Mo' Running 2012

Mo’ Running 2012

I got introduced to Movember and running by the same person.  He got me involved in two things that I had never really been interested in: charity work and endurance exercise.

So when I found out, last year, that you could combine both of them I jumped at the chance!  Or should I say jogged at the chance!

I ran my 1^st Half Marathon and the 10k Cardiff Mo’ run last year to raise funds for Movember.  And even before I’d finished the Mo’ Run I knew that I’d be doing it again in 2012.

Simple.

But then I managed to raise over £200, which is something I never imagined I’d do.  So that got me thinking about how I could beat that total in 2012.  What could I do that was practical, achievable and within my abilities......

And then it hit me like “The Wall” after running to fast!  More running!

So for Movember 2012 I’m going to be running 3 different Mo’ Runs; Cardiff, Battersea and Greenwich on 3 successive Sundays in Movember.  Along with this I’ll be running the Dovedale Dash on the 1^st Sunday in Movember and also the Robin Hood Half Marathon on 30^th September (with a specially grown mo’ to promote the cause!).

This will combine my new found passion for running and raising awareness and funds for a cause that I believe in.  It’s going to take some effort and training but it’s going to be worth it. 

Even if I don’t raise as much money as last year at least people will know why I’m doing it and realise how important the message that Movember is trying to spread is.  

And it’s an important one. 

Yes, this is to raise awareness for men to look after themselves and be aware of their bodies and health but the message is the same to women as well.  And I hope that doing this and constantly telling people what I’m doing (and why I’m suddenly sporting a stylish mo’) will spread the message and make people realise how they can prevent illness of all sorts by looking after themselves and not putting off health checks because they may be scared of the outcome.

So keep an eye out for my progress updates on twitter ( @sharifowadally ) and on my Mo’ Space page (Mobro Sharif) and feel free to click that “Donate” button.  Remember every £1 counts so no donation is wasted.  And be sure to read the information on there.  

It’s important.

Why I want to play the guitar

I started writing this back in 2010 and just found it in my drafts! So with a bit of editing and a few explanations added here is the 1st blog of 2012....

I've never wanted to play an musical instrument. It probably stems from being forced to play the recorder in primary school and being shockingly bad at it! Even having a best friend who loved the guitar never inspired me to take it up.

Or it might be that I'm not a very creative or artistic person.
Or it might be because the thought of learning something that seems so hard just didn't appeal to my "I want to do it now!" attitude!

So why is learning the guitar up on my 'Things to do in 2012'? It had been on my list of things to do in 2011 but a few things happened throughout the year that pushed many of my plans to one side for a while. But the reasons for wanting to learn haven't changed.

Below are then main reasons why, in chronological order, I want to play the guitar:

1. Iain Mahanty (Lead guitarist with Kids in Glass Houses) - The first live gig I'd been to in nearly 20 years was to see Lostprohets at Rock City in Feb 2010. The main support act were Kids in Glass Houses. Me and my wife were stood to the left side of the stage right in front of Iain. When he started playing, the sound, the passion and just how damn cool he looked left me gobsmacked! It was watching his performance that started me on the path of wanting to become a musical genius!



Only the start though.....the thought still felt very alien to me....until....

2. Lee Gaze (Lead guitarist with Lostprophets) - Same gig, main act. I cannot tell you how unbelievable it was to see him playing the riffs that I had been listening to over the last 10 years. He looked and sounded amazing. I was mesmorised. On several occasions I found myself stood still just watching him.

It was that moment that I decided that I would learn the guitar. No more MAYBE, just a definite WILL. No questions.

3. Stuart Richardson (Bass guitarist with Lostprophets) -

Just to re-enforce how totally awesome someone can look with a guitar in their hands you just needed to look to the right of the stage to see Stuart Richardson looking like the coolest, badest thing up there!






But it's all well and good wanting to do something but when? I'm awful with timescales of when I'd like to do something. It's only been over the last 2 or 3 years that I've been setting myself yearly goals to start things, so even though I had decided I wanted to learn I had no idea when. But then.....

