Its not to be...

Thank you all for all your words of encouragement and support as I have hobbled and limped about over the past 4 weeks, but after an MRI the knee is just not going to hold up and get me round the 26 miles this year.  

The knees and I  managed 17 miles, and trudged out round the streets in all the coldest, darkest mornings and now I feel totally robbed by not being able to run in the spring balmy weather!!

I feel like I have let everyone down who has supported me with words of encouragement and generous donations, and you are very welcome to contact me for a refund.  

BUT, your money has gone to a great cause non-the-less should you choose for Back Up to keep your generous gift... as for me I shall be cheering everyone on who is running on Sunday and hopefully doing it in 2014 (or something similar!).

So Gebrselassie, I'll not be hot on your heels this time, but there is always next year!

As for Back Up, your generous donations have helped us reach more newly injured people than ever before... we have supported over 500 people through regular wheelchair skills sessions in all the spinal centres across the UK.  Here is what one participant recently said:

“All the Back Up people are friendly and treated people with respect and understanding. I really felt secure; I tried new things because I felt safe.”  Sylvia, 75 (manual and powerchair skills, Oswestry)

And quite frankly, what have I got to complain about when others have much more to deal with than I!  

Do please let me know if you'd like to do something else with your donation, I wont be offended.

A big thank you again for all your support, I'm just sorry I wont be crossing the finish line for you.

Lou x

Will she won't she?

I have learned that doing a marathon is one part placing one foot in front of the other, one part looking after yourself (eating and sleeping well), and one BIG part all about your attitude.

I have found out the hard way too.  Since I last wrote my blog, I have had an injury to my right knee, which slowed me down considerably but in the last week I have a new injury on my left knee - this is now the size of a balloon and needs rest.  REST!!  Just when I should be upping my mileage so that body and mind can withstand 26.2 miles when it finally comes on the 13th April.

Looking back, I started my marathon training with a time in mind.  Something that I could be proud of down the pub when asked 'How did you do?', a time that perhaps rivaled Paula!! Obviously not to be too silly about things and rivaling Gabriselassie was a bit too ambitious.

But now I realise it has nothing to do with a time.  This time it really is the taking part that counts. Getting to the start line is my new goal, and that is no mean feat as I currently type this up from bed, leg elevated with more ice on it than in the Antarctic. As my friends and family concur, it will be my sheer bloody mindedness that gets me round.  But, I just think of why I'm doing this and it all comes into perspective.

And so that brings me to another story, of an amazing person who 9 years ago, had her spinal cord injury aged 11. Laura was diagnosed with a curvature of the spine (scoliosis) at the age of 10. The curvature was so severe that she needed surgery. Laura walked into operating theatre but woke up paralysed from the chest down as the surgeon had penetrated her spinal cord with a screw.


After too many months in a ward at a children's hospital with no other children in the same position around her, without a proper explanation of her condition, skin sores and unable to manage her own bladder or bowels she eventually got referred to a specialist spinal centre. There, Laura and her family got the support they needed; both emotional and medical and the future looked brighter (as the ad says!). She came on a Back Up multi-activity course and never looked back.

At Back Up we have kicked off a campaign to ensure that all children and young people with a spinal cord injury get timely access to the specialist care they need to lead a full and active life. More info is here. 

Laura is starting Uni this autumn after doing exceptionally well at A-levels and finishing a ski season in Whistler.  At Back Up she has helped developed services for children affected by spinal cord injury and acts as a role model for many others coming to terms with their spinal cord injury. Back Up is all the better for having her support.

Please please do sponsor me and help me reach my goal of £3000, that will transform the lives of people affected by spinal cord injury and help me get off my backside and at that start line!
http://www.justgiving.com/Louise-Wright17

A big fat thank you from me. I'll keep you posted when I'm back up and running.

Lou x

New year, new miles

This photo was taken of me two years ago, watching the Back Up marathon runners.  The girl in the photo is Milly, my eldest daughter and over Christmas did a training run with me. It was more tantrums than miles, but the thought was there!

Its sad to say, but I'm really rather starting to enjoy the running, which is a good thing because its taking up a awful lot of time.  Christmas was easy for friends and family, as I now have every bit of conceivable running kit known to man, and so I now look the business, even if I don't run like it!  The longest I have run is for two hours, and I'm sorry to say we have had some tears... the thought of adding another two and half hours on is quite frightening!  I can't help but take my hat of to those who have done it.

