On the 12 March I ran the Silverstone Half Marathon, the second of my 12 Miles for Wishes challenges. Despite being in quite a lot of pain because of my back and left shoulder I managed to post a personal best time of 1:50:03 and placed 1763 in a 9000 strong field. This was quite a different race to Wokingham, which had a 3,000 runner turnout – it’s much harder to run your own race with that amount of people around you, you really have to fight the urge to go off too quick.
That said, I’ve worked hard on training and working out what my pacing should be and as a result I managed to take 11 minutes of my time for the Wokingham Half in February. Possibly a greater accomplishment is that I managed to beat the time I posted on the same course back in 2007. Thanks to the Adidas Half Marathon website I was able to look up my time and I can feel a little smug that I may be 10 years older but I am fitter, stronger and healthier than I was at 24, so the hard work really is paying off.
On that note, I am not setting out to ‘just finish’ these challenges – I want to do the best I can and reach my own potential. So yes these are personal achievements, but the goal is bigger than that – it’s about changing live by supporting an amazing charity, Make-A-Wish UK.
So what’s next?
With Challenges 1 and 2 complete I will be refocusing the training throughout March and April, to ensure I’m targeting the right areas for the next three challenges. I’ve enjoyed the running and training for the two Half Marathons, but distance will be less of a focus in the short term – although I need to remember I’ve got the Bournemouth Marathon later in the year.
So, April will see me taking part in my first Sprint Triathlon, in Woking, which consists of a 400m swim, 20km cycle and a 5k run. Later in the month I have my second workplace challenge…more to follow on that one.
In May I will be running the Tough Mudder (London West), which is a 10 mile obstacle course.
So I will be packing in 3 runs, 3 swims and 3 rides per week for the next three weeks – again focusing on strength (core, legs and upper body), speed, consistency and endurance (5 and 10k runs, hill sprints and strides and indoor HIIT and outdoor distance on the bike).
All that and I’m moving house…but life would be boring otherwise.
Get involved
As ever a reminder of why I am doing this. All of the 12 challenges are in aid of Make-A-Wish UK. 1,000 children and young people will turn to Make-A-Wish UK this year and they can’t make these life-changing experiences happen without your support and generosity.
So if you can, any and all donations to the Miles for Wishes challenge will be gratefully received and acknowledged. You can donate through my Just Giving page – www.justgiving.com/fundraising/milesforwishes
You can also follow my progress through my blog or social media sites;
- Blog – www.milesforwishes.com
- Instagram @milesforwishes
- Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/milesforwishes
Guy Stapleford Ultra 