Bitten on the backside

By my own advice!

School holidays aside, I am used to the boys being in school during the week and as a result the time between the morning school run and them getting in around half four is my own, not so today, nor tomorrow as it transpires!

C has gone off for a week's outward bound adventure as part of some National Citizen Service scheme and needs dropping off at the pickup point late morning (but for some reason I've arranged to pick his friend up ridiculously early so for us it means leaving mid morning!) This means a change to my normal Monday routine which would have been enough to throw me into turmoil without receiving a phone call mid dog walk to tell me that H has been called for a casting audition tomorrow in Manchester, and I've to take him!

This is the first time that he has been called for casting since signing with the agency at Easter and I don't really know what to expect - other than to be made to feel like I'm invisible and exceptionally unimportant if the agency we're visiting is anything like the one he's signed to (and I have to say on first impressions, after phoning to inquire about the parking situation, it is!).

I'm not sure I'm ready to enter into this world, but I am trying not to cut H's acting career short before it's even begun. It riles me that we have to jump at a moments notice and when I ring the agency to say that H has been given permission to go tomorrow, the response I receive is "he doesn't need permission for a casting" "err if he's missing school he does!". I am however resisting the temptation to climb onto my high horse.

If successful (and I have no idea what the odds on this are) it will be shot on location next week, and apparently he will either go with a chaperone or me! Which is great because I have nothing planned, no dog care issues to sort, and no squats or lunges to be doing...

But the worst bit of it all is that when I let H sign up, he did so on the understanding that he would have to be on top of his school work so he was in a position to take advantage of any opportunities that might arise. Such a shame I didn't heed my own advice... although to be fair I didn't fully appreciate the extent of my duties as chauffeur and potential chaperone!

Anyone want an English Pointer for a couple of days?!

M - 680
Total distance covered  136.8 miles

Upcyling

Far more fun that anything involving a bicycle... (Sorry Tour de France fans!)

I'm done with my legs being sore and they are set to get a whole lot worse. After leaving the Biomechanics Man on Thursday armed with my new squats and lunges exercises I hadn't really paid any attention to how many of them I was supposed to be doing. Whilst awaiting the follow up email which would contain a reminder I have be making a token effort at incorporating them into my 'routine' and managed approximately ten squats and two lunges per leg...

Three sets of twenty squats, and two sets of ten repetitions per leg for my lunges, TWICE a day?! It's going to kill me! I'm not sure at what point I signed up for this, all I wanted to do was run - albeit a bit further than I've gone before but this.... this is tantamount to torture! Bring back the tennis ball exercise all is forgiven! For once it is not procrastination when I say I'll start tomorrow - I just need a day to mentally prepare for the challenge ahead!

In the meantime I have spent the day busily finishing my sewing projects and am fairly pleased with the results. What this time last week were a pair of jeans and some left over fabric, are now a pair of cut off shorts... and a peg bag

Donating it as a raffle prize for the Open Garden event that my friend is hosting on my behalf, but may well be making some more in the future if there's any interest?

Have a busy week ahead of me and I'm not sure that I'm organised enough for it to run as smoothly as I'd like, but on the other hand I have at least got a rough idea of what it is I need to do - I'm taking that as a sign of progress.

Today marks the end of Week 9 we're into double figures tomorrow and I know we'll be there for a long time but I can't believe how close to Marathon Day it will be by the time we reach treble figures... eek! Thanks again for reading and sticking with me this far! Not knowing exactly who reads means I'm not sure if this is coincidental or not - but oldschoolfriendofmarathongirl750 was sunning her toes on the beach in Millport today...

Lets see who's next! (a photo from Florida perhaps GA?!)

M - 681
Total distance covered  136.8 miles 

Just not the same

when the Gang's not all there...

Whilst not altogether sure what constitutes the "British Values" that our current Government seem keen to promote, sheltering from the rain under a tree, drinking tea and eating cake having just run 5K round the local park must surely be part of it! Not quite the post parkrun picnic that we had hoped for but just goes to prove the one thing you can't rely on is the weather - oh and the stop watches!

Today was not the second anniversary of Dewsbury parkrun that any of us had hoped for due to the rain and the volunteers worse nightmare when the stop watch stopped working, taking everyone's time with it! But on the up side there was cake, a friend's fiftieth parkrun to celebrate (well done SC), and awards! Congratulations to Al who was awarded "2014 Multi-skilled parkrunner of the year" for entertaining us with his post parkrun juggling on sunnier days, and SW for miscounting and running an extra lap one week entitling her to the "2014 furthest distance run in one parkrun" award!

Halfmarathongirl and Fellow Parkrunner were noticeable by their absence and the somewhat damp party wasn't quite the same without them. The first was busy with a family gathering, the later spent the morning going for a swim in the North Sea (and you have the cheek to call me "Crazy Lady"!).

But festivities aside - I ran today, and (timed myself as) three minutes quicker than last week! Perhaps sneaking off behind the greenhouses to do my warm up exercises was worth it after all. My legs felt fine whilst I was running, but my cardiovascular fitness has dropped considerably in the past three weeks and it was a bit of a struggle, especially when running along side a friend who is clearly fitter than me and wanted to talk - I don't consider five minute kilometres conversational pace!

I can feel it in my feet and shins this evening and am unfortunately going to have to get going with the foam roller later, but overall I was pleased with my run, and hey I get to do it all again on Tuesday.

It is a shame that today was a bit of a washout, especially after a couple of glorious Saturday mornings that we've had recently, but that's our so called summer for you.  Sisterofmarthongirl750 has clearly got the right idea and headed off to sunnier climes - thanks for the photo of your toes enjoying the Spanish sun. I think you may have started something here!

 

 

M - 682
Distance covered 3.1 miles
Total distance covered  136.8 miles



Squats?

What squats?!

One of my biggest frustrations is not having a clear run to get anything done. Today was one of those days. Took H to school, nipped in to the supermarket for the bits I forgot yesterday, took the dogs out, came home to find C had slept in and should have been at his friends half an hour ago, so ended up dropping him off instead of him getting the bus and finally I get some me time!

At some point during the week I have decided that I am going to sew today, irrespective of the fact that I've got baking to do for tomorrow, and the house to clean. I am making a house warming gift for my friend who is getting married next week. It is six months overdue and I have come to the conclusion that this is what is blocking my creativity as far as her wedding present is concerned! Time to clear it off the to do list and clear some space in my head (and a bit more fabric out of the messy cupboard of art stuff). I am in full creative flow when I have to stop and make lunch, and then am interrupted an hour or so later by Dougal who comes and rests his head on my lap to let me know it's his tea time! Once he's been fed, it takes him an age to settle down again and so I have to leave what I'm doing and move onto my baking jobs instead (any chance of food and his attention is held!).

I am trying my best not to let my frustration show by the time Al gets home, but the fact that he steps up immediately to help me get through my list of jobs in the kitchen makes me wonder if perhaps I may have pointed it out to him the minute he walked through the door (oh and I may have said something about it at lunchtime) what can I say? He's a good man.

Sewing aside, what he is unable to help with is my exercises, and perhaps the real reason for my desire to bury my head in a creative project bubbles to the surface! Such a shame that there just doesn't seem to have been time to do them today, but there are muffins for tomorrows post park run picnic after which nothing else seems to matter!

