Kilomathon E-Newsletter

KILOMATHON E-NEWSLETTER - 3 WEEKS TO GO

LAST OPPORTUNITY

You have until 12 noon on Friday 19th to:

Update your emergency contact details
Purchase and Shuttle Bus & Parking Tickets
Update your predicted time
Confirm your address details (for the race pack)

Please logo into My Details at www.kilomathon.com/?my-details-england to view any previous orders or to update your details.

TRAINING PROGRAMME

3 Weeks to go	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
Beginners Schedule	Rest	25 min easy run	1min, 2min, 3min, 4min, 3min, 2min, 1min - half rep time recovery	30 min relaxed or steady	Rest	Cross train or 40 min relaxed	1 hour 40 min long run
Improvers Schedule	Rest	30 min easy run	1min, 2min, 3min, 4min, 5min, 4min, 3min, 2min, 1min - half rep time recovery	40min relaxed or steady	Rest	Cross train or 40 min relaxed	1 hour 50 min long run
Advanced Schedule	Rest	55 min easy run	1min, 2min, 3min, 4min, 5min, 5min, 4min, 3min, 2min, 1min - half rep time recovery	50min relaxed or steady	Rest	Cross train or 40 min relaxed	2 hour 10 min long run

TRAINING TIPS – MENTAL PREPARATION

With the weeks leading up to the Kilomathon, mental preparation may be more beneficial than physical preparation, as most of the hard work should be done by this point. An important part of the mental side of running is to know your surroundings. An effective strategy used by many athletes is visualisation where they visualise the race, however if you have the chance to run/cycle/drive around the course then do it. You will feel a lot more reassured if you know where the hills and flat sections are, where are the shady and open parts of the course, where will the water and energy stations be located. So by rehearsing how you would deal with any setbacks which might occur, you will save valuable mental energy on the day.

When the running gets hard it is important to remember the reason you are out there. Is it raising vital funds for worthwhile charities, to lose weight, to have the joy of saying to your family or friends “I did it, I ran the World’s first Kilomathon”. Whatever it is, prepare yourself to remember this when the going gets tough.

Prepare the course kilometre by kilometre in your head. Plan how fast you will reach each kilometre marker (A pace band is helpful for this) but be level-headed in assessing your fitness and abilities. It is a recipe for disaster for you to expect to greatly exceed anything you have done consistently in training. Lastly enjoy your run – you can over think your strategies and forget to enjoy yourself.

ACCOMMODATION – DAYS HOTEL DERBY 'EXTENDED SPECIAL OFFER'

Take advantage of the Virgin Active Leisure Club situated only next door to the Days Hotel Derby where you will be able to enjoy a swim, workout or simply relax in the bubble pool. There will be discounted passes available for all residents.

As well as your Room and Breakfast we are offering a late check-out up to 1.30pm, so you can enjoy a hot shower prior to your journey home or even for the family to have somewhere warm if the weather is not so good. We will also set you up for the run with a high energy snack pack and a chilled bottle of water to keep you going throughout the race

To find out more information please visit www.kilomathon.com/?accommodation or click here. Alternatively you can contact our Hotel manager Bill Evans directly bill.evans@eventsinpartnership.com

JUST GIVING

Start fundraising now with a Justgiving page. It takes 5 minutes to create your own personalised page and send it to all your friends and family so they can donate online and leave messages. Raising money online cuts costs for your charity and it's easy for you - it's the perfect way to raise money for charity. Visit our marathon page at www.kilomathon.com/?justgiving

We have thousands of valued member charities and we're always here to offer you support with your online fundraising. We're at the other end of the phone to answer all your questions, plus you can visit www.justgiving.com/tips for our best fundraising tips and www.justgiving.com/blog for inspirational fundraising news and stories.

You can ring us up at our office in central London on 0845 021 2133 (yes we're really here, no annoying robots) or email us at help@justgiving.com. Good luck with your marathon!

RACE CREW

If you are bringing friends or family to support you or you are unable to take part in the Kilomathon Race but would like to do more than stand and watch we are looking for Race Crew. We need; racecourse stewards, water and energy station marshals, goody bag and registration crew, start/ finish officials as well as Race Crew in many other areas.

Anyone over 15 years old can join the Race Crew Team (race crew under 18 must be accompanied by an adult). We would really appreciate your help, race crew is an important part of every runner’s experience, and they really make a difference.

Race Crew can expect:

An official kilomathon t-shirt
Each role earns a minimum of £15 which can be donated to the charity of your choice
Lunch vouchers to buy a delicious lunch
A certificate to mark your contribution to the event
A truly fantastic experience and a wonderful day!

To sign up to be part of the Race Crew click here.

DONNA'S STORY

In January 2000 I was involved in a serious road traffic accident on my way home from work, I was 28 weeks pregnant at the time. Josh suffered severe head trauma from the seatbelt I was wearing. He was born with Hydranencephaly (fluid replacing brain), epilepsy, severe global developmental delay, asthma and was blind. He couldn’t do anything for himself and needed 24 hour care. He received his nutrition via a Nasogastric tube and later a Gastrostomy button. He spent an enormous amount of time in hospital, which put an incredible strain on the family. Sadly the hospital admission in October 2003 would be his last and would never come home. All of the doctor's predictions came true and he died in my arms on 14th November 2003, aged 3. It's important to note that Josh had a happy life; even with all of the obstacles he faced every day to stay alive. He was a very strong character and was loved more than you can imagine.

Joshua and I found Barnardo's through Nottingham City Hopital, Children's Centre. We were put in touch with Eleanor Shelley who was a Barnardo's social worker. Eleanor woulds visit us at home and have a cuppa. She would see how Josh was getting on and would listen while I talked about my worst fears and the difficult days coping. Eleanor was my rock and helped me find the strength to get through the hard days. I really enjoyed talking about all the things Joshua was doing and our happy times together. Josh loved music and action films, he would kick up his happy feet in joy. When it came to the time of choosing schools, Eleanor came with me to all the special needs schools I chose to look around and helped me make up my mind for myself. I really couldn't have coped without Eleanor.

Barnardo's Sherwood Project worked with Boots and held Carer's pamper days, to give us a chance to relax and be spoilt. This was very popular! They also organised daytrips for the special needs children. Unfortunately Josh couldn't make it to one of the daytrips because he was in hospital. Barnardo's and Boots organised a massive goody bag for Josh, we were overwhelmed with such kindness shown to us. So I can say at first hand the difference Barnardo's makes to children and their families.

I am using the Kilomathon as a training run prior to the VLM to help raise funds for Barnardo's. Please help me meet my target for Barnardo's so they can continue their good work for families like ours. My main fundraising is through Twitter and I have met many lovely people along the way, many are runners themselves. You can follow Donnas training blog and progress at http://tinyurl.com/lc8297

To sponsor Donna please visit: http://tinyurl.com/y9ptx2u

TELL US YOUR STORY

Have you a story to tell about why you are running the Kilomathon? If so, please tell us about it and we could help you highlight your story in our eNewsletter. The newsletter currently goes out to over 5,000 members. Local newspapers are always willing to highlight stories and it could help you raise funds for your charity. If you do send a story please attach a photo to go along side the story. Click here or email us at adele@gsi-events.com with your story.