Thank you

On Wednesday I launched my fundraising campaign by emailing and sending messages on Facebook to everybody I know, and some people I don't know very well, basically begging for money.
The response has been fantastic and I would like to say thanks to everybody who has pledged so far.
Thanks to the donations on www.justgiving.com/simonpeevers in the past four days I have managed to reach ten per cent of my £3000 target, which is a lot healthier than the 1 per cent I had before.
This is just the start of what I am hoping will be a long and sustained campaign to hit the target before too long.
Anybody who has done anything similar and has any useful tips would be great to hear from.

It does make me feel more determined to finish as well and I've a couple of good training runs this week.
This weekend I'm looking forward to a big run, about 10K, the first for a while. Hoping to do it before the rain engulfs the entire country as they said on the weather.

This challenge is really important to me personally, not because it plays to my vanity and wanting to look better having lost lots of weight, but genuinely because of the fantastic work done by the surgeons, nurses and everybody else at Southampton General Hospital, and the follow up treatment in Bristol.
I still can't believe that they were able to crack open my chest and stick a new part in my heart, sew me up and give me a new lease of life without me feeling a thing. It's a routine op for sure, but still pretty bloody amazing that we are able to do that.
So it's really in honour of them and the great work they do that I'm more than happy to put myself through a few months of physical pain. Which is ironic considering how hard they worked to make sure I didn't feel any pain.

So thanks again for all your donations, and thanks in advance to anybody who is thinking about making a donation and helping to beat the UK's biggest killer.

www.justgiving.com/simonpeevers
www.bhf.org.uk

A leap forward?

Pic caption: A bit like how I imagined myself running in the rain tonight

I feel I've managed to grow a little over the past 24 hours.
Not in a physical sense, and in fact I've lost 2 lbs since my last weigh in. Current fighting weight 15st 12.5lbs.
What I mean is that last night, Sunday, I went out for a run as per my schedule which said I should be running for an hour.
But it just didn't happen. I felt like crap, my legs wouldn't work properly, and I just didn't want to be out there. Not in the way that sometimes you don't fancy it but push on and it gets better.
It was almost a primal sense of hostility against the very environment around me, the forboding skies, the wind and general autumn gloom in the air.
Some might say I just couldn't be arsed, which is possibly true as well. But the weirdest thing I've discovered is that if I go running after a hard day at work, I can really get into it and feel really strong and enjoy it.
But if like on Sunday, I've done less with my day than the Equal Opps Officer at the BNP, I find it a real struggle to actually run any distance. I wonder if my muscles find it harder to deal with if all they've had to flex for is finding the remote.
So, back to my original point, about growing and that. I gave up the run after the first few minutes, I did keep walking the route though, but in the end jacked in the whole thing and I was out for about 40  minutes. Probably about 15, maybe 20 tops was actually running.
Normally when that kind of thing happens I get more moody than a sulky teenager who's just been told Muse have split up. However, because I know I can run for an hour plus, I chalked up last night's aborted effort as a bad day, and instead of spitting my dummy out and thinking I'm never going to get better, resolved to get back out there tonight.
And hey, whaddya know, tonight I had a great run, did an hour and five mins without stopping, and even put up with the driving rain.
This means I can take a mature attitude to these things and not just give up at the first sign of struggle, which at 34-year-old is probably the least you might expect of a grown adult.
I went back to an old route I haven't done for a while, which starts at the Downs, goes past the Zoo, up through Clifton Down and then round to the Suspension Bridge. Over the bridge, which is great with all the lights of the city below and the lights on the bridge, then though Abbots Leigh, and back again.
I think it's somewhere between four and five miles, can't be sure, but it's a great route, despite the worrying lack of street lighting in parts, and I love running over the bridge. It's a bit like if you live in London or Paris and you have Big Ben or the Eifel Tower on your route, which I'm sure Londoners and Parisians alike would scoff at but the bridge is as iconic and just as great a symbol of engineering genius. It is to me anyway.
The second half of the run was a bit wet as it started hammering down but it only added to my own sense of heroics as I crashed fearlessly through puddle after puddle, laughing in the face of precipitous downpour.
Hope I've not given myself a cold mind.
The weekend just gone marked an important milestone in the plan as it is now six months exactly until I'm on that starting line with a million others, wondering what the hell I'm doing there.
It made me think I've really got to start taking the weight loss seriously, so I was glad to have lost a couple of pounds today.
And I've also got to pull my finger out with the fundraising, so anybody who's got to this end bit without falling asleep, and who feels like sponsoring me, please check out the Just Giving button on the right of the page, every donation is much appreciated.

