Midnight Express

I’m writing this on the eve of my trip to Turkey – a country conjuring images of whirling dervishes, sunny beaches, soaring minarets and bustling bazaars. But it’s also a country with a dubious human rights record and where sadly torture is still a present danger for certain groups of people. It seems a fitting place to start my series of fundraising runs for the charity Freedom from Torture.

Freedom from Torture, is the only registered charity in the UK which exclusively supports survivors of torture and organised violence. Operating for over 25 years, they aim to rehabilitate individuals back in to society where they may rebuild their own human dignity and worth. Their services adapt to meet the needs of torture survivors so they can find new ways of meeting their changing needs. Such services can be difficult to fund as torture is not an unappealing and challenging subject.

The first event I’ll be running is an easy one – 15km from the Asian to European side of Turkey. But it will still be a challenge, because as recently as May I suffered from a stress reaction on the soles of my feet that prevented me from walking – not ideal for a runner! The next event will be a gentle step up to a half marathon, only it will be run in Tromso, northern Norway at the Arctic Circle and the town will not have seen sunlight for six weeks! Finally, I’ll be running in the UK – a 50km self navigating and self supporting run around a section of the Capital Ring

As I get up nearly every morning and train (four sessions of running, one of personal training one of pilates!) I’ll be keeping the clients of Freedom of Torture in mind. The softly spoken man reading poetry to express his pain, viewing drawings by children who have witnessed unspeakable violence, or recalling the proud smile from a client who has baked bread in a support group – these images will come with me as I run the streets, and hopefully will come to you as you consider a small donation to support the good work of the charity.

On your marks...

All packed and ready to go. The alarm will go off even earlier than when I train (415am!).

I've packed everything, from arnica, to four safety pins. And running kit for all sorts of weather. Istanbul's forecast for hail on Monday has changed to thunderstorm. As long as it's Monday!

I'm so excited that I want to keep going to people "I'm going to run a race again!" Of course, it's not a race, it's a run, but I'm racing myself! That's pretty competitive.

I'm just too excited to type.

I should actually be planning how I can fundraise for the great charity Freedom from Torture but I am really distracted. I'm sure they will forgive me - and my two readers will contribute even a small donation...

I got my mojo back!

This morning I went for a run. And I didn't have to think about what I was doing! I got my running mojo back.

I am ecstatic.

I dedicated my little run to all the naysayers, the folk who said I couldn't do This Job and run a marathon, the people who have tried to stand in my way, the people with no perspective, and all their gang. You keep running around yourselves, I will run marathons!

I must remember to make a donation to the Eczema Society too, whose sense of community got me through the worse of the pompholyx.

Last run before the Midnight Express

What a great weekend! It was three day's long (for me), a special someone's birthday, @typecat ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon, and somewhere in between all the celebrating, I actually had a decent run!

This was great because it was my last weekend before Istanbul. I really want to finish mentally strong in Istanbul. Even though it's only a small race (15km) it will be a big spiritual boost if I finish with a smile on my face, and that will really help me go into my Ultra training feeling fabulous!

I've already started my baby steps towards training, by ensuring I went out on Sunday after my 13km run and doing a 4km tear around the block.

The Freedom from Torture running shirt was beautiful to run in, and I am pleased to report that you can buy them here! They are really lovely fabric and a really flattering cut. I'll post some pics soon as these printer graphics don't do them justice, but trust me all the ladies are coveting them!

Now that the Royal Parks is out of the way, the household is in preparation for Operation Midnight Express. For anyone planning to run overseas - do it! It's a great way to see the world and an additional challenge. Try to find pasta in Asia, or work out how reliable the weather is. Or transliterate Cyrillic. Or pack a small medical station and all your English brand drinks! Sadly, I know that the country I'll be running in does not have a good reputation when it comes to torture. For diplomatic reasons, I'll be posting more about Turkey once I've returned.

Running for a reason

If you've been here before you will know that I run because "it's the challenge that you choose, rather than the challenge that chooses you." So my modest running debuts of 5km races were in memory of friends who had died of specific conditions and the charities that work to stop that happening. I've since tackled bigger running events, for bigger charities, small charities and grant giving organisations.

I'm pleased to say that my charity for the three runs that are coming up (Istanbul trans-continent 15km, the Polar Night Half Marathon in Tromso and the London Ultra) are all to raise awareness of and funds for the charity, Freedom from Torture.

