So long, and thanks for all the fish ...

It seems fitting that I sign off this blog with a line from the great Douglas Adams. It was he, and his Last Chance to See book, who inspired me to become interested in Save the Rhino, and their great work continues. Stephen Fry recently retraced Douglas's steps with Mark Carwardine, and gave a great talk fundraising for Save the Rhino which I was privileged to attend.

So, next half marathon was scheduled for November 8th - the Grand Union Canal half marathon near Watford. What's been happening?

From Milton Keynes, I tried to keep up the running once a week. I just about managed it, struggling to hit any kind of distance, with most of my runs 2 to 3 miles. My longest run was 5 miles in Cheltenham, and I did manage one lovely running cliche - a 2 mile run along the beach at daybreak on Sanibel Island on holiday, quite gorgeous! It's true though that a lot of my runs were cut short - whether through struggling with heat or the usual mental demons that cause me to take shortcuts home.

But with five weeks to go to the half marathon, I really needed to step up the training. And so ... it was at this point that I took three weeks off completely. A persistent cold followed by cramming for an exam meant that I completely abandoned training, and as a result have abandoned next week's half marathon.

I do remain positive! Tash, my first commenter on this blog many months ago, and now my friend and running partner, checked out this blog to remind me that exactly one year ago this week, I ran my very first mile. I came a long way to that point but have moved on a long way since. Though I may have dropped off recently, I musn't forget how much I have achieved!

But that's not the end of it. I have started again. And I am scheduled to run in next year's Edinburgh marathon - keep following my progress and find out future details of the orangutan charities that I will run for this time. Last week I ran three times - the busiest week since Milton Keynes, and I am back up to 50 minutes' running again. I am positive, I'm back, and I'm aiming for a sub five hour run.

And for more proof that I really did the run this year - see below!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/savetherhino/sets/72157621905210383/show/