I Want to See Progress

Back in 2015, I started running. I bought the proper clothes and a pair of trainers, and I started pounding the streets. I thought I was fitter than I was, and I thought running would be easier than it is. I barely made it 300 metres before I had to start walking. But to my credit, I ran every Sunday morning for a couple of months, and made some progress. But then it got to winter and I stopped.

Back in 2016, I started running again. I wore the same clothes and the same pair of trainers. I started in the summer and ran every Sunday morning, unless I had plans that conflicted, and felt a little more dedicated to it. But even though I was running every week, I still ran the same distance before needing to give up and start walking. And again, it was about 300 metres. After a couple of months with very little improvement, I started to get annoyed. But not wanting to run before or after work, and taking weekends off when there were other things going on meant that the chances of my running getting any better were somewhat on the slim side.

Now, in 2017, I have started running again. This time I am wearing better clothes and a proper pair of running trainers. I started running on 1st April near my home, waking up and getting out the house at 7.45am. This time I ran just under 300 metres before needing to start walking. But this time, I wasn’t disheartened. I was determined, more so than last year, to see some progress.

I see my boyfriend running a half marathon every weekend to keep fit, entering official runs to achieve personal goals and occasionally raise money for charity. And I see other people every day on the way to and from work, running, jogging and speed walking, and it inspires me to keep going. In fact, I am now inspiring myself.

Since 1st April, I have run every Saturday morning at about the same time, and once during the week after work, either on Tuesdays or Thursdays. I have an app on my phone that lives in my bra when I run, tracking my speed, distance and running time, and I’m keeping track of every run and all of the tracked information in a spreadsheet. Looking at the statistics, I’m improving every time I go outside. But I am also physically seeing it when I run. I am still having to stop and walk a couple of times when I go out, but my first run (before stopping to walk for the first time) is getting longer, and I am keeping track of it each time. I can now run a mile without needing to walk. And each time I go out, I run (and walk, then run, then walk) twice that. After work during the week, I stick to this distance as it allows me enough time to run, shower and be ready before dinner is served. And now at weekends, I have decided to slowly increase the distance, whilst working on my speed, simply because I then have more time on my hands. Last Saturday for example, I ran almost 3 miles, and I now have a time to improve on this coming weekend.

I occasionally put up posts on this page about wanting to eat healthy and get in shape, and I always say that I will keep this page up to date with my progress. Unfortunately, most of the time, I don’t have the time, or lose track, or forget about the healthy eating and don’t feel brave enough to admit that it has failed on a page like this, that can be seen by anyone anywhere in the world. But this time, I am determined, really and truly, to stick to my ever improving running. My boyfriend has suggested I enter a 10km run next April, and while I would like to get up to that distance, I’m not sure I would like to enter an organised run. But we shall see… you never know. I just want to see progress this year!

Rx

A Spring Clean

It’s been a while since I added anything here, so I figured it was about time to catch up.

The weather has been beautiful in the last couple of days here, the sun has been shining and I’m not needing to wear a coat anymore during the day, even if it is chilly in the mornings and evenings. But with the arrival of Spring, it was only right that with a couple of days off work, I give my bedroom a bit of a spring clean.

My boyfriend and I have now had one of the ‘chats’ of a relationship. Specifically, we have had the ‘moving in together’ chat. We’ve decided that by the end of this year, once my job role has been reviewed and we know what money we have to play with, we want to be living together. Just renting for now, to ensure we can actually get on together on an almost 24/7 basis. A mortgage is always a big deal, but with house prices ever increasing, and the length of a mortgage ever growing, it feels like an even bigger commitment now and one we are not quite ready for. But what comes with moving in together is a space issue. So whilst the appearance of Spring got me in the mood for a tidy up, moving in together I think is a slight motive to my very productive couple of days.

The main area of focus was under my bed. The space under my bed had 2 boxes, 1 crate, and 3 long boxes on wheels, crammed full of old paperwork, birthday and Christmas cards, old mobile phones and charger wires, and even my school and college grades and certificates, as well as my old laptop and its charger cable.

I used to be quite sentimental, and keep every single birthday and Christmas card I received, even the ones where my own aunt had spelled my name wrong. But it occurred to me today, that unless the sender had written my age in the card, I had no idea for which birthday or Christmas I had been the recipient. So I had a quick scan through them all, kept any that I can cut up to make Christmas present tags (thinking thrifty!) and recycled the rest. I found some tissue paper and a packet of wrapping paper which have now been taken downstairs to our giftbags drawer (yes, you read that correctly, a giftbag drawer!) I also have a huge carrier bag full of old bank statements and paychecks (we’re dating back to 2011,) that I am planning on filling the confidential waste bin at work with on Monday. Getting rid of these cards and papers alone emptied out half a wheely box!

