But sometimes it just takes one or two things to push you over the line of commitment, that line where you have a reason to dismiss the excuses. A line when you find reasons to DO something rather than to not do it. I found the things that pushed me over this line in the form of one Mr Richard J Oliver and Maggie's Centre Nottingham.
Until recently I only knew Richard Jamie Oliver as the keyboardist in my favourite band. However through the wonders of the Internet and social media I discovered that he is an extremely talented artist and very fit (I'm sure there are other things but I'm not THAT obsessed with him!!). His paintings are stunning (www.richardjoliver.com) and I will own one...one day. But it wasn't this that inspired me. It was his all round attitude to life. I can't put my finger on it but sometimes you pick up on things that people write, the way it's worded, a general feel.....(also seeing his photographs he takes during some of his runs motivated me, made me want to get outside and run). Richard is the same age as me (well nearly, only school year younger than me!) and seeing what he does, the way he looks (OK, OK might have a bit of a man-crush on him! Would love to have the guts to style myself even a tiny bit like him), how he handles himself, made me... well.... think. Again. He had been told by a doctor he wouldn't run again and proceeded to prove him wrong by racking up a couple of hundred miles. Got me thinking....again. And he always seems so grateful of what he has achieved and what he is able to do. The bottom line is he made me think. He made me think about what I was doing and what I could do. What I could achieve. I could just wallow in the fact that I'm nearly 40 and I hadn't really achieved much (family aside) and that it was too late to do anything and that is that. Or I could do something. Learn something new that I had always wanted to. Change the way I act, the way I present myself and my attitude on life. And that you should persevere, even when you might feel like giving up.
Look, I'm not saying there aren't other people who inspire and motivate me, because there are. I'm not saying that he is the only person that could have made me feel this way, because he probably isn't. But I am eternally grateful to him because he did and still does inspire and motivate me.
Once I had changed my outlook on things I needed a marathon to run. The Robin Hood Marathon hadn't been run in 2012 and there were rumours that it wouldn't be run again until 2014, so I sort of penciled that in my mind as the one. However I got a newsletter email a couple of months ago to say it was on! I went on the site to see how much it was to enter and a wave self doubt came flooding back over me. I can't run a marathon, the voice in my head said. You can't train that hard. You'll fail. Everyone will say they told you so. They'll say they knew you couldn't do it.......
It was when I was about to close the browser window that I saw the charity list. On the list one stood out.
Maggie's.
It was when I was about to close the browser window that I saw the charity list. On the list one stood out.
Maggie's.
Until 7 months ago I would have had no idea, whatsoever, what this charity was. And I'm guessing a lot of people reading this won't have any idea right now. Maggie's is an organisation that provides support and guidance for people suffering from, dealing with, recovering from cancer. And not just them but anyone who has been touched by it. Let me quickly explain why I am aware of them.
My wife was diagnosed with Stage 1 Cervical Cancer in 2011. It was very early and luckily for us the treatment for this was for my wife to have a hysterectomy (I use the word "luckily" as no other treatments were required. I am in no way playing down how serious an operation this is but the fact that it was a definite on off treatment meant we felt very lucky). As we have no intention of having any more children we were, again, lucky. Everything went very well, the treatment and care were excellent and there was very little chance of any further illness for her. Great. However, my wife didn't deal with the emotional impact of what she had gone through very well. The week before her check ups she would be an emotional mess. She refused to talk to anyone about how she felt. Physically she was fine but emotional not so fine. So when at her 12 month check up we saw a different consultant who clearly noticed her emotional turmoil, we got introduced to a nurse that volunteered at the Maggie's Centre in Nottingham. We had no idea it was on the site or what it was. The nurse talked us through what it does and said we should pop over for a coffee. I practically had to drag my wife over there with her making every excuse under the sun to not have to deal with anything at that time.
The building is beautiful and I can't believe we had never seen it before on our many visits to the hospital! From the second we walked in it felt relaxing and welcoming. It took Tracey all of 5 seconds to break down and pour her heart out to Kate, who had met us as we walked in. Just for that one thing I will be forever thankful for the centre. We've been back a couple of times now and had coffee and we have both been able to speak with other cancer survivors and people currently undergoing treatment. I am trying to encourage Tracey to go there more and I hope she will and continue to deal with the emotional aftermath of her illness.
So that's Maggie's. I've had personal experience of the benefits it provides and I've also spoken with people at the centre who it has and is helping.
So that's Maggie's. I've had personal experience of the benefits it provides and I've also spoken with people at the centre who it has and is helping.
Anyway, back to when I was about to close my browser......
I saw Maggie's in the list and decided that this was my chance to give something back to an organisation that has and is helping me. The least I could do was commit to training for and then running 26.2 miles and try to raise some money for them to continue their good work. I contacted Angela at the Nottingham Centre and got signed up to run for them.
I saw Maggie's in the list and decided that this was my chance to give something back to an organisation that has and is helping me. The least I could do was commit to training for and then running 26.2 miles and try to raise some money for them to continue their good work. I contacted Angela at the Nottingham Centre and got signed up to run for them.
And on 29th September 2013 I will be proudly wearing this vest and running the Robin Hood Marathon :-)
Sharif
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