Fail!! Ah well - there's always another week!

I had been hoping to be putting the finishing touches to the 6th post in 6 days yesterday evening, with a view to finishing the Snowdon post today. This would mean that one of the things on the 50 list would be done (a post for every day of a week) sadly, I didn't quite make it! I had planned to do a day in pictures for Friday, which was supremely stupid, as a late night theatre trip meant there was no time to play with and upload pics (on the plus side, did see a pretty good Hamlet at the Greenwich Playhouse, so was not entirely a wasted evening!) Haven't finished the Snowdon post either - have been wardrobe sorting and cleaning the flat today - slept until 8.45, which is unheard of. Anyway. This week's been hectic, but basically good. Am looking forward to running tomorrow - equal run walk times for the first time, which is a wee bit scary. This week, I am going to try to see the positive side of stuff - turn my inner bitch into Pollyanna, or something!

Today's picture is in response to Amy's request - it's of me. (taken by Dani or Steve at the Good Companions after the parkrun on Saturday!)

It's not so hot in here....

In the summer, I had hot water. And, if I'd wanted it, heating. All working beautifully. In the last couple of week of the holidays, I had a few problems - sometimes there'd be no hot water. Some times the boiler wouldn't turn on. Then it would turn itself on, unrequested... eventually, in the middle of the night, the boiler went into overdrive, and I was woken up by what sounded like a tiger in the attic, but was in fact the entire system overheating. The boiler was going at full blast, there was a hideous smell of melting plastic and hot paint, the shell of the boiler was red-hot, and neither the emergency cut-off or the on off switch on the timer had any effect whatsoever. Panic inspired, I shut off the electricity, which did indeed switch off the boiler. (electro-magnetic valve, don't you know) Long story short, the lovely Shaun Cooney, aka 'Banstead Boilers,' is replacing my entire heating system, including the shower, and all the radiators. This is not cheap (thanks Mum and Dad) but will be amazing. It is also not quick. I have survived the whole of September without hot water, and obviously, no heating. Fortunately, it's been really lovely and warm, and in spite of my addiction to hot baths, I've survived thanks to decent showers at school, and my own miserable electric shower. Shaun started work yesterday (5th of Oct) which may prove timely, as it is starting to get cold.

I arrived home yesterday to a pile of old radiators in the garden, and a pair of slighly disgruntled cats - hopefully the kittehs will be happy kittehs once the heating is fixed!

This is what my bedroom to be looks like at the moment ... note the 'Toy Story' lunch box, which Shaun told me - a little too quickly - belongs to his son!

All is moving on well!

Walk avoidance - well, it is raining!

Ok, so the last two posts have covered two of the things on my '50' list - exercise and vegetatianism - so I thought I'd make it three in a row: walking to school. The goal is to walk to and from school at least once a week. Why? A number of reasons: basic fitness, it's a two mile walk, with a pretty hefty hill in the middle. The fresh air concept - particularly if the route goes over the downs rather than along the road, the downs are beautiful, and if it isn't raining, it's a really lovely walk. Finances, less driving is less petrol used, which is definitely a good thing, from both a money and planet saving perspective.

In an ideal world, I'd like to avoid driving as much as possible - the green lobbyist in me isn't happy about driving 2 mile distances twice a day. The once a week thing is a start, with a view to making it more often where possible.

The problems with walking are that it takes half an hour, and I struggle with early mornings - the 20 minutes earlier that I have to leave to walk are actually worth 3 hrs of time at any other point in the day. It isn't an easy walk, and not one which I would like to attempt carrying anything very much. Also, when raining, the pretty route is slippy, and muddy, and may prove impossible. I tend to arrive at school all hot and sticky, and need to have a shower, which is fine, but does mean I can't afford to leave home late, and that I have to have a change of clothes at school already.

Experience tells me that no matter how good my intentions, if the car is outside the house in the morning, I won't walk, so generally, I'm driving into school on a Monday morning, and leaving the car at school - which means I have to walk in on Tuesday. In theory, if I get organised on a Sunday, I can work out whether I actually need the car any evening (for eg, I usually go to Kaye's in Sutton on a Wednesday) and I can then take clothes/basis for lunches into school for the days I intend to walk. If I go to Sutton a Wednesday I have choices - either I walk in on Thursday, leaving the car at home (not very likely)or I drive in and leave the car again on Thursday. Either way, I need to have the car on Friday evening to bring everything home again (there is also the matter of a week's worth of running gear)

So far, this has actually been going really well. I enjoy the walk when it's over the Downs, hate it on the roads. I need to get into the habit of getting up earlier, and make sure the right things come home with me each evening! What I have discovered, surprisingly, is that walking in is easier than walking home - the steepness of the hill really hurts my knees - so if I can get a lift down the hill, I'm happy to accept!

