My A-Team

This week was not eventful but lots happened which made it challenging but rewarding.
My A-Team consist of great support in the organisation of my training, social media support team, support runners and race day organiser.

Training and Life support team
I have the good fortune of having a very supportive virtual trainer in @piertown who creates and structures my training plan.
However Catherine, Evie and Fabian are my greatest support as they have to give up the most in order for me to successfully complete A.M.B.E.R. and still they support me in any way possible.
Catherine has managed to get the whole route broken into sections so that she can organise my checkpoints and cheering on points. She also drives me to and from races, training runs and makes sure she and the kids cheer me on en route. Together we have also designed the race shirt which will be worn by all runners and the support crew on the 14th of July.

I cannot thank my family enough for their great support as sometimes motivation gets low and training is hard but just then either Catherine or Evie will say or do something that would just keep me going and working this bit harder.

Social Media
Well on Facebook there are many people who help to share this story like The Drohan family, Mark Townson, Rob Ellis, Graham Blundell, Rob Shaw, Tim Nicholls and of course my amazing wife Catherine Stoermer.
On Twitter: Many people have shared my links but the following are the most prolific @TISJOU, @TIS_SI and @havelegswillrun
Thank you so much

Support Runners
This week four runners have confirmed their support and they are scheduled and organised by (yes you guessed it) Catherine.
The runners are:
Tim Nicholls
Mark Townson
Graham Blundell
Nikos Markis
all will run varying distances (choosen by them) at different sections to give me optimum support all thanks to Catherine.

Race Day
So on Race Day my wife is organising all the runners and all members of the extended support team. If you would like to be part of it please contact me and I will pass your details on to Catherine.

Training
I have managed 3 runs this week. 2 HM distances which concluded exploring my race route and a quick one hour run.

Fundraising news: 

          I got a very generous donation from Mattel (see photo below and description further down)

 and a great Voucher form Yummy Thai plus a lot of you dug deep and donated a lot. We are now so very close to reaching £1000 which is 66% of the total money I would like to raise...

www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer is the web address you can use to donate money towards The Amber Phillpott Trust.I have now all but finished my corporate fund raising approach so I can concentrate on my training.
All of the gifts  received so far will either be raffled off on the day or entered in a silent auction to help raise funds for The Amber Phillpott Trust, Helen&Douglas House hospice, Oxford children's hospital and Ronald House.
Raffle tickets will be available to purchase soon and I am more than happy to take your orders once I have all the details.

Available prizes at present are:


Yummy Thai (£20 voucher)
1 Barbie Doll
2 Disney princess dolls
2 WWF wrestling figures
1 Polly Pocket pack
1 Mr.Men toy
5 HotWheels car
2 cars from CARS
3 Buff goodies bag
1 Black Hobgoblin T-Shirt (Marstons)
1 White Pedigre T-Shirt (Marstons)
The Lamb  (£50 voucher)
The Bear inn (voucher for 2 people 2 course meal on a Sunday)
King Alfreds Head(2 bottles of Wine)
Cleggs pharmacy (A spa set)
Creative cookshop (aprons &bandanas for boys and girls and a children chocolate making set)
Headlines (voucher for one hair cut)
Snob & Lock (leather wallet)
Heart to Heart (memory box and scented candles)
Motoquip (car valet pack)
Photogenic (one sitting voucher)
Unami (sauces)
Cutting bar (voucher for one hair cut)
Berghaus Rucksack
Hall&Woodhouse £30 voucher
Kingsmill £5 voucher
Teapot clock
High School Musical dance mate games (times 2)
Segais design hair cut (its gone)
Little cuddly polar bear teddy's
2 Oxford United Tickets
Cushion from "Spring Lark" (its gone)
RC car
Black T-Shirts from Calsberg
Baby food (bowl, spoons, sachets, cuddly toy) from Hipp
Authenticated autographs (Sting, Badly drawn boy, Michael Owen)
Open ended standard return train tickets from FGW x 2
Roly's revived Men's hair cut
Grease Monkeys oil service and valet
4GB USB sticks (only 2 left)
golf balls
Frisbees
If you are interested in a raffle ticket then please email me at florianstoermer@gmail.com.

Online Total today:
£896 direct donations £145 this week Thank You
That is brilliant as we are close to £1000 but I would like to raise another £604 so please help to spread the word and donate what you can every penny helps!

