End of season

Last home game of the season down at The Den today and a 1-0 win over promotion chasing Bristol City. Haha! Sorry, but we won! Hehe. Haven't been able to say that too often this season, let's hope next is better! Well done my lovely Lions!!!

More off-line sponsors: £5 from Clive "can't afford to give it to you now Joanne, just paid for me season ticket!" and £5 from Ann and Dennis "Put us down for a fiver, good luck to you Jo" amid laughter from Dennis as he pictured us running the race. I've told him I won't show him the pictures of us when we're all hot and sweaty. That'll show him! Ha!

£290 so far! Thank you all xxx

Written by Jo

Q&A - Sally

Why are you Racing for Life? for Jo's Mum
Current training method? Ah training, yes, will get around to that when I stop feeling poorly. Do walk up 4 flights of stairs every day for work though!

Preferred training method? Power walking around Regent's Park/the Heaf

Highs? Being part of a team

Lows? None

Tips for your team mates? Don't decide to run it on the day I need more training for that!

Message of support for your team mates? Go Joanne, go Lynne, go Marian (currently watching Ricki Lake can you tell?!)

Special thanks to? Everyone who has supported us

Name some people who are coming to support you? Oooo am not sure!

Name some people who you’d like to come and support you? Johnny Wilkinson pretty please

Describe your attached picture? That pic was all about food and mood!

Favourite colour? Green

Favourite song? "You give me something", James Morrison

Favourite movie? Oceans Eleven

Favourite TV programme? America's Next Top Model!!

Favourite saying/phrase? Whoooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooooooo

Sum yourself up in four words: crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy :-)

Written by Sally

No excuses. Apparently.

Went to another Health Centre today for a meeting - Tony Our Lovely Caretaker was there and queried the lack of trainers on my feet. There are no excuses, apparently, for not running continuously as "every little helps". I did a bit of jogging on the spot in my normal shoes to show willing but when he disappeared I sat down for a bit to rest me pins. He reappeared with a set of keys just as I found out that the person chairing the meeting was running ten minutes late. He suggested a quick run round the block as "you must take every opportunity to train". I declined, saying I needed to be fresh for the meeting BUT would take him up on his kind offer afterwards.

Needless to say, the minute the meeting finished I was outta there! Haha!

It's not that I dislike exercise, I just have to be in the mood and I'm not today. Want to lie down a lot and sleep right now but only because the weather has turned warm again. Hope to heavens I'm in the mood on the 15th! And it's not too warm! Haha. Zzzzzzzz........

More online sponsorship and thanks to Emma, daughter of Marian. Thank you! x

No pain....no pain!

No adverse reactions following our third training session - thankfully! Taking The Dog out tonight for a park walk so will top up my good work then! Salad for lunch (plus Roast Chicken crisps but need the carbs). My car is out of the garage. Hm, owning a car is like standing under a hot shower tearing up £20 notes!

A thank you to more on-line sponsors - Tony Our Lovely Caretaker - who has expressed concern that it'll be "hot" on Sunday 15 July. He's promised to hose us down at the finish line though so all is well.

Written by Jo

Training Day 3

Gyms. Expensive aren’t they? We were members of the lovely Lions Centre, attached to my beloved Millwall. Except, due to staffing problems, it’s no longer open to the general public. That’s fine, I don’t mind lifting weights and pounding the treadmill next to Millwall’s finest!! The last time S, L and I went was back in August of last year – it closed at Christmas and no-one thought to tell its members. At least, we never knew!

It was teeny tiny (not in the league of say, Esporta) but it was cheap - £2 a session – and the session lasted as long as you could. It got a bit smelly sometimes (testosterone and sweat) but basically it did the job. L, S and I could get fit and toned to our heart’s content. Without knowing the bad news, on our first designated training day a couple of Wednesdays ago, M joined L and I as we headed gymwards. L and I were dressed to kill in all manner of tracksuit bottoms and sports bras and M was brandishing her bag full of gym attire. After hearing the bad news, we left the Lions Centre in a fairly dejected (and in my case, grumpy) mood but cheered up after deciding to find another gym. Not a chance in hell.

