ASN newsletter October 2013

Here is ASN's October newsletter.  Please read and consider supporting them.  Or, if you want to sponsor me for my 10k training and subsequent race, the fundraising page is open for another 3 months: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/sagreenious1.  PS: I got another donation this week bringing the total raised to £317.50!!!  :D

To the newsletter:

• Brilliant stigma breaking videos
• 4 Years in: Our 1,000th call
• ASN in the News
• Women we’ve helped
• Putting the fun in fundraising
• Events survey

Brilliant stigma breaking videos

The ifpa the ippf, as well as Decidir Nos Hace Libres have released two fabulous movies around the International Day to Decriminalise Abortion. Have a look at these wonderful tributes to the fact that abortion is a common experience for women worldwide.

Women have abortions every day. It’s just one choice.

Who are the women who opt for abortion?

Four Years In: Our 1,000th call

When we opened our virtual doors in October 2009, we had no idea what the future would bring. It seems incredible that two weeks ago we sent an email to share an ASN milestone: 1,000 calls to our helpline. As the result of our appeal, over £440 has been donated towards the next 1,000 calls. Thank you so much to everyone who donated! This is enough money for us to give a typical grant to three women. Or one grant to a woman in exceptionally difficult circumstances. It’s only thanks to support from people like you that we were able to answer those 1,000 calls - and the 15 calls we’ve received since we sent our last email bulletin. If you have been thinking of donating, today would be a great time! £20, £10, even £5 - whatever you can give is always welcome.

ASN in the News

New Statesman
“When will abortion become legal for women in Northern Ireland?”, quoting ASN Director Mara Clarke, the Royal College of Nurses, Goretti Horgan of Alliance for Choice and Dr Fiona Bloomer of the University of Ulster.

Women We’ve Helped

In September, ASN heard from 37 women, couples and families, including a number of young teens as well as several women who were pushed into later gestations as they struggled to raise funds. Here are some of their stories:

A mother in her 30s who was almost completely debilitated by the pregnancy, which made it increasingly difficult to hide. She did everything she could think of to raise funds but was still short, and was then pushed into the next price bracket, meaning she needed to raise even more. ASN was able to help her with a grant.

A woman who had moved from another country to be with her partner. When she arrived, he became abusive and she left him. Her visa has run out which is limiting her ability to work. We were able to give her information on accessing early medical abortion pills from www.womenonweb.org.

A single mother who was 16 weeks pregnant. She had gone to her GP for the morning after pill but was told that she couldn’t get pregnant because she “wasn’t on her cycle”.

The parents of a young teen facing an unwanted pregnancy, as well as serious mental health issues. Said her mother, “I know nobody can judge this because nobody has the right to judge this choice a woman needs to make for herself."

A young woman who initially sought our advice on how to obtain an abortion but then after several roadblocks were put in her way, she decided to continue with the pregnancy. She said, “I am feeling that although I did not want this child, perhaps it wants us! I simply cannot go ahead as planned with the abortion. I am full of fear and panic, but I will just have to deal with my own emotions before this person is born.”

A single mother who fell pregnant despite taking birth control pills.

A woman who travelled to England for a termination only to find that she was several weeks further into the pregnancy than thought, and as there was no doctor available to do the later procedure, she was sent home. An unexpected emergency required her to spend most of the funds she’d borrowed from a disreputable money lender for the procedure. ASN was able to help her with £700 towards the £1600 cost of travel and procedure.

A young mother living on the Isle of Man – where abortion is also illegal.

A foreign national living in Ireland who felt so trapped by the unplanned pregnancy and lack of family support that she resorted to self harming to try and induce a miscarriage.

Two women in the process of escaping abusive relationships.

We thank these women for allowing us to share their stories. Please note that all monies are written as GBP regardless of where clients are resident.
 
Putting the fun in fundraising

Thanks to? Doctors for Choice, Cork Woman’s Right to Choose, and Dublin Nights for Choice for raising almost €700 from running a race, fundraising at a panel discussion entitled “After the X Case, What Now?” and a collection at the March for Choice. Not to mention the sale of twelve knitted uteruses in Dublin!

And there are a number of excellent events coming up for all you pro-choice party people in Dublin:

19 October
Dublin Nights for Choice hosts a clothing swap with all proceeds going to ASN! Schwoop for choice! Click here for more info'.

27 October
ARC, the Abortion Rights Campaign of Ireland is hosting a book, zine and record swap.

15-16 November
Dublin hosts its first ever Festival of Choice! Two nights of fabulous acts with all proceeds going to the Abortion Rights Campaign and ASN. Find out more here.

19th November
And for those of us in London, SAVE THE DATE. ASN is planning an exciting, one of a kind event on 19 November. Stay tuned for more info!

Events survey

Did the events above inspire you? Or possibly frighten you off the idea of fundraising?
Fundraising for ASN takes all shapes and sizes and can range from having a few mates round to watch a film to organising a club night, and now those of you keen to fundraise have the fab Lydia to help you on your way. Whether you are interested in running a race, holding a bake sale or organising a club night, you can contact events@abortionsupport.org.uk for help. To help us help you out with this, we’d like to ask that everyone who has done any fundraising for ASN to provide feedback through this super quick survey. Thanks in advance for your time!


***

Thank you again for all your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to provide financial assistance, accommodation and confidential, non-judgemental information to many women who have contacted us for support.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AbortionSupportNetwork

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AbortionSupport

Website: http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk

Call +44 (0) 7897 611 593 or email info@abortionsupport.org.uk

I did the 10k run!

