My name is Jamie Flanagan. This year I'm going to be running in the Rome and Berlin Marathons raising money for Vasculitis UK. I am a Wegeners Granulomatosis patient and am looking forward to raising money and awareness to help beat this disease. You can read more about me at my Just giving page below:
A big thanks to everyone who has donated, you're in my thoughts during the runs!
Anyway, here's the blog:
3/02/2012 - 43 days to race day!
Training for the Rome Marathon is well and truly in full swing. Friday was long run day, so planned a 16 mile trek through Culbin forest. The long run is the part I enjoy most. It's when you really have to zip the preverbial man suit up and keep going, keep going and keep going until a little voice in your head says... KEEP GOING!
Up to mile 5, everything was going to plan. Easy on the legs, pleanty of eneregy, feelin' good. Then disaster struck, I lost the map of the forest. Never mind, I still had my gps watch and compass, so I just planned to keep heading west until I get to 8 miles, then turn back. Simple! So at this point I was running along side Findhorn bay, very picturesque. However, as it turns out, I wasn't running alongside Findhorn bay, I was running on it! I thought the grass was a bit slippy, but I never realied that it was because the iced over bay was below the grass! So, time to detour through the dense forest and find myself a track. I then proceed to hop, skip and jump through very damp, long grass getting my feet wet in the process. Up until this point and not seen a single animal with legs! (Apart from myself obvously... GRR) That statistic contined when I nearly stood on a snake which quickly buried itself into the grass!
Thankfully it didn't get me and I made it to a track where I proceeded to get a little lost. Around mile 13 I was beginning to think I was going to struggle to get back in less than 20 miles. 4 more than I'd planned. Not good. Then I turned a corner and BOOM. There's a carpark! There was a sign with a big map on it too! I left the sign, but memorised an easy route back to the start. Ended up being a 17.5 mile run in 2 hours 48mins. Bit slower than marathon pace, but injury free and that's the most important part. Bring on next weeks 18 miler!
P.S. The pic is my good self at Findhorn bay sporting a thermal beard I bought off of ebay (May or may not be true).
was it expensive? John and Susan
Possible Vasculitis
Newly diagnosed MPA pANCA vasculitis with PBC anitibodies
Vasculitis – GPA
Very interesting day at the Vasculitis Masterclass for Large Vessel Vasculitis yesterday in Warrington. 
