A million reasons not to !!!

I am a 44 year old Wife, Mum of 3, Nanna of 3. I have countless problems physically that cause me problems daily. So to add to this little exciting bag of tricks I have decided to do ......The Great North Run to raise money for Sue Ryder Wheatfields in Leeds in memory of my Sister Anne who sadly passed away from lung cancer in October 2012. She always supported me whenever I did an event, so to give a little bit back to those who supported her when she needed it I do what I know I can do.

Along with many I have watched the GNR on the telly and wondered " how do they do that " ? So this year I will find out. I have taken part in quite a few events over the last 4 years, ranging from 5km & 10Km Race for Life, Leeds 10km twice, Leeds Abbey Dash (10km) twice.
I love my "plodding" I will not put my pace anywhere near a run, it does qualify as a jog but must look like a plod. I have raised money for various charities including Cancer research, Yorkshire Air Ambulance and MacMillan Cancer Support. Due to the menace of injuries and a diagnosis of vocal chord dysfunction I had no choice but to take the winter off, which means getting back in the saddle is proving a challenge of its own making . As a prequel to the GNR I intend to do the Leeds 10km for fun to gauge my pace. To help this little mind set the organisers have changed the route making for a flatter faster course, I have not done an official 10km time in under the hour so my target for Leeds is sub 55mins. My target time for the GNR is sub 2hr 15mins but will be aiming for under 2 hours.

So far my training is going okay, I am very happy with my pace and distance. Since having the luxury of a phone that works properly I can have my Runtastic app as well as my Runkeeper giving me miles and km paces. I have always run my sectors in km and keep and average of a 7min km but at event pace I can maintain a 6min or less km with a sprint finish.
My challenge will be to remain healthy and injury free, during the next couple of months, the muscle rub will be bought in bulk just to maintain the creaking gate that has become my body.

So this is my challenge for 2013 and this is my story, my name is Elaine Winterbourne and on the 15th September at 9am my dream will become a reality. As the title suggests there are a million reasons not to do this event, but there is only One reason to do it....because I can. If you would like to help me on my journey by donating to Sue Ryder Wheatfields you can follow this link. Thank you.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ElaineWinterbourne