Weeks 29 & 30

Back In The Game

It has been a pretty good couple of weeks, the shins seem to be weakening in their fight against me, perhaps they have run off at the thought of challenging me as I have ramped up to what I have affectionately called Project Sparta. I am sure the message got passed down my veins and their reaction was a bit like woah I don't wanna be messing with Barker the Spartan man he sounds tough. So all is well now and I am positive it will stay that way until I take part in the biggest half marathon in the world in just 7 weeks!

Since the shins have retracted I have made good use of this by completing 6 and 7.2 miles in the last 2 weeks, I have cut down the running to once a week to keep injury free. I can not tell you what a relief it is to be completing this mileage again, honestly I can not quite explain enough at how frustrating it is to have to stop mid way through your training, it is probably a bit like going to enjoy a cuppa tea and a chocolate hob nob only to find out that there is only one hob nob and that one has gone all soft and dry and has lost the very essence that makes it the best biscuit, incredibly frustrating especially when you are trying to be good with your diet and will have to wait a couple more weeks to treat yourself. I hope you now understand the frustrations.

So in short I am back timings can improve but for now it is getting the distance in, one lap of Pitsford hurt a little bit next journey 8 miles.

Butterfly Release

As you all know one of the charities I am running for is Children are Butterflies, and since I last wrote my family and I attended their annual butterfly release, hosted at Ivy Cottage in Hollowell. The thinking behind this event is pretty awesome, Ann (Director of the charity) nurtures the butterflies herself from caterpillar to butterfly and handles them with care so in time they can be released in memory of families lost babies.

So the setting for this fantastic event was in a back garden and what a garden it was, semi-wild I believe it is referred to, abundant with wildlife and colour and treasured by the owners who from what I gather were inspired to do this for their grandchildren, some fantastic ideas have been implemented including painting up an old caravan based on the railway children story books and using it as a play house. If any one is into gardens then I recommend visiting on one of their open days

And so with the weather holding up for all the families in attendance it was time for the butterfly release, the names of each child read out and the families going up and holding a butterfly in their hands before releasing them into the wild, I think we were the last ones to go up and release our butterfly. I held the butterfly safely in my hands and went to release it, but my butterfly did not want to go straight off, it decided to land on my chest instead, I think it was Jasmine giving me a hug and acknowledging she knows she is always in my heart a real poignant moment for me

A special thanks to all at Children are Butterflies for arranging this event and long may it continue bringing some joy to bereaved parents

Big News

Today there was a big announcement, I can only presume Mo Farah heard I was doing the great north run and thought that man could do with some competition and so he and Gebrselasie have decided to enter in the race, more fool them sabotaging their careers coming up against me, I jest but hey how incredible is it to say that I have raced with these legends in what looks like it is going to arguably be the best Great North Run yet.