That jog around London-town.

This is one of the two delicious cakes that were presented to me and a few other friends after running around London for about 4 hours.  (I am indebted to Ms. Cracking-Cakes Cole and Ms. Creme-egg Bloom.)  They successfully replaced all calories burnt during the jog, which, to my slightly disappointment, didn't break any personal records....by 21 whole (painful) seconds.  The day, and indeed the whole weekend, were great fun though.  Hearing my name screamed out along the way, especially by two sisters very near to the end who were deafening other spectators, was wonderful.  And thankfully no injuries to report.  (At some stage there will be an Ode to My Legs posted.  Long overdue.)  Two friends both broke personal records, to super degrees, along with probably 20,000 others, so it was an achievement to be applauded for a lot of people, especially those who don't run usually, for whom it was a personal struggle and victory, and for whom their run meant a lot more for someone who wasn't able to do it.  And well done to all of the running animals and ketchup bottles.  I salute you.  (I've still not given up on the idea of running as an orang at the next(!) one.)

Now I'm trying to get down to some half iron man/woman training, ready for an attempt at one in July, this time raising money for research into lung cancer with two of my sisters, and as a show of admiration and love for a friend who is dealing with a hugely challenging and unfair (in its true sense, if there is sense in that) situation.  In my first week of training, a real Iron Man kindly took me for a 90km cycle, out into the Cotswold wilderness.  If I was him, I would've been embarrassed having me chugging along behind on Rover the clicketty road bike, but he was nothing but graceful.  And maintained superb cadence throughout.  And brought home-made energy bars along.  My hero.

I'm still not completely sure what I think about these slightly ridiculous endurance challenges....but I'll leave questioning that for another time.