M - 683
Total distance covered (for the last time) 133.7 miles

Squats and lunges

We knew the day was coming (But apparently according to Google images it'll do wonders for my backside!)

Very early on in my blog I touched on the fact that I have a tendency to be a little conspicuous: talking to loudly, saying strange things, oh and talking to anyone. But this morning in the supermarket was a 'ground swallow me up now' moment even by my standards!

On noticing that the couple in front had an entire trolley of party food, I felt compelled ask "Celebrating something nice?" by way of making conversation. Oh how I wish I'd kept my mouth shut when I was informed "It's for a funeral" Ooops! I think I rescued the situation with my "Oh well at least you're sending them off in style" before collapsing in a fit of the giggles with the cashier once they were hopefully out of ear shot. When will I ever learn?

Later on the Greenway with the dogs, I saw an elderly gentleman that used to live on our street cycling towards me, seeing him made me smile and I waved and called hello as he approached.  He stopped cycling long enough to tell me that he thinks I am lovely and likes my attitude towards life - some you win.....!

No... I love biscuits!

Back from walking the dogs and it was off to see the Biomechanics Man. There is good news! I have made some progress. Things are not quite as bad as they once were and there are signs that my strengthening exercises are working, but whilst I am getting better at doing these in isolation they are not kicking in when I try and put them into practice on the move.  Which in turn means there is bad news, in the form of squats and lunges, and it gets worse when he tells me that the squats have to be done with a resistance band around my knees.  Next torture item is currently winging its way to me through the post, but not before I've launched into a description of my squatting exercises with a poor unsuspecting man from a random HR department that I managed to direct dial by mistake!

But the BIG news is that I've to try and run twice next week, and twice the following week, allowing a rest period of at least forty eight hours in between, and then wait a further two days before my next consultation.  This feels a bit like a proper training plan, I've never committed that far in advance to the days I will run and it feels a bit daunting, but at the same time I'm looking forward to it.  What I am less convinced about is the fact that I have been given some exercises to do as close to immediately before I run as possible, and certainly not with a car journey in between.  It's bad enough leaving the pre parkrun social for a sneaky warm up run, but standing in the park doing a program of warm up exercises may be a step too far even for me!

M - 684
Total distance covered remains at 133.7 miles (set to change on Saturday!)

Chocolate Digestives

Some days nothing else will do...

I awoke this morning full of optimism, it would have been nice if it'd lasted past lunchtime!

I had a good start to the day, both boys were off school so I managed an extra hour in my bed and no school run! Took Sid out on a short walk more befitting a dog of his years, and then took Dougal to meet up with a friend and tramp round the woods for a couple of hours.  Ankles are better than they have been after recent excursions of this nature and I'm hopeful that they are on the mend.

So what brought a change of heart at lunchtime? Our friends are getting married next Friday and in response to my inquiry as to what was on the present list, they have instead requested that I make them something they can frame....

Yippppeeeeee and Arrrrgghhhhhh!! All at the same time! (no wonder my mind went into melt down!).

They don't live near us, and are obviously unaware of the frame that has sat empty at the bottom of our stairs for the past five years awaiting a picture for above the fireplace in the lounge. I want to make something for it, but have never found the inspiration to know where to start!

Handily there's that Degree Show to visit. What a waste of time. I have never been to a more soulless exhibition in my life. Apart from one student's grandparents (who were doing a good job of being impressed with (what looked like) a lilac onesie that their grandson had sewn) I was the only person there. The lady on reception didn't know where I was supposed to go, but assured me there would be staff in each room (there wasn't) and I was left to wander around an empty college looking at artwork that I couldn't get excited about. I didn't stay long. I have yet to see the friend who recommended it to me and can't help wondering if I missed whatever it was she'd seen that made her think of me).
I think it's fair to say my art school ship may have sailed! (or as Al just pointed out the local Art College was never going to be on a par with Glasgow School of Art).

Mistakenly I then thought that a visit to the local craft shop would rescue the afternoon - I really should have known better. I hate the place: it stinks of cigarette smoke, and it never seems to have what I'm looking for. Quite why I thought it held the key to unlock my creativity I have no idea. But of the six people holding court around one of the crafting tables, not one of them broke off from their conversation to acknowledge that I had even entered the shop let alone ask if I was in need of assistance, I slipped out unnoticed.

Time to return home to the sanctuary of my house, my dogs, my boys and my messy cupboard of art stuff.... perhaps the inspiration I need is lurking in there!

M - 685
Total distance covered remains at 133.7 miles

PS I would have happily killed for a cup of Earl Grey and a chocolate digestive biscuit this afternoon but there's none in the house (sisterofmarthongirl750 your visit can't come soon enough).

West Highland Way

maybe one day I'll WALK it!

Earlier this year sisterofmarthongirl750 completed the West Highland Way - ninety five miles between Glasgow and Fort William, fourteen thousand seven hundred and sixty feet of ascent.  It took her and her friends five days and I am proud of her for doing it (and a little envious after only managing the first thirty miles some twenty years ago before my knee said no more!). I don't know how much her achieving this made me think about the marathon on my wish list, but when I told her of my plans she wished me all the luck in the world, before adding that having walked that far on one of the days there was no way she would be joining me!

I learned this morning that there is a West Highland Way Race, and that it was won this year by a man (who deserves to be named) called Paul Giblin.  He ran the distance in a quite inconceivable fourteen hours, twenty minutes and eleven seconds. I genuinely can't get my head around this.

And for whilst I cannot see the day where I ever contemplate a distance longer than a marathon it has made me take a look at what it is I am trying to achieve and understand that I can do this.

Halfmarathongirl came for lunch today and among the many subjects that we touched upon was the role our minds play in shaping our lives and would we be able to achieve more if negative thought patterns of "I can't" didn't kick in. We were also discussing the fact that we can actively choose not to worry or get stressed about something.

I've touched on this before and for whilst it is far from easy (especially if your pre-programming is anything like mine) I think it is something I need to revisit. Time for some positive thinking....
The problem with my ankles is something I will recover from, my cards are selling and I will reach the target amount for Barnardo's, it doesn't matter if the readership figures for my blog fluctuates, I will run a marathon.

BUT it is not going to happen by chance, I need get up off my backside and MAKE it happen, instead of sitting worrying about it not.

So it's off to the Art College Degree Show tomorrow for inspiration, not an afternoon of regret.

Meanwhile whilst we were lost in our thoughts over lunch (not in the dining room I hasten to add) Dougal decided to seize the opportunity to investigate what was on the dining table that might be of interest, I came into the room to find him standing on top of it having a nose around.Think a longer walk may be called for tomorrow!

Ankles beware! I'm fighting back and this time I mean business...

M - 686
Total distance covered still 133.7 miles but this is not something I need to get upset about!

Stay of Execution

Tomorrow's sports massage has been postponed!

I'd like to say when I got a text this lunchtime asking if I could rearrange tomorrow's appointment with the Biomechanics Man that I could feel every muscle in my legs relaxing - but if I could relax them I wouldn't be going in the first place!