So, what we all want is another Back Up story. This month I'm going to share Ben's story.  He tells it far better than I ever could in this video which is only a few minutes long.  He is a role model to many other young people and adults alike and he's made a huge difference to the services under eighteen year old's receive from Back Up.  He was instrumental in developing our first course for teenagers looking to make those significant transitions from home to uni or work.... happy watching!

If you'd like to help me reach my target of raising £3,000 for Back Up, please sponsor me here.

This is going to take ages!

OK, so I have been a running a few weeks now.  I'm still getting up whilst its dark (which I hate) throwing some kit on and heading out on to the streets.  Its a respectable place, so no NOT like that!

But the problem is my expectation against my actual performance.  I'm trying to think about all the small positives and not focus on the fact that I don't seem to 1) be finding it any easier or 2) getting any quicker!

To make matters worse, my husband has bought me a watch that does whizzy things, like measure the distance run, calories burnt and time taken.  Before this watch, I could kid myself that I left the house 5 minutes after I actually did or I could estimate the miles rather generously.  I could beat Bolt with some of the timings I have 'estimated'!  I found this bit rather fun.  The watch might get lost...

So, I said I'd share a few stories along the way, for those of you who don't know much about Back Up.  I'm going to talk about Andy.  He is a trustee at Back Up, early thirties at a guess (sorry Andy if its not right!) and has a spinal cord injury from the neck down.  He's a northern chap and tells it like it is.  This is his story as he recently told it at a conference aimed at medical professionals in the sector.  His theme was 'the simple things in life make all the difference.'

Andy was (in his own words) young, fit and had it all going for him, when he was on holiday with friends and his girlfriend in Goa.  He dived in to the sea, but couldn't get out.  His spinal cord snapped at the base of his neck.  Luckily his friends pulled him out of the sea. 

He was carted off to the local hospital, where he was operated on and given a blood transfusion, bought by his dad off the streets.  Andy talked about the despair of the medic's and the grim conditions in which he stayed.  He contemplated taking his own life.

He was transferred to Delhi, where conditions improved.  But it wasn't just the environment that was better.  People had hope for him, he met and saw people with spinal cord injuries going about their daily tasks.  He was treated with kindness and care.  It made all the difference.

And then he came home and made it on to a UK spinal ward.  His four year old niece rushed in to see him.  But she fell down and hit her head.  As she got up she raised her arms to Uncle Andy for a hug, but he couldn't make things better like he had before.  It was a stark moment.

Leaving hospital, Andy had to adapt his home and work out this new life.  He would say himself he is a positive person with fire in his belly, but after initial challenges were overcome after returning home, Andy felt low.

That's where Back Up came in.  Andy went on a multi-activity residential course and learnt do things even even couldn't have dreamed of, sailing, abseiling, hill climbing.  This gave Andy back his 'fire in my belly'. Andy returned home with a set of friends for life and some ambition to take his life forward.  Since then, Andy has gone on to star in Emmerdale, set up his own business and become a motivational speaker, as well as a trustee and volunteer of two charities close to his heart.

I'm lucky to have met Andy, and now you know a bit about him too and the difference Back Up made.  That's why I'm pounding the streets for Back Up.

My first marathon post

"You are doing what? " 

This is the most common reaction I have had when telling friends and family about my marathon place. Not, as I had thought - "Wow, that's amazing...".  It's the shock and slight horror I can see in their eyes.  I'm not sure if that's because they know I'm way too short/unfit/busy to do it, or because running the London marathon, no matter who you are and how fit you are, is quite an insane thing to do.

I have wanted to run the London marathon, since my one of my school friends ran it whilst at university.  Her most humiliating moment was being over taken by a one legged granny in a tutu on a roller skate.  She could take the running bananas and the rhinos, but it was the roller skater that did it.  She did finish... just.

I only want to do the marathon once, so I have decided I'm going to do it well... well for me anyway, as these things are all relative.  But, I'm doing it for Back Up mostly, and my family - my children have watched practically every other family member run it and I want them to cheer their mummy on from the sidelines too.

So, I have officially started my training!  Gulp.  I have run 2 x 3 milers this week.  I get up at 6am, throw some kit on and jog.  I can just about get up a big hill beside the tennis courts, and I'm pretty happy to get home - I cannot bare to think about doing 26.2 miles. Quite frankly I'm terrified.

So I think about what others go through, how lucky I am and it gives me the strength to pound the pavement a little longer without stopping.  I want to raise awareness of Back Up's work, the difference we make and the horrendous impact spinal cord injury can have on the person and their family and friends too.  I want to raise lots of cash to help, and so I'll keep a little record of my training and touch on some amazing stories along the way to make this a truly memorable marathon... because I'm only doing it ONCE!