DAY 750

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye....

1.  Having written a page a day diary for the entirety of my teenage years, I never really doubted my ability to keep my blog going for a little over two years.  What I didn't know was whether anyone would want to read it, or stick with it, and some of you have done both. Thank you.

2.  Thanks too to everyone who supported my fundraising. There are children who are drinking cleaner water, having a better childhood or facing a brighter future because of your generosity.

3.  Am I glad I did it? Absolutely.  Will I run another? Unlikely.  Was it everything I wanted it to be? Yes and no. What next?  A tidy house, an A Level in Textiles and a 22 minute parkrun!!!! At least one of which will take two years - but fear not I shan't be documenting it, not least because there is a distinct possibility that at least one of them might not happen!

4.  But first I want to spend some time with my family for the few months that we have left before C leaves for Uni.  Actually I'm not sure that my most precious sons will relish their mother's need for increased family time, in which case I'm off to be with my beloved Mr L before his marathon training begins!

 5.  I am so fortunate to be blessed with a wonderful family and fabulous friends - the past two years would have been considerably different without your support and company along the way.  You know who you are, and I hope you know what you mean to me.

Parkrun to Marathon in 750 days (a journey of 1000 miles)  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.






 

Day 749

1.  Mistakenly thought today was going to be day 750 when I decided to keep going with my blog after the marathon and the main reason for continuing was so I got to say...

2.  I AM MARRIED TO AN ENDURANCE ATHLETE!!! Well done Mr L, so very proud of you xxx

3.  What I couldn't have known at the time was what a wonderful day it was going to be - spent in glorious sunshine in the wonderful company of my extended parkrun family!

4.  Inconceivable that London was only two weeks ago, and we were worried about sleet, but there is no way I could have run in today's heat.  Full credit to all who did - you were a-maz-ing! 

5.  Undoubtedly the sunshine helped - a lot! But I loved being in the city first thing this morning when the race was being set up, it was really exciting standing waiting for the boys to put in their first appearance, a bit of a hardship then having to go and eat breakfast in nice cafe, slightly tense waiting to see them finish, euphoric seeing them at the end and then back to the difficult job of joining them in a post run celebratory drink... All the excitement with none of the pain! I should have thought of this earlier!

M + 14

Day 748

1.  A visit to the chiropodist instead of parkrun and it's been confirmed that I have a slight infection that she thinks will clear by itself (I didn't mention the sugar and soap approach) and tibialis anterior tendonitis.

2.  In other words - a sore foot! 

3.  Could take up to eighteen months for it to settle down but the good news is that the recommendation is for reduced running not NO running... 

4.  So anything less than 26 miles should surely count?! 

5.  Watching Al get ready for his first half marathon this evening brought back many happy memories of Brighton... Think I'd better go try and get some sleep we may be up rather early! 

M + 13

Day 747

1.  Fun day today trying to work out how to make EF's dress...

2.  More specifically how to draw a big enough semi circle to make the skirt the required length... in the end this involved measuring a piece of string just longer than the required length, tying one end round a pencil and and other round a drawing pin and voilà! a makeshift compass which did the job nicely thank you!

3.  Conceptualisation complete I've just got to get on with the actual sewing which is never quite as enjoyable, as I learnt from my days as a bag lady!

4.  Nice walk round the fields with Dougal listening to my marathon playlist - feel good tune, after feel good tune! Almost had me raring to go...

5.  Talking of which... optimism is riding high with the Leeds Half Marathon boys! Two days to go and they've all entered the ballot for London!!

M + 12

Day 746

1.  I expected my 'tan' to have faded by now, and sure enough I am back to my pre marathon whiter shade of pale...

2.  What I hadn't expected was for my hair to follow suit!

3.  All the lovely blonde I was sporting a fortnight ago has washed off my white hairs as they beacon out in a sort of  "Yoo Hoo!! I'm here!!" kind of a way.

4.  I can't help but feel a little like Cinderella after midnight, and think perhaps I should have changed my alter ego's name to Marthongirl735 and quit whilst I was ahead!

5.  Too busy to spend a lot of time worrying about it today.... I have abandoned all domestic chores in favour of doing a bit more of my textile homework and starting work on fancy dress costumes for C and Etsy Favouriter!  Who needs a fake tan and highlights?! I am back where I belong!

M + 11

Day 745

1.  If Marathongirl750 had her dull days, they were nothing to that of Housewife365!!!

2.  All day spent trying to get up to date with the finances and laundry and I haven't finished either.

3.  It would have been the perfect day to think 'Sod it!' and go for a run... except that I can't.

4.  Marathon aside it's been eight weeks since I could, and in stark contrast to yesterday's pleasure at how much I accomplished in the past two years, today I am left questioning if the price was too high, physically, emotionally and literally!

5.  I imagine that the jury will stay out on that one for a while, but in the meantime I need to get running again as soon as I can! So... visit to the chiropodist on Saturday, see if she has any suggestions on how best to treat my foot and if not I will go back to the doctor's and see someone else this time!  I am however pleased to report that Mrs F's soap and sugar compress worked wonders and apart from a little bruising and the multiple stab wounds where I've stuck a needle into my toe in an earlier attempt to relieve the pressure it's almost as good as new!

M + 10

Day 744

1.  After a week recuperating it was finally time to start sorting all the stuff that needs to be sorted!

2.  Rooting around in the cupboard looking for a letter concerning the return of my Barnardo's collection tins, and the enormity of what I've done has finally hit me!

3.  I didn't find the information I was looking for, but I did find bunting, afternoon tea invitations, card making supplies, a few remnants of the crafting nightmares, a letter from WaterAid thanking me for running the Brighton Half Marathon for them (I'd almost forgotten that was part of this too!), some balloons and a few Barnardo's pin badges! Jeez it was A LOT of work! But worth it!!!

4.  Two years of my life stuffed into many different places in the dresser, all of which I can't wait to clear out when I get a spare minute....

5.  For someone who didn't spend much time on training in the month or so before London, I seem to have spent a lot of time convincing myself that I'm going to have a lot of spare time on my hands post London once the training is over!  Needless to say I'm not seeing much sign of it yet!

M + 9