The muscles in my calves remain incredibly tight, undoubted worse since I ran on Saturday, and no amount of self inflicted torture with the foam roller seems to make them any better. Knowing the pain that awaits me at my next appointment, I was more than happy to move it to Thursday! But at the same time a little disappointed because I don't feel like I'm making any progress at the moment, and am getting impatient to get moving...

My ankles have still not settled down and part of me knows that I shouldn't run on them until they do whilst another part of me wonders if perhaps this is just how it will be now and in time I won't notice it anymore!

It's hard not to feel a little despondent however and had been hoping for some words of encouragement from BM that the exercises are working and that there are signs of improvement (and that running with ankle tinnitus won't cause any additional harm - even though it was him who prescribed a week's rest in the first place!).

So in the absence of any running to focus on, I have tried to organise my forthcoming card making commitments into some sort of order, although I think I spent a little too long drawing a nice three week calendar and filling in social occasions rather than working out some sort of work plan! (But there's some good things coming up - Halfmarathongirl's coming to lunch tomorrow, Parkrun picnic on Saturday, Sisterofmarthongirl750 (and family) coming to visit the weekend after, C's birthday, and Susan's Open Garden event rounding it off on the 13 July). 

Thinking about it perhaps it would be better if I was told not to run for a month - I don't appear to have the time!


M - 687
Total distance covered 133.7 miles

A Sunny Sunday...

And we spend it shifting logs?!

As you know I suffer periodically from insomnia, I usually don't have a problem getting to sleep but I wake early and then can't drift off again. Thankfully it has been missing for a while now, and in it's absence you could be mistaken for thinking that I've been sleeping well and getting up rested, refreshed and raring to go.  Oh but how wrong you would be! I awoke this morning with sore feet (not unexpected) and from absolutely no where - a frozen shoulder. So much for rested and refreshed, not for the first time I seem to have managed to wake up feeling older than I went to bed! Something's going wrong somewhere but I have yet to work out what to do about it...

Sunday's are generally busier days in our house than they ought to be, and I came downstairs this morning wishing it was this time last week and the house was tidy or that I'd kept up to it in the time that's passed since then - but it was neither last week nor tidy (which I can't help feeling is a bit of a shame especially as I've yet to master time travel, so if it bothers me there's only one thing for it!).

It is also somewhat unfortunate that my shoulder is sore as it is log delivery day and all hands are required to move them from the garage to the wood store.  It is entirely by chance that I arranged for them to be delivered today but can't help feeling that I'm heralding the passing of the summer solstice with the arrival of the fuel for the winter, but I think it's a bit too soon to notice the night's drawing in!

Shortly before we went out to move the logs I received my second commission for greetings cards (thank you CJ) and a text from a friend telling me the graduate show at the local art college is worth a look.  I am a little reluctant to go as I think it will make me exceptionally envious and more than a little sad that I never went to art college, yet at the same time it might be good for inspiration and ideas. Outside shifting logs, with my mind in full creative flow I found myself spending a little too long looking at the patterns in the bark, desperate to go grab the camera. However given the reluctance with which C and H were helping I didn't think it would go down too well if I'd prolonged the job by taking photo's - but it was a close call!

I settled instead for a photo of the finished article.

M - 688
Total distance covered 133.7 miles

Ready Steady

Go!

I can't tell you how different I feel today - but I'm going to try.....

I'm tired after playing chauffeur to C last night collecting him from the Prom and delivering him to the post Prom party! I'll be lucky if I got six hours sleep and yet I have been more up beat, motivated and enthusiastic than I have been in a while (although I think this may have been in my head, rather than outwardly visible but hey it's a start!).

However, like my photographic experiment earlier this week there are too many variables to be able to pinpoint why this is the case.  But the major contributing factors are:

1. Al and I are celebrating our sixth wedding anniversary today (love you dearly Mr L)

2. One of my parkrun friends has organised an Open Garden Event to raise money for me, thank you SW

Hitting the £300 mark!

3. I sold enough cards at parkrun this morning to have reached another milestone on the totaliser (and as it was earlier on Saturday than my tea party I'm claiming it as the two in one week I'd hoped for!)

4. C has made it home unscathed (phew!)

5. The sun has shone.

6. Al has just dug up the first of this year's produce from the garden.

It definitely wasn't anything to do with the dung heap that Dougal rolled extensively in this lunchtime, but perhaps whilst being a combination of all of the above, the single and most overriding factor that I believe has caused my feeling of invincible optimism is

7. I RAN TODAY!!

I took it steady which was a bit of a different experience to the one I'm used to - I was running among people who were chatting! (I've clearly missed a trick by running too fast to be able to speak). The course we run is three and a half laps round a park and there is a critical speed above which you won't get lapped, under which you will.  I've run either side of it, but don't know exactly where it is. It dawned on me at some point this morning that I was at risk of being lapped by Al, in fact I was so sure of it that when it didn't happen I stopped to check my distance just to make sure I hadn't miss counted and had another lap to do! (Perhaps it would have done at last week's speed Al, but he had an unfathomable forty five second slower run today and is gutted and I know exactly how that feels).

I, on the other hand, am awash with post run euphoria - I did it, I loved it, and I just feel SO much better for it (if I ignore my ankles and shins!).  It makes me come home and want to conquer the world - or at least the overflowing wash basket!  And who says romance is dead?!

M - 689
Total distance covered 133.7 miles (yippee!!)

Inconclusive Evidence

so it's back to a picture of my feet!

Despite my exceptionally thorough and in depth three day experiment I don't think the results are conclusive enough to determine whether the subject matter for the photograph makes any difference at all to the numbers reading! I can just about remember enough of my Marketing Degree to know that there are too many unknown variables that I have absolutely no influence over to ever be able to accurately test if I can influence readership or not ("err you could try writing something interesting?!" well yes there is that!)

With this in mind I tried really hard today to stay away from updating my summary page at regular intervals to see if there had been any change since I last checked.  This hasn't been easy, given that it's my latest obsession but I decided not to look until this evening, and held out til at least lunchtime!

Sat working at my computer this morning, and a message from Facebook pops up informing me that my post of three days ago is vastly out performing the others from this week

I KNOW! I've been harping on about it ever since!

Why oh why, when I was trying so hard to take a different tack, did it have to flash up in front of me, all confrontational and uninvited and rub my nose in it? Later when I look at my ipod I get the same message - just in case I didn't get it the first time!

Why didn't anyone tell the world that I was doing not interested in my page view stats today?

I know what Facebook are doing, by pointing out my inadequacies they are trying to get me to pay to advertise my page. Thankfully I haven't reached the point where this feels like a viable option - yet!

Friday night, and another parkrun looms.... think I'm going to run - if only so I've got something to write about tomorrow! 

M - 690
Total distance covered (possibly for the last time at) 130.6 miles - we'll see what the morning brings!

Tchaikovsky

1812 Overture

If I spent too much of yesterday in other people's company to be able to think, today has been the exact opposite! This usually has one of two results.  Either Al comes home to find me having put the world to rights, with an accompanying list of jobs 'guaranteed' to improve our lives several times over, or I get a bit melancholy. 