Stats Zone:
Runs: 3
Distance covered this week: 33.74 miles 
Distance covered last month: 33.74 miles



Thank you for reading my blog please feel free to comment on it and share it with your followers and friends.


If you would like to raise money for  The Amber Phillpott Trust. and other charities supported by   The Yeah Baby Concert and to see me finish my 35 mile long Ultramarathon, then please come to the YeahBaby event in Abingdon Oxfordshire on the 14.07.2012 for a  free day of music, stalls, face painting etc... and/or donate via www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer

My blood, sweat and tears!

my female support crew

Blood
I ran a half marathon on Thursday and 1-2 miles into it I felt a pain on my toe. It did not last long but was sharp. So I did not think anything more of it but when I got home I realised that my toe was bleeding. I acquired a blood blister on my ultra at the beginning of may and it was under my toe nail and decided that it was about time to pop and to take a bit of skin with it.... It was not nice so sadly no pictures.
That is my blood story so now lets go to the next story about my bodily fluids....


Sweat

It is normal to sweat when you exercise and to sweat a little more during interval session especially when it is a little warm like it was Wednesday evening when I did my fastest distance interval session of 4.5miles. I ran my fastest training half marathon on Thursday but it was colder so I only needed 2l to re-hydrate after the run not like Tuesday when I ran my first ever training ultra marathon of 29.35 miles in 4 hours and 45 minutes when the starting temp was 18 degrees in clear sunshine without any wind or shade at all on my run..... On Tuesday I drank in excess of 10L and was still dehydrated, don't ask how I know I just do trust me;-)

my male support crew

Tears
Hmmm I am not sure how to start this....maybe by explaining that I am an emotional person who appreciates the thoughtfulness and kindness of others. When I get surprised with it like I did this week by two different and unconnected parties I am humbled and cannot contain or rationalise my feelings in time to stop me crying. It's like the goose bumps effect....
So what made me cry and rabbit on about it you ask?
On Monday I called ASICS sales line as ASICS UK told me that they cannot sponsor/support me but they provided me with a special discount code so I could buy their products at a very good rate. I chose some things but then realised that it is still too much for me as funds are limited as a self funded runner... After being on the phone with the sales assistant for a considerable time I felt bad to say at the end that I could not purchase these items after all as it was just too much for me right now , despite it being a very good price, so she said to me to stay on the line for a minute. I was wondering what I had done, if I had annoyed them or upset them by wasting their time? I was considering hanging up but then she came back on the line and asked me for my number which I gave her without asking much. She then went on and ask me to call her back on Wednesday but wouldn't be specific why, she just said I cannot promise anything and that was that. So on Wednesday I called back and she explained to me that she had a look around at home and spoke to some other departments and colleagues and she found some things that might be useful to me and that she will look in more detail over the weekend for me. She did not have to do any of this but did just out of the goodness of her heart and even so she has not promised anything it made me very emotional and humbled me that someone who doesn't know me would do this for me and the charity challenge.

Thursday a friend of ours Viv (who was one of the first people to sponsor me) asked me how the fundraising was going and I had to be honest it was not going well at all at that point. Later that evening I received the email notification from virginmoneygiving to say someone had sponsored me. When I checked the website to see who I can thank for their generosity I saw it was Viv again. This was very generous and that alone made me tear upbu t when I read that the money was generated by Viv, her daughter Charlotte and her son Rory giving up their Chinese takeaway I start to yes CRY as it is one thing to donate but another thing to give up something you like and look forward to in order to help someone else. A pure selfless act in my mind and I appreciate that and will use it even more to motivate me on my harder runs when I struggle.

So that was it with me crying. Well no not really as Rory sent me a message the very next day stating that he and his band Daughters Day want to do a gig at their school to raise money for the Amber Phillpott Trust via my virginmoneygiving site. Again such a selfless, kind and thoughtful act by a young man made me yes well CRY again.
I don't mind admitting that these acts of human kindness made me emotional and cry as it is a beautiful thing to witness and to be part of. THANK YOU ALL!


Fundraising news:
www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer is the web address you can use to donate money towards The Amber Phillpott Trust.I have now all but finished my cooperate fund raising approach so I can concentrate on my training.
All of the gifts  received so far will either be raffled off on the day or entered in a silent auction to help raise funds for The Amber Phillpott Trust, Helen&Douglas House hospice, Oxford children's hospital and Ronald House.
Raffle tickets will be available to purchase soon and I am more than happy to take your orders once I have all the details.