Anyway, back to the story behind today's headline. It was raining. My back hurt. I was late leaving home. I went the road way, not just becausse of the rain, but because - if I'm honest - I hoped I might get a lift! Several members of staff drove past me ('I didn't see you - sorry')and right at the very bottom of the hill, a lady was just coming out of her house, and offered me a lift. Her name is Joan, she's a retired PE teacher, and she is definitely on my hero list!

The view on the Downs which makes the walk worthwhile.

October is vegetarian month...pass me the yams

So. When writing the epic list of 50, I decided that I wanted to spend a year of each month not eating meat. Why? Guilt, I guess. I hate the way animals are treated in the meat industry, and to (mis)quote Dani's blog (http://www.alimelessordinary.com/)
'cute in the field doesn't equal dead on a plate.' I hadn't intended to do this so early in the year, but got invovlved in a conversatiation with Dani post-parkrun in which it slowly dawned on me that all the reasons I'm not a vegetarian anymore (used to be ... back in the day, got mugged by a bacon sandwich)are basically excuses, and the real reason is simple: I like meat.

What I don't like is the manner in which animals are treated both as they live/grow and the manner in which they are killed. If I could afford to only buy meat from'free range' and humanely slaughtered animals, then I would do so, and quite happily eat away! However, the River Cottage option isn't open to all of us, and so I am being a vegetarian instead - for a month to start with, and then we will see....

The rules of engagement: No meat! I am going to eat fish though, specifically tuna - on the grounds that they swim in the sea for most of their lives, and that can't be a bad way to be! Also, eggs (free range, of course) and dairy products are allowed. I don't often drink milk anyway, as I have a mild lactose intolerence, but I do eat more cheese than is good for me (and then there's chocolate....) I am aware that the way in which Dairy herds are kept is often appalling, and one of my missions this month is to research whether there is a cow friendly way of eating these things.

It's the 4th of October, and so far, so good. A certain amount of quorn products found their way into my (morrison's) trolley this week, and I'm planning a return to lentil consumption for the end of the week - may end up barefoot with flowers in my hair if this goes on....

Of all the lies we tell, the worst are the ones we tell to ourselves - Thanks to Dani for giving my self-deception a well timed and much deserved kicking!

Some cows - who I shall not be eating! - taken in Snowdonia this summer.

Maybe this running lark isn't so bad...

Another teeny post - Snowdon is coming along nicely!

Friday's run didn't happen - it was tooooo hot, and there was danger of death! Saturday's parkrun was also cursed by heat - 28degrees at 8.45 - and only 40 people were brave enough to run. I dragged the Watkins up onto the Downs in the evening to run instead - and it was really nice, although a bit dark (as in pitch black) by the end - found a stray sign which had been left on the path at Condon corner, and given the cost of these, am glad I did! Anyway, we did 5km at a very gentle walk/run pace, in 42 mins. Am now trying to work out whether I can fit in an official parkrun this month, or whether I will have to wait til November. Hmmm.

Spent a lot of time this week end editing photos - from Steven's 21st, RDp and Bushy Junior parkrun - obviously I would have mowed the lawn otherwise.....

Am looking forward to tonight's run - 10 reps of 1min,15sec running/ 1min, 45secs walking

This week's photo was taken in Bushy park yesterday at midday - it's one of my heroes, Mara Yamauchi, Team GB marathon runner, out for a training run with her husband pacing her on a bike. She was going fast!

If exercise is good for you, surely it shouldn't hurt so much?

This is a brief, interim post, to fill the gap before the Snowdon post, which is a work in progress.

One of the things on my list is to do regular exercise. I've been doing this, and enjoying it for the last 3 weeks or so - 3 times a week, following a 'couch to 5k' program. Enjoying it, that is, until today.

