Simon's 1,718km in 17/18

So this is it, 9 months down, only 3 months remaining While some of my colleagues have already reached the 1718 target, i'm still some way off.  In fact so far I've not actually hit the 'required average' of 4.7k per day.  As at midnight on 6th January I've done 1,260k, so about 35k short of the 'required average' year to date.   Don't write me off just yet though, in the last 2 weeks I've averaged 5.6k per day so if I keep this pace up or improve I should make it. I've also started evening running in the cold and dark.  I thought I would be able to get in plenty of evening runs in the summer months but things got the better of me so I've possibly made it harder for myself, but to be honest I don't really mind it too much.  In some respects it is easier to concentrate and just crack on with a run when its cold and dark, no countryside or sunsets to look at and distract me.

I won't say Merry Christmas because for some it has been, but maybe not for all. Perhaps you know someone close to you with dementia, perhaps this is is your last Christmas with them, or your first Christmas without them. That's to say nothing of those who suffer from dementia themselves, perhaps unable to engage in the festivities. For me, it's the first Christmas without Dad. Last Christmas he spent in hospital with a bout of pneumonia. Looking back, an eerie omen of the year to come even though it was a month before his formal diagnosis. We spent time with Dad in the hospital but he was noticeably absent from the table, the tree and the general goings on. This year (and I suspect for most Christmases going forward) his absence was less tangible. Maybe its too soon. Maybe its because (at least until our holiday in May) between us all we didn’t have enough conversations that this X could be the last X with Dad. All we could do last Christmas was to hope

His journey has brought him Not too far, not too near From fifties big smoke To leafy Hertfordshire In Stevenage found him His Christine, his love dear In Ware they would wed Within the two year Children would bring him Pain, joy and cheer But the one thing he never showed Was one ounce of fear When Feb Seventeen brought him Bad news to hear It was time for those close to him To shed a tear Alackaday for him Had less than a year From fateful diagnosis And now we are here But fear not for him, Come raise a beer, Remember our Geoff, Friend, brother dad, and husband so dear Yes friends fear not for him, He'll always be near, Just look inside ourselves, For now he is here

As I began to come to terms with his passing, before going to sleep on the second day, it suddenly hit me that my "proper Dad" was gone.  Forever.   Since May we had been dealing with Dad in hospital and the last week was even more difficult.  Following 2 bouts of pneumonia (I read recently that up to 2/3 of patients with forms of dementia will ultimately die due to pneumonia) treatment was stopped and Dad held on for nearly a week. The first couple of days was about letting go of that Dad, the Dad who had struggled on and on in hospital for the last months, weeks and days.  However after that I remembered (obviously hadn't forgotten) than the old Dad, the "proper Dad" had passed. With the gradual, but unstoppable regression of recent months I had not stopped to try to draw a line where I can hand on heart remember him as a whole person.  Family members spoke of the last thing he said to them, but I think the last proper thing he said to me was "

So the first half of the year has come and gone (6th October), and what a 6 months it has been! When I started this project back in April, Dad was still walking, talking and though he noticeably had dementia he was still to a large degree my dad (I know he has never, nor will never stop being my dad). Maybe it's natural, with time constraints seeing Dad in hospital, but my running distance had slipped in recent weeks/months, and it was only very recently (just before 6th October I think) that my total for the year so far hit the half way mark. I had planned to be averaging around 6k per day, not just the minimum average 4.7k per day to account for the summer months being lighter. Plus I had been on organised runs (like 10k and park runs) which are now less frequent, and with my wife back to work from maternity those occasions are also less frequent. Still, half way there in terms of distance and time, so I have to just remember the words of Bon Jovi: We've got to ho

So Geoff, son of Laurence Lovick, passed on 3 October 2017 God bless you Dad

Dear reader, If a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, it ends too with a final step. Poor Dad's very close now to his final steps.