2011 - what a year!!

Can I just start by saying WOW! 5000 hits is more than I could ever dream of when I started this blog, part of me thought I would give up training and revert to my useless unhappy self within a month or so anyway. I've started training before and given up pretty quickly for a variety of reasons, none of which I am sure about as this time it has been entirely different. I've maintained a motivation level required to keep going for most of the year and for that I am grateful. Most of this challenge is a mental challenge rather than physical, in my opinion.

I can only say thank you to ALL of you who have kept reading, kept supporting, kept commenting. The support has been fantastic! I definitely hadn't come this far without all your help. I've got some way to go yet but I definitely feel like my goals are achievable! So as it's the end of year I thought I would summarize 2011 and give a mention to a few people that have helped me along the way.

It was March 2011 when I decided to train for a marathon, when I came up with the idea. The biggest thank you for this has to go to my best friend in the world and brother-from-another-mother Jonny Keeling. I jokingly came up with the idea of running a marathon and he said "I'll do it if you do it". That was the biggest kick for me initially. We then planned for a years time and collaborated training plans etc. It's a great shame that he can't be there in Barcelona but I know he will do a marathon himself one day, I hope to run it with him!

I then spent March - July training really hard and I even worked my way up to a half marathon! This is where I got a bit complacent. I had applied to the London Marathon, I was already at 13.1 miles after a few months... I can relax a bit, this stuff is easy! How wrong was I?!

I spent July-September doing a few bits but nowhere near the required rate to improve. I found out in September that I found out I didn't get a space in the London Marathon, motivation was at an all time low.

Here is where the 2nd mention comes in: Dave Knight came up with the idea of a foreign marathon as an idea which would be much cooler than London. Dave has ran some marathon's before himself and so he's been giving me invaluable advice throughout the  but he even went as far as to sign up for the race in Barcelona with me! This has given me the biggest spurt of motivation this year.

Since October I have trained really hard. Much of the help has been from Jamie Seward who has done several runs with me and dragged me round when I haven't wanted to go, and gone at a faster pace than I was comfortable with. He too is racing in Barcelona. The final person in the quartet to race is Scott Robson who has been supporting me from afar (Munich, Germany). He too signed up for the race and has been going through a similar training plan to me (as he is also a beginner unlike the other two). His support has been great, we've spent many a nights on Facebook chat discussing our training.

It was also in October where I decided to start going to the gym once a week to compliment my running training. Mark Anderson is single-handedly responsible for all my great progress in the gym, it really has helped me tone and I owe Mark a lot. I will hopefully start training with him more than once a week once the race is done! 

Other mentions has to go to all my friend and family who have all commented, encouraged and listened to me bang on about my training. It's taking up a massive part of my life at the moment and so I probably spend way too much time talking about it. Their constant reminders of how well I am doing, how much weight I've lost, how good I'm looking makes me feel better than anything.

Another tool which has helped me through the year is www.myfitnesspal.com. It's a fantastic place to get advice on diet and exercise. I have 140+ friends on there who are a massive part of the support network when it comes to my training. Anyone wanting to lose weight or train for a physical challenge should sign up - it's free!

So since March I've lost 21lbs, gained some muscle (for the first time ever), spent countless hours on the road and will after and 8 mile run tomorrow have run 400 miles. I've got a LOOOOONNNNGGG way to go but thanks to all these people above and others I feel like it's achievable.

I am taking Christmas and New years off and going to my home town in Sweden for some rest and relaxation. Ready to re-charge the batteries for the new year - the hardest work physically is still ahead.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

-Erik