warriorrunforsepsis-blog

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WE DID IT!

Wowzers, we only bloomin’ did it!

All those hours of training paid off and although both Mank and I were pretty nervous before the start we totally went for it. We finished in 1hr 31mins, in 125 and 126 place which is even quicker than we hoped. Mank was the 25th male to finish in our age group and he did an awesome job on the monkey bars which has been his nemesis through training. I am super chuffed as I came in as 19th female runner of the 283 who took part. I think we were both surprised at how ok we felt towards the end but our muscles and bruises are aching now!

THANK YOU to everyone who donated to support us, we’ve raised a massive £2400 so far for Sepsis Trust which is just amazing. Thoughts of our gorgeous Caz and all of your generosity definitely spurred us on. A special thanks to Mank’s mum Karon for looking after Bella and Jack over the last few months so we could go out on our training runs. It was really brilliant to see the kids' smiling faces and getting a couple high-fives at the obstacle course towards the end, as well as Caz’s dear friend Kate, her partner Glen and my mum and Dave cheering too. We had lots of messages over the weekend and it was a lovely reminder of how much Caz is still so present in so many people’s minds. She is very missed and still so very loved.

You can still support us if you’d like to as well and we’ll leave the page live for another week or so. 
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/warriorrunforsepsis

I’m sure this won’t be the last fundraiser we do, so until next then take some time to laugh at us covered in mud in the pics below….

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Our Sepsis Trust t-shirts arrived so we took the opportunity to try them out before the big event this coming Sunday. With less than a week to go before the Warrior Run we’ve had our last, and toughest session with Lois. The photos here doesn’t do our sweaty faces any justice at all!  We’ve both been working hard over the last few months and we’re so much fitter than we were to start with.... In Jan we did a HiiT session of 6 exercises, 3 times - Mank completed it in 21mins and me in 19mins. On Friday Lois set us the same session and challenged us to beat our times - Mank finished in 19mins and me in 15mins. We were a bit broken at the end so she gave us a load of kettle bell exercises as a reward!  We’re now running 4.5miles at an average pace of 9.22min per mile (although Mank is much quicker if I’m not there!) and my arms muscles are hilariously bulging despite still not being able to do more than 3 pull-ups. We’re both eating a lot better, have shrunk by an inch or so and Mank’s lost an impressive stone in weight! We’re as ready as we can be to take on this physical challenge.

This week Mank and I will also speak to more medical staff during another training session at Worthing hospital about Caroline’s story to help raise awareness of the signs of Sepsis. There is still time to support us and help us, and the brilliant people at the Sepsis Trust, to raise money and awareness of this horrible condition - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/warriorrunforsepsis

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Sepsis Training at Worthing Hospital

A few weeks ago Mank and I went to Worthing hospital to a training session on Sepsis. It was run by the Intensive Care Unit registrar, for senior nurses in order to train them in the signs of sepsis so there's more chance of an early diagnosis and treatment of antibiotics within the first how of displaying symptoms. We know that if the doctors, nurses and paramedics who saw Caz in the days leading up to her death had been able to spot that she was showing clear signs, it's very likely she'd still be here. We were approached by a senior nurse at the hospital (coincidentally someone I went to school with) to see if Mank would attend and tell caz's 'story' as a personal account of how quickly sepsis can take hold and the consistencies of missing the symptoms. Mank explained the events of the few days before Caz was admitted into hospital and took a few questions from the hospital staff. This not only was a clear example of how ill and distressed Caz was feeling and how difficult sepsis is to spot but also the impact it has had on the lives of family and friends who are effected after she died.

The doctor and nurses were extremely supportive while we were there and commented on how helpful it was to have a real life account from a family rather than a slide show presentation. Hopefully they will remember Caz when they are looking after patients in the hospital and 'think sepsis' with anyone who they may suspect are showing similar symptoms.

Obviously it was a tough day for Mank (and I) as we approached the second year anniversary of Caz passing but this felt like another positive thing we could do to help raise awareness of the condition to stop other families going through what Mank, the kids and all Caz’s family and friends have been through as an impact of her misdiagnosis.

It was also an interesting morning for us as we were able to sit in and listen to the presentation the doctor gave which explained in detail what sepsis is, how it occurs in the body, who are most prone to developing it and how it can be stopped. You may have noticed there's been a huge public awareness campaign in the last couple of years to help people recognise what sepsis is and that it should be treated with the same urgency as a heart attack. The ICU Registrar explained that more people are dying from sepsis now than ever before and while they don't really know why or have discovered a more direct way of diagnosing it, there is a huge drive within the NHS to make it more prevalent. As a result we’ve offered to talk at future training sessions to give a personal perspective on this condition and hope that it will be an effective way of raising awareness with front line staff.