I did it yesterday!  I didn't collapse, or trip over, or break my ankle or ANYTHING.  I did nearly turn my ankle once, but it wasn't serious.  I did it in 1 hour 11 minutes and 11 seconds, according the timekeepers, which I'm pretty happy with.  That means I was running at 5.17 miles an hour which is fine.  I also didn't come last, woo-hoo!

I did it at the RSPB's Lakenheath Fen reserve.  They hold an annual Race for Wildlife.  It's a suggested £10 donation for the entry fee and there are courses of 5K, 10K and 2K.  The 10K route takes you round parts of the reserve not usually open to the public.

I did want to do it an hour but as soon as I started I knew that wasn't possible.  Nearly everyone else there was from a running club and as soon as we started most of them tore off ahead of me.  I think I had a few seconds of attempting to keep up but very soon slowed down to a more reasonable pace.  I guess I could have tried to go faster and got a better time, but I didn't want to.  I just wanted to do it.

As I was going round, especially at the start, I wasn't sure I was enjoying it, it was just something I had to do.  I got a stitch fairly early on, then it went, then it came back close to the 30 minute mark (and came back again towards the end), so I walked for one minute then started running again.  At about 32 minutes I got to the water station and stopped for, I dunno, half a minute?, to drink some water.  I was told this was about the halfway point.  Then the track suddenly got a lot more uneven and I was forced to slow down.  The only other part I walked was down a steep 3 foot slope, and that was because I didn't want to fall down.  The rest of it I ran.  I'm quite proud.  Thankfully the reserve is really flat - it used to be carrot fields, so I had no horrible ascents to deal with.

As usual, I felt a whole lot better once I'd finished it than when I was doing it.  It didn't destroy me, I could talk afterwards and I could walk.  In fact, I went for a walk with my friends afterwards and we spotted this awesome mushroom.  At the time, I felt like I could have gone further, but I think that might be wishful thinking.  I was certainly glad when the finish line came into view.  Incidentally, my friends came first in the men's 5K and third in the women's 5K.  That's because they are superfit and do lots of running.  The winner of the 10k did it in 36 minutes.  I wasn't sure that was possible, until a friend told me the world record for a 10k is 27 minutes or so.. Christ that's fast..

Today I feel battered.  My right knee was hurting a bit last night, after I'd been sat down for a while.  Today I'm not in pain but I do feel a bit achey and really rather tired.  When I woke up yesterday I had a dead stuff neck - I must have slept on it funny.  After the race it felt much better and today it is fine.

Since I was running on a nature reserve I should probably mention the wildlife.. I saw swans, tiny moths (or possibly butterflies), dragonflies and I heard a bearded tit calling.  I'm pretty sure it was a bearded tit.  The weather was fine - it was warm and it didn't rain.  I was dreading it raining.

Would I do it again?  Yeah.  But possibly not for a while.

EDITED TO ADD: I lost my navel bar when I was running.  That's only happened once before when I was in the gym doing an abs class.  Obviously I was particularly sweaty on this run and the ball must have worked loose.  I'm quite glad I didn't also lose the hoop at the bottom of my navel (I have two piercings in my navel - top and bottom). Now to ebay to replace it.

In terms of fundraising (donation page here) for the Abortion Support Network, here are the results:

Total raised: £305!!!  I think that's worth saying again - £305!!  That's amazing!  Thank you to all my sponsors!
Money from me: £48. I think it should have been £46 but somewhere along the way I miscounted by £2.  So I've stuck with that.  I have included £3 for last week's training sessions that I didn't do, and £1 for the race itself.
Offline money from others: $20 (American).  I've counted that as £12.
Donations through the fundrasing page: £196
Gift aid: £49.

That's amazing.  That's really really generous of everyone.  Thank you!

Regarding the donation page, there's currently a glitch in their system where when you edit the amount of offline donations it forces you to change the event start and end date to a future date, so the event details now read as happening on 21st October, not 19th October.  I'll change it back when they've fixed it.  But you can still donate for a further 3 months, if you would like.  If you do, thank you!

Couch to 10k: Week 13, session 2 and 3

Man I'm slack at reporting on this.  I'll  explain why in a bit.

Session 2 - 43 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 3 times.
Session 3 - 52 min. Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.

So session 2 was fine.  It was short, it didn't leave me feeling invigorated, it just was.   It was cold though.  Session 3 I did today and I attempted to run up Gas Hill again.  I failed.  I'm basically lazy.  I'm sick and tired of running now and I'm a bit sulky that I still have to do it. It was OK earlier on in the programme because I knew I had to raise money and I knew that I had a long way to go to improve.  Now I'm pretty certain that I can run the 10k and I'm fed up of training.  And I've exceeded my fundraising target.  I'm also probably not going to be able to do sessions 1 and 2 of the final week's training because I'm away with work, so I'm grumpy about that too.  Perhaps I'll manage session 1 tomorrow before I go to work.

Today it was bloody cold outside and running didn't really warm me up that much.  Perhaps I should have run faster.  Running in the cold is horrible because I get cold nipples.  That is no fun.  Ugh.  Perhaps I should take a hoody out with me tomorrow morning.

Funds raised to date:

£44 from me - I'm donating £1 for every training session I complete, plus an extra quid for every additional session at the gym.
£161 from some amazing sponsors.
Total: £215
Gift aid: £40.25
Total including gift aid: £255.25  And yaayyyyy I've exceeded my target!  Thank you all ! So pleased!