Needless to say I am in a wistful mood when he returns home this evening, staring off into the middle distance and quieter than I have been known to be at times! (But he's brought a shed load of marking with him so perhaps he's glad not to have been met at the back door with me in full operation overhaul mode!).

There are two triggers that I think have induced my current state.  One being the viewing figures for yesterday's blog, and the second being a book I've been reading -The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (lent to me by my friend HM, who given her initials and her intentions to join me doing the triple next year, shall here on in be referred to as halfmarathongirl).

My little experiment with the photo on yesterday's blog did not produce the desired results! It was the second to lowest of all sixty posts in terms of reads. I am going to have to get myself to a point where this doesn't matter to me, or at least where I stop checking the figures on numerous occasions throughout the day (But let's see if musical instruments fair better than flowers in piquing your interest.....)

As for the book, well it's basic premise is one of meeting five people after you die who help you realise the point of your life. I've loved it halfmaratongirl and I can see another lunchtime on the garden bench is required to discuss! But it was made for the introspective mind, and set mine whirling.

Sat this afternoon staring at the summary page of my blog and the one thousand eight hundred and twelve page views to date, I was really struggling to stay awake and thought I would take fifteen minutes to put my head on the desk and listen to the 1812 overture... when I found myself thinking about how I used to play clarinet and how I used to dream of playing in a proper orchestra and why of all the things that I thought I might like to do with my life when I was seventeen it's marathon running that has made it to the top of my wish list!


But perhaps I should have paid a little more attention to the blurb on YouTube before I hit play, the bit where it warned that the music contained cannons and that they might make dogs bark - my snooze came to rather an abrupt end!

M - 691
Distance covered still standing at 130.6 miles (still hoping to run on Sat!)

Signs of improvement

How good could I feel if I stopped running altogether?!

I've had a good day, but it's been a busy one and I haven't spent much of it on my own.  Consequently I haven't had time to think about what I am going to write about today and find myself in the somewhat unfamiliar territory of not having a clue where this is heading (or it would seem, where to begin!).

So, what's new? Well, my feet are getting better! Met my friend for our weekly four mile dog walk this morning and my ankles are definitely complaining less than they were this time last week, the rest has clearly done them some good. Conversely I think this means that I am going to try to run parkrun on Saturday. I would probably benefit from testing my feet over a shorter distance but it seems like so much effort to get into my running kit just for a mile, and I am a bit reluctant to risk finding out that it's too soon and then have to miss Saturday. Perhaps not the most sensible of strategies but one, I know at least some of you, will be able to relate to!

I spent the hour that I did have to myself this afternoon trying to get some more cards onto my Facebook page* and organising them in a slightly more user friendly manner! I'm not sure if it worked but I have had some sales come in, and if sisterofmarthongirl750 meant to buy ten (!) then I've reached a total of fifty cards sold! Whoo hoo!! (but no pressure if you didn't sis!)  Then I only have to sell another fourteen and it's totaliser time again folks! (Two in one week - how good would that be?) It would also take the pressure off poor Al who was badgered into taking them into work.

And finally, I have noticed that more people tend to read my blog on days when I include a photo! (what's wrong with the picture of my toes?) So here with a sneak preview of a future card is a little experiment to see if it generates as much interest as pictures of the dogs!

M - 692
Distance covered still standing at 130.6 miles - but not for much longer!

* for those of you reading via Twitter please visit Marathongirl750 on Facebook

The second of three...

... anniversaries this week!

Then...

It is two years since we brought Dougal home and our world turned upside down! But amid all the chaos and hard work that accompanies him, comes immeasurable pleasure and love. It is however fair to say that from what little I can remember of life before Dougal it was a lot simpler and slower paced (there was no life before Sid).

The thought that my journey of 1000 miles will take roughly the same amount of time that we've been a two dog household is somewhat scary! Yet already I can feel life before marathongirl750 slipping away and am wondering what, if any of it will remain when I do reach the finish line.

With the dogs I dream of guilt free lie in's, and days where there is no one to consider but me (although I can't imagine how lonely it would feel being in the kitchen and not having four eyes staring at my every move).
 

... and now!

With my alias, I am already wondering what I've done in leaving my old life behind, when it didn't matter to me if I ran or not, and where I wasn't spending vast amounts of time trying to work out how to raise my profile in order to bring money in, whilst psycho analysing my life through the medium of a blog only to reach conclusions that I probably already knew in the first place!

And at the end, will I walk (or hobble!) away from marathongirl750 like the parting of work colleagues who you promise to keep in touch with when you change jobs only to realise later that the only thing you had in common was that shared time, or will she come with me, in part or entirety to the next chapter of my life?

I think however it may be a trifle early to pontificate about life post marathon!

So whilst my thoughts today are with the past and the future, tomorrow I need to get back to focusing on the present! Organisation, exercises, weight loss, and fundraising. Oh and breathing exercises! I heard someone mention them on the radio this morning - must be a month since I've done mine!

M - 693
Distance covered still standing at 130.6 miles

PS We did buy Dougal a bigger bed but it's only Sid who'll go in it!




Routine

Of the most enjoyable kind!

C has finished his last GCSE - yipppeeee!! I, I mean he made it! His last three exams were on Thursday and Friday morning of last week, and then this morning. After yesterday's talk about a need for routine, it dawned on me today that I already have one.  I drop C at school, go to the supermarket and purchase (amongst other things) three pain au chocolate, C gets in from his exam and we share one before walking the dogs together, we then come home and have lunch in the garden consuming the other two for pudding. For me this is a win win situation, eating pastries and spending time with my son.

It would appear that I have lost all willpower in terms of losing weight, which is a shame because as I'm not running either watching what calories are going in would be a wise move, but I figured that moments like these with my soon to be sixteen year old son will be few and far between and life is too short not to enjoy them. (I have yet to work out what logic I am applying to the left over cake from the weekend that I seem to be tucking into!). 

A week of not running, a couple of days off from fundraising and I'm beginning to feel like I'm going off the boil! I don't know when I last felt like marathon girl, but sat with my feet up on the sofa enjoying a wee piece of brownie it feels like a very long time ago....

I wouldn't wish any more exams on C, but I can't help but be a little sad that my new found and much enjoyed routine has come to an end, but perhaps given my obvious lack of commitment to trying to lose weight it is just as well that in the absence of any exams, I will have walked the dogs and eaten lunch before he even surfaces for the day.

M - 694
Distance covered still 130.6 miles

The calm after the storm

In other words I've done nothing today!

After the whirlwind of the last week or so it has been lovely to do nothing (relatively speaking!). There were still dogs to get up and feed rather than lie in, there was still a certain amount of clearing up to do from yesterday, there was still food to cook for brunch and washing up to do afterwards....

But there was no tidying up to do, no cleaning, no running and no underwater hockey training to ferry the boys to and from this evening . I think this constitutes a day off (especially as I snuck upstairs for a crafty half hour snooze this afternoon - but don't tell Al!).

I feel a little bit like I did post Edinburgh when I don't know what my next step is going to be but, note to self, I MUST remember to sort Al's car insurance that runs out tomorrow! So I think a couple of days reflection are called for when I take stock of the past couple of months, what I've done and where I go from here.