4. Ryan Day (Lead guitarist with Attack! Attack!) @ Rock City Basement (October 2010) - This was the moment, the ACTUAL moment, that I decided that I wanted to learn the guitar and I put it on my '2011 must do' list. Stood right in front of this energetic guitar nutter, watching him play it like he would never be allowed to play it again, seeing him move around such a small stage like he didn't give a damn about anything other that that 6 stringed instrument was all the motivation I needed. Sounded amazing. Performed even better!

But then, when I'm planning on how to go about this journey to guitar stardom, I realise that it's more than about just how I want to achieve something. More than about how cool I want to look. More than just bettering myself. And so I have my last reason. Turns out to be the main reason......

5. Learning something with my 9 r old daughter, Charlotte - Over the last few years I've really been making the effort to learn new things and spend good quality time with my daughters. As my oldest is now 12 and thinks it isn't cool to be seen with her father, most of my time is spent with Charlotte, my youngest daughter. Be it reading or going to the park, doing homework or making stuff, playing basketball or helping her write stories, it doesn't matter. It's been great for both of us and has helped tone down her fiery temperament and focus her attention. After a failed attempt at learning the flute I thought it would be better if we learnt an instrument together, from scratch and she agreed!

So there you have it. You're never to old to start something new especially if you have good reasons!

The journey has started....... :-)

My Robin Hood Half Marathon.....

Feeling lonely in amongst 10,000 people is a very strange feeling.

But this is how I was feeling 100 yards into the Nottingham Robin Hood Half Marathon on Sunday 11th September. My training hadn't gone to plan in the run up to the race, for many different reasons, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to complete the whole race without walking at some point. And the fact that I’d never actually run over 7 miles didn’t help!!!

So, with my planned running partner, Rob Perkins, leaving me at the start line (he HAD been training properly!) I started my “run”:

Mile 1: To my surprise the 1st mile marker suddenly appears! Caught up in the euphoria of the day, all the people around me, people cheering you on, the first 10 minutes flew by.

Mile 2: This isn't as bad as I thought......

Mile 3: Water station. Heaven! I knew from my training that I started to struggle with hydration at the 3 mile mark so I was looking for this point of the run. Grabbed a couple of bottles and carried on.....

Mile 4 and 5: Already by this point in the run I was looking for mile markers. A countdown of sorts. So imagine my panic when 'Mile 4' didn't appear. I kept looking. Was I running so slowly that I wasn't there yet? About half a mile later I realised that I must have missed it! And then, bang on cue, the beautiful sign telling me that I had completed 5 miles appears!! Relief, 5 miles done.....

Mile 6 and 7: Lucozade station. Never has Lucozade Sport tasted so beautiful. Better, even, than the morning after a night out. It was gorgeous. I knew I'd need it as there were a couple of little “bumps” in the Nottingham landscape coming up......

Mile 8 and 9: The "bumps" in the road up Wollaton Vale and up to Wollaton Hall weren't as bad as I feared. My pace slowed but I kept running. And then at some point around here I realised that I had NEVER run this far in one go. EVER. A grin suddenly appeared on my face......

It's amazing how the people cheering all round the course keep you going. People who had run the race before had said how it helps you but I didn't actual think it would make a great deal of difference.

I was so wrong.

At times there were only 2 or 3 people dotted along the side of the road but it was so appreciated.

And then there are all the other runners.

Sometimes you were with the same people for a mile or two, sometimes it was just people passing you. But there were always people who were as determined as you around you. Inspiration and motivation everywhere.

Mile 10: 10 miles! TEN! 3 left! It's all I could think. The change of direction, knowing you're heading back toward the Start/Finish area is such a wonderful feeling at this point. I felt great. I almost picked my pace up. Almost......

Mile 11: I was loving this. I'm nearly there! 2 miles left. That's like running round the block around my house. I felt like Homer Simpson as he tried to jump over Springfield Gorge, "I'm going to make it, I'm actually going to make it......"..... I didn't fail as badly as Mr Simpson did but all of a sudden the tops of my thighs started to burn. I was struggling to lift my legs fully. I was running with a very straight legged motion. But the key point was that I was still running.....

