(Not) running on my own
Mar19

(Not) running on my own

I started running in 1994. When the kids were small, the distances and frequency of my runs were very low. But in all those nearly 30 years, I’ve never stopped running. And in most of those nearly 30 years, I’ve always run on my own. I loved running on my own. I wasn’t lonely or bored. Running on my own gave me essential headspace away from family life. Time to think, time to breathe, time to just be myself, away...

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Walking my dog
Mar12

Walking my dog

Before we got Hetty, I imagined walking my own dog would be one of my favourite things. I like walking. I’ve always walked a lot. Surely it would be even better with a dog? After over two years of dog ownership, I can report that it isn’t better for me! Regular readers will know I run a lot. And when I’m not running, I’m walking. On running days, I will walk twice a day. On non-running days, I will walk three...

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Parkrun tourism: Arrow Valley parkrun
Mar05

Parkrun tourism: Arrow Valley parkrun

My husband, sister and her family recently did some parkrun tourism at Arrow Valley parkrun in Redditch, Worcestershire. It’s a parkrun which had been recommended to us by a few people, so we were keen to try it. Parkrun tourism is when you do a parkrun which isn’t your regular (‘home’) parkrun. Some people do it pretty much every week, some people never do it and others, like us, do it from time to time. Some...

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Return to marathon training 2024: Weeks 1 to 5
Feb27

Return to marathon training 2024: Weeks 1 to 5

I’ve recently started training for Newport Wales marathon 2024 (which I’ll generally just call Newport marathon). For my previous three marathons, I followed a simple training plan from the Newport marathon website, which I was happy with. When I went to look for it this time, it had disappeared from the website. Instead, I could pay for a personalised online training plan. No, thank you! Luckily, I’ve blogged about...

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My first experience of buying glasses online
Feb20

My first experience of buying glasses online

I recently bought glasses online for the first time. This isn’t an ad or sponsored post. This is my own experience, which I thought might be useful to share. I started wearing glasses in 2009. I literally got my first pair of glasses on my 36th birthday. I was long sighted and the glasses just made the world a little bit brighter and sharper. I remember that my test plus the glasses cost an eye watering £255. After that, I...

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Starting marathon training 2024
Feb13

Starting marathon training 2024

All being well, at the end of April, I will be running Newport Wales marathon (usually just called Newport marathon). It wasn’t a decision I took lightly. I’ve been deciding whether to run it for nearly two years! It might be my last marathon. It might not. I will see what happens. Newport marathon 2024 will be my fourth marathon. I previously ran Newport in 2019 and 2021 and Manchester marathon in 2022. Newport was in the...

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