I've been a supporter of the charity for about five years now and been to a range of fundraising events.

At many of these I've been able to meet their clients, people who have been victims of torture. I've never come away from one of these events with dry eyes. But I've always come away deeply impressed with the charity's work.

I've heard about the work they do, I've read the writings that come from expressive therapy, and creative writing classes. I've eaten bread made by a women's only group whose commonality is the dough they make and the pain they carry. I've smelt the tomatoes grown in their garden refuge, where stones mark tributes to fallen friends and spell out the word "Why".

I've heard from women just like me, and men who could be my father. I've met therapists and Chief Executives and stared in stunned admiration at their volunteer medical practitioners as they talk of their work. I've interrogated their communications and marketing folk and joined a local group.

I can't think of a charity that has made me feel more welcome as a supporter - imagine how they make someone feel who has been a victim of horrific torture.

So spurred on by hard working local group at Hampstead and Highgate, I'll be tackling these three events and donating all funds to the charity. My events will not incur the charity any money, other than fundraising fees set by the website, just giving.

I thought if everyone I knew could buy my a glass of wine equivalent in sponsorship and everyone I didn't bought me a pint, we'd easily hit the target. 75p of every pound donated goes to running services.

Thank you.

Donate to help someone who has survived torture.

If you'd like to ask a question before donating, please leave a comment and I will respond.

It's all in the mind

Well it feels like a long time since I've blogged and my two regular readers might be wanting updates. So, the new Ultra training plan is helping marvellous much. It feels very achievable (especially now I got the nice man from Finance to calculate my percentage increases each month in a spreadsheet). And it feels like I've cut that elephant into pieces. So that's one mental box ticked.

Then there's the other mental issues that come with just not having my fitness where I want it. So I'm reading a hippy sounding book called Running Within and have some affirmations and trigger words. Yep. Affirmations are things you say to yourself when the negativity or bad stuff creeps in. And trigger words are things you say to yourself to remind yourself to correct any bad habits. What you want to know what mine are? Cringe... Okay.

• I get fitter every day. (See what I did there, not "my fitness is crap and I have a long way to go, but a positive reinforcement of what I can do.)
• I can tackle anything I put my mind to.
• When I reset I come back stronger. (So, sometimes when I run distance, I walk, especially at aid stations. I don't call this weakness, I call this a reset. And when I have timed my running runs against my runs with resets, no overall time is lost. Because you've gathered yourself to come back stronger.
• The pain is just a reminder of how hard I am trying.
• My legs are light and dynamite. (This is for when I have really dead legs).
• I love hills

My trigger words are "glide", "tippy tappy" (a reference to raramuri running style) and my trigger action is to smile when it's hard and laugh when it hurts.

I know it sounds silly, and I am not really a natural convert but the smiling absolutely helps, as does giving permission to set reset breaks.

When the going gets tough

You know that song is on my play list. Actually quite a lot of bad confessions from the 1980s and 90s are on my play list. But that is not the point of this post. The point is that, while having my usual, eek 20 days to the race panic, it dawned on me that I haven't just lost the ability to run a marathon in the last few months, but I have lost those training weeks.

So as soon as I finish Istanbul, nay, before I start, I have to be an ultra marathoner in training. The training plan from this fabulous list of resources, will take about 20 weeks. That's quite soon really. So it's time to take oneself seriously. Not to skip meals or have beer at lunch and stuff.

The SRO was most helpful on the weekend pointing out how less stressful life is if you have fixed days for running, and not cram them in around a busy lifestyle. So I've got a spreadsheet for regular running days. It calculates my cumulative distance each week. If I can get it to calculate the % difference in cumulative distance week on week I've got it made in the land of Excel. But I am still struggling with the ABS formula function...

I need to eat like a machine. And very regularly, as I am only a slip of a thing. And I have to think ahead. For example this evening, I'm not too hungry but I am eating. Because in the morning I am running. Because at lunch I have too many meetings. Because in the evening I have an hour of pilates. See, everything is all very crowded in there.

I'm making my bulgar wheat lunch in advance - if I am not eating, then I'm cooking. Or washing run kit. Never ending isn't it?! I've got every superfood you can think of in the cupboard. Amaranth, quinoa, chia seeds. It's a lifestyle choice this distance running malarkey. I bet some people just eat hamburger, run when they feel like it and balance a big job.

But then they wouldn't have an excuse to put Billy Ocean on their play list. "Tough tough, tt-tt--tough."