It's almost the month of lurve...
The month most closely associated with hearts...
And that means it's time to think about awareness raising...
But what about?
Is it - we exist... some of us die as children... some of us have life limiting conditions... some of us defy the odds and run, cycle etc more than we were ever allowed in our childhoods - or it all of them.
In marketing terms its a complicated sell, what is the USP of being affected by a congenital heart defect?
I honestly don't know - 20+ years in the awareness raising game and I'm not sure if anything makes us a unique group of individuals. We can be defined by having or knowing someone with a congenital heart defect but that in itself is not a selling point.
We're not all cute...
We're not all blue...
We don't all need help to do things...
So I'm still struggling with the USP...
What I do know, is that awareness raising is about going out into the wider world, telling people who do not know, and may be interested, that we exist. Self referential awareness raising doesn't work - telling someone something they already know is a bit odd...
So break out of the shackles of Facebook and Twitter and do something to tell someone else about us... If that's wearing red, and most importantly explaining why, then do that! If it is helping the Children's Heart Federation collect at one of the busiest train stations in the UK then click here
As for me, I'll be do my mix of behind the scenes stuff (yes you can raise awareness without it being plastered everywhere, its about influence) and running in CHF colours at my first formal race of the year - http://www.maddog10k.co.uk/
And trust me, when I tell some of the other runners that I have a heart condition they gain some awareness...
So pick your message, sell it well, say it true and remember just because congenital heart defects are important to us, doesn't mean they are to others - so be nice and respect people!
TTFN
Paul
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Sunday, 22 January 2012
A musical interlude - Might for right, not might is right...
I grew up with my nose stuck in many a book; my favourites then are still some of them now - The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sherlock Holmes, Tales of Robin Hood and King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Not having a set of particularly robust male role models I sought solace in tales of daring do, mystery and chivalry.
I also like musicals, and much to some of my friends disgust, and love Camelot and Man of La Mancha partly because they draw together some of themes from the books I loved and made them manageable. They also managed to turn pages and concepts into a line or two of song...
Might for right, not might is right -
I've said elsewhere I don't like bullies, and its a sad fact that some who've been bullied find the attraction of the power that brings when they encounter someone they have some level of power over too tease, bully and impose themselves on that person becoming that which they hated most.
And boy, is that a seductive trap... Checking yourself constantly, getting those closest to you to check, and checking that when you provide help and advice you do it for the best of reasons...
Checking doesn't mean you have to always agree with people, and if they are wrong and present a risk to themselves or others they do need to be told... So get those people to check, review and let you know how close to the line you're getting...
Of course the recipient of the advice may not welcome it, especially when they are in the wrong - well that when you have to develop a suit of armour of your own. Doing the right thing against the tide of popular opinion is a tough river to swim...
Man of La Mancha gave me the first nickname I didn't hate, or was from someone trying to bully me by making a joke of my heart condition. It was from a friend now long dead, who saw behind the shield of humour, daring do and fire & brimstone passion to see a knight of woeful countenance
- tilting at windmills is something I seem to excel at, occasionally I may even catch my Dulcinea...
Finally, its not been a good week in the UK dicky-ticker world and while the rage against the night has been and gone there is now just that lingering feeling -
So to misadventures, if not adventures my friends
TTFN
Paul
Not having a set of particularly robust male role models I sought solace in tales of daring do, mystery and chivalry.
I also like musicals, and much to some of my friends disgust, and love Camelot and Man of La Mancha partly because they draw together some of themes from the books I loved and made them manageable. They also managed to turn pages and concepts into a line or two of song...
Might for right, not might is right -
I've said elsewhere I don't like bullies, and its a sad fact that some who've been bullied find the attraction of the power that brings when they encounter someone they have some level of power over too tease, bully and impose themselves on that person becoming that which they hated most.
And boy, is that a seductive trap... Checking yourself constantly, getting those closest to you to check, and checking that when you provide help and advice you do it for the best of reasons...
Checking doesn't mean you have to always agree with people, and if they are wrong and present a risk to themselves or others they do need to be told... So get those people to check, review and let you know how close to the line you're getting...
Of course the recipient of the advice may not welcome it, especially when they are in the wrong - well that when you have to develop a suit of armour of your own. Doing the right thing against the tide of popular opinion is a tough river to swim...
