Marathon Miles Sponsor list

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10 Ciaran "Next year" Marron
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13 Maebh Drain
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17 Orla Mallon
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19 Brenda Marron
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26 Doing this for me.







Donate now at http://original.justgiving.com/connormcgee

Partial route run!

Hello again! Not much to report since the mad run on Sun, except some exceptionally crap weather. Well tomorrow, all being well, I shall be doing a 12 mile run, incorporating two stages of the Marathon, the Antrim Rd and the Harbour Run Part. It'll be good to do the Antrim Road as it is a prolonged effort up hill and at least I'll know what I'm up against. I also have company in the form of my friend Nuala who is also doing her first Marathon for the first time this year, so it'll be nice to have company for the first time ever during a run. I best check the weather first, last night was horrendous! Ok well that's enough for tonight! Thanks to the folks who have already donated so far, I realise people are collecting for charity every fart's fiddle so I really am grateful to them for donating. I am still putting names to miles, so far I've got Brenda, Ciaran, Maebh's name down, at miles 19,10 and 13 respectively. Two more sponsors are yet to get their miles in. So if you decide to donate remember to write your mile number down!

Donate now at http://original.justgiving.com/connormcgee

Jelly baby power!

20 done! Well chuffed! I have run the most I need to in training, albeit I will repeat this run next week then start to taper down after Easter. I think that taking a wee stash of Jelly Babies did the trick and just took them at 5 mile intervals and drunk down powerade (two shop stops!). It really seemed to work as I think I ran the last 5 miles faster than the previous 15. I was trying to get back under four hours and I just missed out by 1 minute but as I stopped at the shop twice, I'm gonna allow myself the four hour time lol! The time taken is getting mad, I left at 5.50pm and got back at 9.50pm it's crazy that a whole evening can just go by when you do this sorta thing, that's why I wanted to get it done today so that I can just relax after work as opposed to getting ready to go out on a run. Righto, not gonna do my charity spiel as I'm sure you guys have gotten the message by now lol!

Until the next time....

Connor

Donate now at http://original.justgiving.com/connormcgee

20 mile eve

Not much to report over the past few days. I was down home in Omagh where I managed to get a 6 mile run done incorporating some tough hills and some yappy dogs and a nice Donkey. Slight niggle in my calves and got woken up with knee pain on Thursday night but it's all good! Got my new trainers but as previously mentioned, this was bad timing and so I'll be running the Marathon with my old trainers I reckon at this stage. I got the Asics Keyano 16 which are the sorta sequel to my trainers, more likely tweaked a bit and given a different colour to fool the running masses, probably stole the idea of Man Utd replica shirt sales. Been chatting to folks at work who are running as well this year, reckon it's gonna be a great occasion and we've only just got over 5 weeks left!!!! Where does the time go?! Well I've scheduled a 20 miler tomorrow and I've got the brufen, I reckon it'll be a rough one but sure it was never gonna be a stroll in the park! I have decided to give the 1st twenty six sponsors the opportunity of naming a mile after them so Ciarans Mum is down for Mile 19! So if you want to get your name to a Mile just put a request on the message facility when you are making your donation. This is for a really good cause, remember £20 can provide an hour of cancer care so it'd be great if you could help me reach my target of £500 by giving what you can and we could get enough for somebody who is suffering from a terminal illness to be nursed free of charge for 24hrs. Until next time.....

Connor

Donate now at http://original.justgiving.com/connormcgee

The quest for new trainers.

Took a wee trip into town today to get my running gait analysed. I went to the up and running shop where they took a video recording of me running on a treadmill (DVD out Monday from all good retailers. Piracy is theft). I was impressed by all the gadgetry and could see that I was a moderate over-pronator so I needed a motion control shoe. The guys were really helpful and I'm gonna get me a pair by the weekend. I think it might be a bad idea to switch trainers this late in the game, so I'm gonna stick with the Asics for now until the marathon, unless there's a shoe with nitro turbo boost facilities out there. Need to start my fund raising drive, I really want to get more for the Marie Curie Cancer Care team. Right, off home now, thinking of climbing Mt Errigal to strengthen the legs and test myself on the old heights front again. Until next time...Connor

Donate what you can to.

http://original.justgiving.com/connormcgee

Sweet 18!