Available prizes at present are:


1 Black Hobgoblin T-Shirt (Marstons)
1 White Pedigre T-Shirt (Marstons)
The Lamb  (£50 voucher)
The Bear inn (voucher for 2 people 2 course meal on a Sunday)
King Alfreds Head(2 bottles of Wine)
Cleggs pharmacy (A spa set)
Creative cookshop (aprons &bandanas for boys and girls and a children chocolate making set)
Headlines (voucher for one hair cut)
Snob & Lock (leather wallet)
Heart to Heart (memory box and scented candles)
Motoquip (car valet pack)
Photogenic (one sitting voucher)
Unami (sauces)
Cutting bar (voucher for one hair cut)
Berghaus Rucksack
Hall&Woodhouse £30 voucher
Kingsmill £5 voucher
Teapot clock
High School Musical dance mate games (times 2)
Segais design hair cut (its gone)
Little cuddly polar bear teddy's
2 Oxford United Tickets
Cushion from "Spring Lark" (its gone)
RC car
Black T-Shirts from Calsberg
Baby food (bowl, spoons, sachets, cuddly toy) from Hipp
Authenticated autographs (Sting, Badly drawn boy, Michael Owen)
Open ended standard return train tickets from FGW x 2
Roly's revived Men's hair cut
Grease Monkeys oil service and valet
4GB USB sticks (only 2 left)
golf balls
Frisbees
If you are interested in a raffle ticket then please email me at florianstoermer@gmail.com.

Online Total today:
£751 direct donations £116 this week Thank You
That is brilliant as we are Over Half Way but I would like to raise another £749 so please help to spread the word and donate what you can every penny helps!

Stats Zone:
Runs: 3
Distance covered this week: 47 miles 
Distance covered last month: 166.1 miles



Thank you for reading my blog please feel free to comment on it and share it with your followers and friends.


If you would like to raise money for  The Amber Phillpott Trust. and other charities supported by   The Yeah Baby Concert and to see me finish my 35 mile long Ultramarathon, then please come to the YeahBaby event in Abingdon Oxfordshire on the 14.07.2012 for a  free day of music, stalls, face painting etc... and/or donate via www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer

Sun, Beach & Training

Hi and welcome back I hope you had a chance to enjoy the lovely weather this week.
Well I have been on a lovely family holiday down south in Milford on Sea meeting some great tweeps who we are now lucky enough to call friends. It was a great week. Anyway here are my training updates.

Monday:
I started the day with an interval session of 3/2/1 min slow/steady/fast on pebbles and it was tough but beautiful as I saw Hurst Castle and the Isle of Wight so cannot complain. My fast sections were good, not overly fast but that has to be expected on pebbles. 3.79 miles covered

This was followed by a 6 hour endurance training at Peppa Pig World (tough going but the ice cream and lovely picnic as well as my lovely wife and 2 treasures helped me get through it;-))

I finished the day with a 2.91 mile dash. I felt tired but it was a good run and the pace was acceptable.


Tuesday:
I did not run but for the first time in 17 years I cycled. Not just that; I cycled with my 2 kids, repair kit and picnic in a trailer on the back and we did 3 separate stages and covered 25 miles. That was enough for us and we did enjoy the sights. It felt like interval training working muscles very differently and hurting for a few days afterwards when sitting down.....

Wednesday:
I did a new interval session on uneven and unpredictable pebble beach. It was beautiful but the hardest 6.12 miles I have ever run. My legs worked hard as I kept thinking about the reason why I am doing this #itsallaboutamber and that kept me pushing on.

Thursday:
I did another interval session 1:1minutes of slow:fast up to 5:5 minutes this was completed on the looser pebble beach section and it did hurt so much possibly because of the run from Wednesday but I am happy with my efforts.


Friday:
No running just some strength walking and admitting that I hit a wall not literally like the old lady that crashed into a wall (she appeared fine) or like the old man who fell and crashed into a wall (he was seen to by a paramedic (I hope he is ok) and no not like the cyclist who did not pay attention and just fell into the water (he was fine just very embarrassed). It's not even a training wall......but the Fundraising Wall.  I seem to have come to a bit of a stand still so could do with your help to continue raising money for The Amber Phillpott Trust via www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer Please help me. Every little bit counts!!!!