If you’ve not looked at the symptoms of Sepsis please take a look here - http://sepsistrust.org. Amongst the fever, increased heart and breathing rate, confusion or an altered state of mind is one to watch out for and can be really key for family members to inform medial staff about.

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Sepsis on Facebook

Keep up to date with everything the Sepsis Trust are doing to raise awareness of sepsis by liking their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheUkSepsisTrust/?fref=ts

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On Tuesday, whilst Mank went to watch Derby, I had the most gruelling kettle bell and HIIT (high intense interval training) session with Lois. Now our fitness is getting better we're shifting focus onto building strength, particularly in our upper body as there's *loads* of stuff the pull ourselves up and over in the Warrior Run. I think I must've swung and pushed that kettle bell over 150 times in the hour and my neck and shoulder were telling me about it over the last few days. We've got two runs & a HIIT session to do before we see Lois again on Tuesday so Mank took himself off on Weds at a good pace (see pic) and I went on a steady 4 mile run to Worthing pier and back this morning. I wore my previous Warrior Run t-shirt, partly for a bit of motivation and partly because I left my other tops up north!! It was gorgeous down there today, the tide was out and the sun still rising so I sat at my favourite spot and took a few minutes to take it all in and think about Caz and why we're doing this. #warriorrunforsepsis #training #inmemory

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I spent two days last week working in Colchester and was staying right next to this lovely park, so on Saturday morning (after hearing about Mank's aches from his Friday PT session) I took myself off for a run. The park was massive with a lake in the middle and this path was perfect for my lampost sprints. I also added 20x burpees, squat jumps, mountain climbers or press-ups at the end of each length so I was very pleased I knew I wouldn't recognise anyone as I sweated and puffed my way up and down! I must say I felt better for it though and am definitely feeling fitter now we're a month in. I'm even looking forward to seeing Lois again on Tuesday. *Can you guess which well known hotel I got pretty muddy when I got back to my room?!

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While I was working back down in Brighton for a week, Mank had a 1to1 with Lois in the park.

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Friday night in the garden - squat & sprint session for Mank & I while J&B amuse themselves with the water butt & a hose. 5pm & it's not quite dark... spring is coming! #training #warriorrunforsepsis #sepsistrust #inmemory

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Tonight’s run (23rd Jan 2017) was much better - a longer distance and quicker average mile of 9.08. The stupid number of squats, burpees and lunges we’re doing on our Joe Wicks workouts and sesssions with Lois are starting to pay off. They say that starting is the hardest part so hopefully the toughest few weeks are behind us now... 

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Our first run at the beginning of January was pretty slow and hurt a lot! I’d not really done much exercise in 2016 as work was pretty full on but Mank had kept up his weekly run which meant he was casually jogging round while I coughed and moaned my way round! Mank’s recording all our runs on Strava so we can keep track on how we’re improving so feel free to follow him on there if you’ve got the tech.  

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First few sessions

We decided when we signed up to Warrior Run that if we were going to do it, we should do it properly - set ourselves a challenge and train for it. We’ve both done these types of runs before but more for fun and never that quick so we’re going for it - to attempt every single obstacle and try and finish in under 1hour 45mins (the top 1/4 of finishers).   So, under the watchful eye of personal trainer Lois Frizzell and some childcare support by Mank’s mum and my dad, on the 10th January we started our program of doing four fitness sessions a week.

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Warrior Run for Sepsis Trust

On 1st March 2015 we lost Caroline Robey to an unnecessary and tragic illness called sepsis. On 23rd April 2017 her husband Mank and I will take part in the Warrior Run to raise money and awareness for the Sepsis Trust.  This blog will track our progress over the next 3 months of training in the chilly (uh freezing) winter, along with some info from the Sepsis Trust.  Running 7k, through 50 different obstacles and all in under two hours, Caz would think we were a bit crazy but, as an avid fundraiser for causes close to her heart, she’d be pleased that we were raising money for this charity. 

Wish us luck and support us here - http://www.justgiving.com/owner-email/pleasesponsor/warriorrunforsepsis

Thanks,

Emily 

#warriorrun #sepsis #sepsistrustuk #fundraising #inmemory