So as I mentioned in my last post, I have had the bright idea of signing up for the London Marathon 2024 to run for Mind charity. I think it is an awesome charity who do so much and I am proud to be someone that runs for them. When we were looking at charities to run for, I was determined to only run for something that I truly believed in and was connected with.
When I was in hospital with my multiple flares of what I now know is Ulcerative Colitis, it took a toll on my mental health and I tried a lot of different things to work out what might help me. The information that was provided by Mind on their website was amazing and really helped me through a few tough spots. They give not only information about different mental health conditions but also the different types of treatments that there are as well. I got a lot of information about the medication that I was put on from here and the information they provided is what eventually helped me to get off the meds as I don’t actually think they were helping me, but that is another story.
Now, to those that know me, I am no runner. I like playing sports and all but the idea of actually running for a long period of time is really quite foreign to me. I am starting from scratch as any base of fitness I may have had has been ruined by medication and too much cake (I won’t lie, I love me some Angel cake slices), so Jordan and I decided to start small with the Couch to 5k. We have managed to get to week 3 and I am super proud of us. We are still going, just that’s where we’re up to.
Jordan has been a massive support in this, dragging me out when I really do not want to and to be fair, he has realistically driven me along when I get really tired. Fatigue for anyone with a long term health condition can be a real problem and in this heat having an ileostomy is not the one to then be sweating doing laps round the village but he has made sure I got out for my runs and done what I needed to.
Having said all of this, I need to raise a significant amount of money to run for Mind like £2000 kind of significant and any help would be very much appreciated so below you will find the link for my Just Giving page. It would be awesome if you were able to donate literally anything, I need all the help I can get. I will keep you all updated with how the running goes, the highs, the lows and any tips I may find along the way!
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/eleanor-moon1?newPage=True