUCH Walking Club Mam Tor and the Great Ridge - Tim The running review will be up in the next couple of days, then the awareness raising review and then the forward look! TTFN Paul

Well, the 50o-odd km seems to be doing some good - always (with a couple of 5 km's and 1 5miler as the exceptions) I've had to run/walk any distance... However, today I did 10miles, no stopping no walking breaks:-) Now, at times I was jogging slower than I can walk, but given the conditions underfoot... ... I'm more than happy! It did snow for good lengths, and wasn't an easy task... However, it felt damn fine! Speaking of fine I've had that rarest of things a Xmas meal with very, very good food - duck terrine , followed by a genuinely rare steak and excellent cheese! While running today I tried to answer a question posed by a mate of mine - what's the difference between running, walking and climbing as sports... I'm hoping he was being literal, cos my brains is off on a metaphysical bent... of which more during the week! TTFN Paul

A decent 5 mile run at lunchtime , didn't feel like I was pushing it and only walked 450min in the total (I do include 2 pigs of hills in the route)... the result - my 5 th fastest 5miler ever, at 62min and 55s... http://connect.garmin.com/activity/20576234 And so the halfway mark was passed, and the stupid grin on my face through my meeting this afternoon at very least put others at some uneasiness:-) So half down, with over 200 days to go... Almost 3 weeks ahead of schedule - not it gets hard, I need to duplicate my best ever half-marathon training and keep going after it to take it up to the full marathon distance - those 3 weeks are going to be needed to cover the inevitable injuries, colds and "I can't be bothered" weeks. It also means that I can start thinking about what next - and how to pass this year on - does anyone want to pick up the baton and do a challenge next year? What should I do? Oh well, 6 and a half months to work that out! TTFN Paul

Another GUCH I know through the European Conferences died this weekend. The shared experiences at these conferences make you care for people you may only meet a couple of times in your life. That she was married to another GUCH just makes the pain worse, that you know that a fellow GUCH is hurting in a way you can't help with, and given the distaance can only send email hugs. These conferences are great you do end up knowing that you're not alone, knowing that there are others that have been through the same and want to put something back - through their involvement in thier National organisations - is a great motivator to keep doing what you can to help all GUCHs and all of those affected by CHD. But there are times when sticking your head in the sand seems like a better option. Tempting though that is, I won't, I can't. Only yesterday I "found" a GUCH online who'd never met/spoken to one before - They now know GUCH PA exists and that a lot of people w...

Grumble, grumble, grumble... The plan was to go and do a decent 10km run, with a warm up and cool down... The sneezing fit and blockednose saw the end to that! Anyway, application of food and coffee meant that by mid-afternoon I felt up to a bit of a wander, just a gentle 12km, up to Antony Gormley's "The Other Place", with my big camera:-) All being well tomorrow is a short trip to the Peak District, with a friend whose never been before!

Well, 3 days after the run and there's a recount - 240 santas between Las Vegas and Liverpool... Who will win? How many santas are out there... http://www.runliverpool.org.uk/Event_List_09_SantaDash.php - 240 santas in 7000! Too Close to call!!! However, in other more exciting news the co-operative bank runs a competition for "Fundraiser of the Year", which one of the GUCHs I know decided I should be put in for. Now I didn't win, but they did like the tale told so much that they decided to include me in their "Its your community" magazine. The other two winners are the sorts of people I find inspirational so even to be on the same page as them is, for me, a huge acheivement. The next big target is the 500km mark, which will be soon... The marathon training starts shortly and things are looking good for an entertaining new year! TTFN Paul

Hi all, apologies this is the first blog in the best part of a fortnight.... Work has been work-like and interfered with my social life... Not something that happens too often, but when it does it does and I try and make the best of it - so a gentle 5miler around Cardiff http://connect.garmin.com/activity/20046815 Add in the 5km around the local park, and the just under 5km santa dash today (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/20146807) and a good solid week, which is where I wanted to be with 167 days until the Edinburgh Marathon The plan for the rest of December is to start building up the distance, slowly and steadily, so that I can start taking on longer and longer runs... However, that's tomorrow and today is all about looking like this: TTFN Paul