$20 from an American (about £12.41 I think).  So I think that's about £267.  Aces!  Amazing aces!

I have also been told that Americans can't donate through my fundraising page on my donate, but ASN have improved their Donate pages: https://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/support-us/donate/ - and now you can pay by paypal or by standing order.  Please consider donating.

Finally, the my donate site is a bit broken so I can't update the total funds on there.  It should be fixed tomorrow so I'll try to update it then.

Couch to 10k: Week 12, session 3

Edit: This should have been posted before this entry, but it seems I never hit publish.  Oops.
 
I copied an earlier session and did:

57 min. Run 20 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.

It felt OK.  Then I got home and realised I was quite slow.  I don't have the stats to hand - I've been so busy I'm a bit delayed writing this.

I have one more week of training to go.  then I'm away with work for a few days then I do a 10k race.  eep.

Funds raised to date:

£42 from me - I'm donating £1 for every training session I complete, plus an extra quid for every additional session at the gym.
£161 from some amazing sponsors.
Total: £213
Gift aid: £40.25
Total including gift aid: £253.25  And yaayyyyy I've exceeded my target!  Thank you all ! So pleased!
Gift aid: £40.25
Total including gift aid: £253.25  And yaayyyyy I've exceeded my target!  Thank you all ! So pleased!

$20 from an American (about £12.41 I think)

I have also been told that Americans can't donate through my fundraising page on my donate, but ASN have improved their Donate pages: https://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/support-us/donate/ - and now you can pay by paypal or by standing order.  Please consider donating.

I should go out for another run either today or tomorrow.  Not sure which I'll do yet.

Couch to 10k

I forgot to add in yesterday's update that the run I did on Sunday was the first one since I fell over where my knees didn't hurt.  Hoozah.

I had some aches in my bum though.  I had a deep tissue massage on the Saturday which involved dealing with some really deep seated knots and as a consequence I could feel some points deep in my bum cheeks which ached the next day.

I am determined to go out running tonight.  The mind is having a strop but the body is willing.  i have my route mapped out and I aim to do about 5.6 miles in 50 or 60 minutes.  This will be my last big run before the race in a couple of weeks.

Oh, and here's some beginner's running tips from a friend's blog: http://www.sunnysweetpea.com/2013/10/beginners-running-tips.html
I'd add in go to the toilet before you leave the house and make sure you know where the public conveniences are.

Couch to 10k: Week 12, session 2

Because I’ve got an extra week before I do my race I’m veering away from the training programme a little.  I should have done:  43 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 3 times. 

I did 4 rounds instead of the 3 rounds.  Incredibly slowly.

Really, today should have been titled How Not To Do A Running Session.

So I got up at 6.  Had a breakfast of porridge and then left the house 45 minutes later.  Thing was, I was still pretty full from yesterday’s dinner so ended up feeling a bit sick as I was running.  This made me slow down to a snail’s pace.  My stats for today are 3.68 miles in 44 minutes, at an average speed of 5.01mph.  The first mile was done in 10 minutes 36 seconds.  The second was done in 12 minutes 2 seconds and the third mile was done in 12 minutes 38 seconds.  That’s pitiful.

I decided to wear a long sleeve top as I imagined it would be very cold at 7.05 in the morning.  It wasn’t. It was humid. I got quite hot.  I should have worn a vest.

Seriously, this was a badly planned session.

Wildlife: I saw a ginger cat as I was running.  I also came across a dog that was proper growling and barking and so I stopped till the owners had called it away.  Bah.  I also got a few threads of spider web across my face as I was on the heath.  That was interesting.

I plan to go out again on Sunday morning and do week 11’s third session again.  Then next week I will do the week 12 running as they advise.  Although I might increase the 50 minute run to 60 minutes.  We’ll see.

A reminder that the running programme I am using can be found here.

A reminder that I am using this training as an opportunity to raise money for the Abortion Support Network who provide funds to Irish women so they can travel to England and access safe, legal abortions.  You can sponsor me here or donate direct to ASN - see info on their website.

Funds raised to date:
£41 from me - I'm donating £1 for every training session I complete, plus an extra quid for every additional session at the gym.
£161 from some amazing sponsors.
Total: £202

Gift aid: £40.25
Total including gift aid: £242.25  And yaayyyyy I've exceeded my target!  Thank you all ! So pleased!

Couch to 10k: Week 11, session 3 and Week 12 session 1

Week 11: Session 3 - 57 min. Run 20 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.
Week 12: Session 1 - - 60 min. Run 50 minutes.

Apologies for combining these into one post, but I did Week 11, session 3 on Saturday, then went out Sat night and battered myself into an exhausted wreck for Sunday and Monday.  I'm too old for late night parties.

Anyway, the run.
Week 11, session 3
I did very well on this session.  I did 4.64 miles in 47 minutes.  I did my first mile in 9 minutes 15 seconds, and the remaining miles were done in 10 mins 7 secs, 10 mins 45 secs and 10 mins 2 secs.  That's pretty impressive I reckon.  Parts of it felt hard - the inclines (Norfolk's very shallow ones, let's be honest) left me gasping but I soon recovered.  I had very few pauses at roads, only 1 I think, so the timing is an accurate representation of my speed.  I'm dead pleased.

