This time next week...

What do you mean, that makes it less than a week to go?

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Great South Sewing

Just over a week to go.

All together now.... AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We figured it was about time we showed you just how bad our attempts at resembling badgers (even slightly deranged ones) are going to be. Despite the help of guest seamstress Kate, we are finding the sewing to be nearly as painful as the running (except that we get to sit down and drink tea and eat biscuits, obviously).

Here we are engrossed in our task...



Here's Taz with her muff...



"I feel a little insiiiiiiide out, but that's ok baybeeee"



"WALK. LIKE. A FUR-RY BAD-GER"



So there ya go. Please sponsor us, even if it's just out of pity!

Horses sweat, men perspire...

...and ladies merely glow, apparently, but I can confirm that this is not in fact the case. Last night I did half an hour of hill training on an evil step machine, and frankly the amount of drippage was revolting. I started off thinking "well I'll practice in a long sleeved shirt, and get used to being hot". Ten minutes, if that, and the shirt was off, the sweat was still pouring down my body and I could not drink enough water. I'm dreading the fur. It's going to be awful, and I think I'm going to have to have ventilation holes, or I'll be fainting from the heat after the first mile. The best I can hope for is that it's freezing cold. I mean it's Newcastle in October. What else could it be...?

Agreed...

Yeah, I second that last post! It's really exciting checking email and being told that the total is creeping up - all the more amazing when you consider that pretty much all we've done so far is moan about the race! :o) It's really cool that people have faith in us/support this whole idea, and we are indebted to you.

In other news, I've had to buy new trainers. Three weeks before the run *should* be enough time to break in new ones; I appear to have worn through the heel supports of my proper running shoes, hence yesterday's blisters. Well I suppose I have been using them for over a year...Wow, a breakthrough. I have done enough exercise to wear out my trainers. That must mean something vaguely positive!

Badgerific...part 2

The reason I actually logged on to post earlier, and then promptly forgot, was actually to say how constantly blown away I / we've been by people's support this week. The amazing and good people on AntiProduct's chat list have been driving our online total up this week, and I daren't start naming people personally because the list would just get endless, but really thank you guys and girls, you will be the reason I get out of bed on October 1st...

What's that strange smell?

It's 26 degrees outside. I've just walked 8 and a half miles wearing a t-shirt, long-sleeved navy blue fleece, and fleecy track suit bottoms. I appear to have suffered no ill effects other than the beginnings of a blister on one heel. This is good, but I am slightly apprehensive that now I have sat down to type this my body will refuse to get up again...

Badgerific

I've not had the greatest week on record, for reasons not necessary to go into here, but once again outside forces seem to have conspired against me focussing on the badger quest. It's so hot, and even the thought of running tires me out. As discussed at length previously, I will be mostly walking the 'run' but have the distinct advantage over most people in that my legs are a lot longer than theirs are to start with, and my walking pace at full pelt is a lot faster than many people's jogging pace. When I read Trudi's blog earlier this week I felt really bad, 'cos I do have a massive fear that I won't finish it because of not being fit enough, but if I am fit enough, then my long legs will help get me through it. It's a ridiculous thing to feel guilty about, because I can't help my size anymore than anyone else, but it feels like I'm cheating in some way. Inevitably of course, I've also been given a different starting block from Trudi (we had to estimate our finishing times when we entered the race) and now I'm really torn between dropping back and starting with her because we said we'd both walk it, and knowing that I might not do myself any favours because I need to walk at my pace, as if I walk too slowly I get cramp in my leg, but my pace is unfair on Trudi because she's smaller than me and her legs don't stretch as far. I don't know if it makes Trudi feel any better to know that when I got my race pack this week I was gripped with a complete and utter dread beyond anything I could imagine, but I can't imagine it does, as it didn't make me feel any better to know she was petrified too. As for deciding about where to start from, a quote from 'Pirates...' springs to mind: "Even a good decision if made for the wrong reasons can be a wrong decision".

Badgerdise update

Negativity begone! How could I stay morose and panic stricken after seeing these little beauties?



These are the same 2.25" badger badges that we're selling through CafePress. Here at Badger Towers we've realised that, best intentions aside, the cost to UK people is a little prohibitive when you include overseas postage and packing, and less of your hard-earned cash goes to Cancer Research, and that's not really what we're about. So we decided to order some in ourselves to sell on to you at a cost of 2 pounds a piece including UK postage and packing. 1.50 of this goes direct to Cancer Research, the rest is the price of a stamp and a small contribution towards the production cost of the badge. We've only got a few to sell at the moment but will be ordering in a load more which should be with us before the Great North Run. You can send your money via PayPal, and I will add the total collected to the offline donations bit of our justgiving page. Please send an email to trudi@madasbadgers.org first so that I can confirm I still have a badge to send you, and give you the paypal details!