One hour plus run

Managed to do my first one hour plus run since starting my marathon training plan.
There was a fairly chilly breeze blowing around Bishopston as I stepped out into the early evening, my pastey white legs braced against the cold.
The first ten minutes was the worst as usual, but it was even more painful as my calf muscles felt really stiff, so I had to walk for a bit to get up the hill.
But after getting out on the flat of the Downs it all got much better and after about 35 mins I was purring along like Jenson Button cruising through Sao Paulo to the chequered flag. Sort of.
It struck me as I plodded round that it would be a really bloody good idea for Bristol City Council to stick some lights all the way around the Downs. I mean, for all the money that gets caned on bus routes and pointless dribbling fountains in the city centre, why not do some good and light up the Downs so that during the long dark winter months people like me who actually want to spend their evenings running around outside, can do so in safety and without fear of being mugged, murdered or stumbling upon some horrendous dogging/swinging/outdoor car sex antics, which are really best left on dodgy websites a long way beyond the firewall of the imagination.
Still, unlikely to happen in my lifetime I expect.
I finally made it home after one hour and eight minutes. I had intended to go out longer, but thought best not to wear myself out with a heavy workload to get through at the moment as well.
Next meeting of the FB Running Club on Wednesday.

Running down the clock

Just back from a great run. I was down to do a 40 minute jog this evening, but thought I would push it up to an hour because I didn't do anything last night.
So after slogging up Cranbrook Road and getting onto the Downs I was feeling really good and headed for a route which took me an hour last time I did it.
Against the backdrop of the blood-orange sun setting behind the Downs I trogged along pretty well, trying not to go too fast and enjoying the thumping beats in my earphones drowning out the sound of the traffic, (if only I had something to keep the fumes out of my lungs, but I refuse to wear a mask).
I deliberately didn't look at my watch until I got back home and I was amazed to find the run had taken me 50 minutes. I can't believe I've knocked ten minutes off the run since I did it last time.
I must have been taking it real slow last time, and maybe I got a little ahead of myself tonight, but either way I've knocked a load of time off and that feels great.
Going for an hour and 20 on Sunday. Just the small matter of a wedding in between now and then.

But actually I'm even more amazed at Coronation Street. For a start I cannot believe it's been a year already since Liam died, cruelly cut down in his prime thanks to that dodgy Tony bloke. And now he's proposed to Maria and she's engaged! Unbelievable. No wonder Liam's ma's upset, indecent haste indeed!
Kevin Webster makes the most unlikely philanderer and I just don't buy the whole little affair between Craig Charles and that old trog.
Good to see Leannne Battersby back on her feet though, as it were.

It's all in the planning

Been a bit of an up and down sort of week. Not quite like a roller coaster, probably more like when you drive along and go over those funny little humps in the road and your tummy goes all tickly. Anybody else get that as a kid? No? Just me then.
Anyway been running quite well, been out Monday, Wednesday with the FB Running Club and should be going out tonight. Also got a 70 minute jog planned for Sunday.
Maybe it's my old bones, but I just can't get myself out five or six nights on the trot, it's just knackering.
So I'm sticking to the scheduled running slots, and not bothering with the fartleks and stuff. Is this a grave mistake?
I compared my plan with one that Marc has done before, which is a 16 week week schedule and I was surprised how different it was.
On my plan, which is the intermediate level straight off the official London Marathon website, there are no runs over about two hours, and considering I expect to be on my feet for at least five hours, I'm kind of surprised.
Whereas Marc's Plan, as it's now known, has a number of three hour plus runs, and I think psychologically it is important to have done a few very long runs. I want to be able to run 20 miles at least twice before race day. God knows I can't even imagine that right now, but it would be great to do that.
It would also be quite good to actually start losing weight, I still seem to be stuck at 16 stone, feel like I've been here for months. I expected to plateau but not with six stone to go.
Bit worried about making the target now. The important thing is to be fit enough on the day to run the marathon, but I would love to hit my goal, this blog is after all called How 2 Lose 8 Stone, not, How 2 Lose a Couple of Stone and Whinge About Not Being able to Lose Any More.

The future may be bright, but the shop assistant sure ain't!

