Greetings biscuit fans!
Last year you will hopefully remember that I ran (not literally) the competition 'Who's time is it anyway?' The idea being that for just £2 you could predict my finish time and stand a chance of winning a scrumptious M&S food hamper (or vouchers - hampers apparently don't fall into the 'standard envelope' category and cause all manner of chaos at the Post office - I blame the bunch of grapes).
Anyway - as regular readers will know, I had to defer my entry and enter this years race (2012) and therefore nobody won. I considered declaring a draw, however sending out tiny bits of hamper to everyone was going to give the Post Office an even bigger headache (Single grapes also don't count as standard envelope size- unless you crush them. Please note this will upset the Post Office clerk so put them in bubble wrap first).
So the solution: All predicted times from last year have been officially ROLLED OVER. A bit like the National Lottery but with better odds at winning. Oh and the prize has increased in value to a whopping £50 hamper (imagine all those un-squashed grapes!). Read on...
Did you enter last year?
If you entered last year you have the opportunity to change your predicted time (or times) ONCE. Of course if you're happy with your time from last year then don't do anything. Otherwise please click on the tab to the time grid above, find an unallocated free time that you would like and then contact me letting me know the old time and the new time you wish to change to. Simples! As always - first come first serve. So do you think I have got faster or have slowed down????
Didn't enter?..Would you like to enter this year?
So what about it?
Today is your lucky day! Not only has the prize increased in value but the entry cost has stayed the same (no rise with inflation)!
£2 per entry time. To enter complete the following steps:
1. Click on the 'What's my time' tab above and view the available finishing times
2. Pick a time that you think I will finish the race in. Make sure it's not already allocated
3. Donate £2 on my Virgin Giving money page (link below) or give me the money in person. Let me know which time (or times) you would like.
4. Sit back whilst I allocate you the time and then run the race.
This year there's the added bonus of choosing DNS (Did Not Start) or DNF (Did Not Finish) which will hopefully give us an outright winner either way and there will be no need to start dividing bunches of grapes.
Times are all allocated on a first come first serve basis. After the race I will contact the lucky winner and arrange the prize.
Good Luck!
Disclaimer: There's a good chance the hamper wont actually contain grapes. But don't let that put you off!
Stay lucky!
Biscuit Nikki x
Want to help out and sponsor me? It's easy!
Just go to: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/NicolaStanley
Monday, 26 March 2012
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Blogging in motion
Phew!
Busy couple of months. So much so that the only time I have to update this is whilst I am sat at a train station whilst using my phone. Technology is amazing! So in true 10 o clock news style I'm going to do a mini update:
Hmm I can't work out how to type in bold - so you'll just have to imagine nice bold headlines...that's very good well done you!
- Biscuit Towers
We are fully moved into the new biscuit towers which is requiring lots of new DIY skills. Just in case you were wondering lifting boxes, sofas, beds and the kettle in and out of a van/car/'people you blackmailed into helping' car all counts as cross training. If you don't believe me try doing it for a day and then lifting your arms to put shampoo in your hair the next morning - you will feel the burn.
- Snow: but not the full apocalypse as predicted by the daily mail
That's right, you've probably forgotten already but we did have a bit of snow. Uncharacteristically for the UK we actually all just got on with it. This may be largely due to the fact that it snowed over the weekend and people didnt have to pretend to be stuck in it to avoid work. I managed to keep up the training and get some long runs in, albeit they were very slow. Which brings me on nicely to...
- Don't bring oranges to a snowball fight
You expect the odd snowball when running in snow. A lot of the time people are too surprised to see you and their reflexes are too slow to quickly make a snowball and throw it at you with any degree of accuracy. I don't mind snowballs - I can throw some back (also missing). However I take huge offence to the person who threw a large orange at me when I was out the other day. Using a car is cheating. So is using fruit.
- Marathon training
Is going well. I am being overly cautious as this was around the time I made it to last year when I started falling apart. I've complete a 20 mile run and ran 1hr 32min (and 4 sec if you want to be pedantic) in the wokigham half marathon last week. I am very pleased with that. Almost back to the fitness level I was at last year and all is looking promising. I learnt a lot from my mistakes - there's no need to run every single day and rest is just as important as training runs. I've also decided that unless you're elite or training for a very fast time there is no need to run twice a day (for me anyway). All going well so far. Oh and just to clarify - when you finish a long run and collapse on the floor you are in fact completing an important post-run stretch which is essential for recovery and used by lots of the pros, regardless of how it looks or what your neighbour thinks. Pressing random buttons on your watch (especially if they 'beep') will also help the illusion if they need more convincing of this.
