The Challenges - A little help please guys

The end goal of all of this is to climb Kilimanjaro next year. Me and Sean will be booking our places on the trip at the end of this month but we're looking at going in October 2014. I realise that I have a lot of training and hard work to do between now and then and thought what better way to keep myself motivated than to have lots of smaller goals along the way. For some crazy reason I then decided that I should have one little goal each month until then. 

The Raising Hope Foundation have arranged the Three Peaks Challenge to take place on the 6th/7th July so I have picked this as my starting point. In 24 hours we aim to conquer the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales. We will set off in a minibus on the morning of the saturday, arriving in Ben Nevis in good time to begin walking at 5pm. We then drive through the night to Scafell Pike, arriving at 5am. From there we drive to Snowdon, aiming to reach Snowdon by 2pm - Done. Easy. 

Unfortunately, that's as far as my plans have got. I have to find 14 more challenges to take part in - one for each month between July this year and September next year. I'm looking at signing up for a few runs such as the Great South Run, the Manchester 10k but I'm also looking for something a bit different so if anyone has any ideas let me know. Also, if anyone feels inspired to join me on any event, please feel free!

Training - The Beginning

So I've been "training" for about 4 weeks now. I say "training" as what I really mean is familiarising myself with the gym, getting used to early mornings and trying to cut down on the sugar/alcohol/parma ham/cheese intake! May has been a tough month to try and cut down on these things what with all the bank holidays and the glorious summer weather we've been having!

My routine so far has consisted of jogging to the gym, working out and jogging home again by 7am. My gym workouts are alternated between weights and CV (primarily interval training). I didn't think I'd made much improvement until last weekend when me and the boy went for an evening jog in the rain - it was mainly uphill and a bit of a struggle but nothing too traumatic. When we got home my Nike+ fitness told us that we'd run 8.2km - not a bad effort.

Although my running in the gym has improved quite a lot over the last few weeks, I'm still finding it difficult to run outside - kind of a big issue considering all of my events will be outside and Kilimanjaro isn't going to be fitting with a giant treadmill up one side of it any time soon - so I think the next stage is to incorporate some outdoor training. I'm praying that the weather picks up soon because jogging to a warm gym 10 minutes down the road at 5.45am is one thing, running 5k in a blizzard at that time is something very different.

It hasn't been easy but 4 weeks later and I'm a stone lighter and very much looking forward to the first challenge.

P.s. If you're inspired to sponsor me, please visit http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/danielleandsean 

The Raising Hope Foundation - The reason behind the challenge

In 2007 I travelled to Ghana in West Africa on my own. I had a one month long teaching placement in a school on the outskirts of the capital city, Accra. I returned to England four months later. I fell in love with the country, the people, the music, the way of life - with everything that Ghana is.

I started University in October 2007 and met some amazing people who had just set up a charity working with orphaned and needy children in Ghana. I am proud to say that I was part of the Raising Hope Foundation's first official charity trip to Ghana in 2009 and I've been part of it ever since.

The Raising Hope Foundation team have become my family and the work we do is a huge part of my life - I wouldn't change that for anything.

Every year we go to Ghana to work with the children of Santrokofi and Sogakope and we are currently working on a orphanage in Santrokfi. Whilst at home in the UK we focus on fundraising and raising awareness of the charity, whilst in Ghana we run a summer school for the local children and spend time really getting to know the local people.

As a charity we have organised and taken part in a number of different fundraising activities from skydiving to sponsored runs/triathlons and quiz nights to cycling across Europe.

Following a very inspirational speech from the guys who cycled from London to Istanbul last year I promised myself that I would work towards something bigger than a 10k run - let's just say I got sidetracked! At the last annual dinner the same brilliant guys announced that this year they would be setting off on a new adventure - Arctic to Africa. It does what it says on the tin really! That was the point that I realised I really needed to stop procrastinating and do something.

So, one Saturday afternoon, after spending hours on the internet, I made my mind up - I want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Obviously I can't just pack my bag and go now (those of you who know me will know that I am not that fit at all!) so I've made this an 18 month (ish) challenge.

Over the next 18 months I will be taking part in various short/middle distance runs - starting in July when I will be taking part in the Three Peaks Challenge with the other Raising Hope guys, following that I will be aiming to do one sponsored run every month until October next year (exact date to be confirmed) when I will be tackling Mount Kilimanjaro.

So, if you want to track my progress, raise awareness for the charity, sponsor me or just watch a slightly chubby girl in her mid-twenties try to get fit, please stay tuned!