Saturday:
Our last day in Milford and we said good bye to our newly found friends after I finished a 7mile fast ish "hedgehog" run along the coastal path so much easier than pebbles:-)
Once we arrived home my neighbour came over to give me a parcel that was left hanging out of our door by the postman (thank you). It was from The Marston brewery and  had 2 T-Shirts for the raffle in it.
In the evening one of my lovely tweeps and now friends decided to help spread the word by sharing my link with her followers and encouraging them to re-tweet it as well.

Sunday:
A lot of washing, ironing, cleaning, playing and BBQ had to be done so no time for running but enough time to do a few upper body strengthening exercises.


Fundraising news:
www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer is the web address you can use to donate money towards The Amber Phillpott Trust.I have now all but finished my cooperate fund raising approach so I can concentrate on my training.
All of the gifts  received so far will either be raffled off on the day or entered in a silent auction to help raise funds for The Amber Phillpott Trust, Helen&Douglas House hospice, Oxford children's hospital and Ronald House.
Raffle tickets will be available to purchase soon and I am more than happy to take your orders once I have all the details.

Available prizes at present are:


1 Black Hobgoblin T-Shirt (Marstons)
1 White Pedigre T-Shirt (Marstons)
The Lamb  (£50 voucher)
The Bear inn (voucher for 2 people 2 course meal on a Sunday)
King Alfreds Head(2 bottles of Wine)
Cleggs pharmacy (A spa set)
Creative cookshop (aprons &bandanas for boys and girls and a children chocolate making set)
Headlines (voucher for one hair cut)
Snob & Lock (leather wallet)
Heart to Heart (memory box and scented candles)
Motoquip (car valet pack)
Photogenic (one sitting voucher)
Unami (sauces)
Cutting bar (voucher for one hair cut)
Berghaus Rucksack
Hall&Woodhouse £30 voucher
Kingsmill £5 voucher
Teapot clock
High School Musical dance mate games (times 2)
Segais design hair cut (its gone)
Little cuddly polar bear teddy's
2 Oxford United Tickets (sorry Raffle only)
Cushion from "Spring Lark" (its gone)
RC car
Black T-Shirts from Calsberg
Baby food (bowl, spoons, sachets, cuddly toy) from Hipp
Authenticated autographs (Sting, Badly drawn boy, Michael Owen)
Open ended standard return train tickets from FGW x 2 (sorry Raffle only)
Roly's revived Men's hair cut
Grease Monkeys oil service and valet
4GB USB sticks (only 2 left)
golf balls
Frisbees
If you are interested in a raffle ticket then please email me at florianstoermer@gmail.com.

Online Total today:
£635 direct donations £20 this week Thank You
£131 donated for goods received
That is brilliant but I would like to raise another £865 so please help to spread the word and donate what you can every penny helps!

Stats Zone:
Runs:4
Distance covered this week: 22.9 miles 
Distance covered this month: 112.3 miles
Walks: 7 covering roughly a further 10 miles


Thank you for reading my blog please feel free to comment on it and share it with your followers and friends.


If you would like to raise money for  The Amber Phillpott Trust. and other charities supported by   The Yeah Baby Concert and to see me finish my 35 mile long Ultramarathon, then please come to the YeahBaby event in Abingdon Oxfordshire on the 14.07.2012 for a  free day of music, stalls, face painting etc... and/or donate via www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer

8 Quick Tips To get local support

Hi and welcome back,
I shall write about my training as usual and about how to and why get local businesses to support your fund raising efforts.

So here are my tips:

1. Think about an answer to why they should support you
2. How can you promote that they have supported you
3. Ensure you have a letter explaining what challenges you are doing for whom
4. Have a letter from your charity verifying that you do it for them
5. Make sure you know all the details about the charity and your challenge
6. Have a short and more detailed version ready
7. Be mindful that businesses get asked for support a lot and that they have financial pressures too
8. Always be friendly, polite and appreciative of the time the businesses give you regardless of their response

Monday:


 The Lamb donated a voucher to the value of £50
 The Bear Inn donated a voucher for 2 people to enjoy a 2 course meal on a Sunday
King Alfreds Head donated 2 bottles of white wine

Apart from that I did some strength walks (walking with Fabian on my back) and got ready for a night shift.

