Resolutions

This year I’m not making new year’s resolutions. Last year I made quite a few and I think I did keep many of them – I said b I’d finish a novel and I did, I said I’d do Nanowrimo and I finished the month with over 100k words, and I said I’d think about losing weight and although I’ve yo-yoed a bit when it came to my weight I’ve ended the year lighter than I was when I started, so I consider that a success.

My reason for not doing resolutions this year? Its because all the things I resolved to do were okay, but they were minor successes compared to the things I never dreamed I’d do in 2012. I never imagined that I would write a short story that would get me a place at an awards ceremony in London and a piece in the Wicked Young Writers anthology.

I never imagined I’d get engaged in 2012, or that I’d do so well in my A Levels (one of my resolutions was to get three Cs, so getting ABB felt incredible), and I think the biggest achievement for me was raising over £300 with my fiance for Birmingham Children’s Hospital in memory of my brother, by running a half marathon on what would have been his fifteenth birthday. That was just incredible, and will always be my proudest moment.

So in 2013 I’m going to go with the flow and let life surprise me, because if there’s one lesson I’ve learned this year, it’s that the best achievements are the ones you least expect.

The last stretch!

So, in the midst of all this exciting stuff happening – being an adult, going to parties (rarely) and university – I had almost forgotten that I’m doing a half marathon soon. October 21st seemed like ages and ages and ages away until last Sunday, when I saw a little post come up on my Facebook news feed. “Two weeks until the Great Birmingham Run!”.

Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction. People are starting to receive their race packs and numbers (I’m assuming mine’s arrived but is at home, so I’ll need it picked up and brought to me seeing as I’m not home until after the race!) and it’s all feeling a little too real right now. In 11 days, I’ll be attempting to run (although it’ll probably be more like walking, and then shuffling, and then crawling, and then wriggling) 13.1 miles (I don’t like the “.1” bit – I want to see “13 miles” and be finished, not have that extra little .1 of a mile to go!).

At least I won’t be on my own – there’ll be 18,000 other people doing exactly the same thing, although I’m fairly sure the majority will be able to run – or at least walk – all the way, and won’t have to resort to wriggling. People keep saying on the Facebook page, “aiming for sub-2!” and things like that, and I’m thinking “Hey, that’s feasible”, and then I realize they’re talking hours, not days. They’re aiming to run 13.1 miles in under two hours. I’m aiming to… complete 13.1 miles before they take down the banners and pack up and go home – that’ll be an achievement for me as far as I’m concerned.

Of course, my time and performance in the run isn’t the important thing – it’s the fact that I’m raising money for a charity very close to my heart, and we’ve done so much better than I thought we would. At the start, we aimed to raise £150 as a team – doesn’t sound like a huge amount, but when you’re from a village like mine where, in general, people don’t want to give a penny unless it’ll directly benefit them, it is a massive target. Thanks to the generosity of so many wonderful people – many of whom are not from the area, as predicted, but there were a few lovely people from my area and village who have donated and sponsored us, and I am so grateful for that – we’ve managed to smash our target, raising just shy of £400 between us.

Now is the last push – please, please sponsor us – Birmingham Children’s Hospital is such a fantastic charity and so deserving of your donations; they’re currently trying to raise £4m to build a new Children’s Cancer Centre, and every penny really does count. You can sponsor me at www.justgiving.com/madison-matthews , or Daf at www.justgiving.com/dafydd-williams09 – or you can see how our team total is getting on at www.justgiving.com/teams/madanddaf – please donate and encourage others to do so too! Thanks 🙂

 

Results Day is edging nearer…

Yes indeed, results day for A Level students across the UK (and anywhere else in the world that A Levels are studied) is getting closer – I think it may be 26 days to go – and I’ll admit, I’m getting a bit nervous. I mean, I’m sure I’ve done ok in my A Levels – I don’t think I’ve failed any of them – but have I done enough to get into university? That’s the thing I’m really concerned about. My entry requirements are pretty low, so if I miss those I don’t think any university will let me in!

Still, I have plenty to be getting on with to distract me. I’m aiming to try and do that 4 mile walk as much as possible, and maybe even to extend it (at the minute I’m walking the long way down to the beach, jogging along the beach and back and then walking back up, but I think eventually I want to start walking/jogging first into the neighbouring village and down to the beach, and then to the nearest town and back (an 11 mile round trip, apparently). Still, this weekend I’m a busy bee, tonight I’m singing at a kids’ party and tomorrow I’m going to Caernarfon Castle. I don’t want to lose steam though, so on Monday I’ll force myself out of my onesie (on second thoughts, it should probably go for a wash before that), into my training vest and off for another walk/jog I go.

Remember, you can sponsor me at http://www.justgiving.com/madison-matthews , and even if you can’t sponsor me, please share the link with as many people as possible, it’s a really important cause to me and you can see why if you check out my page.

Y’know, I’m gonna keep bugging you all..

..to read my JustGiving page and sponsor me! It’s such an important cause and the Run takes place on such an important date that I really want to raise as much money as possible for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Now, I realize that it’s a tough time financially. I realize that many of you don’t know me and will never meet me, but I’m not asking you to sponsor me for me, I’m asking you to please consider donating something to Birmingham Children’s Hospital – I’m living, breathing proof of the great work they do, as are the memories my family have of my little brother – and there are hundreds of thousands more whose lives have been saved or transformed for the better by the amazing doctors and nurses there.

http://www.justgiving.com/Madison-Matthews

An Appeal

I know it’s not too long since I was bugging you all for sponsors for the 10k midnight walk I did recently, but this time the challenge is much bigger. I’ve never personally relied on the hospice, but wanted to support the charity should I or my loved ones ever require it. However, Birmingham Children’s Hospital – the charity I’m participating in the BUPA Great Birmingham Run half-marathon for – has had a very profound effect on my life – indeed, I wouldn’t be here, writing this blog today if not for the people at BCH, which is why I really want to raise so much money for them. At three months old, I had a life-threatening illness, and without Birmingham Children’s Hospital, the past almost-eighteen years wouldn’t have happened and I wouldn’t be alive.

The hospital also made my brother’s last days comfortable for him and for all of us, and gave us some wonderful mementos and memories of him that will last forever and we’ll always cherish them. If I can help in any small way to help the hospital to provide the same service to the countless other families like us who pass through their doors every day, I’m going to – and I’d love it if you could all help me with this. I have a JustGiving page where I discuss my reasons in greater detail, but it’s going to be a big challenge to train myself to run 13 miles by October. My intention had been to run the Manchester 10k next year – much more achievable – but the Birmingham half marathon takes place on October 21st this year, what would have been my little brother Owain’s 15th birthday, and everything about it seems perfect.

http://www.justgiving.com/madison-matthews/eurl.axd/a1ab18fa3c6a834d8d8dcdbe029e06c9

Please, please sponsor me and help to raise money for this fantastic cause!

I speak to you today…

… not as a blogger. Not as a friend. But as a publicist. 

Friends. Blog readers. Commenters. Lend me your eyes (and your trust in Twitter recommendations).

If you have any taste at all, follow @CMaine_Official on twitter. It is the Twitter page of Christopher Maine, the writer whose fanclub I am self-elected president, and it’s only just started but follow him – it contains probably the most creative countdown (for something incredibly exciting!) I’ve seen, and don’t forget – you can read and follow his blog at http://www.christophermaine.wordpress.com , and you can buy his first novel “Dragon Flight: Renegade” at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dragon-Flight-Renegade-Tales-ebook/dp/B007B3CZF2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336334468&sr=8-1 .