Not long to go!

9 and a half weeks down, 2 and a half to go! On Wednesday 17th October my boot will be coming off and I'll be able to start walking normally (probably in the loosest sense of the term to start with!) and I literally can't wait!

I'm getting a bit fed up with hobbling around and using crutches but getting on with things and looking forward to lots of physio and gym work to build myself back up to fitness and hopefully my foot back to somewhere close to normal! As you can see in the picture below, my right calf muscle has declined in size significantly in the past 10 weeks, going to take a lot of work to get it back strong again but I'm sure I can do it!

It is also looking possible to be able to do the Run to the Beat half marathon on 28th October, doing it in a wheelchair and having people push me around! Currently in the middle of organising it so will keep you posted!

James x

Injury update!

So I've been in for my 2 week check up and the cast is off but the boot is on! 

It will be on for 10 weeks, 4 more weeks of non-weight bearing. Saw the x-ray of the 3 screws in my foot too which was very strange! Should be able to have them out after the 10 weeks though :) then I can aim to get my fitness back by getting the physio right and ease my way back. Doing plenty of exercises even now!

Hopefully I'll be back fully sometime next year. I'm hoping to do the remaining 5 races in 2013 rather than 2012 for the August to December races. However I may still do Run to the Beat in October, looking into organising for 13 people to push me around in a wheelchair for a mile each! Will be in touch when I find out if I can do it.

Cheers, Hop-a-long :) x

Challenge on hold!

Last week (Tuesday 24/7/2012), whilst playing football, as I went into a tackle the other guy stretched for the ball. He fell as he stretched and my foot got scissored between his legs and got twisted as he fell. After going to A and E the following morning and having x-rays and a CT scan, it turned out I had fractured 1-2 bones in my foot and damaged some ligaments. The damaged ligaments required an operation which I had on Friday (27/7/2012) and got back home on Saturday.

Doctor says potentially 3 months of non weight bearing on my foot which is a long time but I'll be doing everything correctly to make sure it is right and fully repaired for when I can train again! Will take a bit of patience to wait until I can walk on it again but I'll be doing as much as possible to get back to fitness!

So my challenge has to be put on hold for now, I will be waiting until I am fully fit again and able to run the distance properly before finishing it off. I will keep you posted on my progress!

Half marathon #7 - Bronze

July begins and I've already completed half marathon number 7. I went up to the Lakes to run the first Lakeland Trails half marathon in Coniston. The wet conditions, judging by the results, meant that there were a few non-runners but 382 still braved the rain and I managed to come 3rd :) the first time I have ever come in a position to win a prize! I was even leading for a couple of miles in the middle but a more experienced fell runner came past me! Extremely happy with it though! 

The race itself was fantastic despite the rain. There were lots of hills (steep up and down which were both tough!) and through trails in forests and it was a beautiful course. I think it might have been short given that I ran it in 1:27 and went through the 10k marker in 33 mins but that doesn't take away from the race! This probably makes up for the slightly longer Brighton half marathon! 

Thanks very much to Hannah for coming and supporting me and for a cracking weekend of strange occurances! Including a mosher to hippy music in a local pub and a fish on a windowsill ...

I have now raised £1,291.05 and this is rising fast! Thanks to everyone who has donated so far. Anyone who hasn't yet, you can donate by text by texting "JGHM62 £?" to 70070 or on my just giving page at:

https://www.justgiving.com/James-Gardner-2012

My next one is the Cross bay challenge up near Lancaster in August. This is definitely the point in the year when it is time for me to take a 2-3 week break from training fully to let my legs recover!

Over and out for 6 weeks x

Half way through!

So last week I completed my 6th half marathon of the year and it was the furthest one from home of my 12! It was the Wine Run in Lanzarote and it was a fantastic race! I came in 19th place out of around 2,000 runners so I'm extremely happy given I've never run in those conditions before. I also came 2nd in the 18-24 category, getting ever so close to winning something at a race for the first time! My time of 1:39:41 was my second slowest half of the 17 I've done but given the conditions, I'm not complaining! Still feeling pretty fit at the moment!

The course was incredible, running through the mountains on Lanzarote was spectacular. It was tough though, quite a few hills, a strong constant head wind and running on sand for a lot of the race! But it was a great race and the support was really good in the villages along the course. At the end there was a wine and food festival where you could try the island's wine and food dishes for 1 Euro a piece, it was brilliant! These should definitely happen in Britain too!

Thanks ever so much to Michael, Matt, Katie, Millie and Michael for coming out for the holiday to support me (and to go on holiday!) it was much appreciated and I had a fantastic time, couldn't have wished for better company!

So now I'm half way through my challenge now and I have raised £1,231.05 which is absolutely brilliant! Thanks so much to everyone who has donated, it is much appreciated! You can still donate at https://www.justgiving.com/James-Gardner-2012 and help me get to my target of £2,000, I still have 6 races to complete so plenty of time!

My next race is a week on Sunday in the Lakes, they do come round fast! Will be in touch after then :) over and out x

Half Marathon #5 - Home Sweet Home!

On Sunday I completed my 5th half marathon of year in what is now my home town of Leeds! I have run this race for the previous 3 years and know it really well. This meant, with the training I've put in, I was able to run my 3rd PB of the year of 1:21:19, knocking 9 seconds off from my time in Madrid! My legs are clearly getting used to running this pace now!

It was a great race and I manged to finish in 20th place, my best finish in a big race of my running career :) it was great to see so many from Doss running it, with Emily Bircahll winning the women's race and Freddy Slemeck coming 3rd in the men's race! It was great to have so much support around the course, it really spurred me on and is keeping me going in trying to raise as much money as possible.

Thanks to Michael for this and some of my other photos, his new photography skills are clearly showing through!  

I have now raised over £1,100 and and am hoping to get up to the £2,000 mark now! Please give anything that you can to the great cause of Cancer Research UK, I really appreciate everything that is raised, it makes the constant training really worth it.

My next half marathon is in Lanzarote :) going to be a very very hot one!

See you next month! James x

Hi!

I have hit the £1,000 mark :) extremely happy to have reached my target so early on, thanks to everyone who has donated so far! I would love to make it up to £2,000 and any you can give would be great to help me raise as much as possible for a great cause.

Cheers, James