It was all a bit one thing after another once I signed off
last time. We crashed the car for a
start (all ok but was very shaken up by it!).
Then it was Christmas and New Year and my (30th!) birthday. And then I spent 2 weeks walking up various Wainwrights
with the Chaos Collective and my friend to celebrate her escape from
teaching... and mine I suppose, since I also managed to get a new job and don’t
have to do bat calls anymore. We managed
something like 14 Wainwright tops over 2 weeks – not walking everyday either. We had some spectacular days out there though
and it was a lot of fun. The plan is to
try and collect them all eventually!
Myself and Stu have started doing a long run-walk out every
weekend. We’ve been aiming for a few
hours on the hills, with the dogs too.
The dogs have been brilliant – so well behaved, well in a organised
chaos kind of way! And we’ve done well
with the distance and time on feet... yesterday we even went out despite Stu’s
burgeoning man-flu in some nasty weather and managed 7 miles round the Back o’
Skiddaw in the snow. We’re a long way off
from that 62 mile goal though! But at
least we have made a start. My aim next
is to get a couple of decent length runs/run-walks in during the week – I’ve
been managing one run in amongst the dog walking but want to increase it.
Another new development; for the first time ever I am
calorie counting and dieting properly – anything to lighten the load on my
joints during training and on the big day itself. I don’t really want to be hauling 2
unnecessary stone around for 2 and a half marathons! I had lost a bit before Christmas but the
inevitable half stone piled back on due to chocolate consumption and a
developing biscuit habit. So far so good
with the counting though, lost a few pounds over the last week – but the way my
weight fluctuates anyway it’ll take a few weeks for a clear downwards trend to
emerge (all being well!).
I’m mulling over fundraising ideas too. If anyone would just like to plain, ol’
boring ol’ sponsor us here’s a linky: http://www.justgiving.com/themonochromechaoscollective Given that we’re going to be covering 100km
in less than 30 hours I think it’s worth a donation or two! All pennies appreciated – I’ve been looking
at some of the things that Oxfam are involved in. It is easy to forget the difficulties other
people in the world face just to go about the daily process of living. You know, I’m feeling pretty epic for running
7 miles in tough conditions the other day, but at the end of the day I have the
luxury of doing that for fun! There’s
people who have to do that and further every day in worse conditions just to
get water, or food, or work, or an education...
I don’t usually give it much thought but when I do I realise all over
again that I am a very lucky girl indeed...