- Fundraising
Im running for Brain Tumour UK again, the same as last year. My place was brought by me and donated - so all the money I raise goes straight to the charity instead of paying for the marathon place or any other perks. If you took part in the 'who's time is it anyway' competition last year your guessed time still stands for this year and the prize is the same (M&S hamper or vouchers). At the weekend I will publish a blog giving you ONE opportunity to change your estimated time. (for each time you entered). Get thinking and I will release details in the following couple of days.
If you didn't get a chance to enter the competition or sponsor me last year then this is your lucky day! You can go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/NicolaStanley
Which will give you information about the charity and tell you that there's less than 8 weeks to go! Scary stuff. You can also just go to have a nose around if you're bored. It's a bit like bonus DVD material.
Lastly if you don't want to miss any updates you can apparently subscribe to my blog using your email address. I have no idea how or why it works but there's a box around here somewhere that should let you do it.
I'm just going to end by saying that yesterday my dad sent me a link to an article about a Chinese lady who was pronounced dead and put in a coffin waiting to be buried. 8 days later she was up and walking around. There's two messages I'd like you to take away from this: firstly don't give up hope because motivation to succeed is a powerful thing and secondly don't trust Chinese doctors.
Keep smiling
Biscuit Nikki X
Busy couple of months. So much so that the only time I have to update this is whilst I am sat at a train station whilst using my phone. Technology is amazing! So in true 10 o clock news style I'm going to do a mini update:
Hmm I can't work out how to type in bold - so you'll just have to imagine nice bold headlines...that's very good well done you!
- Biscuit Towers
We are fully moved into the new biscuit towers which is requiring lots of new DIY skills. Just in case you were wondering lifting boxes, sofas, beds and the kettle in and out of a van/car/'people you blackmailed into helping' car all counts as cross training. If you don't believe me try doing it for a day and then lifting your arms to put shampoo in your hair the next morning - you will feel the burn.
- Snow: but not the full apocalypse as predicted by the daily mail
That's right, you've probably forgotten already but we did have a bit of snow. Uncharacteristically for the UK we actually all just got on with it. This may be largely due to the fact that it snowed over the weekend and people didnt have to pretend to be stuck in it to avoid work. I managed to keep up the training and get some long runs in, albeit they were very slow. Which brings me on nicely to...
- Don't bring oranges to a snowball fight
You expect the odd snowball when running in snow. A lot of the time people are too surprised to see you and their reflexes are too slow to quickly make a snowball and throw it at you with any degree of accuracy. I don't mind snowballs - I can throw some back (also missing). However I take huge offence to the person who threw a large orange at me when I was out the other day. Using a car is cheating. So is using fruit.
- Marathon training
Is going well. I am being overly cautious as this was around the time I made it to last year when I started falling apart. I've complete a 20 mile run and ran 1hr 32min (and 4 sec if you want to be pedantic) in the wokigham half marathon last week. I am very pleased with that. Almost back to the fitness level I was at last year and all is looking promising. I learnt a lot from my mistakes - there's no need to run every single day and rest is just as important as training runs. I've also decided that unless you're elite or training for a very fast time there is no need to run twice a day (for me anyway). All going well so far. Oh and just to clarify - when you finish a long run and collapse on the floor you are in fact completing an important post-run stretch which is essential for recovery and used by lots of the pros, regardless of how it looks or what your neighbour thinks. Pressing random buttons on your watch (especially if they 'beep') will also help the illusion if they need more convincing of this.
- Fundraising
Im running for Brain Tumour UK again, the same as last year. My place was brought by me and donated - so all the money I raise goes straight to the charity instead of paying for the marathon place or any other perks. If you took part in the 'who's time is it anyway' competition last year your guessed time still stands for this year and the prize is the same (M&S hamper or vouchers). At the weekend I will publish a blog giving you ONE opportunity to change your estimated time. (for each time you entered). Get thinking and I will release details in the following couple of days.
If you didn't get a chance to enter the competition or sponsor me last year then this is your lucky day! You can go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/NicolaStanley
Which will give you information about the charity and tell you that there's less than 8 weeks to go! Scary stuff. You can also just go to have a nose around if you're bored. It's a bit like bonus DVD material.
Lastly if you don't want to miss any updates you can apparently subscribe to my blog using your email address. I have no idea how or why it works but there's a box around here somewhere that should let you do it.
I'm just going to end by saying that yesterday my dad sent me a link to an article about a Chinese lady who was pronounced dead and put in a coffin waiting to be buried. 8 days later she was up and walking around. There's two messages I'd like you to take away from this: firstly don't give up hope because motivation to succeed is a powerful thing and secondly don't trust Chinese doctors.
Keep smiling
Biscuit Nikki X
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