Missing Someone

Learn A New Skill

Time can sometimes run away with us... I mean, it's almost October already and for most of us the last year will have passed by in the blink of an eye.

Since I met Paul he's helped me realise what it means to find the time to do things you love. For him it can be anything from writing music to building motorbikes. I learned that I should pursue some of my own interests and learn some new skills too. I started off with running, and more recently have turned my hand to crochet. I had never crocheted anything before but YouTube is a great teacher!

I've had some delays while the (awesome) ladies at Ramshambles have been locating some final balls of yarn for me (the sort I'm using has been discontinued). This is the *almost* finished result... I still have one more row to attach then the border to complete around the outside.

I have to admit, I'm quite proud of how it's turned out! I can't wait to finish it and snuggle under it while creating some more masterpieces ;) 

When I look back at my year and consider what I have achieved, at least I know I learned at least one new skill

Challenge Yourself

RACES!!!

If there's one thing I've learned in the last two years it's that I LOVE TO RACE! I'm never going to be a world beater but I love to challenge myself and to have the opportunity to run with others. However as you will probably know from my rantings on here, between the injury I picked up early in the year and the surgery I had a couple of months ago, training and racing has been impossible.

If I'm honest I really wanted to run the Bridlington half marathon again. Unfortunately it's on the 21st October which is less than 4 weeks away and I'm just not on form for the distance. However much I'd love to run it, I'm worried that I could injure myself by pushing up the distance training too quickly.

I was feeling a bit down about the whole thing until I looked online and found that there are LOADS of races in Yorkshire over the next couple of months

Here are some that I get to chose from....

Sutton Park 10k

Bramham Park 10k

Pickering and Moors 10k

Wistow 10k

Boroughbridge 10 mile

Harewood Trail 10mile

Guy Fawkes 10mile

Dalby Dash 10k

Leeds Abbey 10k

So with all those options in mind, I've decided that this should be my season of 10k-ers and 10 milers including some mixed terrain races. Several of them have the option to register on the day which is great, though I do plan to sign up for a couple in advance just to make sure I have the focus that an impending race gives me. For some reason I fancy the Dolby Dash even though I've heard it's a monster with a HUGE hill to start off. I think I should give that one a bit more consideration before signing up :D

oh yeah... and how could I forget the Skipton Santa run to finish them all off :)

'Strive for excellence, not perfection'

H. Jackson Brown Jr .

I don't know...

...where I got this picture from, (I saved it to my phone without noting the source, sorry)... but I like it!

That bbbrrrr time of year already

It's that time of year where running isn't just about putting on a pair of shorts and a tshirt... winter seems to be approaching way too fast. I'm just getting back into training and loving it, but already I've noticed the nights drawing in and the mornings staying dark later. I'm not a big fan of running in the dark by myself so this is massively reducing my 'time to run' window! 

Secondly it's cold already. Now I struggle with the cold pretty much all the time, that is except for while I'm running when, as long as my hands and feet are warm, I'm fine. What I learned tonight is never to listen to anyone else about how many layers I need! I usually go by the rule, wear what I think I need...then take something off (obviously not in the summer when I'm down to minimum layers...that could end up being embarrassing!) I had opted tonight for a tshirt and gloves instead of a top with full length arms.. However on the way out of the door I got told I'd 'need a jumper' (!!!) because it was freezing outside. I didn't believe for a second that I needed a-whole-nother layer on but I did put on my arm warmers just in case... and of course folded them down before I'd even gone a mile!
So here's to winter running again.... layers, hats, gloves, thermals, rain, mud, ice and wind. There's one thing I know for sure... it'll take a lot more than some adverse weather to stop me ;)

Trust Yourself

"You will find that you don't need to trust others as much as you need to trust yourself to make the right choices"

Don Miguel Ruiz

The Four Agreements 

Japanese Proverb

WAHOOOOOO....

.... Today I ran!

In the scale of things I may be a bit too excited about it considering it was just 5km, but that little 5km signifies a return to running for me after a long stretch of injury and illness. To make it even better, it was a beautiful evening (although to be honest I would have loved it whatever the weather).

So everyone, please cross your fingers that this is the end of the injuries and illness and that I can have a new beginning in running and the blog inspiration that seems to go hand in hand with training!