8 Weeks til Race Day

Yesterday was 8 weeks til race day.  I completed my 9.5 mile training run in just over 2 hours.  I'm very pleased with that performance.  Last weekend's long run had left me anxious about a couple of things.  

First of all the heat, but thankfully it was a cool morning in Grand Rapids, cloudy for most of the run.  I was able to leave home at 8am.  Way better than the 6am I had anticipated.  That gave me time for a yogurt, a cup of tea and a little relax before setting off.

My second concern was hunger and thirst.  I don't usually eat before I run or carry a water bottle - too much distraction.  After the previous week's performance I knew I'd need both.  I got myself a tiny runner's water bottle that sits in the palm of my hand - if I just squeezed a few drops at a time, I was able to keep my mouth from drying up and didn't choke myself either - bonus!  I also swallowed a "gel-pack" at the halfway point.  It was like 2 tablespoons of honey with caffeine.  That really sorted me out for the rest of the run :0)

In blanket news, last week we had our trusty British photographer Bob staying with us.  An ideal time to get some quality "images" of the fundraising-blanket-in-progress.......

340-ish hexes waiting to be patched together......

I spent a good hour laying out most of the hexes for the next pic......

The hexes laid out as colour-grouped as I could manage.

So, total hexes right this minute is 350, with 55 days to go.  I should be able to add a good 150 to that total by race day.

If you'd like to sponsor my Great North Run, here are my fundraising pages.  A fiver to either charity is one entry to win the blanket.  Please email me at discoknits AT gmail DOT com (no spaces or caps) after donating, so that I have your contact details.

NSPCC in the UK

Thompson Child & Family Focus in the USA

Thanks so much for supporting me on this journey.
disco xoxo

Vacation Progress

I completed 31 hexagons on my vacation.  Not bad for 13 days away.  Here they are....

And this is what a total of 337 hexis look like.  They're starting to get squished in this 21x15 inch box.  I'll have to start a second layer soon.  The boys and I are driving back to Michigan today (and tomorrow...).  When we get there, I think it's time I laid these out and took a photograph of the full effect.  And also to see how big this is.  That shot should be better as we have an ace photographer staying with us ;0)

On vacation, I did some interesting running.  The Las Vegas strip at 5am was particularly fun.  Hot, but not too hot.  People, but not too drunk people (well, maybe one).  Some hotel workout-room running, when the heat outside was just too much.  I missed a long training run.  It was too hot outside, the air too little inside, and not enough sleep as my running-anxiety was at an all-time high.  So this weekend I face my longest run ever, of 8 miles and I MUST DO IT!

If you'd like to encourage me on my way, leave a message, or better still, make a donation using the buttons to the left of this post.  Just $5/GBP5 might win you this BeeKeeper's Quilt.

Happy Thursday y'all.
Disco xoxo

Great North Run blanket update....

Up to 300 hexis for the blanket. That's around half the size I'd like it to be. I'll be gettin' busy with some awesome swapped STR colours in the coming weeks while we're on our West Coast summer road trip. I promise to post photos along the way ;0)

Link to my UK fundraising page for NSPCC

Link to my USA fundraising page for Thompson Child & Family Focus

Every GBP5/US$5 donated will be entered into a draw for this blanket.

Hope y'all are having a fabulous Summer!
Disco xoxo

Colour Study: Happy Go Lucky

For the Great North Run Beekeeper's Quilt I'm making, I'm trying to use as many Blue Moon colours as possible.  If I have enough of one colour, I'll make 3 hexagons with that colour.  With the leftovers, I'm trying to swap them out for other colours.  Here's a link to my destash page on Ravelry, if you're interested.

With the remaining yarn I'm mixing up some colours, knitting alternate rounds.  I thought I'd post a quick colour study when I have a few to compare.

Today, I have a group of 9 hexes, all made with the STR colour "Happy Go Lucky".  It's not the greatest quality photo, but gives you an idea of how one colour (in the centre) can change when mixed with others.

Links to my fundraising pages:

NSPCC in the UK

Thompson Child and Family Focus in the USA

Every $5 donated before Sept 15th 2013 will get an entry to win the finished quilt.

GREAT NORTH RUN

What I'm Doing...

I am undertaking the challenge of my life, running the Great North Run 2013.  This is the biggest half-marathon race in the world, with 55,000 participants.  The race kicks off in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England and ends, 13.1 miles later in South Shields, the town where I grew up.

The Charities I'm Raising Money For.....

I am running in memory of my brother David, who passed away in January 2012, and have chosen to run for two children’s charities.  The NSPCC in the UK, and Thompson Child and Family Focus in the USA.  Both organizations provide services for abused and neglected children.  These children are at risk of suffering the effects of their abuse for the whole of their lifetime, including depression, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, imprisonment, low self-esteem, promiscuity, prostitution, self-harm and suicide.   If you'd like to donate, my fundraising pages are:

My Fundraising Pages....
NSPCC - this is a UK charity.  If you're in the UK, donate on this page, they'll be able to claim income tax back through Gift Aid.
Thompson Child and Family Focus - this is a USA charity.  If you're in the USA, donate on this page, you'll receive a tax receipt.

A Thank You for Your Support.....

As a thank you for your support, I am making a BeeKeeper’s Quilt, which I'll give to one lucky person,  whose name will be drawn after the race.  I'm using Blue Moon Fiber Arts’ Socks That Rock yarn to knit the quilt, using as many colourways as possible.  The “Socks That Rawk” group on Ravelry estimates there to be some 423 colourways, and with Rare Gem overdyed skeins, the colourways are almost endless.  I'm aiming to have around 600 hexagons in the quilt - that's a good lap-quilt size.

The Draw......
Anyone who sponsors me before the race will be entered in the draw.  Each $5 will get your name in the draw once, so $10 will see you entered twice, etc.
I'll draw a name on the day of the race, after I've finished running and post the winner on here, facebook, twitter, etc that evening.


Progress.... Here's a progress shot of the hexagons I have knit up so far.

I'll be posting regular progress pictures of the quilt and also my training runs.  I hope you'll comment, sponsor and cheer me along the way.
Thanks y'all
Disco xoxo

A Quick Trip

I just got back from a quick trip to the UK, where I attended my Grandfather's funeral. It was a lovely service, my Mam gave a wonderfully warm and loving eulogy for our Taid and we sang Eternal Father Strong to Save, the Royal Navy hymn.  I don't know how the funeral directors carried his coffin - the man was made of solid gold.  We shall all miss him, but be grateful for our treasured memories of him.

It was so good to catch up with my Welsh family and some friends in England too.  Of course, I didn't take even one photo, despite being in the most stunning scenery at the prettiest time of the year - lambs and daffodils!

I did manage to get a little bit of grocery shopping done, to bring back with me.  Tetley tea bags, Cadbury's chocolate, and a few bags of my favourite crisps.....

 And I always like to get some magazines.  One day I may even make a project out of them!

The knitting was paltry and this is all I have to show for a whole week, including 2 transatlantic flights!

I did spend the return flight catching up on my Coursera Know Thyself classes.  I've been able to wrap my head around the thinking of Socrates, Descartes, Ryle, Freud, et al, but this week's session on Buddhist thinking is challenging me.  I'm still loving having my mind expanded though.  I have one more week of classes to go.  They overlap with my next course, Introduction to Psychology, which starts tomorrow.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.  We're off to watch Iron Man 3 later :0)
Disco xoxo

Travel knitting

Hexipuff minis for my upcoming week of travels :0)