I also recycled 4 large old McFly posters, the place cards from the last few work Christmas meals I have been to and the tickets and place cards from the 4 Law Balls I went to whilst at university. I even found several information leaflets that I picked up whilst in New York (back in 2013!) to give us ideas of places to visit and things to do. As I’ve said, I used to be quite sentimental. Anything with meaning to me was stored and never looked at again until I needed the extra space.

In one of my drawers filled with odds and ends, I found a stack on 10 or so Now That’s What I Call Music CDs that I can sell, the money of which will no doubt go towards a holiday! And I even found a couple of small, old jewellery boxes that I might be able to make a few £s on too. I found a set of rubber duck bath stickers (the type that go on the bottom of the bath to prevent slipping,) that I have put in my nephews room. They won’t be used in our bath, but they get a new toy out of them.

I found 2 old purses and a pair of decent shoes (that I do remember hurting my feet the only time I wore them) that I can donate to the Oxfam clothes bank next time I go to the supermarket. And I found a pair of shoes under my drawers with some serious holes in the bottom that went straight in the bin. I’ve not got round to seeing what clothes I can donate yet, but there is still time.

I had hand creams, bath salts and moisturisers (the majority being Bayliss and Harding,) floating around everywhere. So they’ve all been put in an old empty biscuit tin under my drawers, and the empty packaging has now been recycled. I do have the laptop, and an old pair of straightners to throw away at some point, but because they can not go in the general waste bins, they’ll just have to take up some space for a little longer.

What is quite handy is that one whole box on wheels is full on my sister’s old college work, and gig tickets/posters, so I can leave that for her to deal with the next time she visits.

The new found space that I created under my bed has now been filled with the whole contents of the bottom drawer from the chest at the end of my room. And that drawer has now been filled with bits and bobs that were sitting on surfaces around my room making the place look untidy.

And as an extra bonus, I have donated to our dog the two old and discoloured cushions that I use to rest against when I am sat in bed, and bought myself a fresh new white one that brightens up the room a little bit 🙂

I was quite exhausted after clearing out so much junk, and the nice thing is that a lot of it is being recycled or donated elsewhere. I think I only threw 1 bag of rubbish away. To continue with the new Spring theme, I am tomorrow going for my first run of the year. I’m easing into it this year, because I would like to make some real progress with my stamina. Tomorrow’s run will be 2.5 miles, with rest breaks to walk, and I’ll go from there.

Rx

New Year, Organised Start

The beginning of a new year is always a good time to start putting plans and aims into action, and 2017 is as good a time as any 🙂

For Christmas,my sister bought me a weekly planner. I asked for a specific one, mainly because it allowed you to colour in the pages. But I was aiming to find the planner itself useful. I’d already added all the dates to each page, coloured in a few, and added plans to the dates I already had planned within days of the new year. And I am using it. I am determined to use it all year too. I use the calendar on my phone to organise my life, but sometimes things get lost which the month gets busy, and I lose track of where I am supposed to be and when. Using this planner gives me more space for details and the specifics of my plans, which can only be a good thing!

As well as my new planner, I have created a budget spreadsheet. I tried doing one last year, but missed a couple of weeks because I didn’t have the time, and my spending dwindled (according to the spreadsheet anyway!) But this year, I am keeping track of all my spending, day by day and month by month. This is not an effort to save extra pennies, I don’t spend too much as it is. I just like to know where my money is going and when. I seem to have spent a lot already this month, but I am bearing in mind that that spending has gone towards a week long holiday, breakdown cover on my car and renewing my bus pass which gets me to and from work each day. And yes, I have considered the fact I have a car but get the bus for work. As my work doesn’t have it’s own car park, driving to work would cost me £5.00 a day as well as petrol, whilst the bus works out at less than half of that per day. I am also keeping track of what money I am saving into my ISA each month, the eventual aim of this I think is that it will go towards a house when I have a decent amount in there.

After having a Christmas binge (mainly biscuits, lemonade and chocolate,) I am determined (at the moment,) to eat and drink healthier than I was over the festive period. Having been to the dentist yesterday, her mention of my history with acid erosion has convinced me that I need to start drinking less lemonade, and if I do, with a straw, just to prevent the amount of acid getting to my teeth. She did also advise that while I can eat chocolate, it is best not to each chocolate that has any sort of filling, as it is that which sticks to my teeth and makes them worse. Being a slight chocoholic, the fact she hasn’t told me to rule it out completely, I am more than happy to take this advice on board 🙂

Rx

Plans for 2017… So Far…

Through a combination of being ridiculously busy with work, sorting out non-work things, and a horrifically poor internet signal in the last month or so, this is the first proper chance I have had to sit and write in ages! Here goes…

2016 was generally not a fantastic year, but I personally enjoyed myself. 2017, based on everything I have booked so far, as well as everything I hope to book up, should be just as good a year for me too!

