Day 64 - A nice day for a long run.

I've been very restless over the last 3 days. It's hard to describe other than it's the same kind of feeling that I had the week after I finished the big run. It appears that my mind is once again expecting to plan, organise and think about doing long runs. Also, my body seems full of energy and is expecting to do a long run. I was hoping to have a day off after 3 good runs this week but I may end up going for a run in the North Pennines later this afternoon.

I suppose being restless is something I can't complain too much about. It's better than not being bothered to run at all.

Day 62 - Lots going on.

The sponsor money is still coming in nicely. There is now less than £2000 left to collect and 3 weeks in which to collect it. Of course, the justgiving.com website has taken the pain out of collecting such a vast amount. God bless the internet!

Roberto Marchegiani was, today, the latest sponsor to increase his initial pledge and the fund creeps ever nearer the £28,000 mark. It's amazing to think that, when I finished the run in Lands End nearly 4 weeks ago, the fund stood at £23,080. The fund currently stands at £27,743 and I've got every confidence that it will reach £28,000 (I've got a few tricks up my sleeve involving a certain cheque presentation evening and taking advantage of the drunken guests!).

Over 100 tickets have now been sold for the cheque presentation evening. As I reported earlier in the week it promises to be a cracking do. I'm really looking forward to seeing The Happy Cats as well as all of my "colleagues, friends and family". In fact, as a result of the friendships I've made during this run, those 3 words are very much interchangeable these days.

Meanwhile, on top of the planning and collecting, I'm continuing to put in some very good miles on the road. Since returning to work last week, I've managed a couple of very intensive sessions in the gym. I've also put in 4 runs of the highest quality (by my standards anyhow!). Each one of them has been a PB. I've twice smashed my records for the 5 mile Newcastle Race course route as well as the 6 mile Town Moor route (aka the Mark Allison Memorial 6 miles). I've had some excellent company on the runs in the form of the "speed merchants", i.e Mark Fleming, Pete Maddison and Carlton Fletcher. More about that on Sunday, though, when I summarise the last few week's training.

In the space of 8 months my comfortable running pace has gone from 10:30 to 08:30 minutes per mile. This improvement is in line with the weight I've lost. I expect to get quicker as I continue to lose weight. That's the plan anyway! It won't be as easy as it was during the first 8 months of the year as I've now re-discovered the fact that I quite like the taste of beer!

Day 61 - The generousity continues.

I got a nice surprise today when a "fat" cheque was passed to me by the director of local IT company Savantis.

Earlier in the day colleagues Rob Lincoln and Andy McClean, just like many others of late, increased their original pledges.

These superb pledges have certainly given the fund a great chance of getting up to £28,000 and are very much appreciated.

Meanwhile, I've received a number of raffle prizes to be used for the cheque presentation evening and tickets are selling very well indeed.

Day 60 - Grog on the Tyne!

"Houston we have a venue!". Dunston Excelsior Working Mens Club to be precise. This is the venue that I hoped we'd get! I've attended a few charity do's here over the years and know first hand that the facilities are top notch (as well as the beer I might add!).

The last charity do I was at here was in 2005 for Cancer Bridge in Hexham. That particular do was organised by Dunston locals Helen and Billy Hope. There just happened to be an auction that evening. I had my eye on 2 items - Paul Gascoigne's final competitive match worn shirt (for Boston United) and a signed Newcastle shirt (The UEFA Cup semi final squad). I made sure I only had a couple of pints to keep the bidding sensible. I might as well have had a skin full as I managed to win both items at a cost of £900! All for a good cause! At least that's what I told Katy when I explained how I'd put the housekeeping to good use.

We are well on the way to making sure that the event is a sell out for what promises to be a great evening.

Day 59 - The happiest of Happy Cats!

I'm delighted to confirm that music for the cheque presentation evening will be provided by North East band The Happy Cats. The group were formed in 2001 by none other than ex Lindisfarne member Marty Craggs. Accompanying Marty are Brian Duffy and Les Dodds! Get excited! Get very excited!

