Done!!!!

A very belated post! But I'm done!!

309km....51 days..... And I have raised £1,650!!! I am ecstatic!  Thank you so, so much to everyone who has sponsored me!

The lovely people at Thyroid UK have asked me to complete a little blurb about the challenge.  I suppose this is the point where better people than me would talk about the changes in their fitness, how easy it is to fit in training and other inspirational messages. Not me. I missed wine. For the last part of the challenge I gave up alcohol...how was I meant to reward myself if I couldn't drink after a run?!  I also tried to give up sugar.  What a mistake.  Yes, yes, I felt miiiiiiles better.  And yes, running every day, and not drinking and not eating things which are "bad" made me feel good - but man - where is the fun in that!!

Joking aside tho, the challenge wasn't as hard as I had feared and on the last run I beat my target-a 5km in under 30 mins!! Amazing!! (Goal 1 - tick!)

From the 35 minutes plus it was taking me to begin with I was pleased to have reached my target.  I've always done exercise three or four times a week, but fitting in 5km each day was really daunting.  On most days finding 45 minutes to an hour was ok, but on others, it took some creative uses of time!  It hasn't made me think that 5km of exercise each day is achievable...but some of my old tried and tested excuses had to be thrown out the window!!  I also seem to have inadvertently managed to agree to a new challenge - 35 miles of exercise a week (which is actually more than I was doing with 5km a day - albeit that I the challenge is over a week, and not each day)

However, all the exercise, lack of booze and (on the whole!) lack of sugar helped with another of my targets... I also lost some weight along the way (Goal 2 - tick!)

But the biggest goal by far was to raise funds for Thyroid UK!

Yes, not drinking/eating sugar/fitting in exercise was a complete pain - but it was definitely well worth it.  I raised so much more money than I could have hoped for, and the lovely emails of congratulations that I've received from Thyroid UK have made it all worthwhile.

Thyroid diseases affect 1 in 20 people and I know first hand how frustrating it can be.  Since having part of my thyroid removed I had noticed massive changes in my body, particularly in my weight and energy levels.  However, because my blood tests were showing that I was within the "normal" range, my GP was extremely dismissive of my concerns.  In fact a nurse told me that I simply had to "eat less pies and do more exercise".  Not particularly helpful given that I was sitting with a print out of my food diary and exercise regime, showing that I hadn't eaten a pie in years and was exercising nearly every day.  Her attitude seems to be frighteningly common within the NHS.  I certainly got the impression that my GP surgery felt that I was overweight and simply making excuses, rather than putting in the hard work to lose the weight.  However, once I got to a specialist (by paying to go private), the treatment has been second to none, but fighting the gatekeepers to get the referral can be a really difficult process.  

I didn't actually know about Thyroid UK until I was deciding which charity to raise funds for.  However, a quick look over their website (and then a more in depth look if you are interested) shows some of the brilliant work that they are doing.  Personally, I think that the most important thing that they do is provide information to people in order to help them get the correct diagnosis and treatment.  They are also funding research and providing resources where needed.  It seems like I'm not the only one who has had problems with an unsympathetic GP (I'm trying to be balanced and failing miserably - at least I've not written "down right useless"!) and having a community of people with experience of the same is really useful and I am sure that I will be drawing on their expertise in the years to come.  

Everything is going great in my life just now - and I take thyroid pills daily which have made the worth of difference.  However, that really wasn't the case a few years ago.  I was frustrated and worried by the changes in my health, and my GP was not able (or willing - sorry - I really need to reign it in!) to help.  I had started to feel like the problems were all in my head, and it had really started to make me feel down.  Luckily my family and friends were extremely supportive and helped me continue to fight my corner with my GP surgery.  I was also really fortunate that I was able to afford private treatment.  I therefore genuinely hope that some of the money I helped to raise can go towards helping other people like me to get the diagnosis and treatment that they require, and that more research can be carried out to ensure that GP surgery's are able to make efficient and effective diagnosis.

And so on that note (/rant!) THANK YOU again to everyone who has sponsored me!  This has definitely been the most personal challenge to date and I am so grateful for everyone's support!

xxx