Trail running ...

 I'm a very unlikely runner! I started a few winters ago with the Couch to 5K app and a few friends. I certainly never expected it to last but we found that we had quite a laugh as we huffed and puffed along. We dragged ourselves out on freezing, dark mornings but really looked forward to it. My times were slow but it was really enjoyable to feel like I had a goal to aim for. After bringing up a large family for a couple of decades, it was really lovely to have something just for me :-) 

The first time I ran 5k (3.1 miles) I was really chuffed but genuinely surprised! Over the following spring and summer, I built up though 10k (6.2 miles) to 10 miles at a push. Then, I decided to try running a half marathon distance (13.1 miles). I ran along the river early one morning, just me and a bottle of Lucozade. It took me three hours and I was utterly exhausted towards the end (it was a super hot July!) but I'm still really proud that I managed it. 

Since then, despite trying to build back up to it again and again, I haven't done another half marathon - but I will at some point ^_^ There have been lots of times when life has got in the way for months at a time and running just hasn't really been an option. I've found though, that it doesn't take much to get back to it again. A couple of weeks of regular short runs again and it all starts feeling a bit easier. 

I must admit though, I don't really class myself as a "proper" runner as such. I've overweight, and I plod along. Don't think I mean that in a putting myself down sort of way mind you - an hour of pushing yourself, or even an hour of having a happy plod is the same hour regardless of the distance you cover! 

Well, after a break of several weeks (this year has been more breaks than running I think!) I went out today with the aim of 2 miles, or 3 if it felt okay. It did feel okay (ended up being 3.3 miles), though in a rather puffed out and unfit sort of way. I've lost 1.5 stone over the past few months which has definitely helped. Anyway, according to the app I use, I'm "trending fasting" on that route, despite the lack of fitness so something must be working. I'm not really bothered about times as such and 15 minute miles are fine by me. I'd like to get a little bit quicker really though so I can lengthen my routes without it taking over the day. 

Here's the pics. It was beautiful! Just after a downpour, though the chalky, flinty paths were really slippery! 

Weekend wind down

 I try not to work at the weekends if I can help it. It sometimes doesn't work out that way but I do find I work much better in the week if I've deliberately switched off for a couple of days. 

Yesterday, I finally got round to baking a brioche loaf, after promising one to my son for several weeks. It was done in the breadmaker but completely delicious. One part of me always feels like a breadmaker is cheating in some way, but on the other hand, I definitely bake more in it than I otherwise would so I guess it evens itself out. 

Recipe as follows:

280ml milk
2 eggs
150g butter, melted
600g white bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
80g sugar
1 sachet easy blend dried yeast

Just add the ingredients to your breadmaker in the usual order and select for a 1kg loaf. It would also be completely fine to do by hand in the traditional way but I'd reduce the milk amount a little as breadmakers like quite a wet dough. 

There has been very little in the way of walks recently, and no running this week so I have no lovely landscape pics this time. Hopefully that will come back very soon, though I seem to keep saying that. Since all the lockdown stuff and general life issues over the last couple of years, I'm having real trouble finding my routine again. Work and housework seem fairly well-represented in my life, and I find that after that, I only have the energy to do maybe one or two things purely for pleasure - learning some Welsh on Duolingo and a few rows of knitting, etc but I can't squish in the running too. I managed it all before, just not sure how! 

Speaking of knitting, my son's Trek jumper is coming along well. I'm hoping to finish the body this afternoon and then it's just the sleeves to go. I'm planning on trying them two at a time on a long circular needle. I've done that before and I prefer not having to go back to do a second sleeve, plus I know they'll definitely be the same length! On the downside though, it's definitely trickier and I always end up in a tangle a few times. Will see how it goes. I haven't tried it on him yet so it may end up being all undone (!) but I've been measuring it against his current favourite jumper so fingers crossed. 

Lastly, I've been Postcrossing! I spotted it on a friend's blog and looked it up. What a fabulous thing! You request an address to send a postcard to, anywhere in the world, and then when they've received it (you write a unique code on it so it can be verified as they enter the code when they get it), someone else is given your address to post to. So you get a random card from anywhere in the world! 

www.postcrossing.com 

I sent off five a few weeks ago and got my first one back the other day. It's from a 73 year old lady and her dog in the Netherlands. Lovely! :-)