To have a local band of this standing provide the "soundtrack" to the evening when substantial sums of money are to be handed over to the Hospice is just the icing on the cake. Superb! Just superb!

They sum themselves up as "Take a drop of the Irish, a shot of Cajun, a little country, some folk, a hot spoonful of salsa, a twist of tamla, shake it all up with 30 years of rock ‘n’ roll experience, throw in a dash of three part harmony, garnish with lashings of good humour and you have The Happy Cats!".

Thanks to Keith at Toon Travel and Biffa at NUFC.COM for the "introduction".

Day 59 - ......and the fund keeps growing.

It's been 3 weeks since I made it to Lands End and still the fund continues to rise. There have been some new pledges over the last couple of days from people who have just heard about the event. There was also one pledge today that is worth letting you know about.

One of my colleagues at Northern Rock, Joanne Heightly, was the lucky winner of a work's competition called the "bonus ball". To my utter surprise, she was generous enough to add her winnings to the fund. Of course, with Joanne being a Northern Rock employee the Northern Rock foundation will double match her contribution. The last 59 days have been full of random acts of kindness such as this. When will they and this fund total ever end? Thanks to Joanne and indeed the new sponsors.

In the meantime, Katy and I have been busy organising the cheque presentation evening. The venue is almost confirmed. The caterer is booked. We are waiting to hear from the band. We are also on the scrounge for raffle prizes. The itinerary and speeches are coming together. I'm still on the look out for a compere who can do a better job than yours truly. Does anyone know how to get in touch with And and Dec?

Day 56 - Where will this fund total end?

Thanks to a couple of Northern Rock colleagues upping their original pledges, the fund has now breached the £27,000 mark. Namely these colleagues are Jonathan Jobe and Mark Alderson (Gino). Remember that pledges from Northern Rock staff are double matched by the Northern Rock Foundation.

Gino's extra pledge came from a winning bet that he placed at the Barnsley game on Wednesday. As far as I remember, his prediction was Obafemi Martins for the last goal and a 2-0 win. His bet came up trumps and he decided to put the winnings into the fund. What a guy!

I travelled to the UEFA Cup Semi Final in Marseille with Gino a few years back. I hope it is not too long in the future before we get the chance to watch the Toon in Europe again.

Day 55 - A couple of invitations, the fund grows and an injury.

I was asked this week if I'd like to contribute to a charity cook book to be put together by Greggs. All funds are in aid of one of my favourite other charities - North of England's Children's Cancer Research (NECCR). If you'd like to know what my recipe was you'll have to buy the book when it hits the shops.

I've also been invited to the Hospitality area at this year's Great North Run. I've completed the run 8 times over the years. It'll be interesting to see the race from a different perspective.

There have been some new sponsors today. Word is still spreading about this year's run and people are still pledging. It's brilliant really and the fund is heading nicely towards £27,000. Let me just say that again - TWENTY SEVEN THOUSAND POUNDS!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!

And finally! One person who joined me on the Pennine Challenge (Day 16) continues to be in pain on a daily basis (or should that read "continues to be a pain"). Michael Dunn (pictured) hobbled across the finish line in brave fashion as his knee packed in and was in a right state after running 21 miles of the required 22 miles! Despite that serious injury, he made it across the finish line against all odds.

After ruling out having a private operation that costs over £3,500 and that would leave him with arthritis in years to come, Michael has settled for intensive physio treatment.

Against all advice, "Dunny" has recently tried to return to fitness in the gym and this has left him in even more pain. He also having difficulty playing golf. That's down to his new girlfriend putting her foot down though and nowt to do with his dodgy knee.

My pain after running 874 miles stopped 2 weeks ago. Dunny's knee pain will continue for some time yet and I wish him a speedy recovery. Colleague and good friend, Mark Fleming, is said to be providing Dunny with emotional support during these difficult times!

