Day 359

1.  Spent most of today watching to see if the weather I could see out of the window (cloudy, rather windy and not overly warm) was ever going to match what it said on the BBC weather app (sunny intervals and fifteen degrees).  It didn't.  But after speaking to sisterofMG750 this afternoon I decided that cloudy, rather windy and not overly warm was better than the rain they were having in Glasgow.

2.  Motivation lacking I tried to persuade C to come running with me this morning. He declined.

3.  I think hiding under the table was tantamount to Dougal declining also, but he didn't get the option and was made to accompany me on my five mile run.  He is the perfect running buddy keeping pace with me however slow or fast I go, and today was a little bit faster than last week (but my most despised Garmin won't upload to the computer - AGAIN - and so I can't analyse my run in any more technical terms - I bet you're gutted!).

4.  Came back awash with post run euphoria! It is the most wonderful feeling, and I am full of resolve to really try and sort the issues I'm still having with my IT Bands so that I can keep running and experience it some more.

5.  Al was, I think, a little on the disappointed side that my good mood didn't quite last until he got home, but I had a lovely lunch with the boys mid glow!

M - 392

Liverpool Half - 61

Glasgow Half - 173
Distance covered                5 miles
Total Distance covered   545.1 miles

Day 358

1.  The one thing that I really needed today was a day that didn't get more complicated as it went on - I didn't get it.  Al left for work around seven and Dougal lasted a whole five minutes before deciding it was time he was up and 'yipped' me out of my bed.

2.  A phone call at half seven changed the course of the day and I spent the rest of it playing catch up, I am still waiting for the opportunity to go for a shower - nice!

3.  My hips hurt after running on Saturday, I desperately need to go and spend some time working on them with both foam roller and tennis ball, but unsurprisingly it was my attendance at the gym that I chose to forgo this morning when the plans for the day changed.

4.  Prepared our tea whilst making the boys theirs, completely forgot that ours needed putting in the oven.  Dougal didn't fare much better forgot to feed him altogether!

5.  Think it's fair to say I missed you today Mr L.  Things don't quite work the same around here without you.

M - 393

Liverpool Half - 62

Glasgow Half - 174
Total Distance covered   540.1 miles

Time Warp

It's just a jump to the left...

I'm not altogether sure how it has happened but somehow we've arrived in the middle of April and I am at a bit of a loss as to what happened to most of January, some of February (won't be forgetting our weekend in Brighton in a hurry!) and the vast majority of March.

I am no where near as fit or as thin as I think I was supposed to be by Easter, nor when I bought all that fabric and put it away until after Christmas did I think it would still be untouched in the cupboard come April.  I haven't looked back at my blog, but I'm guessing that somewhere there's an entry which says I'm just going to focus on getting the house straight once everyone goes back to work and school in the New Year, and yet here I am about to write the same thing after the Easter holidays with no real concept of what happened to the time in between.  So much for seizing the day in a carpe diem kind of a way - at the moment I'd settle for just remembering what I did with the day when I got to the end of it!

Spoiler alert! If I think the past three months have gone quickly there is also an anniversary looming that is a bit scary - I'm almost half way! Just over a week off a full year of being a blogger, fundraiser and increasingly part time runner!

Trying not to get completely overwhelmed by it all, I did manage to spend some time today embellishing the cards that I printed last week (which sounds so much better than 'colouring in', which is how Al has been referring to this latest artistic process!).  I'm relatively happy with the results, yet apprehensive as to whether they will sell.  I have had second thoughts about a market stall and am really hoping I can avoid going down that route, but as I'm trying to hold onto them for my Etsy relaunch I am going to have to wonder for a little bit longer.

Meanwhile the big day is approaching a lot faster for some, as Marathon Man puts in his final preparation for running the London Marathon in a fortnight! Thanks for sending me the email updates as to your progress, and look forward to the debrief.  But an eighteen minute fifty parkrun?! You kept that quiet! Regular readers will know that I'm far more envious of this than the fact that you're running in London a year earlier than I hope to!

