Wet Wet Wet!

Remember those days at school when you were forced to run across the fields and through muddy bogs in the name of physical education and betterment?
Well, I actually never had the pleasure of taking part in cross country because of my then much weaker heart. No, I had the golden ticket to stay in the changing rooms pedaling on one of the fancy new exercise bikes that had been brought in the year before,
Me and Martin Palmer, the only two kids in the school with genuine bona fide reasons not to do cross country. It even trumped the excuses that the girls tried to come up with related to 'womens problems', which at 13 was still baffling to me.
Anyway, my old PE teachers Mr Smith and Mr Burton, may be pleased to know that I am finally suffering the pain and agony of a two hour cross country run, through hell and high water, but sort of enjoying it.
Today was particularly challenging. Been raining for most of the last 24 hours and the footpath we normally take down by the river resembled, well, more of a river in fact than a path. So we spent the first hour leaping from one side of the path to other trying to avoid the sinking mud that would have swallowed us up. But pretty soon gave in to the inevitable and quite enjoyed getting down and dirty in the rain, so to speak.
And for once we weren't harassed or put to shame by dozens of other runners or cyclists fighting for space on the path.
After going out for an Indian last night I was particularly keen to run off the extra calories and set my sights on a two hour run, which would be longer and further than anything before.
Last Sunday's run was 1hr 40 and I did two 40 min runs in the week, so really wanted to push it a bit today.
Running on balti and pilau power, I'm glad to say the horrendous conditions didn't put me off too much and I managed to eek out two hours on the road, which totted up to 9.14 miles.
Even more importantly my average mins per mile are coming down as well, from 14.38 two weeks ago to 13.28 today, so honing in on that elusive 11 minute a mile pace I want to achieve before getting to Edinburgh  in May.
I'm getting considerably lighter as well, with five lbs lost this week, taking the total to 23 lbs, which is bound to be helping my pace. I couldn't imagine what running with an extra 23 lbs on my back would be like now, but I think I might try it just to see what the difference really feels like. But still, quite a lot to go in terms of weight so must stick to the porridge and chicken diet. Not in the same bowl you understand. That would be weird.
Overall very pleased with progress so far, on track to hit my next goal which is to be able to run 10 miles by the end of February.
However my biggest concern is the lack of sponsorship so far. It's difficult asking for money in the post-Christmas/recessionary period, but I really want to hit that target as much as the running, because of so many people affected by cancer that I've known and loved down the years. So, if you're somebody who has managed to get to the bottom of this blog post, please encourage people to donate and help make all this worth it to people who really need help today.
Thanks, I would really appreciate it: How to donate