Tuesday:
I finished my night and ran 21.51 miles. I was very slow on my run as my legs, body and mind were so tired and it was very windy and wet. It was good for me as a runner to grow more and to appreciate my good runs.
After that some more fund raising
Cleggs Pharmacy donated A Spa Set
Creative Cook Shop donated 2 aprons and bandanas (1 boy, 1 girl) and a kids chocolate making kit



Wednesday:
I went for a short 5.89 mile jog at a mediocre pace but it was OK as I was still tired....

Thursday:
MOTOquip donated a car valet pack
Unami donated 2 jars of some very special sauces
I also managed to have a hard but great interval training session with my great friend and brother in law @timcnicholls who has helped me to push further as he is getting stronger, fitter and faster. I ran 7.32 miles in 1 hour and I am rather pleased with that.

Friday:
No running but 3 strength walks
Badgers donated a £20 pound voucher

Saturday:
I managed to do a swift 4 mile interval session before going on holiday and a further 3 strength walks along the coast.

Sunday:
Well that is tomorrow but I wont do any running or fund raising but am sure there will be a few strength walks.
Fundraising news:
www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer is the web address you can use to donate money towards The Amber Phillpott Trust.I have now all but finished my cooperate fund raising approach so I can concentrate on my training.
All of the gifts  received so far will either be raffled off on the day or entered in a silent auction to help raise funds for The Amber Phillpott Trust, Helen&Douglas House hospice, Oxford children's hospital and Ronald House.
Raffle tickets will be available to purchase soon and I am more than happy to take your orders once I have all the details.

Available prizes at present are:

The Lamb  (£50 voucher)
The Bear inn (voucher for 2 people 2 course meal on a Sunday)
King Alfreds Head(2 bottles of Wine)
Cleggs pharmacy (A spa set)
Creative cookshop (aprons &bandanas for boys and girls and a children chocolate making set)
Headlines (voucher for one hair cut)
Snob & Lock (leather wallet)
Heart to Heart (memory box and scented candles)
Motoquip (car valet pack)
Photogenic (one sitting voucher)
Unami (sauces)
Cutting bar (voucher for one hair cut)
Berghaus Rucksack
Hall&Woodhouse £30 voucher
Kingsmill £5 voucher
Teapot clock
High School Musical dance mate games (times 2)
Segais design hair cut (its gone)
Little cuddly polar bear teddy's
2 Oxford United Tickets (sorry Raffle only)
Cushion from "Spring Lark" (its gone)
RC car
Black T-Shirts from Calsberg
Baby food (bowl, spoons, sachets, cuddly toy) from Hipp
Authenticated autographs (Sting, Badly drawn boy, Michael Owen)
Open ended standard return train tickets from FGW x 2 (sorry Raffle only)
Roly's revived Men's hair cut
Grease Monkeysoil service and valet
4GB USB sticks (only 2 left)
golf balls
Frisbees
If you are interested in a raffle ticket then please email me at florianstoermer@gmail.com.

Online Total today:
£615 direct donations £70 this week Thank You
£131 donated for goods received
That is brilliant but I would like to raise another £885 so please help to spread the word and donate what you can every penny helps!

Stats Zone:
Runs:4
Distance covered this week: 38.8 miles 
Distance covered this month: 99.4 miles
Walks: 7 covering roughly a further 10 miles


Thank you for reading my blog please feel free to comment on it and share it with your followers and friends.


If you would like to raise money for  The Amber Phillpott Trust. and other charities supported by   The Yeah Baby Concert and to see me finish my 35 mile long Ultramarathon, then please come to the YeahBaby event in Abingdon Oxfordshire on the 14.07.2012 for a  free day of music, stalls, face painting etc... and/or donate via www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer

BGT Britain got thankful charities

So you are back! That is great as it will help to spread the word about this great charity and about the fight against Leukaemia.
BGT Britains Got Thankful charities and fundraisers as even big bad boy Simon Cowell mentioned a charity who has contacted and touched him live on BGT and that is great as it gets people to think that if my Simon is willing to spread the word then surely more people will want to.... Thank you Simon.
Now back to training business:

Monday:
Driving home from Milford on Sea and my body surprised me by how good it felt so I decided to go for a loosening jog of 3.5 miles and it ended well after a very sore and painful start as my legs wouldn't bend properly. They annoyed me a lot as I wanted them to work properly but I calmed down once they did what I wanted them to.....