Mile 12: WHERE THE HELL IS MILE MARKER 12?? WHERE IS IT??? This was all I was thinking at this point. My legs were screaming at me to stop but every other part of me was keeping me going. It was only my legs......

Finish: The last mile was a funny one. I was in agony but feeling euphoric at the same time. That feeling of near hysteria when you could actually burst into tears or laugh your head off! I was nearly there. I could see the crowds on the Embankment. I could see people walking home with their medal and goodie bags. Then there was the sign that directs the half marathon runners to the finish line and the full marathon runners to the next half of their race (a minor motivator in that you can think "Thanks God I don't have another 13 miles to do"!). More people cheering you one. This all keeps you going. And then I turned in to the final stretch. Rather annoyingly there is a little sharp bump in the field which nearly finished me but I got over it. And then, as if by magic, my wife and daughters were in the crowd waving at me, cheering me on. That was all I needed. I put my final push in, ignored my thighs and.....carried on at exactly the same pace and crossed the line.

Stopped my stopwatch and phone app (you could have tracked me online as my family did so they knew when to come and see me) and then stopped.

Bliss.

And then some cheeky official type person is telling you to keep moving. Keep moving? Have you just run 13 miles??? But I didn't care. I walked to the first tent where they take your timing chip off, then got my medal, then a photo, then Lucozade and water then a goody bag and then a silver space blanket. OK, it's a shiny piece of foil but I've always wanted one!!!

It was done. I felt absolutely amazing. I can't actually remember feeling that pleased with myself for a long time and I couldn't stop grinning. Tracey and the girls found me and made me feel even better. Quick picture of me looking like an idiot and then a pathetic effort at a cool down before I found a piece of grass to collapse on and the kids were asking for food!

The walk home was pleasant, a chance to reflect on how I was feeling (which was still one of self-satisfaction) and then I got to sit down and do nothing for the rest of the day! Not even watching the recording of Wales vs SA when I got home could spoil the day.

That’s how good I felt. Can’t wait until next year………

Movember 2011

As of September 1st 2011 I've been growing facial hair with a purpose, as opposed to my usual laziness. The reason is so that I can be sporting the start of a Mo' (moustache) at the Robin Hood Marathon on 11th September.

The Mo' is in aid of Movember. The charity raises awareness and money to support the number one and two male specific cancers - Prostrate and Testicular.

I have done this in the past and felt this year it was about time to try to help again.

Ordinarily men will start the month of Movember (formerly November) clean shaven and cultivate a Mo' thought the month. As I am running the Robin Hood Half Marathon I thought that I would start early (this has been OK'd by Movember Organisation!!!) and keep it going for 3 months and see what I can do!!

Obviously I will update you all throughout this time of my progress and of any things that I will be doing.

I will try to keep my requests for donations to a minimum and hope I don't bother you all to much!

The link for donations will be up soon and I'd love it if you could hang on to this months charity money until it is, as I hope me running 13.3 miles on Sunday will make you want to give to this great cause.

Thanks for reading and if you want to know more please let me know. Also please spare a thought for my gorgeous wife who is going to have to put up with my lovely facial hair during this time! But she does understand the importance of Movember's work and is supporting me fully through it.

Sharif

exit_international at Barfly 21st Aug 2010

The night started well. I was going out with my gorgeous wife for the first time in ages. We were going to see a banging Welsh band. We were going out in Cardiff!

Then it all started going bad……
Started pissing it down with rain.
£6 for a pint and a bottle. Twice!
£4 to get into Barfly! “It said £3 on the email” I say. “Yeah Scott got it wrong”.
No free shot! “We’re one of the first 50!” I say. “Yeah Scott got it wrong”.

It seems Scott may have some answering to do. And still the night tried it’s hardest to get worse…..

Couple of weird looking blokes walking round in short trousers and deck shoes.
Big Dave drops his pint and makes a right mess.
The lead singer of All the Damn Vampires looks like the Irish guy from The IT Crowd…..

