It's nearly February 17th again .... and it is 8 years since our beautiful daughter Thalia was born.
Every year since 2014 I have set myself a fundraising challenge to raise funds for the wonderful Sunshine & Smiles - Leeds Down Syndrome Network.
Last year I completed a series of challenges including the Yorkshire 3 Peaks, Leeds Triathlon,The Great North Run and York Marathon ... and over the course of the year covered 1979 miles by cycling, running & swimming!
It was a fab year and I loved taking part in all the of challenges with many other amazing fundraisers for Sunshine & Smiles ... however, the time I needed to make to train for all these things took its toll on family time and also my capacity to develop different things such as the Tri 21 Accessible Triathlon Challenge for Sunshine & Smiles.
So this year, I won't be doing a major fundraising challenge event as I really want to focus on developing the Tri 21 Challenge & also not spend hours running away from my family!!
However, as Thalia's birthday has been approaching I've been really thinking of ways that I could still fund-raise and set myself a challenge ... I've realised that having a goal is very important for me personally, to feel that I am doing something useful and giving something back but also to motivate myself to be active & stay fit both physically and emotionally.
So this year, I am aiming to up the miles I travelled last year by 150 .. taking me to a goal of 2130 miles in 2018!
I'm not going to spend hours on end out training but will be trying to run, ride & swim regularly to reach my goal by the end of the year!
So far I have covered 157.9 miles this year .. so a long way to go!
Fundraising, donations & grants are what enable Sunshine & Smiles to continue the vital work it does & the only way we can keep our activities free for our families.
You can read more at sunshineandsmiles.org.uk
I wouldn't change you for the world, but I wish I could change the world for you.
