Barry's February Training Update

February has been a mixed month on the training front. The first 2 weeks went really well and I managed to increase to 15 miles on weekend runs by 17th Feb. Things went a little awry on 24th, when I went out to do 16-mile run after a night on the booze (40th birthday party). Needless to say, I was a bit dehydrated and picked up a slight calf strain about 6 miles in. I thought I was okay to carry on though but got cramp about a mile from home so had to stop for 5 minutes before finishing the run. The next day my calf was sore so decided not to do any training during the week.

The following Saturday, I went back to training and planned to do 17 miles after a 6 day rest. I had to kick my trusty training partner, Andy, out of bed first but started well and the calf was fine. It felt really good for about 15 miles then bang, I hit the wall and my legs felt like lead. I struggled on for about another mile then had to stop and walk the rest. I was gutted. On reflection I think 17 miles was a bit too much after a 6 day rest and I didn't take on any fluids for the first hour and a half, so some lessons learnt there!

This means I need to get a few miles clocked up in the next week to build some more stamina, but now my calf is repaired I'm confident I will be able to step up the training.

Andy is still a great support and keeps me company on the long weekend runs; he's even invested in a pair of padded cycling shorts. They look okay while he's sitting on his bike but he looks like Max Wall once he gets off. Although I’m doing all the hard work, Andy really builds up a thirst when we're out and looks forward to his regular Stella thirst quencher once we get back. Andy’s missus, Ann Marie, is impressed with the front padding on the shorts and has asked him to wear them more often. Too much detail!

Stayed at Andy's a couple of weeks ago for Sunday dinner after a run. Luckily we had roast pork as Andy said he couldn't stomach chicken (especially chicken legs) after staring at my not-so-shapely pins for the last couple of hours! Thanks to Rebecca (Andy's daughter) who is going to make some cakes and sell them in school, she's a little darling!

On the fundraising front it's going fantastically well. I've had so much support from so many people and a huge number of generous donations. On the justgiving fundraising site we're up to about £3,000, so if you can think of anyone else please forward the link to them http://www.justgiving.com/barryking

I’d like to make a special mention to Sally and Jim Moore who have collected over £400 from various communities they are involved with. Whilst, other fundraising activities that are in the pipeline that has not yet been included in the total yet include:

There are also a number of sponsorship forms out with a number of people which as yet I've got no idea what will come back!

Thanks again for all your support; Joanne would be really proud of you all.

To make donations to the RunForJoanne campaign, visit www.justgiving.com/barryking