WELL what a week it has been! Just 14 weeks to go to the big marathon day now - eeeek!

The week couldn't have got off to a worse start when I had some bad family news but somehow I have managed to turn it around and finished the week with a decent performance in my first ever fell race.

On Monday I received news my grandad died and since then I have been looking for something to focus my attention on - thankfully I had the marathon - and I got loads done.

I have had three training sessions at the gym at Lakes Leisure, Kendal, two road runs and now a fell race too!

I had never tried fell running before when my boss Mike suggested I take to the Kendal Winter League course at Scout Scar today(Sunday), and it was very challenging.

I knew it would be different to road running but it was tougher even than I anticipated.

However, after about 50 minutes I completed the course, having negotiated the rocks, mud and a couple of nasty looking cows.

I was nervous about my ankles as I awaited the start and was cursing Mike as I topped the first summit, but as I rounded the final corner and darted for the line I felt a sense of accomplishment.

While I can't see me taking up a fell running regime, I can see its benefits and will probably try to mix up my training with the odd dash across the fields from now on.

The workout I had in those 50 minutes took as much out of me as my two hour session at the gym!

Away from the running aspect I have been offered free nutritional advice from Linda Stott, who contacted me after my last blog post.

Linda has asked me to make a list of everything I eat for five days before our meeting so I am going to take myself off to find a chocolate bar before my diet list gets underway tomorrow morning.

I have also hit the £100 mark in my fundraising efforts - five per cent of the way to the £2,000 I have pledged to raise for the Epilepsy Society - who this week changed their name from the National Society for Epilepsy.

I am delighted as there is such a long way to go in my sponsorship aims and the event is closing in quicker than I can say Happy New Year!

Also regarding my fundraising I have finalised plans for a charity night at The Park in Kendal on Friday, March 4.

I am hosting a 70s and 80s fancy dress night and I would like you all to come along. Tickets are just £4 and costumes can be whatever you want them to be, from music icons, to TV stars andd even cartoon characters.

For those of you that maybe haven't moved on from the 80s, fancy dress isn't essential, but all support is welcome!

In the next two weeks I plan to push my training further again and be running at least 10-12 miles by the end of January, but more importantly I will be contacting businesses to see if they can contribute to a raffle to be held during the charity night.

So if you run a business or organisation and have something you could donate to the raffle I would be delighted to hear from you.

If you are not in business but would like to help out, whether for the raffle, training or any other aspect, please feel free to contact me on email - sportingpat@hotmail.com or through my fundraising page - www.justgiving.com/paddyslondonmarathon.

Finally, thank you all for the support so far. I hope to see you all at the fancy dress night and wish you all the luck for 2011.

Now where's that chocolate bar....