Man of La Mancha gave me the first nickname I didn't hate, or was from someone trying to bully me by making a joke of my heart condition. It was from a friend now long dead, who saw behind the shield of humour, daring do and fire & brimstone passion to see a knight of woeful countenance
- tilting at windmills is something I seem to excel at, occasionally I may even catch my Dulcinea...
Finally, its not been a good week in the UK dicky-ticker world and while the rage against the night has been and gone there is now just that lingering feeling -
So to misadventures, if not adventures my friends
TTFN
Paul
Sunday, 8 January 2012
A day to fall in love (again)...
... with the English countryside...
The Peak District is one of my favourite places on this planet, once you get away from the normal honey spots you can walk for hours seeing no-one else, and yet know that civilisation with all of its pluses and minuses is only a short way away...
When the day starts out like this, its not going to be a bad one... Throw in about 650m of up and down, and just under 22km (2000ft & just under 14 miles), a fair chunk of it over a moor that gives views of the sharp edges over the Derwent valley, and the rest through the historical plague village of Eyam (pronounced Eaamm, not Eyam, or by the American guest at the Youth Hostel E-YAM) down to Stonet Middleton where the climbers were playing and a slap up tea the Youth Hostel (they do do food, it's cheap and the better than much in pubs these days). Good Job I burned those 2000 calories!
The only downside on 2 and a bit days walking - a mysterious blister on my heel... Why mysterious, because the boots have done the best part of 80 miles before Friday, and I can find no reason. But a decent compeed blister plaster seems to have done the trick. I'm also fairly lucky with such things, given the abuse my feet get I average, roughly, a blister every 300 miles - which isn't bad!
Time for a soak I think
TTFN
Paul
ps Total so far for the year - 74km
The Peak District is one of my favourite places on this planet, once you get away from the normal honey spots you can walk for hours seeing no-one else, and yet know that civilisation with all of its pluses and minuses is only a short way away...
When the day starts out like this, its not going to be a bad one... Throw in about 650m of up and down, and just under 22km (2000ft & just under 14 miles), a fair chunk of it over a moor that gives views of the sharp edges over the Derwent valley, and the rest through the historical plague village of Eyam (pronounced Eaamm, not Eyam, or by the American guest at the Youth Hostel E-YAM) down to Stonet Middleton where the climbers were playing and a slap up tea the Youth Hostel (they do do food, it's cheap and the better than much in pubs these days). Good Job I burned those 2000 calories!
The only downside on 2 and a bit days walking - a mysterious blister on my heel... Why mysterious, because the boots have done the best part of 80 miles before Friday, and I can find no reason. But a decent compeed blister plaster seems to have done the trick. I'm also fairly lucky with such things, given the abuse my feet get I average, roughly, a blister every 300 miles - which isn't bad!
Time for a soak I think
TTFN
Paul
ps Total so far for the year - 74km
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Change the World... Another NY Resolution blog
New Years Resolutions...
Blargh....
Don't do them, when I did I didn't keep them...
However, that doesn't mean I don't do change... I just pick random dates... well semi-random...and some like the title are long term projects... Apologies, I'm on a blogging roll, so you'll need to wade through other stuff first...
Weight loss - Reviewing my training plans for 2012 in November, I decided one way to improve would be to carry less weight... My collection of titanium , tissue thin waterproofs and micro-towels is a good start. Unfortunately the only thing really left to trim weight off is me...
The best objectives are ones with an element of precision - so by the Belfast Marathon (7 May) I'll have lost at least a stone (14lbs, 6kg).
How - simple really - I'll eat a bit more sensibly. My slow cooker will work its magic for my evening meal, lunchtimes will be mainly a tin of soup and I will try to remember that although its easy to improve my mood with a large carb-surge it doesn't do my blood sugar or waist line much good.
Progress - the week before Christmas I was down half a stone. It'll have gone up a bit, but this is a long term aim not a crash diet.
More exercise - I can hear the puzzlement through my computer screen. Again its not really more, its better. Last year's marathon training was scratchy - I got the long slow runs in, but the mid week runs were intermittent and not always targeted. I have a bag full of reasons for that - my job is to work around them and do better.
So, specifically - I'll move one of my runs to after work, giving me more time to do a longer run. I've done it before when training with the specific aim of breaking the 2:45 for a half marathon, I will do it again.