Completed my first 18 miler yesterday and feck me it wasn't easy. I left without my water bottle and only realised about three miles in. Faced with a decision, do I press on or go back, a little voice in my head was saying ah don't bother sure you have to go home and pick the place up for my visitors later on and get ready for my birthday night out. Thankfully as this experience has taught me so far, limiting defeatist thoughts are counter productive and usually you find that you can push through it. So I pressed on and as the route sort of goes in a loop and after I completed 11 miles I was close to the house so I guzzled down some rehydration stuff and I set off again this time, with a water bottle on tow. I think one of the lessons i learned from today is that you shouldn't stop, because the last 7 miles were really tough and my legs were in agony even after 14 miles which i had found bizarre, maybe it's cause I hadn't taken any brufen before I headed out, I could now understand why althletes would try and cheat and take painkillers because they just take the edge of (Physically of course!) So after 3 and half hours I finally make it back, although the walk up the steps to the flat are hell. But 18 done! So I went out and had lovely steak and the girls got me cake as well, then in was onto the errigal for a few drinks and I still had enough energy for a wee boogie. I find that I can't sleep on nights of runs or (etoile visits?) I think it's cause the body's metabolism is so stoked up that it doesn't slow down for sleep. So today I've just been taking it easy, watched the Liverpool game amid some animated united fans in the Hatfield before rescuing the poor focus again. So looking forward to a good nights rest and a lie in tomorrow. As I type this, Eddie Izzard is on with his Sports relief marathon programme, I find it inspiring that that fella can do so much with little preparation and it fills me with optimism that I will acheive my goal in just over six weeks time. This is so achievable and for the person reading this, you could easily be doing this in a year's time even if you have never ran the length of yourself. Until the next time.... Connor.

Donate now at http://original.justgiving.com/connormcgee

New Trainers

Time to get outta the gaffe and get me new pair of trainers. I tried on the ones I thought I would get last night but they ain't comfy! Dunno even know if the old ones are knackered. Ah well.

First ever blog post!

Yep, I can think of at least a hundred other things I could be doing with my time off, but hey whaddya gonna do. So where are we so far? Ok well, as I was explaining, last year actually on Valentines weekend, I started to train for a small event called "Between the Bridges race" It was simply an event to mark the official opening of the westlink and the unofficial drying out of the underpass (He he). Having not ran much ever I entered into the 5k race and got round it Ok. I couldn't help but be impressed by the people who were running the 10K and thought mmmmmm I'll have some of that please! I loved the sense of occasion at the event too and I remember a man who used to come and get his terminally ill wife's scripts of me. She passed away about a year or two before this day and there he was with, his young son and other members of his family wearing T-shirts in her memory, doing this walk/run for charity. It was the first time it really struck me about the positive things people do having come through such hardship. I've often seen people on telly do things in memory of loved ones, but never really gave it much thought until it was someone whom I knew and saw what suffering they had endured. I must say, I just loved the occasion and the positive atmosphere and I wanted to be part of more events like this.
Late March 2009, my attention turned to Omagh and the 4 mile fun run. Had I'd known the route ahead of me (Up by those hills at Coolnagard for those who know Omagh) I'd of probably not done it, but as I was only informed by a fella at the starting line, I had no real choice lol! So off I went and feck me it was tough but I got through it and again just relaxed and compared times with a fellow competitor, one of the local Undertakers!!!!
Two events down and it wasn't long before the next event popped up. My sister's Financee (He he) was raising funds for his charity trip to Africa to help train people on computer technology. He decided to enter two relay teams into the Belfast Marathon, which I am glad to say I was a member of one. So off I went training for the 5 mile final leg of the run. I must say I never experienced such a great day as last years Marathon day, 10,000 odd participants in the various events available, the atmosphere was electric and the feeling to run to the finish line was something I'd never experienced before. It was a great day!
July 09, I then took part in the Dromore (Co. Tyrone) fun run which was part of a fundraising event for The Spirit of Paul McGirr, a charity set up in the memory of Paul McGirr who tragically died after a bad collision during a Tyrone Minor Match in June 1997. It was a beautiful day (although thunderstorms had been forecast) and I got sunburned and roasted because I had prepared for bad weather, I even got a big cheer from my Granny as I passed her house or maybe she was trying to chase me away from her gate. Now I was up to running 10k which is about 6.25 miles.
During the Autumn and Winter, I kinda slacked a bit but in November/December time I pushed myself up to 12 mile runs, something I never thought I'd ever do! I took part in the Greencastle 5 mile race on Boxing Day. Such a bizarre day, it really was a winter wonderland, running on slushy country roads in the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains, nothing but white and a thick fog. Was a very unique occasion, and the hill at the end is a right pain in the Ass/thighs/calves etc.
So in the New Year period, I thought I'd train for the Belfast Marathon. The winter weather though had hampered my training so far as the frozen snow and icy footpaths were much too treacherous to run on, so I had to wait until things got a wee bit warmer, which eventually it did and off I went. So it's now March 19th My last long run was 16 miles last Tuesday and I'm aiming to do my first 18 mile run tomorrow and then go to Etoile and stuff my face with steak and maybe sneak a wee drink in the Errigal for my Birthday. Wow not a bad first blog, I promise the next ones will be shorter. Con DONATION WEBSITE http://original.justgiving.com/connormcgee