My boyfriend and I have already booked a long weekend away in the Lake District in March. Hopefully I will be driving up if my car passes it’s MOT the week before with flying colours. We booked a room in a cosy looking B&B, which was highly recommended online because it caters well for intolerance sufferers, meaning my boyfriend will have a decent selection each morning at breakfast. We have also, just this weekend, booked a holiday in Sicily for June, just as it is getting hot, but not so hot that I turn into a lobster within a day (which has happened on a previous sun holiday!) We are hoping, although haven’t yet organised,) a holiday in Prague at some point later in the year. At the moment, the school summer holidays are looking cheapest, which surprised us, but we’ll go with it. And we would also like to do another weekend away in London (our third so far,) so that we can see an England football match at Wembley Stadium, see The Lion King musical on the West End stage, and visit a couple more museums too.

Aside from seeing The Lion King in London, we are also seeing a lot of theatres in 2017! At the weekend, we went to see Jack Whitehall live, which was fantastic. Whilst that was a birthday present from my boyfriend, my birthday present (even though it is still a month away,) is tickets to see Chris Ramsey in April. We are also seeing Jon Richardson in May, (my manager is going to the same show, as I found out today!) and Micky Flanagan in September (a birthday present from me to my boyfriend, the show being the day before his birthday.) We are even squeezing in a performance of The Twits on stage on April Fools Day. At least I think it is being shown, it may have just been an April Fools joke. Although not a stage as such, we have applied for tickets to go to a day at Wimbledon, which I have wanted to do for a few years now! And even though my manager is off on holiday for those two weeks, he has agreed to allow the department be closed for that one day if I do get tickets 🙂

Apart from a wedding reception for a colleague in April, I think that is everything! It turns out that we currently have something big to look forward to every month this year apart from November. Saying that, I could probably do with that month off to start my 2017 Christmas shopping, but I am most definitely not thinking about that just yet…

Rx

Fitness Update

Whilst my boyfriend has continued going running every Sunday morning (if the weather permits) and once during the week, I’ve surrendered to the cold for the rest of the year. About a month ago, there was a real chill across the south of England, and temperatures were falling to below 0 degrees. It was at this point I decided to stop running on a Sunday morning, and just do a number of basic stretches and exercises at home instead. The small space at the end of my bed became my unofficial workout area in which I did sit ups, planks and push ups. I will admit that even that was given up a couple of weekends ago, bowing to the pressure of work Christmas lunches, catch up dinners with a few friends and general Christmas preparations and celebrations. For this, I can only apologise to my body.

I am feeling just as fit as I did when I went running, and I will continue running in the New Year. My mum and I both made the comment earlier today that there has been considerably less chocolate in the house this Christmas, and generally less food altogether, which has been a good thing for everyone in this house, not just myself. I’ve not reached my 10,000 steps in the last week or so, but it’s Christmas, and unless you are training for a physical challenge or it is imperative to your job, you should take the opportunity if possible for a break at this time of year, just to relax before the busyness of the coming year kicks in.

Rx

RIP 2016

Every January my dad plays quizmaster at our local social club for a Review of the (previous) Year Quiz. And every year he includes a picture round of those that have unfortunately passed away. Unfortunately, it is possible, as my dad has joked, that he could turn the whole quiz this coming January into an Obituaries 2016 quiz.

I am now 24, and at an age where the celebrities and well known faces of my generation, are the ones falling ill and/or dying. In previous years at this quiz, I knew a few names in this particular round, but the majority were left to my mum and whoever else was on our team that year, always someone older than myself, whose generation of celebrity was older than my own. This year, I feel as though I will get the majority of names and faces myself, without help. (Obviously I won’t take over the round and fill it in before anyone else gets the chance to have a look, but you know what I mean.)

Yesterday, it was announced that Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher had passed away. Also this year, back in August, Kenny Baker, another Star Wars actor, passed away. Although I am not a Star Wars fan myself (having only seen half of one of the many movies,) these are stars of my generation. My friends of the same age as I have grown up watching the films, and are getting excited every year knowing that a new movie is being released set in the same universe. Though I do not know much of Kenny Baker, I have seen Carrie Fisher in a large number of interviews, and she appears to be a wonderful woman, funny and witty, and she is someone who has been quite open about her struggles in life. I know that real life Princess Leia (or Princess Leila as my cousin put on facebook, not a real fan! :p) and R2-D2 will be very missed.