A New Challenge - A difficult one - I run in anything from 5k's to marathons in a year... I've walked a fair bit too... Challenges have to inspire me, and possibly others, hence the 2012km, the Excalibur Marathon and the Nottingham ultra-marathon. All are beyond my comfort limits, each will push my determination, stamina and sheer bloody stubbornness to new levels.
Do something fun - well that's the Open University course, there is absolutely no need for me to do an arts course, I could just potter around art galleries and muse on what I see. However, I respond best to a goal and a challenge - so an Arts based degree it is (and yes fitting it in is difficult). So the specific is to submit the assignments on time, and to pass them all... Not entirely straightforward when confronted with a poetry assignment!
Change the world - nothing big there then. I have a certain skill set, nothing to do with the running, walking and climbing, and access to a wide range of people with knowledge which when combined can make things happen.
I don't write much about these meetings, email exchanges and presentations because most of the time they are frigging boring - and often they are the very long end of a lever. Some of them are behind closed doors and I can't talk about, but all of the input over the years is invaluable, others can be more open - and when I know which I'll ask for your specific help.
So, it's a bank holiday weekend, Sunday is officially one of my rest days from exercise so its a catch up on other stuff - 2 essay's to write (Poetry! Cats! Argghhh!), a blog for the Adult Congenital Heart Association (Here - they're worth a read, and not just mine!), training plans to finalise, and just to prove its not all a grind - I'm off to the Peak District next weekend for a short break, so the maps are out and the weather being checked...
TTFN
Paul
Blargh....
Don't do them, when I did I didn't keep them...
However, that doesn't mean I don't do change... I just pick random dates... well semi-random...and some like the title are long term projects... Apologies, I'm on a blogging roll, so you'll need to wade through other stuff first...
Weight loss - Reviewing my training plans for 2012 in November, I decided one way to improve would be to carry less weight... My collection of titanium , tissue thin waterproofs and micro-towels is a good start. Unfortunately the only thing really left to trim weight off is me...
The best objectives are ones with an element of precision - so by the Belfast Marathon (7 May) I'll have lost at least a stone (14lbs, 6kg).
How - simple really - I'll eat a bit more sensibly. My slow cooker will work its magic for my evening meal, lunchtimes will be mainly a tin of soup and I will try to remember that although its easy to improve my mood with a large carb-surge it doesn't do my blood sugar or waist line much good.
Progress - the week before Christmas I was down half a stone. It'll have gone up a bit, but this is a long term aim not a crash diet.
More exercise - I can hear the puzzlement through my computer screen. Again its not really more, its better. Last year's marathon training was scratchy - I got the long slow runs in, but the mid week runs were intermittent and not always targeted. I have a bag full of reasons for that - my job is to work around them and do better.
So, specifically - I'll move one of my runs to after work, giving me more time to do a longer run. I've done it before when training with the specific aim of breaking the 2:45 for a half marathon, I will do it again.
A New Challenge - A difficult one - I run in anything from 5k's to marathons in a year... I've walked a fair bit too... Challenges have to inspire me, and possibly others, hence the 2012km, the Excalibur Marathon and the Nottingham ultra-marathon. All are beyond my comfort limits, each will push my determination, stamina and sheer bloody stubbornness to new levels.
Do something fun - well that's the Open University course, there is absolutely no need for me to do an arts course, I could just potter around art galleries and muse on what I see. However, I respond best to a goal and a challenge - so an Arts based degree it is (and yes fitting it in is difficult). So the specific is to submit the assignments on time, and to pass them all... Not entirely straightforward when confronted with a poetry assignment!
Change the world - nothing big there then. I have a certain skill set, nothing to do with the running, walking and climbing, and access to a wide range of people with knowledge which when combined can make things happen.
I don't write much about these meetings, email exchanges and presentations because most of the time they are frigging boring - and often they are the very long end of a lever. Some of them are behind closed doors and I can't talk about, but all of the input over the years is invaluable, others can be more open - and when I know which I'll ask for your specific help.
So, it's a bank holiday weekend, Sunday is officially one of my rest days from exercise so its a catch up on other stuff - 2 essay's to write (Poetry! Cats! Argghhh!), a blog for the Adult Congenital Heart Association (Here - they're worth a read, and not just mine!), training plans to finalise, and just to prove its not all a grind - I'm off to the Peak District next weekend for a short break, so the maps are out and the weather being checked...
TTFN
Paul
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