It's only pain...

That's what i kept telling myself when I was on the treadmill at the gym on Friday.  Its been a rather long time since i went running.  I went for one session before xmas but then i came down with the flu and then pneumonia so that was the end of my training.  The aim of this pain?  To run Race For Life and proudly display Rich's name on my back!

I have done RFL every year bar one since it started being held in our local town and although I have never managed to do as well as id like to, I have always finished the race in a respectable time and up till now I have raised £1,659.70 (Which im a bit taken a back by to be honest!!)

Last time I had this determination I  was running the 5K Race for Life, 7 months after giving birth, for a very special little girl Evie.  Evie was born on the 4th of October 2008 weighing 6lb.  A beautiful little girl who captured the hearts of not only her parents, Carly and Mark, but everyone who saw her.  A month later Evie was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of the white blood cells, the cells in the body that normally fight infections. There are two main types of white blood cells-lymphoid cells and myeloid cells. ALL affects lymphoid cells.

Leukemia cells are abnormal cells that cannot do what normal blood cells do. The abnormal cells are immature white blood cells that cannot help the body fight infections. For this reason, children with ALL often get infections and have fevers.

ALL is also called acute lymphocytic leukemia. It is the most common leukemia in children.

Sadly on the 24th November Evie lost her battle for life, with her parents at her side, she was 7 weeks old.  As a mum to a baby of a similar age it really tugged at my heartstrings and I wanted to do something in her memory and as I had done RFL previously i felt it was the ideal opportunity.  On that occasion alone i raised £784.50!  When something is close to your heart it really motivates you to do something.

This time its the same, although a lot closer to home.  This year I have a sense of determination I have never felt before.  I feel I owe it to Rich to get myself fit and healthy and I NEED to raise awareness and as much money as I possibly can.  In an ideal world I would love to match the total I have raised so far.  In a real world I know money is tight for a lot of people and im not even sure I know enough people to enable me to raise that much but I will give it everything I have and try my best.

If anyone reading this has any ideas or suggestions then please post them and as soon as I am able to sign up for the race then I shall post a link to my just giving page.

So tomorrow when I am back on that treadmill and it is REALLY burning I will be saying to myself "It's only pain" after all Rich has cancer!!