But then everything changed…….
Tracey is still smiling and having a good time.
Outside while she has a smoke I spot one of the band (no idea which one at the time as the website does put name to face!!!) and get all excited!
The music starts……..

……and all of my worries about a disaterous night melt away with the banging sound that is coming from the stage. All the Damn Vampires were brilliant. The noise they made was an instant joy to my ears. And as soon as our internet is back on at our new house I will be on youtube looking for them! I’m not one to instantly like new music but this lot I liked. Liked a lot.

Good Time Boys jumped on stage and we found the deck shoed men! Amazing energy from them, if a little to hardcore for our liking. The lead singer threw himself into the performance (and up on the floor!) to continue the great night.

And then they were there, gracing the stage like 2 scruffy homeless dudes and a little man with a backpack! I’d been listening to exit_international for the last couple of months and had been blown away by them. The sound, the lyrics (well the ones I could make out!), the emotion….and now they were playing. And I lost the fucking plot!!!! Luckily, my wife loves me and was in no way embarrassed by my drunken movements to the music, and for the first time in months I forgot all my problems and let the bass engulf me. I was mesmerized by the ferocious drumming from Adam Thomas (“But he’s tiny” said my wife, “how does he thrash those drums so brilliantly??”), a little bit scared by the stare from Fudge and amazed at the vocals from Scott.

And then it was over. I was dripping with sweat, my phone was covered in beer (as was my wife’s shoe!) and Scott, by this time forgiven for the price and shot error, was lying on the floor after an exhaustive set (hopefully he wasn’t in the sick left by the Good Time Boys lead singer!).


We left Barfly, slightly drunk and hoping to cadge a lift home with my Dad (some things never change with age!) and in a great mood. Adam was outside and we interrupted him chatting with a lovely lady to say thanks for a great show. If we’d had more money we would have stayed for the party afterwards but alas having kids limits that!

Hopefully we’ll be able to catch them again before they become big and every fucker and his dog loves them and we can’t wait for the album!

Speaking Welsh

Anyone that knows me, and anyone that reads this blog (hahahahaha, that made me laugh!!) will know that I'm Welsh. I used to take Welsh as a 2nd language in School until I was 14. Then I was advised to stick with French and I've regretted it since.

I've been trying to motivate myself to take it up again and also find a course that I can stick with. Recently I found a free course and it seems to work.

Say Something Welsh has a brilliant system of a series of mp3 files that you download and listen to. You basically say in Welsh what the bloke says in English! I was really skeptical at first but you know what? You pick it up really quickly. I've been doing it in the car on the way to work! I've only done the 1st lesson but I've been repeating it to make sure that I'm OK with it. I've started lesson 2. Now I just need to get a bit more organised. There's no reason why I can't do it every day......

Anyway, I fully recommend this site. It's free (which I couldn't believe when I found it) and there are loads of people on there who can help.

Log on and get speaking. I would sign out with something int Welsh but I'm only on the speaking part and not the writing part so far!!

World Cup on BBC

So the BBC spent Millions on renting their studio for the 2010 World Cup. A huge glass window behind the presenters with a wonderful view of....well, what looks like a shanty town and a mountain. Now I know that it is one of the great natural wonders of the world but is it worth it?

Do they really think that football fans really give a shit about the back drop to the pundits? Most of them are in the pub and use the analysis part of the coverage as a chance to go to toilet or the bar! They may as well have had Caerphilly Mountain as the backdrop, or the Black Mountains...just as beautiful....minus the shanty town obvioulsly!!

Or they could have all stayed in London and had a huge projection of the backdrop instead. The image would have probably been better than what you see now. Also the evening coverage has the reflection of the studio in the glass. Quality as always from the BBC.

Can't believe I'm forced to pay for the rubbish the channel produces and pays.

While I'm on one, do they not realise that if you want to watch their matches you HAVE to watch the BBC coverage? They may as well have had a minimum wage student presenting it and use a crappy little studio in the UK as they don't have any competition for the coverage.

Arses!