Sorted

(for a whole two and half weeks!)

I really needed a good night's sleep last night - unfortunately Dougal had other ideas!
4am and he was barking to go outside, upon which he made a bee line for the honeysuckle, his plant of choice if he wants to munch on something in order to make himself sick.
Such a lovely start the day!

Chomping away, the heavens opened and he darted back into the house for cover - his need to vomit outweighed by his overwhelming desire to stay dry! He never was sick, which I suppose is a good thing and I got to hear the dawn chorus, which was an added bonus but I would rather have been tucked up in my bed asleep - it's Al's turn to get up if he wakes us tonight!

By the time we make it to the park it is clear that Dougal has woken up with the devil in him this morning.  After overwhelming some poor man with his exuberance he spots his next victims across the field and away he goes.  He has got increasingly better at coming back, not so this morning.  Nothing was going to entice him away, he was having way too much fun! So I began the walk of shame to attempt the retrieval of my badly behaved dog, wondering what it was about this particular Border Terrier that warranted such a display of disobedience.... it was Maurice, the aforementioned 50 Club parkrunner!  (I hasten to add that Maurice was being walked by a dog walker - I would have recognised John!)

Watching the dogs chase, spar and enjoy each others company it was good to see that the ethos of the parkrun family has transcended to the canine world!

It was a morning for meeting people, next up a woman I haven't seen for at least three years, whose son used to be at playgroup with H.  She is one of those lovely people who you can't help but like even though you kind of wish you hadn't bumped into her - because in the twelve years I've known her I have never seen her looking anything other than perfect! This morning was no exception as she walked along with her three dogs trotting along at her heels, whilst I tried to keep Sid the slightly cantankerous old dog out of the way and awaited the arrival of Dougal in all his shambolic glory! After a quick catch up she told me that she hadn't been feeling well recently and was disappointed as this was curtailing her fitness drive, I'd like to think this comment was in response to my youthful athleticism but in reality I think it was my cue to enlighten her as to what disasters had befallen me in the past three years that would explain my appearance!

I remind myself that the recent outbreak of acne is part of my detox, console myself with the knowledge that in three weeks time I'm going to look ten years younger, and head home to write my plan!

It's not finished, but it is started! Avoiding the temptation to spend most of the day writing out something aesthetically pleasing, a procrastination tactic I am fond of applying, I opt for the back of an envelope, map out the next two and a half weeks til Edinburgh and work out some sort of running schedule.  Having done this I am then able to arrange my long dog walk with my friend for next week so it doesn't coincide with a run day, and already I'm feeling much happier.

By the time I'm back from my run I feel better still and am ready to tackle a job off the list, albeit a rather small and sedate one! Time to input my 5x50 activity log which is 10 days out of date.

It is then I discover that over the past 38 days I have spent in excess of 38 hours exercising - no wonder I don't have time to tidy!


M - 734
Distance covered               3.6 miles
Total Distance covered    62.2 miles