Keep track of my progress throughout the year in words and pictures – good or bad I will be keeping a diary of the year here.

29/02/12 – End of Month 2

So the end of Month 2 is upon us, and quite a frustrating one it has been. I started the month on a high after reaching 200 miles. But I came crashing back down to earth with a knee injury and then illness, which saw me do no running for the best part of 2 weeks.

I’ll be honest and say when I got the knee injury I feared the worse. I have a history of surgery on that knee and was concerned that all the running was simply just too much for it. Thankfully though my physio had good news for me, worked his magic and I was back up and running. I think I will struggle with the knee from time to time over the year, but I know the warning signs now, and next time I will get it sorted as soon as I start to feel it, instead of trying to run through it.

So I am ending the month on a high note, I’m back running regularly, have re-introduced a long run on a Sunday and am looking forward to taking part in some organised races in March. My next target is to reach 503 miles by the end of the month – which will be put me bang on schedule for the end of the first quarter. I have even taken the 7 miles of rowing and swimming I did when I was injured back off my total. So this leaves me finishing the second month on 322 miles – so I make that 201 to run in March and I will be happy bunny!

30/01/12 – 200 Miles!

So it is the end of January and I have just reached 200 miles. It has been such a great start to the challenge and I am really pleased with my progress to date. This month really has been about getting some fitness back and hardening the legs to running again after all the time I missed at the tail end of last year.

I have really felt like it is coming together this last week and am now lookiing forward to throwing in a few organised races into the mix in the coming months. I have a few half marathons and an off road race lined up in February and March and a full marathon lined up for the end of April. I’m looking forward to all of them (well maybe not the marathon!) and it will be good to break up the boredom of just plodding the streets all the time. Hopefully I’ll get some good pictures from these events and can post some on here.

My body seems to be holding up well so far, of course I have tired days and do have niggles and sore muscles but generally I’m ok. I seem to have got over the problems with painful feet I had in the first couple of weeks and the only real concern at the moment is my ankle. It’s coping with it so far and doesnt bother me too much when I am running but really stiffens up and gets sore afterwards, so for the time being it is ice, ice and more ice and I’ll just see how it goes.

The Challenge Begins

Happy New Year – today saw the start of my challenge and I ran a marathon (26.2 miles) from The Cardiff Bay Barrage in Penarth, up the Taff Trail through Cardiff to Nantgarw in Caerphilly and back again. I completed the run in 4:00:14, which is an unofficial PB. One of my targets during the challenge is to run a Marathon under 4 hours, and after today I believe I can do it.

It was hard today and it hurt a lot because I have missed so much training with injury that although the stamina was there my legs just weren’t hardened to it – but that will come now I can hopefully get back to running regularly again.

Lots of friends and families from Thrive (Cardiff) came down to see me off and back home, or both and it was good to have them there. I was also joined for the first mile by our patron WBO Boxing champion Nathan Cleverly, 3 siblings of disabled children and a 10 year old Autistic boy who ran with his dad. It was good to have them there for the first mile and I hope in a years time I will have lots more joining me for the last mile. Only 1986 miles to go!

18/12/11
Well its two weeks today until the official launch of 2012 miles in 2012 and I finally managed a run outside for the first time in 4 weeks. I ran a 10 mile course and the ankle felt ok, not 100% but good enough and I am just happy to have got through it in one piece. To run 26 miles in 2 weeks time is going to be a big ask after missing all the training time I have, but I will get through it on the day.

It has also be a great day for Thrive today as we met Nathan Cleverly and the rest of Team Clev. They all came down to our children’s Christmas party and met some of the children and parents. It was a pleasure to meet them all and the effort they put in with both the adults and children was brilliant. We will next see Nathan and the team on New Years Day when they join us for the launch at Cardiff Bay Barrage. Nathan will be joining me in running the first mile of the challenge and I just hope I can keep up with him! Between now and then I have some running to catch up on – not too much though, I may put my feet up for a couple of days before I start!

13/12/11
It is less than 3 weeks to go until I start the challenge and I am happy to report that I am back running regularly, albeit on a treadmill. However it is progress and I hope to get outside later this week. Our Virgin Giving site is now live for donations and my page can be found at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SarahMurray2012 or via the donate button on my 2012 pages.

Behind the scenes we are working hard to make sure the launch and first day of the challenge is a success, so a few more late nights ahead I think. I am starting to get nervous but am also quite excited and just want to get started now, I just hope my ankle holds up for those first 26 miles and then I know i’ll be good to go.

04/12/11
So 4 weeks today I start my mammoth journey at Cardiff Bay Barrage. Its getting close but at least my ankle is finally starting to feel better and I should be running this week. I suppose I better work out the route I am going to run now after I have done the first mile with Nathan. I wont be alone though as I have friends who are going to run in 6 mile relays with me on the day to keep me company, and I have my very own water boy Kevin, who is going to ride a bike alongside me and carry all my water and energy gels – thanks guys! I’m getting more like Forest Gump every day!

29/11/11
I have had two pieces of good news about my challenge in recent days. Firstly 1000 Mile sportswear, who make the socks that I wear to run in, agreed to sponsor me and supply me with socks for the duration of the challenge.

Secondly, Welsh Boxing World Champion Nathan Cleverly, WBO Light Heavyweight champion, has agreed to act as a patron for Thrive (Cardiff). As well as helping to promote Thrive (Cardiff) Nathan will also be helping me out with the 2012 in 2012 challenge. He has also agreed to run the first mile with me from Cardiff Bay Barrage on New Years Day. This is a massive boost for Thrive (Cardiff) and personally for my challenge and we are delighted to have Nathan and Team Clev on board.

Training is going well, although my running is still restricted by my ankle injury, but I should be able to get back out there next week and prepare for the marathon on New Years Day. In the meantime I am working hard in the gym to maintain my fitness levels so I am ready to go when I get the go ahead to run.

23/11/2011
It is just over 5 weeks until I start my challenge to run 2012 miles in 2012. I am planning to start the challenge off by running a marathon around Cardiff on New Year’s Day. I will start at 10:00 am from Cardiff Bay Barrage, probably finishing there too – now that’s the way to start a New Year.

I am training hard at the moment, although the amount of running is being limited by a slight ankle injury, which I am getting treatment for, but don’t worry I’ll be ready to go on 1st January.

The enormity of the challenge hit home this week when I realised that even after running the marathon on the first day, I will still have another 16 miles to get in that week! The last time I ran a marathon I didn’t run for a week and half! I am under no illusion as to how tough this is going to be, there will be highs and lows but i’ll take the good with the bad and I know I will have some very good friends by my side to help me through it all.

17/11/2011

It is only just the beginning of a very long journey, there is still a lot to be done before the 1st January, but it is all starting to come together with the help of some very good friends who are committed to getting this show on the road!