The challenge!

On 3rd September the women's hydro active challenge - a 5 kilometer run (walk or wheel!) - will take place in Hyde Park.

Last year, my good friend Sarah got her act together and rallied the troops to run for the CF Trust. My mum and sister were amongst those running so I went along for moral support, and had the most fantastic day. The atmosphere was wonderful, everyone cheering and encouraging the runners, I shouted as loudly as I could, which was a strange experience as I still had my chest drain resulting in most of the air escaping out of my side rather than past my vocal chords!

Anyway! Inspired by last years efforts, I decided I want to join in this year! I will be in good old denzel (my wheelchair, so named because there arent enough denzels in the world) and be waving merrily to everyone as I am pushed round the track by some poor soul.

However I decided that I need to make a bit more effort than that in order to justify sponsorship, so after speaking to my doctors and physios, I have decided to train, and hopefully, if health allows it, I shall walk the final part of the course. I will have someone pushing the wheelchair nearby with someone carrying my oxygen walking along side me.

I feel that this is a good idea for a number of reasons but mainly the following two:

It is good to have an aim. There is a chance I will be too ill to do this come September, but there is no harm in hoping and believing I will be well enough. Obviously the perfect outcome will be that I am unable to participate as I have just received my transplant (YAY) but I have been waiting nearly 14 months and not even had a false alarm, so I need to set myself little goals to accomplish to ensure that I stay motivated and focused on something other than "waiting for that call".

This will force me to up my exercise! I am hoping that by having something to work towards, I will be more inspired to exercise regularly, which will be good for my general health, muscle strength and lungs, whether I am able to participate in september or not. Being as fit as you can be is vital to ensure the best possible recovery post transplant, so the way I see it, this is a good plan either way!

Some lovely and amazing people have decided to join me in this challenge, so we will shortly be setting up a sponsorship page online, and I am hopeful that we can raise loads of money for the CF Trust. We are currently discussing the most important details, such as what to wear (the idea of doing this dressed as pink sparkly fairies is so very tempting...)

This blog will contain updates about the team, our fundraising efforts, and my own personal training journey towards this challenge.

YAY!