M - 394

Liverpool Half - 63

Glasgow Half - 175
Total Distance covered   540.1 miles

Day 356

1.  After a week of lovely weather, it was wet and horrible this morning... not the best start to Parkrun Day.

2.  Thankfully the rain stopped at some point after HMG and I had set off, but I was too busy chatting to notice when!

3.  Got to parkrun and Al was nowhere to be seen, when asked where he was I told everyone that, having left him sitting on the settee in his running kit, my only assumption was he must have fallen back to sleep and was still there.  He arrived with seconds to spare having gone back to get his barcode which he'd forgotten to transfer onto his new trainers, wondering why everyone was smiling at him in a knowing way - sorry Al.

4.  HUGE 100 Parkrun Club Congratulations to fellow parkrunner! At 73 I have a few to go to join you, but at least I'm back at it and heading in the right direction again.

5.  Lovely afternoon and evening with the boys and Etsy Favouriter, watching the Grand National, the First Woman's Boat Race, the Men's Boat Race and, just in case that wasn't enough to inspire them to greatness, Dead Poet's Society. Just hoping I can retain enough of the sentiment to spur me into action tomorrow...

M - 395

Liverpool Half - 64

Glasgow Half - 176
Distance Covered            7.1 miles
Total Distance covered   540.1 miles

Day 355

1.  Dragged myself out of bed this morning, went to the supermarket, came home to put the shopping away and pick up C so we could go to the gym, to discover he'd slept in.  Neither of us took much convincing to decide we wouldn't bother going (although C did go swimming later, whereas I did nothing).

2.  In my defence I'm still feeling a little under the weather and have decided to save myself for parkrun tomorrow.

3.  Had a lovely day with Al.

4.  In fact I've had a lovely week since he came home on Sunday.

5.  Not looking forward to him going back to work on Monday, but am hoping that I might manage to get back into some sort of fitness routine when he does.  My gym attendance has been non existent this week, and I only managed a solitary appearance the week before, I have already missed several runs on my training plan and it's only week three, and my motivation to do anything about it is no where to be seen!

M - 396

Liverpool Half - 65

Glasgow Half - 177
Total Distance covered   533 miles

Day 354

1.  My plan to get an early night and feel better in the morning didn't work.  I got to sleep OK, but I am still poorly. Consequently;

2.  I didn't run today :(

3.  I am now going to have to rejig my training plan as I don't think I've earned next week's rest week. Which is a shame because I was really looking forward to it!

4.  I can't believe how close I am to being able to apply for my Barnardo's place and how far I am from being ready for it.  I want to have my Etsy shop back up and running before I submit my application, but as yet have nothing to put in it!  I've ended up having to buy the cards that I'd started to make a couple of weeks ago which gets the money in the bank but doesn't help with having anything to sell! So I made a concerted effort to start doing something about it today.  At five cards printed it was a relatively small start but a step in the right direction.

5.  C came in to see me after I'd gone to bed to find out what time I was going to the gym tomorrow. Not wanting to give him any excuse not to train nor wanting to pass up the opportunity to spend time with him, I found myself saying 9 o'clock  - when in reality I had no intention of going at all!

M - 397

Liverpool Half - 66

Glasgow Half - 178
Total Distance covered   533 miles

Day 353

1.  The downward movement on the scales is only ever going to be a temporary blip if I continue to eat as much as I did today.

2.  An hour early to meet a friend for lunch, I found myself killing time in a running shop?! Admittedly I didn't spend the whole of the hour there but seems I am more interested in buying new running kit than I am new clothes!

3.  Consequently I am hankering after a new pair of shoes, not entirely sure what's wrong with the ones I currently own (although I have run the treads off in places) but I have a sneaking suspicion that I think new shoes might make running easier.

4.  If I could only run for as long or as fast as my nose has today then I would have completed my marathon AND gained elite status!

5.  Having waited so long for all my boys to be home, they've all gone out to the cinema together to watch a boys film! Going to take advantage of their absence, have a relatively early night and  hope I feel better in the morning.

M - 398

Liverpool Half - 67

Glasgow Half - 179
Total Distance covered   533 miles