I am trying my best to be patient with my feet, I know that it makes no sense whatsoever to run whilst I can still feel vibration in my ankles and that the longer I leave them to repair the better for me long term (and short, and medium) but it's not easy! In the meantime I am keeping up with my exercises and trying my best to convince myself that it's better to be concentrating on getting my muscles working properly and strengthened rather than running - the knock on effect of which is pushing me further and further away from a place where I can move forward from. I've known I've needed to do this corrective work for a long time now, it was never going to be fun, but it is important to lay down solid foundations.

It's kind of where I've got to in terms of my fundraising and blog too... there is only so long I can keep going in my current ad hoc fashion where I allow it to take over my life completely and everything else goes to pot. 

Looks like we're back at the bit where I talk about the need for routine and structure and making a plan! And then guess what I'm going to say?! "But not today!"

Procrastination.... it's one of my favourite pastimes!


M - 695
Distance covered still 130.6 miles

Sunshine and success...

and all that stress for nothing!

If yesterday I was questioning the timing of my Afternoon Tea party, today it felt like the perfect day for it! Quite coincidentally it is my year anniversary of going to parkrun, my friend HM's 50th parkrun and Al ran a most impressive personal best this morning - three very good reasons to celebrate - and if that wasn't enough the sun shone!

I make no apologies for going on about how much I love parkrun, and how much good it has done me over the past year.  Without a doubt it kept me running over the winter.  Not necessarily because I wanted to run, but because going along on a Saturday morning has become about so much more, it's about meeting friends and feeling part of something.  I love that Al could see what I was getting out of it and chose to become part of that too, and even though he took six seconds off my PB this morning (and twenty one seconds off his) I am genuinely pleased for him that the effort he's put in has paid off - it has been obvious running with him recently that he was going to do it and I know how good it feels when it comes together... couldn't have happened on a better day.

It was a bit of a panic getting everything ready on time and I couldn't have done it without Al, but we did it! And not only that - I'm going to go so far as to say we did it in style (oh how I've changed my tune now it's over! But perhaps I do need to make apologies for harping on about how stressed I was?! Sorry).

All that cleaning I needn't have bothered doing - we sat in the garden and hardly anyone went to the loo!

There were 10 wonderful women at mine for afternoon tea today, all of them parkrunners, and non of them I knew before I went.  Some of them have marathons to their names, some don't, but all of them have personal running (and for the injured - walking) goals, yet all of them have offered their support to me without question, and thanks to them it's time for another totaliser!

We've reached the £250 mark - an eighth of the way there!

As previously mentioned HM made it to the parkrun 50 club - Congratulations! In due course parkrun will reward her with an exclusive T-shirt for taking part 50 times, today it seemed fitting to mark the occasion with a cake! I was gutted last year when I found out that parkrun 10 T-shirts are only for the juniors and am going to be so proud when I finally get to join the 50 club.... so enjoy what's left of your day (it's a late one this evening) you get to have your cake and eat it!

M - 696
Distance Covered remains the same - but I don't care! Today has been a good day, and I'm full of optimism that I'll get back out there again soon!

Bad Timing

but we'll get there...

Tomorrow was chosen as the day for my tea party based on the majority of my parkrun friends being able to make it (you will be missed RLB), what I didn't really take into consideration is how it would fit into my family life - it doesn't.

First up there's the football which life must now revolve around, secondly it's exam time so Al is busy marking in front of said football, and thirdly H has just arrived home from three days in the Lake District with a fair portion of Lake Windermere in his suitcase!

But we're edging closer to getting there! With the exception of the scones and a bit of assembling tomorrow the food is ready, the wine's in the fridge and the house is still a tip.

Given that I can't run and the amount of cleaning still needing doing, it would make sense for me to stay home and crack on with it in the morning, but I can't imagine not going to parkrun, only being on holiday or in hospital has kept me away!  So I've put my name down as a volunteer and will just have to make do with what time there is when I get back.  Unless of course my insomnia reappears in which case I'll get up early - but it never seems to be around when I need it to be.

Sisterofmarathongirl750 - I wish you were here. Not only cause you'd be able to help, but because you would keep reminding me that no one is coming to see how clean the house is! In your absence I will try and remember your words of wisdom whilst I'm panicking tomorrow lunchtime.

In my heightened state of anxiety (it doesn't take much) it has been too easy to lose sight of what tomorrow is really about, friends supporting me as I try to realise my dream of running a marathon, and in doing so raise money for Barnardo's.  There are no 'Clean Police' coming, it will be fine.

I have had conversations with friends in the past where we have concluded that you're either a cook or a cleaner.  With their sparkling houses they opted for 'cleaner', which left me with 'cook'. Fingers crossed my food won't show me up for being neither, and who knows perhaps by three o'clock tomorrow I'll be able to kid them into thinking I'm both!

M - 697
Distance Covered remains the same.

Welcome to the world...

of the World Cup Widow!

There must be better ways for someone with sore feet to spend one of the nicest days of the year than standing in the kitchen cooking and prepping food, but needs must and so that's where I've been.

The results have been mixed!  On the plus side some slow roasted tomatoes that I desperately want for my tea, and a mushroom pate that saw me scraping all the residue off the sides of the bowl, but I've struggled with that well known Afternoon Tea staple - beetroot hummus! I can excuse it being a bit garlic heavy but it is the weirdest and most unappetising shade of pink. It's just wrong, and is unlikely to make it onto the table on Saturday, but can't be wasted so  I decide we will have it with those left over frittatas from last week that we're having for tea tonight, however it seems that (even for Al) this is a step too far!

I have yet to work out the final costs for Saturday, and don't know exactly how many people are coming (but I'm trying very hard to be OK with this!) so I won't know how it works as a fundraiser until after the event, but I can't help feeling there must be easier ways than this to make some money! Although perhaps using tried and tested recipes would have been a good start.

I had the unexpected pleasure of C's company on the dog walk today, and we were discussing options for future fundraising and in particular how tap into the high school market. I did try to suggest parking up near school at a lunchtime and selling cakes from the boot of the car, needless to say C was less than impressed with this idea - can't think why?!

All calamities aside things are starting to come together, and I'm even beginning to look forward to it! Although I am not sure when this is actually going to show in my facial expressions as apparently it's been a while since I smiled - which is a shame as I've a feeling that it's going to get worse before it gets better!

But hey the football's started so it won't matter what kind of mood I'm in, I'm not going to see much of the boys for the next month anyway! Mind you given that most of the matches are being played fairly late in the evening perhaps I will be less of a widow than I think, and it might be a good excuse for a few early nights as I disappear up the stairs unnoticed, oh and perhaps I could have some nice long uninterrupted baths too.... I'm starting to like the sound of this!

M - 698
Distance Covered hasn't changed!

Lying in til lunchtime

If only it had been me!

C (who is on study leave) eventually came downstairs this afternoon after twelve hours in his bed, given that I average around seven I am more than a little envious! Not least because I'm exhausted and at the same time busier than I've been in a long while!

The time has arrived when I can start baking for Saturday, consequently I have spent the past couple of days busy in the kitchen.  My success rate seems to have increased somewhat over last week's disasters (phew) and I was on a bit of a roll this morning when I received an order for some greeting's cards.