They nearly all want to take £20 off you just for showing you the shiny machines and then a further 50 quid a month membership fee only. You then have to pay for each class you take!!!! We decided to go for the cheap as chips option of park walking. Which is why L and I spent the early evening of last Wednesday (Training Day 2) limbering up in Peckham Rye Park and watching as a small child careered willy-nilly along the concrete path on a scooter watched only slightly by her mother. Birds were tweeting, dogs were gambolling, loving couples smooched on the grass, lone sunbathers stretched out – lovely. And there are other parks for us to train in. Greenwich, Dulwich – we can even walk the route at Blackheath. Or a nice river walk. Hiring bikes! Although L can’t ride a bike so, two bikes and one tandem. Horse-riding! Winning the Lottery and hiring a personal trainer! The possibilities are endless. Hoorah!

So, anyway, to Training Day 3. M, L and I - S still not very well - in Peckham Rye park, birds tweeting, dogs gambolling etc and blah, blah. Water bottles in our little mitts, (M had two and was using them as weights) off we strode on lap one after saying farewell to Malcolm and Monty who were wandering around the park. Lap 2 finished in the toilets because one of our number needed to use the facilities. In a couple of weeks we're going to up the park walking to twice a week so that S can join our merry band. Come 15 July, we'll be superfit goddesses! Yay!

More sponsorship........thanks to Luisa, Nicola and Steve and Alison - we're now at £240! L's mum is taking her sponsorship form round to friends and family and I'm planning on taking a copy down to Millwall on Saturday! Come on you Lions!

Oh and one suggestion received for the Team name......any more for any more?

Written by Jo

Half way!!!!

We're up to £200 on our target of £400! Hoooooorah and thank you!

Yet more money to add to our total and thank you to Gwen's friends including Teresa (thanks again!), Linda, Sheila, Peter and Marilyn, Karen, Jorden, Maureen and Bridget. It's been added to the "off-line" section of our sponsorship pages - some of it was already added in the inital £35 injection..........this could get very confusing!!!!

This also includes a donation from Auntie Gwen and Uncle Mick - lots of moral support from both of them too: Gwen has been measuring miles for me and Mick hopes to come along on the day to tell us to "keep it up - two, three, four!"

Thanks also to Tessa and Cathy - two of our latest on-line sponsors!

Written by Jo

Pedometer

How long is a mile? I know a “mile is a mile” but how many steps is a mile? And how do you define a “step”? We’ve ascertained (by asking various people) that all the way round Peckham Rye Common is “about a mile”. What I don’t want to do is go happily trolling round the Common three times a session thinking that I’m walking a mile each time when I’m not! I suppose the easy way is to buy a pedometer. But the ones I’ve seen only tell you how many steps you’ve taken. Not particularly useful as it takes me back to my original question.

But guess what? I have no need to worry any more! I returned home this very same evening and dad presented me with a pedometer that measures steps, miles AND calories! Thanks Dad! All I need to do now is work out how to use it.....

But before I do, more off-line sponsorship and thanks to Marie Downstairs and Sacher (who pointed out to me earlier today that she has already given me the money and was part of the initial £35 off-line injection!), whoops, sorry Sash!

A big thanks also to our on-line sponsors so far: Matthew, Lai See, Hilary, Irene, Sarah, Sally’s mum, Clare, Debbie, Simon, Ron and Marian's Mum! £170 raised already!

Written by Jo

Alternative training

S and I went to Hastings yesterday for some, erm, training. We ate some carbs, fruit and upped our sugar intake courtesy of Haribo. A very nice day in the sun with The Dog who, in fact, got more exercise than the pair of us. But, walking on stones is very tricky so we did use our muscles well to ensure that we didn't fall A over T on the shingle. Very brown today, some sunburnt bits so bring on the calamine.

More off-line sponsorship, £30 from Heather and family. Thank you very much - hope you can make it to Blackheath!

Posted by The Quartet - written by Jo

Online and raring to go!

Welcome to our blog!

Our sponsorship pages are up and running and already we’ve had five online donations – thank you so much! And, at the time of writing this blog entry, £105 of our £400 target! You can see who’s sponsoring us by going to our Race for Life page.

Thanks to all those of you who are sponsoring us “off-line” too! So far, these are Gwen’s friends (including Teresa!), Eve and My GP Practice but I’ve been told there’s many more.

However. We’ve got injuries. Already. M and S have got colds, L has a bad ankle (made worse by falling down a ditch – only a little diddy one – during training on Wednesday) and I dropped a box on my foot yesterday which sends a twinge of pain towards my toes every time I walk. Nice.

But are we complaining? Not much.
Posted by The Quartet - written by Jo