A bit of fun for the weekend! Thought I would let you know a bit more about me and share some of my pet peeves! Those little things in life that make you grit your teeth, roll your eyes and sigh! I was also thinking this could be an interactive Post and you could tell me some of your pet peeves! Read, laugh, enjoy and then share!!! 😛
1. Someone chewing nosily or making snuffly noises when they eat!
2. When you’re in the car and someone forces their way out in front of you and then has the audacity to thank you! “It’s not like you gave me a choice sunshine!!!” On the flip side of that, those people that you make the effort to let out and they don’t say thank you!!! “No, really, you’re welcome!!!”
3. The song “You’re so Vain” as sung by Carly Simon – because she sings “Because I bet you think this song is about you, don’t you?” – but it about them!!! Also, she sings “Ap-preee-cot” it’s “Apricot”
4. When you ask someone to come and help you with something, or explain something to you and they say “Oh, but that’s easy” – if it was easy to me would I be asking for your help!?!
5. When my daughter starts a sentence with “I was just…” – I’ve asked you to do something, please do it…!!!
This will do for now, I am sure I’ll think of some more – so will probably update this post from time to time… 🙂 xxx
I was exceptionally lucky that my big brother had taken up running some time before me (actually for his Christmas present 2013 he requested, and I bought him a voucher to pay for a running course!) and gave me the good advice of getting a decent pair of trainers and how to go about it – if you get the wrong trainers it could put you off running before you’ve even properly started.
Not only did my lovely brother give me this great advice, but he also accompanied me to get my trainers – some of you may not have someone to go with you to get your trainers so this post is dedicated to you and I hope it helps!
The store we went to was the Run & Become store (http://www.runandbecome.com/Home) based in London near Victoria Station. Once we were there I was met by one of their lovely staff who gave me all her attention. I had to stand and then do an interesting squat, I presume, to see whether my ankles turn out and I’m sure other things. I was then given a pair of trainers, had to roll up my jeans so my ankles could be seen, fantastic look I can tell you, and asked to run a short distance up and down outside the store so she could see my running style – after which she bought out various trainers for me to try.
At this point in my running journey I was informed I needed a Neutral trainer – I was told I ran really naturally which I was very surprised at as I hadn’t run since school and I felt like I was running like Phoebe in Friends!!! I can see it now, legs and arms flailing!!!
I tried each pair of trainers on and then had to run again in each one to see which I found the most comfortable and the ones she thought I ran best in – I decided on a lovely pair of Brooks Ghosts, ironically my brother ended up with the male version of the same trainer that day too!
They cost me £105 – but were the most comfortable piece of footwear I have ever owned, I loved them immediately! Well worth every penny!
Check out the trainers – Brooke’s Ghosts
I then started my running using my Couch to 5k app – which I’ll blog about soon – about 8-9 weeks into my running I started to find I would get a pain on the inside of my left ankle when I was starting to running solidly for 20 minutes at time, then my right ankle got in on the act too, it hurt so much I’d have to walk, so my brother sensibly suggestion I pay another visit to Run and Become.
This is exactly what I did. This time we got to the shop a bit later so had to take number and wait to be called, but it was still very calm and my number was soon called and I was given the same amount of attention as before. I explained my situation and I was asked to do the same squat as the first time and was presented with a couple of pairs of trainers to try, this time I chose a pair of Saucony Guide 7s, which have an 8mm heel to toe offset, which to be honest I have no clue what that means, but I can honestly say the ache in my ankle started to disappear immediately.
Saucony Guide 7s – 8mm toe to heel offset
The amazing thing for me though was that Run and Become just exchanged my trainers – even though I’d used my initial trainers for 9 weeks. Though I have to admit at the time I felt quite emotional about handing over my first pair of running trainers, it was like saying “Goodbye” to an old friend and I did have some feelings of guilt of just leaving them behind, but I now love my Saucony’s
I highly recommend Run and Become – because if you buy your trainers from Amazon for example, you definitely wouldn’t get this level of customer service and be able to exchange your trainers after being worn, it’s worth the additional cost of going to a Running Shop to have this extra peace of mind.
I hope this post has helped someone else who is just starting out on their running adventure go about selecting their trainers – as you have to protect your gym equipment! 🙂 xxx
Well this has taken me by surprise, as I knew my Pink One was so ready for school, is that maybe I wasn’t!
I love my Pink One so very much, but have to admit that at times I do find her very difficult, not because she’s extremely naughty or has tantrums, but like most four years olds she doesn’t listen, answers back, upsets her little brother and basically drives me to distraction!
As she is five in October she is one of the older ones in her year and so I know she is ready to start and in true Pink One’s style when she started her first day in Reception on Friday, and this is a full day – no gradual build up, she walked into school with her new class without a backwards glance. That’s when I welled up and the tears I weren’t expecting came!
She may annoy me, drive me mad, make me yell – but at the same time she amazes me so much. If I could be as half as brave as her in life, not let things phase me like her, take whatever life throws me and just get on with it – I would be a much better person.
I pray that as she grows up she keeps these amazing traits as they will help her all through her life, and she will go far. Maybe she can teach me to be more like her – and I’ll try and remember theses things when she’s irritating me!
So as I type this, tomorrow is the first day of her first full week, and again the unexpected anxiety has got me, you’d think I was going to school, (shouldn’t surprise me as I have been diagnosed with a General Anxiety Disorder) but I was so ready for her to go to school and have that energy channelled I didn’t realise maybe I wasn’t ready to let her go!
Love you Pink One, I probably don’t say it enough but you make me a very proud mummy – go be amazing! 🙂 xxx
So it all began in February this year, with one of the epic Facebook messages me and my group of yummy mummies have – my recollection is that it all started with us complaining about how useless BMI is as a measurement, but I digress – within this long chain conversation one sentence my friend Emma, who has been running regularly for some time, wrote that stuck in my head and started gnawing away at me. She said that running was for her mentality – it was just a plus that it was good for your health.
This niggly idea of going running was particularly in my head as I was doing my umpteenth walk to the post office to pick up yet another delivery that the Post Office hadn’t been able to deliver (I have neighbours – please leave it with them!!! Though I suppose I have to thank them otherwise I wouldn’t have taken those walks that made my running dream germinate and flower).
What you need to know about me is that I am not your natural runner, or a natural at any physical exercise to be honest – I was the one who used to walk to the station at 6am wondering why these daft people were running at that time of the morning out of choice!?! So firstly I looked into running and what apps were out there – finally settling on “Couch to 5k” – something I will discuss in another blog, but definitely the best £1.69 I’ve ever spent!
Secondly I contacted the people I knew who were into running/physical exercise – these being my brother Richard, my friend Emma who I mentioned in the first paragraph as the forerunner of this idea and my friend Graham who does completely insane OCR races (check out his blog at www.trailsandadventures.com – well worth a read)
My brother Richard impressed on me that it was highly worth going to a proper running shop to get my running trainers – which I did! Details in this blog post! Emma also said to me make sure you get good running trainers as your feet and legs are essentially your gym equipment! So then I contacted Graham and asked him his advice he said “just get out there and do it” so that’s just what I did!
My blogs will be a mixture of my running journey/adventure and that of being a mum to two little people! They may not be funny, interesting or inventive, but hopefully you might come across something that may inspire you or make you realise that it’s not just you! Whatever you take from them I hope you enjoy them and I thank you for taking the time to read! 🙂 xxx
Jog on Mum 