Week 12, session 1
I did this one today, getting up at 6am to go out at 6.50 before work.  This one was my first time of a session with no walking breaks in it.  Or it would have been, had I not needed the toilet and so had a facilities enforced break for 2 minutes around the 16 minute mark.  C'est la vie. If I'd waited until I'd used my home's toilet I'd have never got out.

Despite that break, or because of it, maybe, this run felt easily accomplishable.  Is that even a word?  Anyway, it felt fine.  It felt easily doable, I wasn't really gasping at any of it and I felt perfectly happy doing it.  I did the exact same route as I did on Week 11, session 3, but I did it much slower.  It took me 50 minutes to cover 4.33 miles.  My average pace was 5.11 mph and my mileage times were 11 mins 44 secs, 11 mins 5 secs, 12 mins 24 secs and 11 mins 32 secs.  So much slower.  I'm not bothered about the slowness though.  I've proved to myself that I can run for a long time and that I can do so quickly.  that's enough for me.  I've also found a woodland based route that will take me one hour to do, so I'm happy.

In terms of wildlife, there were loads of unidentifiable birds out this morning.  The main thing I noticed though was the trees turning.  Leaves are on the ground and lots of trees are going orange.  When I woke up at 6am it was pitch black.  By 6.40 the skies had lightened.  I wore a long sleeved top and shorts and I really needed the top.  I've felt the cold wheedle into my chest for the rest of the day - it was a proper damp Autumn morning.  I do not like this time of year.  Well, it's nice seeing the sunrise, but I loathe the cold and the dark.

A reminder that the running programme I am using can be found here.

A reminder that I am using this training as an opportunity to raise money for the Abortion Support Network who provide funds to Irish women so they can travel to England and access safe, legal abortions.  You can sponsor me here or donate direct to ASN - see info on their website.

Funds raised to date:
£40 from me - I'm donating £1 for every training session I complete, plus an extra quid for every additional session at the gym.
£153 from some amazing sponsors.
Total: £193, towards a target of £200.

Gift aid: £38.25
Total including gift aid: £228.25

Abortion Support Network September newsletter

As everybody probably knows by now, I'm training for a 10k race and raising funds for the Abortion Support Network while doing so.  Below is their September newsletter which explains why I chose to raise money for them, over other charities.

On the running front, I went out to the gym this morning and did 5k on the treadmill.  It was a mix of running and walking but i did manage to run at a speed of 10km per hour for some of it.  Go me.  I'll add another pound to my fundraising pot.  I'm rather tired now.

ASN September Newsletter: Autumn is for Activism!
 

• #Sept28/#SafeAbortion
• ASN in the News
• Help us spread the word 
• Women we’ve helped
• Thank you for your support!

#Sept28 / #SafeAbortion
September 28^th is the International Day of Action for Decriminalization of Abortion. While ASN is not a campaigning organisation, we have been so, so excited to hear about, and look forward to participating in, some of the events that are happening, including:

26 September, London, 6.30 pm
Consequences of criminal law on abortion: UK and Internationally
Panel discussion hosted by Reproductive Health Matters

26-29 September, Dublin
Choosing Choice: Packing Up Abortion Stigma
This exhibition, which includes a public participation piece, will feature photographic works from Rose Comiskey (Ireland), Emma Campbell (Northern Ireland) and digitised print works from Heather Ault (USA).

28 September, Belfast, 5.00 pm
Spaniard Bar Event
Alliance for Choice Belfast Social Activists will give out information on how to access a safe, legal medical abortion with pills in Northern Ireland, all over a few drinks and friendly conversation.

28 September, Dublin, 2.00 pm
2nd Annnual March for Choice
Gather as activists, as rabble rousers, as change makers - to enjoy each other’s company, to remind the world that Ireland is Pro-Choice and to remind the country that we will be here to work, speak and share until Ireland has free, safe, and legal abortion! Organised by the Abortion Rights Campaign of Ireland.

28 September, Dublin
March for Choice – After Party and ASN Fundraiser
Whether you do or don’t come to the March for Choice, there will be a knees-up in Toners Pub on Baggot Street right after the march ends! No entrance fees but there will be buckets going around for ASN, courtesy of Dublin Nights for Choice.

3 October, Cork, 8.00 pm
Public Meeting/Discussion “After the X-Case legislation – where now?”
Panel will include ASN’s Mara Clarke, Mary Favier from Doctors For Choice Ireland and Sandra McAvoy from Cork Women’s Right to Choose Group.

For more information on events happening around the world, you can visit the International Action Day to Decriminalize Abortion or the Global Day of Action for Safe and Legal Abortion.  

ASN in the News

The Nation
“Texas, Ireland, Abortion and Ross Douthat Round 2”
The wonderful Katha Pollitt plugs ASN in her piece responding to a NY Times columnist who held IRELAND up as a shining example of why Texas shouldn’t worry about making abortion illegal.

Education for Choice Blog
“Women with money have options, women without money have babies”
ASN’s Mara wrote a blog for the INCREDIBLE Education for Choice, a small non-profit that goes into schools across the UK and teaches sexual and reproductive health and education from the pro-choice perspective.

Help us spread the word
ASN is about to embark upon an outreach campaign to target the women who may be most in need of our services. Our plan is to reach out to rape crisis centres, women’s refuges and student unions in Ireland and Northern Ireland. We would also be interested in reaching out to groups helping migrants and asylum seekers if someone could help us to indentify organisations that can help these women obtain the documentation they would require to travel. If you work for or with these types of organisations, or have some names or numbers we should have, please get in touch!