Tuesday:
I worked but this arrived in the post for me



All I can say to the team of the Berghaus company is a big fat heartfelt Thank You!



Wednesday:
I was working again so no training for me but this arrived in the post

Thank you kind Tetley Tea Folk you guys rock too!

Thursday:
I had no chance to run but you have guessed it something else came through the post
This time it was the promised Allied Bakery (Kingsmill) vouchers to the Value of £5. Thank you so much that raises my heart

Friday:
I went for an 4.07 mile interval training and my fast sections were remarkably constant and fast especially considering  the little sleep I had in between my 2 nights but it was great and yes something else arrived an unsuspected voucher from




to the value of £30. Again Thank you so much!

Saturday:
I went for a nice 9.5 mile off road  run with my good friend and brother in law @timcnicholls it was one of the most enjoyable runs as I have missed running with Tim a lot. So thank you for your support.

Sunday:
I managed to run 5.6 miles and it was slow and painful as I did not sleep after my nights yesterday and that as well as yesterdays run caught up with me. However the sunshine and lovely scenery made me feel much better.

I did it and it was good as every mile counts.



Fundraising news:
www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer is the web address you can use to donate money towards The Amber Phillpott Trust.I have pretty much exhausted my efforts of contacting large companies and will now only contact local shops, businesses, pubs and restaurants as I have to concentrate on my training again and that is time consuming enough...
All of the gifts  received so far will either be raffled off on the day or entered in a silent auction to help raise funds for The Amber Phillpott Trust, Helen&Douglas House hospice, Oxford children's hospital and Ronald House.
Soon raffle tickets will be available to purchase and I am more than happy to take your orders once I have all the details.

Available prizes at present are:
Berghaus Rucksack
Hall&Woodhouse £30 voucher
Kingsmill £5 voucher
Teapot clock
High School Musical dance mate games (times 2)
Segais design hair cut (its gone)
Little cuddly polar bear teddy's
2 Oxford United Tickets (sorry Raffle only)
Cushion from "Spring Lark" (its gone)
RC car
Black T-Shirts from Calsberg
Baby food (bowl, spoons, sachets, cuddly toy) from Hipp
Authenticated autographs (Sting, Badly drawn boy, Michael Owen)
Open ended standard return train tickets from FGW x 2 (sorry Raffle only)
Men's hair cut
oil change
4GB USB sticks (only 2 left)
golf balls
Frisbees
If you are interested in a raffle ticket then please email me at florianstoermer@gmail.com.

Online Total today:
£545 direct donations
£131 donated for goods received
That is brilliant but I would like to raise another £955 so please help to spread the word and donate what you can every penny helps!

Stats Zone:
Runs:4
Distance covered this week: 22.7 miles 
Distance covered this month: 60.6 miles


Thank you for reading my blog please feel free to comment on it and share it with your followers and friends.


If you would like to raise money for  The Amber Phillpott Trust. and other charities supported by   The Yeah Baby Concert and to see me finish my 35 mile long Ultramarathon, then please come to the YeahBaby event in Abingdon Oxfordshire on the 14.07.2012 for a  free day of music, stalls, face painting etc... and/or donate via www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer

Ultra community and running effort

Welcome to the Ultra blog
This week is an ultra blog because be of the events that happened this week in both the fund raising and running department.
I shall not bore you with day by day coverage this week as I would otherwise have to tell you that I have improved my 5k time despite running post night shifts without sleep, or telling you that it was mine and my father in laws birthday.
I will however talk, well write, about 2 main events; the 1st will be that the Wantage community spirit is alive and kicking and the 2nd is about my first ever ultra event.

Community Spirit

Ok so on Wednesday I decided to go to some local shops to see if I could get any more donations for the raffle and was half expecting to get nothing but a few odd looks from the managers/shop owners. However the response I got blew me out of the water and put a huge smile on my face. I visited 4 shops, 1 fitness studio, 2 banks and 1 hair dresser. The fitness studio was very impressed with my challenge and promised to definitely donate something towards my challenge and asked for a sponsorship form to put out for their customers which was very kind and supportive and gave me hope for the next visits. The next shop was a small local key cutters/shoe fixing place and they asked me to come back after the weekend so they can sort out a prize/donation for me. Again a great result. The 2 banks couldn't help but forwarded my request to their headquarters again a good result. The local hair dresser,  Segais, straight away gave me a a great voucher for a hair design, cut and finish (see voucher below).