It’s not been a good year for comedy either. Earlier in the year, we lost Frank Kelly, star of Father Ted, (I’ll admit,) a show that was not my cup of tea. We also lost Victoria Wood. The majority of her comedy was before my time, but I have in the last couple of years watched Dinnerladies online, a tv show about a factory canteen and the ladies there that provide lunch each day. It’s a show I go back to every so often when I need a little laugh. Another show that was before my time, but that I had been introduced to when I was young, was Fawlty Towers, and this year, the cast of the show got a little smaller with the death of Andrew Sachs last month. When I was younger I was convinced the actor must have been Spanish, like his character Manuel. When I found out he had an English accent in real life, I became aware that he was a fantastic comedic actor, and I truly believe he made the show a whole lot funnier than it was meant to be. Whilst Dinnerladies and Fawlty Towers are down one, The Royle Family is down two, with the early passing of Caroline Aherne in July aged 52 and Liz Smith only a few days ago, who played Caroline’s grandmother. The Royle Family is very much of my generation, to the point where, despite the main series ending, Christmas and charity specials were still being created. With Caroline having been one of the writers of the show, I think it is a genuine shame that the show may not return, and if it does, at any point in the future, some of the sparkle will be missing.

In a throwback to my childhood, the voice of Postman Pat, Ken Barrie, passed away in July. Although Pat and his black and white cat have been updated since the days when Ken Barrie was involved, his is the voice I remember. I’m sure the show will carry on, but it won’t be the same for me. Another well known face, particularly for my generation is Alan Rickman, an actor well known to me as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies and as Harry in Love Actually. His role as Professor Snape, particularly in the earlier books, unnerved and scared me, and those feelings were replicated when I watched his performance in the films. It hit me when Alan Rickman died, that this is when stars of the generation I know are going to start disappearing from the world.

Coronation Street lost a few names this year, although admittedly they were all before my time. Jean Alexander was a well loved face when she provided the character Hilda Ogden. She wasn’t part of the first few hundred episodes of the show, only joining in 1964, but she is regarded as being one of the best, original and well known characters in the history of a show that is currently 56 years and over 9,000 episodes old. The creator of this long running show, Tony Warren, also died in March. He helped create a number of other TV shows, but Coronation Street will always be the one he is remembered for, and will be remembered until the show ends, if it ever does! Another actor, who was a brief speckle in the history of Coronation Street was Robert Vaughn, who passed away in November this year. He appeared in the show only for a month, but I remember him most from his role in Hustle on BBC. With such a varied TV and film career covering many decades, it is only right that he, along with Jean and Tony, are missed.

I couldn’t write a post about the deaths of 2016 and not write about losses in the music world. We lost David Bowie in January aged 69, Prince in April aged 57, Leonard Cohen in November aged 82 and Rick Parfitt and George Michael in the last few days aged 68 and 53. These musicians, singers, songwriters and performers helped to create and popularise some of the biggest songs. Although all had they heyday before I could appreciate them, they are all still recognised as heavyweights in the world of music, and it’s almost a certainty, that their names will be remembered for further generations due to the musical abilities.

Talking of heavyweights, the sporting world was almost safe this year, with very few big names passing away. But we did lose the heaviest of heavyweights (figuratively speaking of course) in Muhammad Ali. The most recognised and celebrated boxer, he had unfortunately been ill for quite some time, but it was still a shock to see the headlines when it was announced! The sporting world also lost most of the Chapecoense football team in a plane crash a month ago today. Few can pronounce Chapecoense, but many can remember the shock they had when it was announced that almost the whole team  and tens of other passengers were killed when they were flying to Colombia. The support to the remaining members of the team was beautiful, with retired players such as Ronaldinho and Juan Roman Riquelme offering to come out of retirement and help the team!

There were a large number of big names lost this year, more so than any other year. If I were to include them all above, I’d be here for days trying to get them all down. And while I know that I am of an age where I recognise faces and names, I am sure that this has been quite a sad year for the world of entertainment. I think I will recognise a lot of faces in my dad’s Review of the Year Obituaries round, I’ll have to let you know how I do.

With so many recognisable faces and talented performers in the world now gone, it’ll be a quieter year in the entertainment industry next year. 2016 has been a sad year, and whilst we can say RIP to so these faces, I think it’s only right that the showbiz world says good riddance and RIP to 2016!