Women we’ve helped

In August, ASN heard from 37 women, including:

A young woman whose family was pressuring her to continue the pregnancy . She is struggling to care for her existing children without sufficient support from her partner. ASN was able to both help with both funding and accommodation.

Three women from countries other than Ireland and Northern Ireland, seeking information on obtaining an abortion in England.

A young woman who managed to save almost £200 from her only income, which is busking on the street.

A woman who thought she would have enough money to cover the cost of her flights and procedure until her pay was cut as she couldn’t work the bank holiday.

A woman with MS who was warned not to get pregnant on her medication, who fell pregnant despite using hormonal birth control. As she doesn’t live close to a major airport, she also needed two nights of hosting and her partner had to take time off work to watch their children.

A breast cancer survivor terrified about what pregnancy hormones would do to her cancer treatment but too afraid to seek medical advice locally.

A woman suffering from depression and recovering from an accident that left her physically disabled. To add to her distress about the pregnancy, she was accosted by protesters outside her local family planning agency, who followed her down the street hurling abuse. She was able to come up with £70 extra towards the procedure by buying her kid’s school uniforms from second hand shops.  She said: "I can't make words to tell you how you have helped me. I was lying in bed, so depressed not knowing what to do. I prayed to God for help and God must have heard me because you rang."

A mother of four who came over for an abortion at 14 weeks only to be told her medical condition required her abortion to take place in a hospital setting, meaning that she’d wasted almost £500 on transport costs and had to come over again. “I used to have a job but it’s so expensive to have someone mind all the children. My partner has only been able to find work sporadically and we’ve been rationing food for the kids and have had the electricity turned off we’re so short of money. We borrowed money for the flights and that money will need to be paid back too.”  ASN was able to provide £375 towards the procedure as well as host her for two days.

We also heard from a number of young teens who were making the decision to continue with their studies rather than their pregnancies. These girls, who ranged in age from 17 to 19, did everything from selling phones and electronics to borrowing from friends to help raise funds. Some were calling with the help of their parents. Others were able to tell a friend and a few were acting in complete isolation. Thanks to your generous support, we were able to help each one of them obtain the abortion they were seeking. This was from one of them:

“My boyfriend and I are students with no income. . .I am aware your services cannot provide financial support to everyone who needs it however at aged 18 I do not feel ready to continue with a pregnancy. At the moment I am severely struggling with the position I am in, I am feeling very depressed and unable to eat or sleep. Because it is only me and my partner who knows about my situation it is a hard thing to cope with and any other support you can provide I will greatly appreciate at this time. I hope you can understand the difficult place of my life that I am in and can consider me for your financial aid.”

And in August, we heard from a woman who we could not help:

We heard from a mother in a relationship with a partner who is both physically abusive and abuses drugs, including in front of their children. The day we spoke to her she’d come home to find he’d damaged the house. She has no family, so savings and no other support. We lost contact when her battery died and have not been able to reach her since.

We thank these women for allowing us to share their stories. Please note that all monies are written as GBP regardless of where clients are resident.

Thank you for your support!
Thanks ever so much to everyone who offered us their smart phones as well as all the amazing people who contacted us expressing interest in volunteering with ASN. ASN has now received two smart phones thanks to Alisa M and will have a third turning up next month. This is extremely helpful as we grow and add additional volunteers! Speaking of which, we’re thrilled to have found some excellent people to join Team ASN! We’re really excited about some of the things we have coming up and look forward to sharing them with all of you.

***

Thank you again for all your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to provide financial assistance, accommodation and confidential, non-judgemental information to many women who have contacted us for support.

Facebook  Twitter  Website  Call +44 (0) 7897 611 593 or email info@abortionsupport.org.uk Abortion Support Network (ASN) is a charity that provides accommodation, financial assistance and confidential, non-judgemental information to women forced to travel from Ireland and pay privately for abortions in England. The cost ranges between £400 and £2000 depending on circumstance and stage of pregnancy. While other organisations campaign for law reform, ASN is the only group on record providing women travelling for abortions with the thing they need most immediately: money. Registered Charity Number 1142120

Copyright © 2013 Abortion Support Network, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/ or via an invitation from ASN. Our mailing address is: Abortion Support Network London London, Greater London W4 United Kingdom

Couch to 10k: Week 11, session 2

54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.

Today's run was amazing.  It felt really really good and I could feel that I was going much faster than usual.  I did 4.14 miles in 43 minutes - that's with 40 minutes of running and 4 minutes of walking. That's a speed of 5.78 miles per hour.  That's nearly 6 miles per hour which is what I'm aiming for.

On the first round of running I found that I'd reached 11 minutes without noticing it so I had my 1 minute walking, then ran for 9 minutes the next time.  On the final round I went up a very steep hill and walked the final few metres, then started running again, so added another 20 seconds onto the 10 minutes of required running.

I feel really, really pleased with myself.  For this week's final round I have two choices of when to do it - I have a gym induction tomorrow morning so could try to do the final session then, or I could go after work on Friday.  I think I'll end up doing a bit of running on the gym's treadmill, then moving to other equipment, then doing my final running session outside on Friday after work.

My legs feel OK now - they feel tired, but clean and springy.  I am intrigued as to how they will feel tomorrow morning.