Nine to be precise, which is wonderful and my best order to date, but three of them need making, and those that don't needed posting today. So quick change of hat from baker to card maker (not sure I can quite get away with 'artist') and it's out of the kitchen and into my studio (otherwise called a desk in the dining room!).

My ankle tinnitus is worse than ever this morning, I don't know if it's because of the massage, the strapping, both or neither! If only I'd been able to lie in until lunchtime and some lovely kind son had walked the dogs for me....

Actually I had dog walk planned with my friend so wasn't going to miss it no matter how sore my feet were - I'm not sure walking four miles round the woods in my wellies was the best idea but purposefully didn't ask about that one yesterday (see - I am learning!).  Besides which I was too busy talking to notice the pain, sometimes distraction really is the best therapy.

There is however nothing happening this evening to divert my attention away from the list of jobs that need doing.  I did consider a power nap before I started writing this in the hope that I would wake up refreshed and raring to go, but in the end I decided that I just couldn't take the risk of me ignoring the alarm and not waking up til Al got back in from juggling (proper juggling of the club and ball variety, not the trying to do too many things at once kind that I seem to be having a go at recently).

I am starting to panic that there won't be enough food, or that I won't have time to prepare it all, or that the time allocated to clean will disappear on me - what was that statistic on worrying again? Eighty five percent of what I'm worrying about won't happen, but how do I work out which is the fifteen percent that will?! What I have to remember is that these are friends who are coming to support me, it doesn't have to be perfect.

Besides which my fellow parkrunner (who unfortunately can't be with us on Saturday) called after work to deliver a rather lovely looking cake and (almost) a dozen eggs laid by her chickens, so if all else fails it'll be dippy eggs and soldiers followed by ginger cake and tea (thank you RLB xx).

M - 699
Total Distance Covered     130.6 miles

Go faster stripes?

'fraid not Speedy Gonzales

My visit to the Biomechanics Man has resulted in me having my lower legs taped... which has in a strange way made me feel a teeny bit like a professional athlete - or at the very least a serious one!

However, when I get over myself the reality of the situation begins to hit home - I ran too far, too fast, with bad running style when I was at Edinburgh and I'm paying the price.  The knock on effect of powering down the home straight on fatigued legs has taken it's toll, one heel strike after another, and I have (what I can best describe) as tinnitus of the ankle (definitely my words and not his!).  It's like the shock waves that were pounded into them are still in there, reverberating around with no where to go. A sports torture session, some fetching black tape, rest and he's hopeful it will dissipate. 

However sooner or later I am going to have to learn to stop asking questions if I am not prepared to accept the answer. 

Last week it was egg whites (I'd defrosted some to do some baking for this Saturday, when I suddenly thought that I might not be able to refreeze them - quick phone call to Egg Info (when I can't find what I'm looking for on the internet) to be told that no I can't refreeze them "but I've changed the state surely that makes it OK?!").*

This week it's how long a rest period... "OK so you say a week, but really I should be OK to run on Saturday?"

Now I'm cross with myself for trying to run ten kilometres like it was five and wishing I wasn't driven by a competitive desire to run fast. But I am. It's what motivates me and without it I'm not sure how I'm going to get on.  One thing's for sure - making the transition from speed to distance running is not going to be easy. 

So no fortieth run for me this week at parkrun (unhappy face), but it will at least give Al the opportunity to get another run closer to catching me up - he did somewhat hopefully inquire as to whether my rest period was twelve weeks when I told him I couldn't run for a while - I sincerely, and in the nicest possible way, hope not! (I may not be able to compete over speed any more but I'll fight you every step of the way to that first parkrun 50 t-shirt Mr L!).

M - 700
Total Distance Covered (stuck for the foreseeable future at) 130.6 miles

*Ladies coming on Saturday for Afternoon Tea: You are not at risk of salmonella -  we ate the aforementioned baking just to be on the safe side!

Day 50

A fifteenth of the way there!

Part of me can't quite believe it! The time has flown in (compared to the 5x50 challenge which is thankfully now a fading memory).  Yet when I convert this into the equivalent marathon distance I get the disappointing figure of 1.75... a mile and three quarters - is that all?! But perhaps, for just now at least, it's good that there is still a lot of time ahead of me, because the way I feel right now I couldn't even manage to run that far!

I'm gutted that fifty days in I am not reaping the benefits of my running endeavours - instead I'm achy, feeling old and having another 'fat' day! So much for being a wannabe marathon girl... But the beauty of tracking my life over the past seven weeks is that I am now able to write off these current feelings as hormonal and wait for them to pass, whilst trying soooooo hard not to consume my own body weight in chocolate!

I have also reached another milestone (and yes I like the fact that the two coincided!)
one thousand five hundred page views for my blog (smiley face, smiley face, smiley face!). I love the fact that you read in the first place, I love even more that you're sticking with me! Thank you! and a HUGE thank you to  Al for never complaining when I disappear off to write my blog, although come Thursday and the start of the World Cup I think we'll both be glad that I've got something to occupy my time as it'll leave the tele free for football, and for once I might complain about it less! Time to go join him on the settee and enjoy the last three non-football evenings left!

The greenhouse is finally finished after a bit of a rebuild to get the final pane of glass in and it stopped raining long enough this evening to take a photo!  Given what I was saying yesterday glass houses and throwing stones spring to mind....

 

M - 701
Total Distance Covered  130.6 miles

 



Visual impairment

A case of only seeing what I choose to see

There are three main things that I need to do before next weekend: tidy, clean and cook.  I'd like to wait until Friday to do them, but there won't be enough hours in the day, so am trying to work out some sort of schedule to stagger them throughout the week.

I think it might say a bit too much about where my priorities lie, when I tell you that I started by organising the cakes! I know what we're having, what ingredients I need to buy, and what days I am baking on.  I've yet to get my head around the savouries, but by the end of tonight the shopping list WILL be written.

I am refusing to clean before Thursday at the earliest! There has been far too much rain recently and with sixteen feet travelling in and out our house on a regular basis that makes for a lot of muddy footprints, and yes eight of those feet could do a better job of wiping them on the backdoor mat but when the other eight don't it's hard to see the point!

Which leaves the tidying up. However, it is becoming obvious that my attention is somewhat selective!  Al's headphones have been 'hidden' in the drawer, his shoes have been cursed at as they got put back on the shoe rack again (although come to think of it, it may not have been the shoes I was cursing) and heaven help anyone who leaves anything out in the kitchen. Operation Minimalist has begun....

Quite why I think any of these things, which will all  be needed again by Friday, require tidying today is anyone's guess, but what doesn't seem to be grabbing my attention is any of my stuff! There are two pairs of socks, a belt and three glasses cases on the dresser that don't seem to be bothering me at all! It's like they disappear from view when I look around to see what needs doing. A quick glance round each room and it would appear that the problem of selective blindness is widespread, I've got stuff left everywhere! Oops!

I haven't run today, I am going to rest my feet until I see the Biomechanics Man on Tuesday and have a chat about what might be causing the problem... but I'm really hoping he doesn't say to stop running for a while because if I'm organised enough to get to parkrun on Saturday it's my 40th time round the track!


