Got the T-shirt

Well, I did the half-marathon and got to the finish line in one piece (as did my four friends who also took part):

My time was 2 hours 16 minutes (and 11 very long seconds).

We nearly missed the start of the race due to queuing up for the portaloos:

But once we'd found the start line and caught up with the crowds, the first half was great - a wonderful atmosphere and a lovely route through Paris from the Bois de Vincennes to the Place de la Bastille (right in the centre of Paris):

From 12km until 16km things got rather harder, and more uphill, but we kept our spirits up by cheering loudly after every kilometre, and making the most of the slices of orange and bottles of water given out to us every 5km:

From 17-20km things were no longer feeling good. My legs weren't really feeling anything at all and had stopped responding to commands. Even stopping to walk was painful, so the only thing to do was to carry slowly jogging on, in a kind of trance-like meditative "feel the pain, love the pain, accept the pain" state, counting down the distance left as each kilometre got longer and longer.

The finish line approaching, I vowed never, ever, to do anything as tiring and as pointless as this again. Helen and I ran the last kilometre hand in hand, managing to keep each other going until the end:

We spent the rest of the day hobbling slowly round Paris wearing our medals proudly:

Now that my legs have recovered, I suppose it wasn't that bad. So much so that I've signed up to do another half marathon in 7 weeks time...

Paris Half Marathon

I'm doing the Paris half marathon on Sunday 2nd March 2008 (that's in 2 days time!), and have decided that as well as it being a good chance to prove to myself that I can endure 2 hours or more of physical suffering and get a T-shirt at the end, I might as well take the opportunity to raise some money for a cause that I think is important.

My charity of choice is Refugee Action, an independent, non-religious national charity that provides help, support and practical advice for refugees and newly-arrived asylum seekers in the UK, many of whom flee to our country from war/poverty-stricken countries in the hope of leading a happy and peaceful life, yet meet with racism, abuse and harrassment when they arrive here.

In the hope that my ears will never again be subjected to the dreadful "they come over here and take our jobs..." crap, I'd like you all to take a look at Refugee Action's website, and if you'd like, to sponsor me to run 13 miles along the banks of the Seine in March on their behalf. I've already raised £250 and even though the run is in two days time, you can sponsor me up until the end of April (or thereabouts).

The website is www.refugee-action.org.uk . To take a look at examples of individual cases, see http://www.refugee-action.org.uk/voices/default.aspx .

Thanks very much for taking the time to read this and hopefully sponsoring me (every little bit counts, if you can't spare much!). Otherwise, wish me luck...

To sponsor me, visit www.justgiving.com/katyyelland

Katy

Blogging and having a job - just not right for each other

Not wanting to be put down as one of those Most Boring Bloggers on the Internet, I have decided that in recent months, instead of signing into my blog every couple of weeks after a twinge of guilt - "oh balls, I haven't written on my blog for ages" - to keep schtum rather than tell you about what I had for breakfast, or some other uninteresting crap.

It's not like I haven't had any ground-breaking, inspirational thoughts over the past 6 months - god, of course I have, like realising that drinking lots of water before bed prevents a hangover, and that too much cheese gives you funny dreams - the actual reason for my absence is that I've got a job.

I won't tell you about that just yet, avid readers, I'll just leave you with a small request....