Rx

Remembrance Day

Traditionally every year, we take a few minutes of our time to remember the lives and deaths of soldiers who fought for our country in the First World War 100 years ago. I remember taking part in the one or two minute silence at school, college, university, at home, and at work. When I was younger, I never truly appreciated the sacrifice that the men at the time made, risking their lives either voluntarily or by conscription so that future generations could live as we do. But now, being older and somewhat wiser, and of an age at which I could join the armed forces, it’s incredible to realise the scale of the war, and the number of fatalities and wounded that did just that.

My understanding is that there are no longer any UK World War I veterans alive anymore, which isn’t surprising considering that the war ended 98 years ago. But I find it incredibly patriotic and heartwarming that we as a nation agree to be in silence for two minutes at 11am on 11th November every year, still to this day, to remember the fallen, and that we will continue to do so. There are still people of an age that can remember the war, or the devastation that it caused to lives around the world. We can hear the stories first hand and appreciate the images and videos showing recognisable faces and places. It is a shame that in a few generations time, this will no longer be the case, and no one will have a father, or a great uncle, or even a grandmother that they knew personally to remember or tell them stories. Students will only know from family tales or textbooks, and historians will learn through articles and journals only.

But I know that Remembrance Day will continue to be a day to remember inspiration, dedication and patriotism at it’s finest. November 11th, or the closest Sunday to it, will be used by future generations as a special day to remember soldiers of all ages, genders, races and nationalities who have fought in WWI, WWII and any wars and battles since, who fought for their countries or their people in order to allow themselves and others a safer and brighter future. And it will and should be used as a way to show support to soldiers who are fighting now, or will sign up to the armed forces in the future.

Remembrance Day shouldn’t have had to be created, because the wars of the world shouldn’t have had to take place. After so many years of conflict, it would be a wonderful thing if all the people of the world, despite their differences, could agree to get along. But the fact that we as a nation, a Commonwealth and indeed we as a world, have agreed to stop for just a couple of minutes every year to remember some of the greatest but lesser known individuals of our history, is a sadly wonderful thing.

Paris in 195,000 Steps

It’s been a month now since I returned from a week in the French capital city. And now I have finally found the time, whilst suffering from a grisly cold, to sit down and document the whole trip.

When we decided to go away to Paris for a week, we planned to visit all the touristy sites and do all the touristy things. We filled our days with places to see and planned to do a lot of walking. What we didn’t realise was just how much walking would be involved in getting around Paris.

Great South Run

My last post was about my boyfriend, who was planning on running the Great South Run on 23rd October (yesterday) to raise money and awareness of the British Heart Foundation. I am pleased and very proud to say that he has now run, and finished the 10 mile course in 1 hour and 9 minutes (which is bloomin’ impressive when you realise that the elite winner finished just 20 minutes faster!) As an extra little brag, my boyfriend finished 565th out of 15,638 runners yesterday (and as he stated in his facebook post afterwards, he was only 3.61% of the way down the leaderboard.)

Unfortunately, due to a lack of promotion, he has been unable to raise his full £250 target. Therefore, I thought I would boast again about my speedy other half, and request that if anyone reading this has any spare change, (and yes, I know this is the wrong time of year seeing as Christmas is creeping ever closer,) feels inspired or proud, or wants a way to show their support to the British Heart Foundation, that you would take a look at his fundraising page, maybe share it around online, and maybe even donate. Thank you.

Just Giving for the British Heart Foundation

Rx

 

Running for Charity

This post is more about my boyfriend than myself. I thought this may be a good platform for some support and promotion.

On 23rd October, my boyfriend will be taking part in the Great South Run. He takes part in organised runs every so often, but only once before has he raised money for charity beforehand.

When Rowan was born, his parents were told that due to a heart condition called Tricuspid Valve Dysplasia, he would struggle to run more than 10 metres without struggling. He also lives with Supra-Ventricular Tachycardia, which when triggered, has the ability to send his heart rate almost three times the rate that it should be.

Now that Rowan is able to run the Great South Run distance of 10 miles with some ease, he has decided to raise money whilst training for the British Heart Foundation, a charity which is incredibly important to him, and has supported him throughout his 27 years on this planet.

He has included more details on the donation page below, so if you fancy, please take a read. And if anyone reading this has a few spare pounds in their bank account this month, knows anyone that lives with the same conditions as Rowan, has been involved with or supported by the British Heart Foundation at some point in their lives, or even all of the above, then any donations raised I’m sure will be gratefully received and put to fantastic use.

Rowan’s Donation Page

Thank you for reading.

Rx