The Kindness of Strangers

Since entering the bloggersphere some time ago, I've been pleasantly surprised by the level of support that exists. For all the talk of social media trolls, and lets be honest the abuse thrown at the likes of Stan Collymore goes beyond the pale, I've found the world of blogging and Twitter to be full of people who want me to do well.

In recent weeks, I've hooked up with a #WobblesWednesday collective of bloggers who are trying to do something about their weight. I love the encouragement that everybody gives to one another, leaving comments on blogs and interacting through twitter. The number of positive messages I receive for my weigh-in articles provide added incentive to do well. Until now I've very much dieted alone; now it feels like I've got a mini-community rooting for my success.

Away from the dieting, I've received kind words in support of my running exploits. Since exchanging tweets relating to parkrun, we've continued to interact, culminating in mutual sponsorship for our forthcoming runs. The fact that somebody I've never met wanted to help with my fundraising efforts is quite incredible. I wish them all the very best as they prepare to tackle the London marathon in April.

While I'm on the subject of sponsorship, I've been touched by the response to date. People who I've not seen for a very long time have shown immense kindness. My great aunt and uncle on my father's side who I have not spoken to for years got wind of my half marathon plans in a Christmas card from my mother, and put a cheque in the post. I've received donations from people connected to my time short time in Swansea some 12 years ago. A guy I knew from school added to the sponsorship pot, saying he found my blog inspiring, and he was trying out my spinach and chorizo salad for lunch. All relative strangers, all incredibly generous.

My blog has even found an unlikely source of support. Author and former Conservative Party MP Louise Mensch took an interest after I responded to some of the posts on her JoyHacks website which explores personal happiness and well being. A few tweets from Louise's account made a noticeable increase in traffic to my blog. I don't necessarily agree with or endorse her often outspoken political views, but we share a lot of common ground on fitness and health. Besides, anybody with close connections to Metallica is alright in my books.

Do read @bigfatrebel blog, http://t.co/TnRpCpxJd3 he left a comment on our latest http://t.co/kVe5amHcKT - showing difference therapy made
— Joyhacks (@joyhacks) January 15, 2014

Of course it not just strangers and people from my past whose support has helped my dieting and fitness kick in recent times. My loved ones, friends and colleagues have all played their part too, not least my wife who has taken charge of the boys on Saturday mornings since July, while I've been improving my performance over the 5k distance. I can't thank everybody individually, but would like to offer a collective Cheers.

Just under 7 weeks to go until I run 13 miles. With the kindness of strangers, as well as the support and love of my nearest and dearest, I've nothing to fear.

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Still in the chase

In mid-October, my weekly ParkRun newsletter informed me of a competition they were running in conjunction with Lucozade Sport, one of their sponsors. #ChaseThePlace has a pretty simple premise; run or volunteer at 8 ParkRun events during a defined 8 week period and you will get your name thrown into the hat for a place in the London Marathon, competing in the Lucozade Sport team.

When I first read the email, I barely battered an eyelid. There are hundreds of these events taking place every Saturday morning, with thousands upon thousands participating. After the first weekend of #ChaseThePlace there were over 35,000 people in the competition. You don't have to be much of a betting guru to realise the odds are not exactly in your favour at this point, so I just nodded, not really paying this competition another thought.

After three weeks, the number of runners had drastically reduced, with just over 10,000 still in with a chance. And then a big carrot was dangled in front of me. To spice up the competition, the sponsors could pick a week to reward runners for recording a personal best, by giving a second entry to the final ballot assuming all 8 races were completed. Partly motivated by this, and with Week 4 selected by the Lucozade people, I smashed my PB, knocking a massive 44 seconds off the previous mark.

What a way to spend a Saturday morning - Photo by George Mardall

Week 5 came and went and now I'm told there are 5,747 ParkRunners still in the competition. Three more Saturday mornings to go and with the numbers likely to suffer a bit more attrition, the odds are starting to come a little more in my favour.

Should the unthinkable happen and I were to win the competition, it would be an interesting dilemma. I've never run beyond 10k, so to suddenly be elevated into a marathon would be challenging in the extreme. Would I be up to the task or be able to dedicate time in the early months of 2014 to get myself race ready? Who knows. The fact is before the start of July, the notion of me getting up on a Saturday morning was implausible. Now I look forward to pulling on the running gear throughout the week and bracing the cold autumnal temperatures that Saturday morning in Black Park offers. If offered the chance, it would be pretty rude not to accept.

Of course, while this competition provides me with a nice distraction, it is just a bit of fun. Turning up to run 8 successive weeks is a walk in the park compared to the commitment I've demonstrated to losing weight this year. I wouldn't be physically able to do this now, had I not put in the hard graft to shed the pounds and become more active.

