Quarterly report!

Yes, it's almost a quarter of the way through the year and I haven't blogged anything yet!!

Well that's probably because there is very little to blog sadly.

Life itself is pretty much unchanged. I had some really lovely time off work over Christmas and into January which was just what I needed. I had a lovely birthday, over the course of a week I went out for lunch with a friend, lunch with family and an ice hockey match with friends.

Work is unchanged. I am now on the 3rd intake of dogs since I started my current project and the project itself is halfway through. I have no idea how it will go long term, other areas have had some issues with the project but it's working well for me.

Running is going well. I gained weight over Christmas and that slowed me down, along with lack of training. I have now lost the weight and put in some proper training, and am pleased to say I completed my first half marathon in dreadful weather last weekend, in 1 hour, 58 mins and 58 secs. I was very pleased to get sub two hours as I knew it was going to be close, and I ran my socks off for it!!

The Friday before the half marathon we had the running club end of year dinner dance/ball. I bought a lovely long strapless blue dress, which I got in a charity shop for £8!!

I knew I would get an award for completing all of the cross country races in the league which the club enters, but I had no idea I would also be presented with the trophy for 'Most Improved New Runner'!!! I'm still convinced they've got me mixed up with someone else....

Tarka is doing really well. She has been diagnosed with early stage kidney disease but you wouldn't know it, and she's just had a good set of test results which have shown minimal/no changes in the last 3 months. She's 13 years old about now and you'd never know from watching her run round the woods!

So that it really, three months in words and pictures. If I think of anything else I'll come back and edit it, and I will try and keep a bit more up to date for the rest of the year.....

Happy New Year

2012 was OK, I wonder what 2013 will bring?

And so that was Christmas...

...and today is Boxing Day!!

After the madness of yesterday I'm having a quiet day today. Yesterday I was at Mum and Dad's with my sister, brother in law, nephews and grandmother. I stayed over and went out for a run this morning with some friends from running club. The others went home around lunch time so Mum Dad and I went for a walk and then I came on home. Tomorrow we will all be back at Mum and Dad's with the addition of my brother, sister in law and nieces. It's gonna be loud....!!!

Weekends....

....They tend to be busy!!

With no-one but myself to worry about I can fill my weekends with whatever I like!

I recently went on a weekend away with the running club. It was quite a busy weekend with lots of exercise/training, but some down time too and plenty of socialising. It was great fun and good value for money as we stayed at a Youth Hostel and self catered.

I like to do some longer dog walks at weekends usually, and I do like to have a long lie in on at least one of the days. I like to get up at about 8am, feed the dog and let her out, then get my breakfast ready and take it back up to bed with me. I have breakfast in bed then either go back to sleep, read or surf the net on my phone. This can take me through to anywhere between 10am and lunch time... yes I know it's very lazy and some might say a waste of time, but in my book I am relaxed, warm, comfortable and doing something I enjoy so why not?

However, it's now Cross Country season and my running club takes part in a local league with other clubs. So, Sunday just gone saw me up early and out running through rather a lot of mud, although thankfully it wasn't raining or too cold for a change! It was about 6 miles and I completed it in 50m 40s by my watch, although the official times aren't out yet due to technical difficulties with the website. I think that's between 5-7 minutes quicker than I ran the same course last year but I can't check until the website is fixed. There are seven races in total between now and the end of January, I'm hoping to complete six of them. My club is hosting one so I will probably have to marshal that one instead of running it.

I have also entered the Reading Half Marathon which is in March next year.....

I DID IT!!!!!

I completed the Great South Run!

Ten miles, no walking, no having to stop for road crossings, just ten miles of uninterrupted running.... apart from having to pick my way through the hoards of other runners on the course!

It was a good run though, I started off with no expectations regarding time although I think I'd have been disappointed to be over 1h 45m if I'm honest.

I set off at a speed of 9.25/mile which felt comfortable. I was aiming for ten minute miles so I was wary of setting off too fast and burning out, but it felt good so I went with it. By 5 miles I was down to an average time of 9.11/mile and still feeling comfortable. Then I started to think that maybe I had a chance of a sub 1h 30m total so I decided to speed up a little. Bit by bit my average speed dropped, at mile 8 my watch was showing 8.58/mile so I sped up a bit more to give myself a bit of a margin.... having done so much by then I'd have hated to have got 1h 30m 02s or something like that. As I crossed the line my watch said 8.48/mile, however it also said I'd done 10.16 miles so I'd obviously created some extra distance dodging in and out of people and swinging wide on the corners to keep out the crowds. My final official time in the end was:

1 hour 29 minutes 26 seconds!!!

So, I was very happy with that, and am now thinking I might go for a half marathon in the spring!

Shameless plug for a friend...

Anna used to work with me many years ago. Since getting married and having children she has set up Crafty Cooks, a franchise teaching children to cook from a very young age. Learning about food and how to cook it helps young children to try new foods and to develop a more varied taste, hopefully preventing them from becoming fussy eaters. It can also help children who are already fussy eaters to be brave and try new things.

Crafty cooks runs a range of classes for children of varying ages. They also do one off sessions in school holidays and cookery parties for birthdays or any other occasion. There are even adult classes too!

And if you are interested in setting up a franchise of your own, please give Anna a call. I'm sure she'll be delighted to hear from you.

Check out Anna's website and blog, You can follow Crafty Cooks on Facebook and Twitter @craftycooks too!

http://craftycooks.wordpress.com/
http://www.craftycooks.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/craftycooks

Updates:

My friend has moved on, I am alone again *sob*. Her house purchase went through as planned so she's now back in her own home. Whilst I enjoyed having her here, I do think we got on so well because we are both quite laid back and got on with our own thing, leaving the other alone to do their own thing too. I don't think it would be as good with any one else, especially a stranger, so I won't be looking for a lodger any time soon!

I'm running the Great South Run next weekend! It's ten miles, I have done ten miles twice now so I'm pretty confident about the distance. Time-wise I'm just going to see what feels comfortable on the day. I'd love to do the whole thing in ten minute miles but I'm not going to be upset if I don't. Having said that, I did seven miles in 9.03 minute miles on Thursday so who knows? Anything is possible, but I'm not going to push myself too hard, I want to enjoy the occasion and see the sights of Portsmouth as I gently jog past... Ten miles is my biggest distance so far, so I'm starting to think about aiming for a half marathon in the spring. It suddenly feels more achievable than it did before!