Lucy & I normally 'run' 3 evenings a week - it's a club which keeps growing, as more and more students seem to want to join us. Progress is slow, but definite - we're currently doing 10 reps of 1min10secs jogging to 1min 50secs walking.

For some reason, it's suddenly started to hurt. My whole body was aching after the mass rake-off of Riddlesdown on Saturday, my thighs were killing me after Monday's run, and today my legs just felt like lead the whole way through. I'm not sure why really, or what I should do about it.

Possible causes of sudden malaise:
* Am lazy fat cow.
* Have had nasty cold for last few days
* Haven't slept much this week
* This was the first early morning run for nearly 2 yrs, body wasn't ready for it!
* Hadn't eaten before run, or last night owing to feeling rubbish and row with idiot neighbour
* Is just normal aches of re-establishing exercise pattern, and I should just cowboy the fuck up.

Possible solutions:
*Abandon project run 5k, and buy an xl swimsuit.
*Slow down the running - stamina not speed is what is important atm.
*Do some decent stretching before and definitely after
*Stick with it. It'll get better soon.
*Eat properly
*Get more sleep


Hmm. I guess I'm gonna stick with it.... Friday after school is the next run - I think we'll repeat today's times, rather than increase the run time, and see how we go. Will try to stretch/eat/sleep and hopefully..... all will be well

The picture that is currently on my desktop. Frankie cat at noon on Saturday, as I returned from parkrun.

Ohhh. parkrun. Event report... argh!!!!! *scuttles off to edit report with all due haste*

A List.

Am now nearly 5 weeks old, in terms of life beginning at 40, and not a single post have I made - would like to have written a whole lot of stuff about Snowdon, and everything else I did over the summer, but somehow, I didn't quite get round to it.

My boiler blew up, my wireless router stopped working, we went back to school and still no post - am quite possibly an epic failure on several levels.

I haven't been completely idle, though, I have been working on a list... 50 things I'd like to do before I'm 50.

It's not quite finished - there are only 49 things on it, and I'd welcome any suggestions for the 50th. I'm also aware that it reads a bit like one of Amy's 'to do' lists of chores, rather than an inspired list of exciting goals, but for now, it'll do. I reserve the right to change things!



50 things I would like to do before I'm 50:

1.To climb a mountain
2.To see Puffins in their natural habitat
3.To see dolphins in their natural habitat
4.To do a 365
5.To finish decorating the bedroom
6.To remove the ugly white wood from my front room
7.To re-organise the study
8.To have a pretty garden
9.To obtain a healthy weight and maintain it
10.To exercise regularly
11.To walk to school at least once a week, and walk home at least once a week.
12.To stay on the right side of my overdraft limit
13.Get a passport
14.To save some money every month towards project NZ
15.To have my tarot read properly
16.To see the tulips in Amsterdam
17.To see ice and melt water
18.To be a vegetarian for a month every year
19.To prepare a meal made entirely of things I have grown
20.To throw things away and minimalise
21.To come to terms with some of the sadness
22.To run 5km without stopping
23.To be better at staying in touch
24.Paragliding.
25.To see the northern lights.
26.to watch the sun come up in as many different locations as possible
27.to do a parkrun in a different country
28.to get my '50' tee-shirt before I'm 50
29.to make everyone's christmas present
30.To fall in love again
31.To write a blog entry every day for a week
32.To write 3 entries every week for a month.
33.To write an entry every week for a year.
34.To go through the stuff in the loft and sort it out.
35.To tidy up the pond
36.To plant spring bulbs
37.To have flowers growing that I can cut
38.To get out of bed and do something worth doing on Sunday mornings.
39.To see a meteor shower
40.To go to a druid/pagan ritual
41.To spend one night every year sleeping under the stars
42.print some of my photos on canvas and put them up in my house!
43.To walk along Hadrian's wall
44.To spend a week on an island with no modern amenities
45.To have a vegetable garden
46.Participate in Frock Friday twice a month
47.To keep a record of all the books I read and put it on my blog.
48.To have people round for dinner once a month - not always the same people!
49.to exist for a month without buying any processed food
50.?????

In theory, each month I'll look at this list and see if I've done anything on it - my basic aims for this week are to start on the book diary and say a little bit about the first thing on the list that can be crossed off!

Every week I change my desktop background on my laptop. This is this weeks picture. I like it because it's beautiful even though it's past its best - gives me hope!

Take care,
Nicki