Is this normal?

I know a lot of these posts are light hearted and a bit on the flippant side, but this time I'm serious... is it normal to read through the race info then be gripped by complete panic and spend half an hour in tears?

Quick explanation: I'm slow, and wearing any amount of fake fur will make me slower. My pace is closer to 'fast walk' than 'slow run', and I am expecting to be towards the back of the field. I've been getting on pretty well with my training walk/jogs despite all the whinging, and know that in theory I can cover the distance comfortably, just not at real speed. I got to the part which tells you that for the purposes of clearing the roads, a vehicle will be following the pack at a set pace of 17 minutes per mile, and anyone falling behind this vehicle will be deemed to be out of the race. What if this is me? What if, for whatever reason, I become too slow during the course of the race and get kicked off the course? Or what if I really struggle with the fur and start to look really uncomfortable and get advised to quit by medical staff? What if the weather is freakishly hot? Or what if the fur gets weighed down by torrential rain? What if excessive sweating brings on a bizarre fake fur allergy? (OK, sorry, the mental image that conjures up is not nice, I know...) All these thoughts and more have been racing through my brain. For the first time this evening it crossed my mind that I might not finish the race, and that thought is just unbearable.

I'm tired, so this is all 'me me me' at the moment. I have no idea if Taz is feeling remotely like this, and I'm not going to ring her up at 11 something at night just to vent my spleen about it. But this is definitely the lowest I've felt so far. Plus it just dawned on me that we haven't given serious thought to accommodation, and with 50,000 people taking part that's more than a bit important. Pass the Gaviscon...

I *swear* it's not deliberate...

Tonight I dropped a bowling ball on my foot. You couldn't make this stuff up...

(it's fine though, and will not get in the way of this week's training - those bowling shoes are a lot sturdier than they look!).

On a less self-sabotaging note, I very much suspect that the 'too big for letterbox' package waiting for me at the sorting office contains the long-awaited madasbadgers baseball shirts and badges. I can't wait to see them!

The power of the subconscious

Yep, as Taz has reported, I received my race pack on Saturday morning. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry! On Saturday evening, however, I slipped off the kerb 10 metres or so from my house and went over on my ankle, causing much swearage. Was it coincidence, or just my subconscious trying to give me an excuse to wuss out?


So I spent the next three days taking it easy with the offending body part encased in a fetching tubigrip bandage. It had stopped hurting by yesterday morning, and today I walked five and a half of the eight miles home from Greenwich with only a *bit* of a twinge. Not in badger costume, granted, but in unseasonably warm velvet trousers, t-shirt and woolly jumper, so I'm beginning to get a hint of the level of discomfort that lies ahead...

People just get more amazing every single day

There's nothing more surreal than logging on to check your emails, and then reading some other people promoting a cause that you and your mate set up in the hope of raising a bit of money for a charity on a chat list where you haven't even mentioned what you're doing yet...

Ok, there's nothing more surreal as far as I'm concerned, as that's what happened to me yesterday. Word of mouth is an amazing thing, and perhaps, I hope, a little bit of our promotion is maybe starting to work too, with people finding out about us via friends of friends. Nothing keeps me going on this quest more than finding out a complete stranger has donated some money because they think what we're trying to do is worth a little bit of their time and money. I LOVE these people. And I continue to be astounded by the generosity of people we haven't met...(yet!)

The lack of training diary on my part is very much due to the lack of training, and I have no excuse, other than I actually really really REALLY hurt my toe (I know, it's pathetic) about a month ago, and it's still hurting to walk on it, so just getting round the course in one piece is beginning to look more challenging.

Nearly there though - Trudi now has her race pack. Mine is conspicuosly absent. I can't decide if that's a good or bad omen.

If you can get to Doncaster at the weekend, I would highly recommend that you go and see GMT playing at The Woolpack - not only will you get to hear some great music, but I believe the Rob - all-star roadie and good friend-of-badgers will be wearing a particularly fetching and fashionable item of clothing...

Spam Spam Spam

Apologies to anyone who has received email purporting to be from myself or Taz or the badgers donation email address which is, in fact, spam encouraging the recipient to click on a link which will lead them to a supply of miraculous drugs promising weight loss and revitalisation. Our email addresses have been harvested from our website, and for this I wish the perpertators many different kinds of pain. Not that I can't appreciate the irony of an email from my running partner with the title 'fatigue can kill you'....