In a large chain I was told that the shop donates only to their designated charity but I was asked to leave my details with them as the staff would like to help me in my charity challenge (that nearly made me cry). The other 2 shops said that they will forward my requests to their bosses who weren't there until the end of the week and as long as the charity budget has not been spent yet they were sure that I should get some support (again an excellent response).
This made me happy already but then I got an email from Oxford United Football Club and they have sent me a voucher for 2 people to attend a home game in September (brilliant).

Community spirit even reached the virtual world as a twitter friend whom I have never met yet has decided to send me 2 unopened High School Musical Dance Mat games. Thank you so much Denise (@ruggedradnage).

My first Ultra Marathon run  So yesterday the 05.05.12 at 1100 I started my first ever ultra marathon and I was put in the elite group which concerned me a bit as it was my first race longer than a half marathon so quite a step up.

The course was through the New Forest through woodlands, marsh areas and open fields. The rain leading up to the race was lovely as it made the whole ground boggy, muddy, wet, slippery with a lot of huge puddles which couldn't always be avoided despite big jumps... The other problem was that the course was not always well sign posted so we (myself and other elite runners) got lost a few times which added at least 5 miles to my total and probably 10 minutes on top of that was spent standing around trying to figure out where to go... This really did not help my physical reserves or mental strength. Until check point (CP) 2 (which was officially 16 miles but I had run 20 by then) I felt great and was well ahead of my target as I was pulled along by the elite runners (avg pace was 8:20min/mile not my planned 9min/mile). Here I saw my lovely family which gave me another boost. At some point between CP 2 and 3 I started to feel sick, despite maintaining a frequent and regular food and hydration intake,

 I wanted to vomit a few times but didn't. That really wore me down mentally. As well as that I was running on my own and could not see anyone else for ages. I really wanted to stop 2-3 times before CP 3 but did not despite getting lost with another runner again I fought to CP 3 and saw my lovely girl waving, then I saw my wife, mother and father in law and my cute little boy. I stopped at CP 3 to eat and drink or tried to eat but could not as I was feeling so ill, my wife reassured me that I could stop and have nothing to prove to anyone. She was right I had nothing to prove to anyone apart from myself so I grabbed two slithers of a cheesy sandwich and 2 small cocktail sausages as I knew I needed salt.  It took me 25 minutes to eat them; oh yes 25 minutes for what usually takes me only 25 seconds. I felt less sick after that but was not able to move my legs properly and to check my progress I looked at my phone and my gps acted up so couldn't use that to gauge how far I still had to run.
All of these events played on my mind and again I wanted to stop. Negative thoughts flooded in and I really struggled, but remembering what my little girl was shouting at CP 2/3 "go go daddy you can do it", my wife and in laws supporting me all the way and the lovely messages I got via facebook and from my #twitfam helped me to believe in myself and pull through at a decent pace for the last leg of roughly 9min/mile. At the finish I was very cold and could not stop shaking. When I saw my lovely wife I got very emotional and a bit worried as she told me that I looked a bit blue around the lips. I felt a bit odd from about 2 miles before the end and the feeling only disappeared after a hot shower and lots of food.

Overall I am very happy with my run as I gave it my all and there was nothing left in the tank. I learnt a lot about myself and how my mind and body respond to different conditions and stimuli and how I can rectify short comings even whilst running at my limit.All in all I feel much more confident about running my 37.5 mile ultra on the 14th of July 2012 in Abingdon.


Fundraising news:
www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer is the web address you can use to donate money towards The Amber Phillpott Trust. I have received a lot of negative replies from companies and even more have not even answered at all which is sad but it wont stop me. I am glad it didn't stop me as  2 more national/international companies have agreed to sent me prizes over.
All of the gifts  received so far will either be raffled off on the day or entered in a silent auction but if anything takes your fancy you can always take it off our hands beforehand in exchange for a donation to The Amber Phillpott Trust.
Available at present are:

High School Musical dance mate games (times 2)
Segais design hair cut
Little cuddly polar bear teddy's
2 Oxford United Tickets (sorry Raffle only)
Cushion from "Spring Lark"
RC car
Black T-Shirts from Calsberg
Baby food (bowl, spoons, sachets, cuddly toy) from Hipp
Authenticated autographs (Sting, Badly drawn boy, Michael Owen)
Open ended standard return train tickets from FGW x 2 (sorry Raffle only)
mens hair cut
oil change
4GB USB sticks (only 2 left)
golf balls
frisbees
If you like any of these items or express interest in a raffle ticket then please email me at florianstoermer@gmail.com and express what you are interested in and I will get back to you.



