Training, Training, Fundraising, and the pain of all the above

As the title may lead you to believe, I am currently doing this torture thing.... Training for long distance running. I say long distance... I'm not planning to run to the moon or anything, just from Newcastle to south shields. Which means only one thing! I'm bound to get injured very soon! Erm... I mean, I am running the Great North Run! (wooo!...)

With a target time of 3 weeks, the 13.1 mile course will have me running (walking, crying, and generally hating life) down it in a little over 50 days. Training so far has been mixed so far. Well mixed in the sense of training mixed with complaining about training, regretting the decision, being in pain, and the ignominy of not being the fastest in the office. This fact has definitely not been pointed out ( or at least not whilst writing this). 

This does mean that I may be trying to pull on heart strings and trying to encourage people to sponsor this act of self sacrifice (and self loathing) for the greater good.

ALERT - I am about to be serious for some amount of words.

I am running the Great North Run for a charity called Zoe's Place in Middlesbrough, England.

It is a wonderful charity that provides hospice care for infants and children with life limiting, or life threatening illnesses. It is a warm and fun place where ill kids can be just kids for once and have some fun. It also provides support, and a little bit of time off for the parents going through such a difficult time.

It really is an amazing charity that deserves greater recognition. My aim is to raise £250 for them, and any help that you can give is truly and deeply appreciated.

My justgiving page for the event is: https://www.justgiving.com/Matthew-Stebbings1

Thank you for any support you give.

An Evolution, First aid, and revving my engine

Firstly a bit of interesting stuff that has happened. I haven't been sacked! Good start. But also I have been given responsibility....

I am now trusted to attempt to not kill someone who is clinically dead. Yes, I have received a first aid certificate, which means if you cut yourself, I am trained to bandage origami on your face (even if you cut your toe). First aid is a useful skill to have, but more importantly, it means that my picture goes on some posters at work. Oh and monies (not the MAIN motivation).

Again, it has been a while since i have done this (yes due to the usual reasons of not thought about it, not been bothered, etc, etc, etc). But maybe as a one off, or a two off, I am ranting about my life once again. This has mainly been inspired by nothing in particular. 

Also, be careful on the roads now as I have a car, which is a great way to induce a panic attack for my girlfriend at a moment's notice. Apparently the racing line isn't supposed to be used on a roundabout (who knew?). But on the positive side, I am enjoying the car. One thing that has becoming annoying since owning such car is the Spotify playlist that is the radio. I mean, I have to say, I don't think I could do it but a little variation wouldn't go amiss. It is almost hypnotic the repetition of some songs at the moment, no wonder songs climb the chart. But the main problem with this is that some of the lyrics that get stuck in your head should have a NSFW tag, or at least require a censoring beep app to be downloaded. A particular favourite is the lyric 'if you dance on a pole, that don't make you a hoe'. I mean, there is no direct link between pole dancing and gardening  so it makes sense, however it's not the most appropriate line...  

The main problem with the car is that it is my first car, at the age of 24... Which means I am currently having the most sensible boy racer phase. I accelerate very hard, all the way to the speed limit. At this point, cruise control goes on, and I enjoy the modern toys that cars come with. It's a hard life really.