M - 702
Total Distance Covered  130.6 miles

Lesley Judd

Eat your heart out! *

Special days at parkrun, where an unknown list of contributing factors have come into alignment resulting in a good run and feelings of being on top of the world have previously been reported on (thankfully) more than one occasion, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before it would all go awry!

More often than not we are blessed with dry weather at parkrun, not so this morning - the rain came just before nine, and heavy as it was we were not to be deterred! It did however change my plans to run slowly, I wasn't hanging around in this weather... or so I thought!

I felt OK and the pain in my legs I felt yesterday had eased, but when it came to get going there was just no running in me - I felt like I was running through treacle and had to watch Al shoot off with no chance of catching him. I did hope at one point that I would be able to accompany my friend walking up one of the hills but she was having none of it and sent me on my way (I'm grateful really JM!)  I appreciate that this is all relative and I still ran in under twenty six minutes, but two minutes slower than my PB over a relatively short distance feels like a lot!

However I think mine is a better position to be in than Al's, who worked hard and flew round only to be one second outside his PB (just galling!).

Two card sales in the café post run (and very excitingly a commission for another) and I have reached the total that I was waiting for before announcing the good news! Thanks to those who have bought cards, and to sisterofmarathongirl750 who very kindly donated my share of money owed to her for the room in Edinburgh, I can now have first my Blue Peter Totaliser moment!

£150 in the bank. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
We've a long way to go, but we're getting closer every day! I say "we" most deliberately because this is beginning to feel like a team effort! And I'm grateful to each and every one of you xxx

M - 703
Distance covered               3.1 miles
Total Distance Covered  130.6 miles

*To those reading in foreign parts this week... (Russia, Ukraine, Germany and  USA) or those not around in the 1970's (!) Lesley Judd was a presenter on Blue Peter which is a children's television programme that amongst a lot of other things raises money for charity. The presenters also take on momentous challenges... but I think I'm a little to old to receive a Blue Peter Badge for mine!!

Playing Catch Up

If my brain hasn't got a grasp on the task ahead my legs have!

Sisterofmarathongirl750 has been conspicuous in her absence over responding to yesterday's blog.  This can mean one of three things:

a) she hasn't read it yet;
b) she isn't going to warrant my latest hair brained idea with a response; or
c) she's talking herself into joining me on all three

Have to tell you sis that HM has already signed up! I am not on my own, and our other fellow parkrunner who has already committed to doing a half with us may yet be convinced to join us in the triple! We have also received an invitation to run Bath and Bristol (thanks FAK) lots to discuss over the post parkrun coffee tomorrow!

My legs may however wish they had a voice - they have woken up feeling every one of the five miles they ran yesterday and are not at all convinced about my plans for next year! They hurt and I'm still wondering if I've got shin splints, but I really don't want to stop running for a while so am going to stick my head in the sand for a bit longer and keep my fingers crossed.

I've had quite a productive day and have even started cleaning the kitchen, which makes me feel very self righteous whilst I'm doing it and then thoroughly hacked off when less than half an hour after finishing I have to start cooking and it's a mess again. What is the point? But for a short while at least it looked nice!

My insomnia has been replaced by anxiety dreams which is progress of sorts (I think) I'm almost done working out my menu for next weekend and starting to feel a little more organised, long may it last!

Al did mistakenly think that it was this weekend that people were coming - I find this slightly incredulous not just because the house is still a bit of a tip and clearly not ready for visitors, but also because he hasn't done any cooking!

M - 704
Total Distance Covered  127.5 miles

A little bit OTT

and about to get worse!

I was fortunate enough today to manage a quick update with an old friend over FB.  She has known me for the best part of 20 years, and for the majority of those also known that exercise and me have not had the closest of relationships!  It is not surprising then that one of her first questions was "what's with you and all this running?" A brief explanation about feeling the need to do something to take me out of the rut I've been in for a while and we are soon in agreement that exercise is the best medicine, but that 26 miles might be taking things (quite literally) a bit far and in fact a typo of "over OTT" summed it up perfectly!

If only she knew the half of it... (I was going to say excuse the pun, but I'm quite pleased with it!)

Still not wishing to focus on the job in hand, I have spent large parts of today trying to formulate some kind of half marathon plan.  I have looked up various runs to see when they are and have a quick look at the course to see if I can make an informed decision about which one I'd like to do, although at the moment this seems to be largely influenced by how scenic the surroundings are! Currently I'm favouring Cambridge and Chester, one is in March, the other in May... and I'm wondering if I could do both! (Eeeeek!) Perhaps with Glasgow in October to finish off the year?! A 2015 Series of Half Marathon's - am I serious?!

I don't know and I'm certainly not going to be held to this (yet) but here's my thinking behind it...

Firstly, my friend who's run two marathon's has advised me to keep myself at half marathon fitness (yes I did feel the need to point out that I have to get to there first!). Secondly, I have never run that far and am a little concerned that I'll hate it (having previously professed to being a speed over distance kind of girl) so if I've already got another one booked I will have to get back out and do it again whether I want to or not! Thirdly, it might make me train and run Cambridge in a more intelligent way if I know I've got another opportunity to run a half coming up, rather than going all out for some arbitrary time (I said might!). Finally having just been back to Scotland I'm feeling a little homesick and am full of romantic notions about running in my home town (which to be honest I could just go and visit without the need to run up St Vincent Street) but don't want to wait until October to test myself over this distance.

What I am still struggling to conceptualise is how far this actually is! Al and I ran five miles this evening and there was no way when we got back that I could have set off round the circuit for a second time, let alone then again for over half of a third!

It's OK you don't need to point out how many laps for a full marathon, I get it, it's a long way! But for some reason that isn't putting me off - the day may yet come!

M - 705
Distance covered               5.1 miles
Total Distance Covered  127.5 miles

Forget going forwards

I need to take a step back!

(but this time it's intentional)

For someone who was supposed to be pulling their socks up and starting afresh - this morning could have begun in a slightly kinder fashion!  Al left for work early and typically my insomnia was no where to be seen, consequently I thought it best to set my alarm so I didn't oversleep. It felt like my head had barely touched the pillow when it rang, I switched it off and promptly fell back to sleep for another twenty minutes. Flying out of bed I couldn't help but get the feeling that something wasn't quite right, a look at the clock in H's room confirmed my suspicions - I had changed the time of the clock and not the alarm, fast forwarding through the 50 minutes I had hoped to be asleep for!

Oh well, perhaps my day would get better - it didn't, nothing major just lost of frustrating little bits that didn't quite go the way I wanted them to, like knocking a pint of water over just before I started cooking tea. Which isn't surprising because my head's busy and I'm permanently in a bit of a flap - I think it's time I took a step back, although I get the distinct impression that I've talked about the need to do this before.

It is becoming blatantly obvious to me (and no doubt you) that I get too easily side tracked and find myself fixating on things that I have very little control over rather than getting on with what I can do and letting the rest take care of itself.  A prime example being my search today to find a half marathon before next summer (need to talk to you about the Great North Run RLB and HM) which instead ended up being a search for a website I'd been on previously and wanted to find again (but didn't!).

