Stay at home mum/teacher…

I always thought that I’d stay at home when I had kids, at least until they started school. In the end, I didn’t. And that was the right decision for me, for all sorts of reasons. Tonight, at the end of an emotional week, and a hectic day, I reflected on things with Jan. Things…

Overcoming fears (and not coming last)

A lovely day today. Finn came second in his race, Jan came third in his. And… I didn’t come last. But, to be honest, that’s a silly thing to say. Someone has to come last. And it could easily have been me. For me, the triumph of today was that I ran even though I was terrified.

Running makes me happy…

When I started this blog, I had given myself 11 months to train for a marathon. This focussed me somewhat! But I trained (and blogged), and I did it. 2 and a half years later… (2 and a half years?!) I have another aim:

I want to repeat as many of my early run times as I can, from when I first started running, before I’m 50.

Starting again (… again!)

The last time I was in the flow of running regularly (and enjoying it) was April. But then I got ill. I then started to run a bit at the start of the summer but life got in the way, and I never really got back to it.  

One of the things that got in the way was cycling (1111 km) around the Netherlands with the family, so I’m not complaining. But I’m out of shape, low on confidence, and need to shift a stone for running to be helpful (rather than harmful) before all the rest of it…

Running faster… (shorter)

Two miles is not a big distance for a run, but I don’t care. I care more that I maintained a good pace, that I enjoyed it, and that I felt fine afterwards. In fact, I felt really good afterwards. I felt completely set up for the day.

Why run otherwise?….

Catch-up… (Hurdles and Bottlenecks)

I haven’t blogged about running since I completed the Edinburgh Marathon last year. However, I’ve blogged a LOT! But all about teaching. I guess I can only concentrate on one thing at a time, or something… A year’s worth of running… I did carry on running. I ran with friends… I ran with family… I…

Every second counts

So I did it. I completed the Edinburgh marathon. My first marathon since having 3 kids. A marathon where I only ran 2 or 3 times per week in training for all sorts of reasons. But I did it. And I got in under 5 hours.  Just! Time was 4.59.05! But every second counts… Full…

Two 20 milers done! Can I taper now?

Work has been hellish for all sorts of reasons over the past few weeks, so no blogging. But I’ve still been running. A bit. Not as much as I’d like to (I was ill this week for a start- high temperatures and full-on body aches and everything), but I’ve been running a bit. Mostly, I’ve…

Vingt-huit kilometres (17 miles… and a bit…)

Just photos today from my route yesterday. More than 17 miles, but not quite 18… Yesterday was slow. And tough. And it hurt. But I’m not sore today, so I guess that’s the main thing. And it’s all about covering the distance, right? Getting your body used to the pain and the emptiness in your…

Deja vu (holidays and compression tights…)

14 years ago, I ran my first (and only) marathon. Shortly before I ran it, I spent 2 weeks in France with my family. For various reasons, it was a rather tough time for me, emotionally (I was at a crossroads in many senses of the word) and physically (I was taking some awful antibiotics,…