But seriously, he is certainly one person who gave his all for the cause on the 22nd July and has raised nearly £1000 as a member of the Pennine Challenge Team. That amount is not included in my total by the way. Money is still being collected in, however, it looks like the Pennine Challenge Team have raised over £3000 for the Hospice.

The cheque for the Pennine Challenge will be presented to the Hospice along with the mackem challenger's cheque for £1500 and my own cheque on September 27th.

Day 54 - A different league!

I went out for another lunchtime run today. The route was my favourite 6 mile course from Gosforth around the Town Moor and back. This is also known as the "Mark Allison memorial 6 miles". As all my running companions know, this route takes in my birthplace - Princess Mary's Hospital. It's visible from the Great North Road and I always make a point of mentioning it to whoever is running with me.

I had speed merchants Mark Fleming and Pete Maddison for company today. We set off at a steady 10 minute mile pace and knocked off 30 seconds per mile for each mile until the end.

I picked up the pace and tried a break away at 5 miles. Yes! Me trying a break away! Can you imagine it. The fact that I was still with them at the 5 mile point is unheard of. I didn't manage to keep the lead for very long and they ran past me effortlessly. I did have them in my sights at the end though! I was really pleased with the final time of 51:19 which I'm pleased to report is a PB!

I've got to say that the last 2 lunchtime runs have been at a standard I've not ran at for 10 years. Mind you, I've not been at this weight for 10 years either! A few experienced runners are saying that I should be slowing things down and taking it easy after the big run. There's no chance of me doing that. Not a chance! My natural instinct now is not that different to the closing miles of each day during the final week in the John O'Groats to Lands End run. I just want to run as fast as I can to get to the finish. My instinct is also to look out for the support car and I've seen quite a few black Vauxhall Astras over the last few days. Surprisingly, none of them have stopped to give me a banana and some water!

It was good to end the day at St James Park and even better to actually see some goals! I was in the Boro end on Sunday so couldn't celebrate those 2 goals properly. I made up for it tonight mind! I bought the new away kit before the game in size LARGE. No more XL's for me these days.

As I thought on Sunday and even more so now, that Cacapa looks like a really classy and reliable defender. I'd like to see him against tougher opposition than Boro or Barnsley. The signs are good though.

As I drove home from the match, I heard Bob Moncur, on the radio, mention my lap of honour. "Letting the fan run around the pitch and receive the applause" were his words as he was talking about the recent good PR stunts coming from the club. I also got a mention from Biffa in an interview that he gave to the BBC Tyne website. You can see that here. He talks about the response from NUFC.COM readers and the "immense pride and satisfaction" that he and co-writer Niall got. Great stuff!

On a different note, due to a lot of people increasing their pledges today, the fund now stands at £26,506. I think £27,000 could be on the cards when the time comes to handover the cheque to St Benedict's Hospice! The fund was nearly a few quid short today as mackem, Lee Fisher, tried to pay with foriegn coins resembling £1 coins! I spotted his plan before I ticked his name off the sponsor form though and he coughed up some genuine Sterling. And while I'm on the subject of mackems! Steven Moore, the mackem challenger, still hasn't been able to bring himself to do a run since his day of derby day defeat in July. The shame must be unbearable!

Day 53 - Hello! Hello! It's good to be back! It's good to be back!

It was back to work for me today and a chance to do my first lunchtime run in a long old while. I decided to do the 5 mile run to the Race Course. The conditions were superb for running.

I decided not to use my GPS watch as this period of de-training is not about getting a good time or running really fast (Aye right!). As per usual, that plan went out of the window and thanks to being 2 stone lighter than normal I used my new found speed to clock up 43 minutes approximately. This was a rough time using the clock on my iPod.

The GPS watch will be in use tomorrow though as I have a crack at beating my PB for the Town Moor.