Caption: How I look in a phone shop

Quite a busy day, and lengthy.
Up at 5 this morning to get out to the studios of Original FM in time for my radio debut and chance to blab on about running the marathon.
I think it went okay, the three people I know who listened, including the presenter, seemed to think I didn't sound like a complete arse, so that's good.
They are going to send me the audio clip so I can post it on this site, so you've no reason to miss the unmissable, as they say.
Some good news from Marc, who has up to this point had to take things easily because of a dodgy back, as he has now decided to run the London Marathon as well.
This is great, as we can hopefully keep each other going through those bleak winter months of training, which is pretty much now until the run.
Some goodish news at Weight Watchers as I am the same weight as I was last week, 16st and a half pound, so not gained any, but had hoped to lose some.
Had a good run along the beach at Weston on Saturday, went out for an hour, apparently at the same time some bloke on jet skis was sinking into the sand off the coast, after trying to jetski from Wales.
Luckily we missed the carnage of the motocross the next day.
But most impressed with myself for getting out to run this evening. There was a definite chill in the dark air, but I was brave, and did my 30 minutes.
I was however less than impressed by the spotty nerks that pass for sales assistants these days.
I was passing through the city centre and thought I'd pop into my local Orange shop for some information about when they get the iPhone, as I'm quite keen to get one. In fact, more excited than when I got the Millennium Falcon for my birthday when I was ten, and I even skived a day off school that day.
But shortly after entering the store I found myself standing there in the middle of the shop like a member of a lost Amazonian forest tribe, who'd accidentally stumbled into the middle of the set of Blade Runner. It seemed as if it would be far too much like arseache for any of the 12-year-olds huddled around the till fornicating over the lastest piece of telecoms hardware like it was x-rated porn, to even register my existence.
Is this what service has come to in this country? Basically we don't care that you're stood waiting like an idiot who's lost his village because we have more customers than we can count spots on our foreheads and one more grumpy old git who thinks it's vaguely amusing to say 'I just want to make phone calls', when asked what sort of features he wants on this most advanced piece of technological innovation, can in all honesty shove it up his lardy arse.
Well, that was what went through my head, so I thought it best to leave. Little did they know how easily a fool like me is parted with several hundred quid in exchange for a phone that makes a sound like a light sabre when you shake it in front of the ever-decreasing circle of friends who still find that amusing in their mid-30s.
There's always running I guess, you can't go wrong with that.

Radio Fat Bloke

If you're in Bristol, and you're up early on Monday, you may be able to tune into my dulcet tones on the radio at 6.45am.

I've managed to get a slot on Original 106.5 FM to talk about the London Marathon, fundraising and trying to lose eight stone.

I'll be doing the newspaper review, and then blabbing on trying to get people to go to www.justgiving.com/simonpeevers to sponsor me and raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
Did you know heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK? I didn't mean that to sound so bleak, just making the point that it is such a worthwhile charity to back as any money raised for BHF is channelled to life-saving projects and research all over the country.

You can also listen online, wherever you are in the world, if you would want to, by going to www.originalbristol.com

Right, I'm off for my 60 minute jog as the sun is shining, for the time being. Planning to head down to Weston-super-Mare to run along the front with Amy, which should be just the kind of day out that every girlfriend dreams of their bloke treating them to;-)

Boringly good news

I realise a bit of drama makes for a more interesting read, but things have taken a turn for the mundane lately which is great for me, not so great for the blog.
I managed most of my training plan last week so when I went for a weigh in at my Weight Watchers meeting I was pleasantly surprised to find I had lost four and a half pounds.
That's about the same weight as a decent sized chicken, with giblets, which is quite a lot.
God knows where that went, but I'm hoping for similar lossage next week. Although, I think I might prefer a roast chicken, with mash and gravy and lovely roasted leeks.
Hmmmm, getting hungry now, must crack open a can of Weight Watchers vegetable soup and the rye bread.

