Talkback: Win the ultimate spring marathon experience

I apologise first as I don't want to interrupt the flow of this thread, but just wanted to reply to some comments on my earlier post on here and couldn't see anywhere else to put it, so here goes

Sue C wrote (see)l

Sorry, I am not one to take issue with stuff, but I AM taking issue with this!! The VAST majority of people who contribute to these forums have kids, work and have busy lives in general. I know I certainly do!!! They still take the opportunity to support, encourage, sympathise and congratulate the various highs and lows of their fellow forumites. There is no package or 'reward' at stake for doing so. It's what makes the RW forums work.

Wow! I feel awful Sue.  I’m obviously still a Fail in explaining myself earlier.  It was never my intention to imply that anyone was a bad parent, in fact the only one whose ability I might question is my own. I’m very impressed with how much you and others manage to fit in and wish I had half your confidence in carrying out so many functions at the same time.  Multi-tasking has never been my strong point and unfortunately I am very easily distracted .  Over the last couple of years I had several knocks to my confidence and haven’t always been the best parent I could and am just a little wary of going down that route again. 

You’re quite right when you say I might not have meant it to sound that way, my punctuation and grammar is obviously as bad as my parenting skills.  What I was trying to say in my obviously inept way, was that for those selected as Super Sixers,  this is a great opportunity to learn both for the supersixers but also to give back to the rest of the site. I for one will be following their stories and commenting, although whether anybody is interested in what I have to say with the wealth of experience on here is a different question.   After all if I was completely on the take, why am I still here and not yet disappeared. 

Please direct me to the diplomacy and bad parents forum on here, I could obviously do with some input

On the good side, my son has joined the running fraternity in the last year, so hopefully I’m doing something right.

In response to some of the questions being asked of me I feel I should offer the following:

Far from being new to racing, my first race was way back in 2002. A local 10K, followed by copious drinking in the pub. And so it remained for a number of years, with the addition of a few Half Marathons thrown in, the fastest time being 1:56:04 for the 2006 Bath Half.

In 2007 I entered the London Marathon & was accepted. I didn't give the distance enough respect, went through Tower Bridge in 2 hrs then blew up big time at mile 17. The rest was just a walk & a stumble. That year I also entered 8 10Ks (45:32 being the best time) & 4 Half Marathons (1:49:11 being the best of those). In between it was back to the pub & following a bad diet.

In 2008 I was ill. Really ill. Over 6 months of solid migraines saw me turn into a reclusive couch potato, but all I wanted to do was run. Once I was given the all clear, the rehabilitation started. I cut down on fags & beer and took up a healthy diet. And I shuffled/jogged/ran until I felt good enough to enter a couple of races. Nothing spectacular, but I got to run as fast as I could.

The next year (2009) I joined a club & started to get serious about training. I entered 9 10Ks (SB: 44:06) & 5 Halfs (SB: 1:38:36). I entered the Brighton Marathon, gave up fags, beer, & eating rubbish, & followed a training schedule, achieving my target of a sub-3:30 marathon (and lost 50lbs along the way) 2010 has seen me run in 12 10K races (SB:39:51) 8 Halfs (1:27:40) as well as various cross country, team relays, and 8,9, & 10 mile races. I'm currently running 130-150 miles a month, building a stronger base for when I begin marathon training later on this month, be it for Paris or another race. Targets will be set along the way (such as posting a sub 1:21 half marathon time) & as long as I follow my set training schedule then I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to attain them.

Hope that helps.

Oh, & the best part of lunch on the boot camp has to be the Marks & Spencer Humous & carrot sandwich I found lurking unwanted behind all the Jaffa cakes...

Was I the only one who scoffed the sausage rolls at lunch then?  I went for the unhealthy option.

Question for Alice - could I ask why the lucky 40 of us longlisted had to stay so secret about it?  It wouldn't have spoiled the final announcement of the eventual shortlist I'm sure.  It sort of took some of the excitement away and I would have loved to have chatted online and swapped notes with some people before I got there. 

funny ? that will do

who's next ?

x post

hang on I will share isnt as good as Funny I may have to reconsider

goldbeetle Xmas etc... wrote (see)

this thread is huge can someone tell me who to vote for please

I'mSpartacus - vote for Kight Rider

goldbeetle Xmas etc... wrote (see)

Purple pants?