I'm back to enjoying running.  The feeling of actually stretching out and taking long strides at a fast pace did wonders for me.  I didn't even have to consciously try to extend myself, I just did it.   I knew I had upped my pace for two reasons - 1) I felt differently while running, 2) I found myself going through my route much faster than I usually do.  Honestly, I whipped round!  I feel really, really happy. :)

It's struck me that I am nearing the end of the training programme and it is now concentrating on maintaining stamina and fitness.  Session 3 of this week is the same as last week's session 3.  Session 1 of week 12 is a 50 minute run, then sessions 2 and 3 copy this week's sessions (sort of).  Week 13 is gearing you up for the full 10k run, which should comprise session 3.  However I will have an extra week between week 13 and my actual race, so I think I will make Week 13's session 1 a 10k route and try to do it all in one go.  Then I can do session 2 and 3 as for week 11 and 12, and do week 13 the week of my actual race.  Does that make sense?

A reminder that the running programme I am using can be found here.

A reminder that I am using this training as an opportunity to raise money for the Abortion Support Network who provide funds to Irish women so they can travel to England and access safe, legal abortions.  You can sponsor me here.

Funds raised to date:
£37 from me - I'm donating £1 for every training session I complete.
£153 from kind, wonderful, lovely, generous sponsors.
Total: £190, towards a target of £200.

Gift aid: £38.25
Total including gift aid: £228.25

Couch to 10k: Week 11, session 1

71 min. Run 40 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 20 minutes.  Run done on 22nd September 2013.


Oh my gods this felt AWFUL.  So awful I decided I hated running and if I wasn't asking for sponsorship I'd give it all up now.

Blah.

I'm not going to give it up don't worry.

So what went wrong?
I had to keep stopping to cross roads, either waiting for a gap in the traffic or for the lights to turn.  This broke up my ryhythm and made me feel like I was walking or standing around for ages.
I fell over.  I was running on a grass verge and rather comically went splat straight forward onto my front.  I did not get hurt, just was a bit sore.
I wasn't familiar with the route I was doing and that always makes things feel harder.  Plus the road I was on seemed to go on forever and ever and ever.
At the 30 minute mark I had to stop and walk for a couple of minutes because it was too damn hard.
The one minute walk between the 40 minute round and the 20 minute round turned into a 2 minute walk.
On the 20 minute stretch I was running through town and pedestrians were getting in the way so I ahd to slow down and walk.
It just felt really, really hard.

I didn't even attempt Gas Hill again.  Running up that just wasn't going to happen today.

But then when I finished I looked at my endomondo app and I'd run (more of less) for 6.2 miles... which is 10k... I could have sworn I'd only done 5 or 5.5 miles...  Let me explain about how I record my running..:

I go out with two devices on me. One is my casio wristwatch.  I use the stopwatch in it to time when to run and when to walk.  So when I leave the house I start the 5 minute warm up walk and at the 5 minute mark I start running.  For today's session, I would then keep running until 45 minutes, then I would walk for 1 minute, then I would run until the stopwatch says 66 minutes.  Then I do the cool down walk for a further 5 minutes.
When I have to stop to cross roads I stop the stopwatch and start it again when I'm over and am able to run again.  If I have to have a walking break in the middle of a running round I stop the stopwatch whilst I walk and start it again when I run.  This means that no matter the amount of roads I cross, pauses I take or walking breaks I do, I know that run for the full amount of time in the the programme.  So today I ran for 60 minutes.

The second device that I use is the Endomondo app on my phone.  I start this either as soon as I leave the house, and stop it when I get home, or (like today) I start it after the warm up when I start running and stop it when I stop running, before the cool down.

So today I can see that although I was running for 60 minutes, I was out for 1 hour 10 minutes and I did 6.2 miles.  I estimate that with the falling over and hanging around waiting to cross roads, I was standing still for about 5 minutes so was walking for about 5 minutes.  According to the training plan I should have been walking for just one minute.  So OK, I didn;'t run for 6.2 miles, but I was covered that distance and I was running for the vast majority of that time.  This makes me feel a lot better.  The run may have felt awful, but I did what I needed to do.

The app says my average speed was 5.29 mph.  Now, when I was at the gym last week the treadmill was set at between 8km/hour and 9km/hour.  Sadly the treadmill doesn't show miles.. Now 9km/hour equates to 5.59miles/hour.  As I was running today it felt like I was going really slowly, much slower than I was on the treadmill.  I only really felt like I was doing a decent pace in the full 5 minutes before I fell over.  After that it felt really slow.  So I am very surprised by endomondo's average speed.  I must ahve been going faster than 5.29miles/hour when running, because the average has to incorporate the walking parts.

I guess this is a lesson that although I may feel awful about a run I may actually be doing OK on it.

Money raised:
£189.  That's £36 that I have personally donated and £153 from friends, family and anonymous sponsors.  Reclamation of gift aid has raised another £38.25, bringing the total to £225.25.
My target is £200 (without gift aid)  Please help me get there by donating on this website!

All money goes to the Abortion Support Network (ASN), who provide funds to Irish women needing to travel to England for an abortion.

Couch to 10k: Week 10, session 3

57 min. Run 20 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 15 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.


I did this on the treadmill at the gym.  It's the first time I've used a treadmill to run since I got fitted for my trainers, and that only involved running for 30 seconds.