Running for an hour

You know you've got a problem when you Domino Pizza is texting you to tell you about their new special offers.
My number must have appeared in the 'regular caller' list enough times for them to be sure I was going to come running, or perhaps waddling, at the prospect of a free pizza or portion of chicken dippers.
But no, my pepperoni slicing friends, I cannot be tempted back to the dark side any longer. It has been a while since I tucked into a large Full House with extra cheese and some other crap on the side, and I'm pleased about that.
Although I did have a posh burger in the Hop House in Clifton the other night for me dinner. You know the kind, not that distantly related to Burger King, but about twice the price.
The good news is that I have managed to get all the way through the first week of my training plan and haven't really transgressed too badly.
Well, I did walk for two hours instead of jogging for 20 mins on Thursday, and I gave myself a rest day on Friday instead of 35 mins fartlek, and I swapped my Sunday run to Saturday, which means I am resting today.
But I think it's fair enough to adapt these things and I do think one rest day a week is a bit daft, I'll wear myself out before the end of October at that rate.
So I did my one hour run yesterday and I thought it went really well. I kept it to a steady jogging pace and included a couple of hills as well. It wasn't until I got home to check it off the plan that I saw that it should have been a run rather than a jog, but there's no way I could have run flat out for an hour, who the hell do they think I am?
Truth is it was probably somewhere between the two and today I feel fine, so I'm pretty pleased with my progress so far. And according to my dodgy bathroom scales I have lost five pounds this week. We'll see how true that is tomorrow at the weigh in.
Looking forward to next week's training already.

Walking before running

I was supposed to do a 20 minute jog yesterday but actually I ended up walking around for Clifton for two hours as part of my job for Clifton People, and I reasoned that that was just as good.
I was definitely knackered by the end of it and a bit sweaty (which you probably don't want to know), and don't they say that is a sign that you have been working out? Mind you I get a similar result climbing the stairs these days!
I'm considering having a rest day today though, as I am due to go on a 60 minute run/jog/schlepp tomorrow and then it's lunch at Amy's parents on Sunday, so I don't expect to be doing that much running then.
Maybe a swim in the evening though?
I did rather enjoy my walk around Clifton yesterday afternoon, it's not a bad job going round telling everybody to join Clifton People and trying to build an online community for "Bristol's smartest district". God I'm such a terrible snob, the worst kind for not being properly posh, just pretentiously middle class. Or 'aspirational' they call it these days I believe.
Anyway, if you haven't done so yet, do have a look at Clifton People and if you live in the area, or even if you don't, sign up for free and use it like Facebook or however you want.
Without trying to sound like a salesman, you do get the chance to win a free spa treatment and dinner at a posh hotel by signing up at the moment, so it's got to be worth it right?
I'm just going to read up on how to do a fartlek and prepare for this evening's 35 minute session.

First meeting of the all new F B Running Club

Had a great run last night at the first meeting of the all-new Fat Bastards' Running Club.
Myself and Marc were joined by Dave and his wife Tina, who really don't qualify as proper FBs in the lardy sense, but wanted to join us for a run anyway which was really nice.
Dave and Tina have been there and done it where my challenge is concerned, but they both run so that they can enjoy the good things in life, which is just the right attitude for the club.
According to the plan I should have been doing 30 mins fartleking, but I decided  running for that time was more useful. I promise to try fartleking soon, but I just want to get used to running again and try to build some fitness before trying to do anything exotic.
So we went round the Downs and it took about half an hour, and if I'm honest it was probably a little quicker than I would normally go, but that is what is great about running with other people, it really helps to push yourself.
I wasn't overdoing it and I know it's really the sort of pace I should be doing anyway, so it was a really good run from that point of view, I'm still a little bit pleased with myself for being able to keep going.
I also have to say what nice people Dave and Tina are and how much I appreciate the fact they are up for training with us because it's that kind of support that I think is going to be crucial in getting through the bleak winter and all those long runs.
Anyone else who fancies it are still more than welcome, every Wednesday at 5.30, meet at the water tower on the Downs. Thanks to the London-based readers of this blog who said they'd like to join if only they didn't live at the wrong end of the M4.
But here we are, the movement has started, as it were. I'm sure there must be plenty of people out there who want to run but can't keep up with club runners or who feel a bit intimidated by how fit they all are.
I've decided that after next week, which is really busy in terms of some work I'm doing, I'm going to start my publicity campaign to try to get those donations rolling in and start the fundraising.
Still waiting for my fundraising pack from the British Heart Foundation, hope they haven't forgotten me.
I signed up for some training advice on the BHF website. You fill out a questionnaire and they get back to you with a plan tailored for your needs. I think they must still be laughing at the answers I gave, as it asks for height and weight, and if you've had any health issues. I can almost hear them guffawing, and thinking "and he wants to run a marathon? No chance!"
Just a brisk 20 minute jog on the slate for today. Still not sure that one rest day a week is a good thing, and I've just looked ahead to week three to see there is no rest day at all! Mind you, all that lard isn't going to shift itself is it?