#YearOfTheDiet has been a yearlong marathon. #ChaseThePlace would be the cherry on top.

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The Fantastic 4

De La Soul proclaimed that 3 is The Magic Number. If you don't believe me, listen for yourself.

However, I'm starting to believe there is something a lot more special about the number 4. Here is why.

In my last weigh-in, I had lost 4 pounds

In doing so, my cumulative weightloss for 2013 passed 4 stone

It has been 4 months since I made my ParkRun debut, back in July

Today I recorded my best placing, crossing the line number 104

I set a new PB today of 24:15, shaving 44 seconds off my previous best.

Coincidentally, it was the 4th event of the #ChaseThePlace contest, keeping me in the hunt for a place on the Lucozade Sport London Marathon team. In recording a PB today, I'll have two entries in the hat, assuming I run the next 4 ParkRun weekends.

This afternoon, my sister insisted I needed to eat chocolate because I am getting too thin, and so I enjoyed 4 little toblerones.

4 years ago, in the post-Christmas sale I bought a pair of 34 inch jeans, with a view to fitting into them once I lost my Christmas podge. They have spent the last 4 years gathering dust in my wardrobe. I've been very smugly wearing them today for the first time.

So there we go. 3 may be The Magic Number, but this evening, I'm pretty happy associated with The Fantastic 4.

Wednesday Weigh-In 16 October

Last week's three lb loss was always going to be tough to follow up, not least as I didn't have a sneaky blood donation to help me along the way. Having got under 15st my goal for the week was to keep it that way, rather than necessarily push on with the diet. Consolidation is important from time to time, as pushing too much can be detrimental, either by weakening yourself or by causing a relapse.

With the weather turning, I went shopping for a winter coat on Monday.  Despite having got down to this size before I had never bought myself a smaller coat for the colder seasons, so this was a nice treat. With my little one in a nursery taster session, I had time to browse rather than do my usual trick of look online beforehand and then spend a couple of minutes in a physical shop to make the transaction.

After 4 or 5 shops where I left somewhat disappointed by what was on offer, I found what I wanted. A navy blue woolly duffel coat, complete with hood. I loved it and loved it even more when I found that I fitted nicely into an M size. I've road tested it a couple of times already on the school walk this week and it keeps me lovely and warm. Give me a silly hat and some marmalade sandwiches and I look like Paddington Bear! Having bought this, I now have a responsibility to ensure that I still fit into it until Spring comes around.  There is a bit of give, but aside from Christmas week, I don't plan on expanding.

Back on message, the scales this morning read as follows

So, despite not really chasing weightloss this week, I have still managed to wave goodbye to another 2lbs. To celebrate this morning I could have taken advantage of child free time by visiting a café for something delicious, or head to Burger King which I've been craving recently.  Instead, and despite the pretty miserable conditions, I've been for a run. 

My result on Saturday morning wasn't all that I had wanted it to be, so a bit of midweek training was the order of the day. I'm giving serious consideration to running a half marathon in the spring, so probably need to get used to the wet and the cold, as if I do sign up there is only winter training ahead. I've read that one of my friends and readers of this blog has signed up for the London Marathon (go Tina!) but I don't feel that distance is realistic for me just yet. But the Silverstone Half, following in the footsteps of my brother-in-law who did this earlier in the year sounds appealing. Watch this space.

Wednesday Weigh-In - 17 April

Another Wednesday, another weigh-in. Fortunately things continue to move in the right direction.

Less than last week

So, 2lbs lost since last week, and back down to my lowest weight of the year. If I can do something about my ridiculous food intake at weekends I think I could have lost a bit more too, but can't really complain. It would be better to balance things out a bit more so I'm not stuffing my face with crisps and cake on a Sunday only to follow up with porridge during the week, but if is working, why not.

This weekend will be a bit different as there will be quite a bit more exercise than usual. The 15 mile walk will be good for burning some calories while getting my off my backside and being active.  This level of exercise will be an exception rather than the norm, but will hopefully inspire me to pull on my joggers and work towards that 10k I've promised to enter before the end of the year. With the weather slowly improving and the days getting longer, I've run out of excuses so time for some positive action.

I've heard my sister is looking to shed a few lbs and is back running. A bit of sibling rivalry could be good motivation, and having watched from a distance as she went from never running a mile to completing the London Marathon in a fairly short space of time, I (not so) secretly admire her. I'm not sure I'll ever get to that level of fitness to compete, but it would be nice to perhaps do a shorter run at some point, no doubt bickering throughout the course.

Having got back to 16st 10lb my target for this week is simply to lose weight in the next 7 days. Seeing the lbs column drop into single digits would be a welcome boost. Hopefully come next week that is what I'll be staring at on Wednesday morning,

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