I was concerned my elephantine step (I am not light on my feet) would cause the treadmill to judder and shudder and collapse, but it didn't, it survived.  My friend had warned me that running on a treadmill is really dull but I was fine with it.  I just concentrated on the minutes and kind of zoned out.  It's the sort of trance like zoning out that only happens when I meditate, or get a massage.  I just go on automatic and my mind might wander but my world just exists in my breathing, my muscles getting hammered or the movement of the running. am


Having said that, there were people using the treadmills either side of me and I found that quite distracting.  My rhythm didn't match their rhythm.  My eyes were digesting their movements and trying to convince my body to do the same, but I was going at a different pace and have a different gait so we weren't matching up.  I found that difficult.  I guess I'll get used to it.

I was running at a pace of between 8km an hour and 9km an hour.  The good thing about treadmills is you can set the pace so I can push myself.  When I'm running outside I don't push myself, I don't go fast, I drop back to a slow, easy pace.  I will be able to used the treadmill to run at 10km an hour, even if it's only for short periods.  Which will help me do the 10k race in as close to an hour as possible.

Money raised:
£188.  That's £35 that I have personally donated and £153 from friends, family and anonymous sponsors.  Reclamation of gift aid has raised another £38.25, bringing the total to £225.25.
My target is £200 (without gift aid)  Please help me get there by donating on this website!

All money goes to the Abortion Support Network (ASN), who provide funds to Irish women needing to travel to England for an abortion.

A reminder that I am using this training programme.  It's not always easy, I have found these last two sessions really tough and I am losing motivation, but it's good in that it gets you running without harm.

Couch to 10k: Week 10, session 2

54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.

Today I tried to go up Gas Hill again.  I got further, but not quite to the top.  I also think I overestimated how far I got last time.  Maybe it was just halfway up, not two thirds of the way up.  I blame the blood rushing to my head while I run.  I will keep going up this hill until I can run all the way up!  I say run, I am doing a running gait but I'm going up it at a walking speed...

In better news, I definitely ran parts of today's sessions faster. I could feel my legs going quicker.  I've started using an app to record my pace and distance, and it says that I did 4.6 miles today.  As 10 minutes of that was the warm up and cool down walk, I'll assume I covered 0.5 miles walking, which means I did about 4 miles running.  Which I'm pleased with.  My average speed (including the warm up/cool down walks) was 5.06 mph.  Having said that, if I look at my previous sessions my average speeds have been 4.87 mph and 4.69 mph and 5.19mph.  So perhaps I have been going faster on other sessions.  Oh hell I don't know!

I really want to be able to do the 10k in one hour.  I'm going to the gym tomorrow and I will use the treadmills there.  I will test myself and see if I can run at 6 miles an hour for the last training session of this week.  Fingers crossed.

I heard some crickets while I was out today, and I scared a lot of blackbirds.

A reminder that I am using this training programme.  It's not always easy, I have found these last two sessions really tough and I am losing motivation, but it's good in that it gets you running without harm.

Another reminder:  I am seeking sponsorship for doing this running programme.  For every training session that I complete I am donating £1 to the Abortion Support Network (ASN), who provide funds to Irish women needing to travel to England for an abortion.  From their website:

Abortion Support Network (ASN) is a charity that helps people* who travel to England to access a safe and legal abortion.
We provide financial assistance and accommodation to women travelling from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Funding is available on a case by case basis depending on financial need and availability of funding. ASN also provides confidential, non-judgmental information to anyone who contacts us via phone or email who is seeking information about travelling to England for an abortion or accessing medical abortion via Women on Web.
Our helpline is busier than ever, and new Irish laws won’t make any difference to the women who call us every day. More and more women in life-threatening crises need advice, support – and money. Please donate today.

* ASN does not ask gender when communicating with clients; nor does gender identity influence grant eligibility.

The asterisk and comments about gender are there to make clear that transgender men who find themselves pregnant can also ask ASN for help with funds to access an abortion.

I am asking all my readers to consider sponsoring me in my running efforts.  To date I have raised £187.  That's £34 that I have personally donated and £153 from friends, family and anonymous sponsors.  Reclamation of gift aid has raised another £38.25, bringing the total to £225.25.

This is a wonderful amount, but I'd really like to raise more.  My target is £200, without gift aid.  Please help me get there by donating on this website!

Couch to 10k: Week 10, Session 1

72 min. Run 10 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 20 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 30 minutes.

This week hasn't been great for running..  I couldn't go out on Sunday because I had work to do.  Then Monday it rained.  Hard.  The temperature dropped.  It was cold.  I don't deal well with Winter.
Tuesday it rained.  I got in late. It was still raining.  I really wanted to go out but couldn't face the weather.
This evening I pulled myself together and went out.  I decided to wrap up in protection against the vile, vile cold and wore leggings under my shorts and a long sleeve top.  They worked, I wasn't cold and it was only mildly spitting so I didn't really get wet either.

It's been 5 days since I last went out.  I kinda assumed that I'd be much faster today as I should be much more rested.  It was all road running, no woodland, because I wouldn't feel too safe in the dark woodland (I hate feeling this way, especially as I know it's all down to stranger-danger-victim-blaming-crap). 

According to WalkJogRun I did 5.28 miles, which is about 0.88 every 10 minutes, which is, quite frankly, rubbish.  I expected to do 6 miles as when I went out last Monday, for session 1 of week 9 I did 5.5 miles in 55 minutes.  Then again, last Monday I couldn't speak or move when I got in.  Today I could talk fine and I feel refreshed and a bit energised.  How bizarre.

When I was out I could see my breath.  That's never happened before.  Part of my route took me up one of the steepest and biggest hills in Norwich.  I'm quite proud of myself for managing it.