Despite all good intentions and kind words of support and advice, I am not going to be able to stop worrying overnight and have spent too much of today caught up in the same futile internal conversation (oh and a couple of external ones - sorry Al and C) of "what if's" regarding my fundraising and afternoon tea. But I am not a completely lost cause - yet!

I have put away all my card making stuff until after next weekend (unless I get an order in which case I will more than happily get it all out again!). Tomorrow is the start of the big tidy up in preparation for having people round because irrespective of whether or not I get to my magic twelve, there are seven who've already said they'll come so I'd better start focussing on them and providing some good food in pleasant surroundings!

And ladies I may still have to master the art of the mini frittata but the brownies I made this morning are to die for (not that I tasted any of course!).

M - 706
Total Distance Covered remains at 122.4 miles (although I did walk 4 with the dog).

One step forward

and two steps back

The wine has arrived for next weekend! This jolts me out of my card making groove that I have been stuck in over the past few days, and makes me realise that there are other things to think about, plan and prepare (which is a bit of a shame as I've new art supplies in the post!).

Time to look at the notes I made last week, trawl the internet for inspiration and flick through our recipe books and collection of bits torn out of magazines.

On paper it looks like I'm starting to get somewhere and I am motivated enough to head out this afternoon to buy some ingredients (the fact that we'd nothing in for tea despite me going to the supermarket yesterday morning may have a little to do with this).

By the time Al gets in there are a dozen mini frittatas on the cooling rack and I'm feeling rather pleased with myself.  A couple for dinner, the rest in the freezer and I've made my first (non alcohol related) step towards Afternoon Tea.

Al is impressed, both with how they look and also with the fact that I've finally done something positive instead of sitting worrying that people won't come!  It is such a shame then that they taste of nothing!  Somehow I have made the flavours of eggs, feta cheese, leeks, sweet potato, garlic and cream cancel each other out, and have even been back to check the recipe to see if I missed something (apparently not).  I am more than a little disheartened and tempted to throw them in the bin so I never have to see them again, but know that I won't be able to cope with the waste and we'll be having it for tea again, and again and possibly again before they're gone!

I didn't really need this, I am already struggling to see the good that has happened in the past week because I'm too busy worrying about the bad. I am two card sales away from meeting a milestone, on the soon to be published totaliser, yet to talk to me you'd think I hadn't sold any. 

Acknowledging that I have to stop ruminating about things that may or may not be, I was reminded of something that sisterofmarthongirl750 once told me about 85% of the things you worry about not actually happening.  It was a while ago and clearly I haven't paid that much attention to it so I thought I'd best check I'd remembered it correctly.  I found this on my search...

Self-doubt - It is a downward spiral that focuses on the negative and why things cannot be done versus why things can be done. It is a sinkhole, a debilitating attitude, and a terrible habit. 

That's me told!

M - 707
Total Distance Covered (a guilt free - trainers are still wet) 122.4 miles

Running in the Rain

There's method in my madness

We have two dogs.  Sid a seventeen year old Jack Russell, and Dougal a two year old English Pointer. A lot of the time they live somewhat independently of each other, however when it comes to opening doors they have perfected a double act.  If the door opens away from them Dougal has mastered the technique of standing on his hind legs and operating door handle with his front paws, if it opens towards them and is slightly ajar Dougal who lacks the tenacity of a terrier will stand the other side of if and whine whilst he waits for Sid to get his snout (designed for sticking down rabbit holes) in the gap and open it for him. Dougal sleeps shut in a cage overnight but rarely goes anywhere near it during the day (the relevance of these two pieces of information will become clear later!).

Today was a bit of a nothing day, it never seemed to really get started and I couldn't help but feel a little flat. I missed Al not being around and I'd to bake for my neighbour's birthday which made me feel sorry for myself that I am supposed to be cutting down on such sugar loaded luxury. (I am genuinely quite fond of an oatcake until I mention the word 'diet' and suddenly it's like eating cardboard!) Thankfully on this occasion I'd to give the brownies away so temptation has been removed from my path, but I've a week of baking ahead of me in preparation for next weekend, and can't help but think I've chosen the wrong month to focus on weight loss!

The plan was that Al and I would go for a run before tea. Not long before he got in from work the heavens opened.  We sat around on the sofa for a while trying to decide what to do, whether to run, or wait, or forget it all together.  We decided to go, if only for the fact that it would change the number of miles at the bottom of my blog!  Dougal on seeing Al in his running kit made a bee line for his cage, managed to open the door all by himself, and curled up as small as he could in his bed hoping we wouldn't find him!  By the time I was changed there was no sign of the rain passing and as it bounced off the pavement and thundered down on the skylight Al's body language became less and less like that of someone about to go out for a run - in the end I went on my own!

I'm glad I went but I'm also glad that the rain kept me from trying to up my distance in an attempt to catch up with HM!

However perhaps the best bit of running in the rain is the guilt free day off it has given me tomorrow.  I am not running in soggy trainers - I may be keen but I'm not that keen!

M - 708
Distance covered                 3.1 miles
Total Distance Covered    122.4 miles

Whoosh!

Another week flies by!

 

We had a lovely evening at our friends last night, we haven't seen them since New Year when my buried desire to run a marathon had yet to surface, so there was lots to tell them although I still feel slightly strange saying it out loud. I can't quite shake the feeling that at some point someone will find the whole idea farcical when I mention it, but so far everyone has been incredibly supportive and last night was no exception - thank you!

Today started well - at last I managed a lie in on a Sunday morning, it's just a shame that the benefits of not waking up until 9 o'clock had to be offset against not getting in until half one!

I would like to say that a lazy Sunday followed - but we've long since forgotten what one of those is like!

It dawned on me yesterday that it's Father's Day in a fortnight and an ideal opportunity to try and peddle a few more of my wares, so today has been spent putting new cards together, suggesting customising existing ones and getting them on to Facebook.  I am not particularly adept at this last part so apologies if you've received the same message more than once, be patient with me - I'm on a steep learning curve!

Meanwhile the ironing mountain grows ever higher and the house remains untidy and in need of a clean - although if I do it soon it'll need doing again before Afternoon Tea Day, but if I leave it til nearer the time...

Feeling slightly sad this evening that it's the end of the half term holidays, I don't want Al to go back to work tomorrow or H to go back to school (C is on study leave but rarely puts in an appearance before lunchtime). We've been here before and I know that by now I should have written my shopping list for the morning, and planned my day so that I'm focused but I've yet to do either. 

I also know that I've let the little jobs (that I'm supposed to do on a daily basis) slip and am going to have to spend at least part of the week playing catch up.  Al however has taken my words to heart and is cleaning the hob on a nightly basis! On the one hand this makes me smile, on the other it just serves as a reminder that I may talk a good story but am rubbish at putting it into practice... oh well, you teach best what you most need to learn!

Yet again my day seemed to disappear in an endless stream of things to do, but with little evidence at the end of it that I'd done anything at all!  I would have liked to go running (I know bit of a change from a few days ago!), especially as one of next year's half marathon contenders has upped the anti by running 7.86 miles...  HUGE well done to you HM, but I now have running envy!

Oh well there's always tomorrow!

M - 709
Total Distance Covered    119.3 miles