
Jen does Loch Ness Marathon for PIRSAC & Food Train
Donation protected
Hi Jen here…. I’m so excited as I'm in!
Loch Ness Marathon here I come......
Here’s a bit about me and who I’m fundraising for..
When I ran Anglesey Coastal Marathon in August 2018 I didn't realise it was to be my last marathon, albeit for many years. With a fab group of runner friends, I’d been happily completing marathons and ultra marathons as well as shorter races for a few years. Whilst on a recce for 3 Towers Ultra, a 43 miler on fells and moorland in Lancashire I had pain it turns out I’d sustained a piriformis and sartorius muscle injury. I was in pain just walking around, running was out of the question. I missed running. Slowly, slowly with 1 step forward and often 3 steps back due to recurrent niggles, other health issues and the randomness of life I was slowly but happily getting back on track. Then last year whilst on our elopement honeymoon I suffered an inconvenient brain injury! Slowly, slowly again I built up walking and when my wobbling finally stopped I was back to running. Yeah..
Being autistic life has always had challenges, I've always been a bit dippy and often clueless what's going on in the world plus my memory has always been poor, adding a brain injury into my already wonky brain is OK for me. I started with just 1 mile and slowly built up to a 13 mile run over a favourite part off road route on Christmas Day. No excuses now Jen, crack on!
After walking 26.5 miles of Mull of Galloway Trail in May, and feeling OK afterwards, the time felt right to book my spot. I feel very lucky to be able to do something I love again.
In the words of a special Tameside lad, Alex Williams - Believe and Achieve! I do believe and I will achieve...
September isn't the best time of year for me to run a marathon, Summer is such a busy time at work (The View, Port William) and I'm usually quite weary after a very busy day on my feet plus sensory overload too, I usually stop or hardly run in Summer. I will be working less shifts this year to allow me to get my training runs in and it's also one of the reasons I'll be happy to just finish. I'm not precious about a finish time just having a good time, enjoying the atmosphere, stunning views and taking some pics. I'll have my little mate Jen Ted with me(so long as it’s dry, fair weather Ted) haha…I’ll have my precious peeps in my heart, I'm looking forward to a grand day out. I'm obviously planning to finish, I'll certainly give it my best shot, if I don't manage to finish at least I know it won't be through lack of effort. If I'm looking a bit feeble sometimes when you see me, be gentle with me I probably had a long run yesterday!
I’d like to raise much needed funds for 2 local charities very close to my heart, PIRSAC, our very own independent lifeboat service here in Port William, the all in one emergency service for peeps at sea and also looking out for peeps on the land too. www.pirsac.org
And Food Train, Newton Stewart branch, whom I volunteer with. Food Train supports our older folk offering a range of vital services to try and make lives easier, including shopping service, phone friends, meal makers, befriending and support at home. If you'd like to be a volunteer or know someone who would benefit from the service, check out www.thefoodtrain.co.uk
If you are able to make a donation that would be most appreciated, if you would share the word about my fundraising too, that also would me most appreciated. Thanks for reading.. Jen
Update 20.7.24
We all know it’s ok to not be ok and as Beattie(BT) used to say it’s good to talk, not always so easy though is it. As I prepare for Loch Ness Marathon, I’ve been worrying about my training progress due to recurring niggles and haven’t had any confidence to up my miles from the 12 I’ve stuck to since inflaming things last month, (spectator finish on a 6 mile race whilst on jols )
This week I chose to be honest about my worries with some lovely regular customers, what a positive impact the supportive comments I received had on my run today. When I set off this morning I decided to change my route plan and run a mile on the flat before starting up the inclines, good plan. I then added a road loop next and the last 3 miles changed from off road to on the road too. Rain came at mile 11, as I was feeling so good on the final downhill 3 mile stretch I was jolly being soggy..
I’ve decided as I up my run miles next time I’ll up my ‘cool down’ recovery walk too, to a mile. Running, (snail shuffle, no fast bits on my run ), slowly meant I was out 3 hours today, even after having a delicious vanilla gugel at mile 8 I was very ready for breakfast..
When I ran my last marathon 6 years ago I was a lot fitter, able, healthier and importantly this old bird was 6 years younger too, ♀️➡️ I just need to remind myself that not only will this marathon be different to all the others on the day but my training for it will be too. Thank you so much to everyone for sponsoring me, your supportive comments and believing in my ability to get this run done. It means so much to me.
If you’ve left comments on GoFundMe unfortunately I don’t see them and cos I’m a technophobe I don’t know how to access them.
Organizer

Jenny Pickering
Organizer
Scotland