As I’ve blogged about before I’m proud to be a MAMA Academy blogger.  A fantastic charity who are supporting the made to measure campaign. 

I grow small babies, in part due to medication that is essential for me to take to maintain blood pressure, a side effect being placental blood flow restriction and small babies.  The Toddler was 6lbs 7oz born at 39+5 weeks.  The Baby was smaller at 6lbs 3oz born at 38+3 weeks.  Each time growth was monitored fanatically.  In my third trimester growth was tiny in comparison to what it should be.  A fact you can see when my tiny fragile baby is now hitting the highest percentiles on the American Formula Fed based charts, being a chubby breastfed baby.  My doctors are astounded each time I take him to be weighed (all of 3 times, poor second child) as he grows and gains up the charts.  But what if I didn’t have the extra monitoring?  What if my notes were handled in a way that assumed I wasn’t at high risk for IUGR due to medication.  What if it was just assumed because my first baby was small my second would be too?  Which is why I’m behind the new fundraising campaign for MAMA Academy raising money (via Virgin Just Giving) for the Made to Measure campaign in a way that benefits my health.

Introducing #Miles4MAMA

Jenny from Great North Mum and a leading light for MAMA Academy had a brainwave of completing 1000 miles before Jake’s first birthday to get fit and raise money.  That gives her 10 months to do it by June 13th (and she’s 5 miles down already only 995 miles to go)

But it doesn’t end there….

Of course not!  By now I’m sure you’ve realised that the blogging community is a supportive bunch and you get bullied caught up in the motion to join the ride.  Jenny challenged us all to join her and set our own personal challenges.

Along with Another Bun, Susanne from Ghostwriter Mummy and Hazel from The Newhouse Family to name a few (more names to follow) I hereby set out my own challenge.

My #Miles4MAMA Challenge

Now I’m choosing not to do 1000 miles, I’m choosing a little bit of a different challenge.  I am only going to count miles that I have “jogged” (it has to be quoted for now as my jogging isn’t what it was).  I am in the middle of completing the couch to 5k app.  Slowly.  Holidays keep getting in the way but trainers are coming with me.  After that I plan to do the bridge to 10k. I’m taking my starting date as 1st September and giving myself until the 13th July to complete my goals.

So my goals are as follows;

1.  Run 500 km (311 miles) before 13th July 2016

2.  Run a 5k personal best in this time.  Current 5k PB 29 min 30 secs

3.  Run a 10k personal best in this time.  Current (and only) 10k PB 1 hr 02 mins 04 secs

All my miles will be logged via my (inherited from the husband) Garmin watch and uploaded to the website. On average I think to begin with I will be running around 25-30 miles a month so I will need to move up to 10k training as quick as I can to meet my 500 km goal!

I’m lucky that its getting to the right kind of running weather in Dubai, it’s starting to cool down and running season will begin in earnest.  I’m also lucky that my husband is the motivated one who runs half marathons and marathons which makes me feel guilty and in turn makes me run!

So that’s my challenge set – anyone else up for the challenge and fancy joining in?