Health, Zombies and Fundraising

Many people say that running is pointless unless there's something chasing you. Or unless you've just checked your watch and are about to miss the bus. I much prefer to take the view that by running regularly I'll less likely be caught by the zombies during the zombie apocalypse:

Whenever I mention to someone that I'm training for the Birmingham Great Run, I get a very similar response every time: "Oh, I couldn't do that, I can't run." Which in most cases is completely untrue. You may think you can't run, but almost anybody can. When I started on this journey, I couldn't run for more than about a minute before I was so out of breathe I thought I was going to die. I couldn't even walk for long periods of time without my lungs tightening and my asthma playing up. After just 10 weeks, I can run for half an hour, fairly easily. I'm no sprinter, and I never will be. But I can run. And all it took was some perseverance.

I have barely had to take my inhalers recently. And my Peak Flow is the best it's ever been in my life. My lung capacity is almost that of a healthy person. Running has actually really cleared up my asthma. This is just one of the many health benefits I've noticed since training began.

Feeling so healthy is amazing. But it reminds me that not everyone has that luxury. The reason I decided to put myself through all of this in the first place was to help those who have bad health. The children at Birmingham Children's Hospital are among the sickest in the country. And they are always desperate for funds to improve treatment and survival rates through research and trials. Now I'm a student, with little money. As one person I cannot do much. I want to raise £500 for the hospital, and I can't do that by myself. But if everyone who reads this blog post gave just £1 it would be a great start. If you want to know more about where your money will go, head over to their website at http://www.bch.org.uk/index.php. Maybe £500 could be what saves a child's life. It could give a mother the chance to see her daughter grow up and go to university. So please, head over to my fundraising page at http://www.justgiving.com/Abigail-Nicholls and give whatever you can, I'll really appreciate it. In the meantime, I need to build up my current 3 mile record to 13 miles.


Time to Half Marathon: 2 months, 2 weeks