I am the music man, I come from down your way...

Firstly thanks to everyone who contacted me after my last blog, I feel privileged to have so many friends and supporters, it means a lot.

This blog is going to be a bit brighter, but I like the idea of the blog being a two way thing so I am going to ask for audience participation again.

In my first blog I mentioned that I have a new Mp3 player that is well flash. Well my challenge to you is to give me 100 songs for my MP3 that will be my marathon playlist on the day. You can choose a song you think I will like, one you think will be good to run to, one you think I will hate or just whatever your favorite song is. It would be good if your song has a story behind it, as hopefully I will remember about it on the day and it will give me something to think about, and take the pain away from my legs!

I figure 100 songs @ 3 minutes per song gives me 5 hours of music, which should be plenty for the beautiful day so I can keep on running.

Songs I have so far:

Casanova by Baby D
Welcome to Paradise Green Day
Keep the Car Running Arcade Fire.

So there is a long way to go, like anything (including running marathons) little by little and with a little help from my friends, we can make this happen.

If you want some inspiration for song choices, I will list a few of my favorite artists and bands. I have a pretty err 'eclectic' taste, which is good, as I am likely to like what you choose!

Faithless, Ian Brown, The Stone Roses, Guns and Roses, Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, James Brown, Anything on Motown, but especially Aretha, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Lou Reed, Mylo, Groove Armada, Arctic Monkeys, Happy Mondays, Survivor, The M People (yes, the M People) The Prodigy, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Verve, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston (I wanna dance with somebody), Erykah Badu, Chaka Khan, Mark Ronson, Louis Armstrong, David Bowie, Lionel Richie, The Beach Boys, The Avalanches. Sister Sledge, Led Zeppelin, Prince, Queen, The Specials, The Sex Pistols, do I need to go on?

What I have found so far is that soundtracks and theme songs from 80's movies are good for running to. The theme song from Back to the Future is ace(it makes me run 88 miles per hour), I am a big fan of the Rocky Movies, Ghostbusters, Top Gun, Indiana Jones, oh yeah, and any of the Bond themes.

I expect my inbox to be filled very quickly with your suggestions! olliegray50@hotmail.com

Thanks everyone

Why Bother?

So why bother training for 5 months, running 4 times a week, only to put yourself through 26.2 miles of hell on a Sunday morning in April?

I guess I have a few reasons, for those that know me, you will know that I have had a tough time of it recently, I've split up with my girlfriend, who now hates me, she sends me text messages to tell me so. I'll give you some examples

"I will make your life hell"
"Think you need to be reminded again what a useless piece of shit you are"
And my personal favorite:
"My Cat is ill, its all your Fault"

So its not an ideal situation, I have had to leave my own house and move back down to London. I am trying to make the best of it and see the funny side. To top it all, I now have to sell my beloved VW Camper to make ends meet.

After all this I found that I was in a pretty dark place, and in a funny way, running keeps you sane, it gives you time on you own to get your head straight and think things through. For my own self esteem, I feel like I need to do something positive, something good, and that's where the FSI come in.

They are a small charity, but a really good one. The FSI supported Through UNITY, a coalition of family members affected by Gun, Gang and Knife crime turning a £10 donation to the FSI into £18 of advice and learning for Through UNITY, which they in turn used to raise £50 to prevent violence and help families. You don't have to be a maths student to see that makes sense and lets small charities help themselves.

So, if you would liek to support me, log on to http://www.justgiving.com/ollieslondonmarathonpage and make a donation.

Later,

O

Welcome to my world

I have just begun my training for the 2009 London Marathon, and if you feel like it, you can follow my progress on this here blog.

My brother bought me a really cool mp3 player for Christmas, I used it once, it clips on to my running equipment. I washed it in the washing machine. (by accident) I opened the washing machine and there is was, all wet and broken.

It was one of those moments when your heart sinks and you cry NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 days later it dried out and works fine.

Result.

(Don't tell Rob)