I have tomorrow afternoon off and Friday I've got a weekend away.  I am considering catching up on my sessions and going out Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, but we shall see how my legs are tomorrow.

A reminder that you can find my training programme here.
You can sponsor me here - only £30 needed to hit my target of £200! Please consider donating.  Thank you.

Summary of funds raised:
Total: £192
Breakdown: £32 from me, £148 from sponsors, £34,5 in gift aid.


All money goes towards the Abortion Support Network who help Irish women travel to England to access safe, legal abortions.  As well as donating using MyDonate (link given above) you can give direct to ASN by a one off bank transfer, or by setting up a regular standing order.  See here for details on how to do this.

Couch to 10k: Week 9, session 3

54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.


As I started this I was thinking how 10 minute runs now don't faze me at all.  I kept thinking this until about round 3 of running/walking and it suddenly felt quite hard.  Then on the final round my knees started hurting a bit.  I think this is down to a combination of things - Monday's monster run, only one day off inbetween training sessions and the half bottle of wine I drank last night.  I'm not worried.  I think I did 3.97 miles of running today, if my internet map based guessitmate are correct.


I am giving myself the weekend off and then going out on Monday/Wednesday/Friday next week, probably.  I've got a feeling Monday might destroy me...  It can't be as hard as last Monday's session can it??


I didn't see much wildlife today.  It has been drizzling all day which is probably why.  there were few insects out and only one bird or two.  There were very few people out too, which meant it was very peaceful.


I've only got 4 weeks left of training.  Blimey.  I'm so impressed I've got so far.  I never thought I'd be able to do this.  Give me a few weeks and I might call myself a runner.  Maybe.


Funds raised:
Total: £191
Breakdown: £31 from me, £128 from sponsors, £32 in gift aid.

How amazing and generous people are!  Thank you all!
You can sponsor me and find out about my charity of choice here.

Couch to 10k: Week 9, session 2

46 min. Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 6 times.

This was much easier than Monday's run.  It was merely incredibly tiring as opposed to murderous.  As I started my legs felt like lead - ideally I'd have gone out on Thursday not Wednesday but I don't want to mess up my schedule.  I'm quite looking forward to the final session for this week, which is run 10 minutes/walk 1.  I don't know if I'll do it on Friday or Saturday yet.

I realise I have been rather slack with reporting on wildlife.  I think this a combination of me being unable to think while I'm running and also there not being much about.  When I went out yesterday there were a few dragonflies, bees and moths but not much else.  It's not as warm at 6.30 as it was and by the time I come home at 7.30 ish the sun is setting.  Soon I'll have to start running in the gym.

Total tally of money raised is an amazing £190!!!!  That's £30 from me, £128 in donations from lovely, lovely, generous people and £32 in gift aid.  That's really nearly nearly my target of £200.  I never ever thought I’d get this much.  You’re all amazing!  THANK YOU!!!

 
 

Couch to 10k: Week 9, session 1 (aka oh-my-lord-that-was-really-hard)

68 min. Run 10 minutes/walk 1 minute; Run 15 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 20 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes. 

So yesterday I did what has been dubbed the evil run.  If you remember that the longest I have ever run before is 10 minutes at a time, you see why my friend dubbed it evil.

I had one unexpected break mid the 15 minute round as I went past my house and ducked in for one minute to use the toilet.  In total I ran for 5.93 miles, which if you take out the 5 minute walks to warm up and cool down, done at about 3.5 miles an hour, means that I ran for about 5.43 miles. I think it takes me just under 10 minutes to do 1 mile, which is good.  At this rate it will take me just over 1 hour to do 10k (6.2 miles).  I am happy with that.

Man, 15 minutes and 20 minutes is a realllllllly long time.  A realllly long time. I was checking my watch every 3 minutes.  Physically, it was hard work and I think I did most of it on automatic.  During the last 10 minutes of running my knees started hurting.  They are better today.

So when I got home I sat on the stairs and lost the power of speech.  I’d already lost the power of thought and I think I ran for 16 minutes instead of 15 because I couldn’t do mental arithmetic. I got home and the boyfriend gave me a glass of water and asked how it went and I just went blargh bleurgh wiffle.    It was not good.  He made dinner and I sat down and when I got up 1 hour later I nearly fell over.  That is not an exaggeration.  My legs didn’t work.  My move upstairs to bed was done in a crab like motion.  When I got out of bed this morning I went down the stairs nearly doubled over.  The walk to work helped stretch me out.  I didn’t do any stretches last night, I was too wrecked.  Also, once I’d ate dinner I felt sick.  I think I ate too much.

The next session is running for 5 minutes at a time.  Thank god.

Total tally of money raised is an amazing £126.50!!!!  That's £29 from me, £78 in donations from lovely, lovely, generous people and £19.50 in gift aid.  That's 63% towards my target of £200.  I never thought I’d get this much.  You’re all amazing!  THANK YOU!!!

If you'd like to sponsor me you can do so here or give directly to ASN here - they provide money to Irish women needing to travel to the UK for abortions.  Abortion is incredibly restricted in Ireland, both the Republic and the North, although it is perfectly legal for women to travel to obtain an abortion.  The cost of an abortion, travel and accommodation varies between approximately £400 and £2,000, which means that less well off women often find it difficult to raise the necessary funds.  ASN also have volunteer hosts who provide a place to stay and meals for women travelling to the UK.  You can find out more about the women who need ASN's help by reading their newsletters.