Stats Zone:
Runs:2
Distance covered this week: 38.1 miles 
Distance covered this month: 38.1 miles


Thank you for reading my blog please feel free to comment on it and share it with your followers and friends.


If you would like to raise money for  The Amber Phillpott Trust. and other charities supported by   The Yeah Baby Concert and to see me finish my 35 mile long Ultramarathon, then please come to the YeahBaby event in Abingdon Oxfordshire on the 14.07.2012 for a  free day of music, stalls, face painting etc... and/or donate via www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer

Have I got some great exciting news for you?

You better believe it!!!

Did I run much this week? Well no as I had another busy week at work and wanted to dedciate at least one whole day to my family so only had 2 days to train after finishing 3 nights. My training news will come later but first of all please visit and support me on www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer

here you can join a few others to help me raise as much money as possible for The Amber Phillpott Trust.

Monday & Tuesday

Sadly no training these two days due to night shifts

Wednesday

Still no training but Family Ellis surprised me by sending  this cushion. If you would like to own it it is available in exchange for a donation to The Amber Phillpott Trust. Just email me what you would like to donate. A great present for anyone really. If you would like to see some more of her handywork please visit her website www.springlark.com.

Family Ellis also sent this amazing RC Audi car, which is so cool that I might bid for it myself but then again that would be wrong I guess but what a great present this would make to any boy or man because we will always be little boys deep down.

Thursday

Or should I call it double run Thursday?

I did a steady 4.67 miles at a decent pace after nights without any rest after my 3 night shifts and after lunch and a little post lunch nap I did a hard 60 minute interval session (8miles) which really took it out of me but so worth it :-) both for the physical but especially for the mental strength gained by this.

Friday

I woke up and ran on some very stiff and tired legs for just 80 minutes (8.5miles) it was slow and was tough but I did it so another mental victory.

Then I had my hair cut at my favourite barber shop in town Roly's Revived and they offered to donate a free hair cut to my charity raffle/auction.

I then had to pick up my car from the great garage that is Grease Monkeys located on the Grove Technology Park (Wantage) who offered to donate a free oil change and pressure check service towards my charity auction/raffle.

Saturday &Sunday

No training as I was working on Saturday and had a great family day on Sunday.

Fundraising news:
www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer is the web address you can use to donate money towards The Amber Phillpott Trust. I have received a lot of negative replies from companies and even more have not even answered at all which is sad but it wont stop me. I am glad it didn't stop me as  the 2 local business I approached directly were very forthcoming and generous so I shall continue to email, call ,write and speak in person to all sorts of companies.
All of the gifts  received so far will either be raffled off on the day or entered in a silent auction but if anything takes your fancy you can always take it off our hands beforehand in exchange for a donation to The Amber Phillpott Trust.
Available at present are:
Cushion from "Spring Lark"
RC car
Black T-Shirts from Calsberg
Baby food (bowl, spoons, sachets, cuddly toy) from Hipp
Authenticated autographs (Sting, Badly drawn boy, Michael Owen)
Open ended standard return train tickets from FGW x 2
mens hair cut
oil change
4GB USB sticks (only 2 left)
golf balls
frisbees
If you like any of these items then please email me at florianstoermer@gmail.com and express what you are interested in and I will get back to you.



Stats Zone:
Runs: 3
Distance covered this week: 21.2 miles 
Distance covered this month: 128.37 miles


Thank you for reading my blog please feel free to comment on it and share it with your followers and friends.


If you would like to raise money for  The Amber Phillpott Trust. and other charities supported by   The Yeah Baby Concert and to see me finish my 35 mile long Ultramarathon, then please come to the YeahBaby event in Abingdon Oxfordshire on the 14.07.2012 for a  free day of music, stalls, face painting etc... and/or donate via www.virginmoneygiving.com/florianstoermer