The running bug

I've been a gym-goer for a while, but I didn't discover running, I mean really running, until about 8 months ago. Yeah, I messed about on the treadmill a bit, 15 minute warm up runs here and there and interval training with the trainer, but it wasn't until the beginning of the summer that I discovered running for the love of it.


I started challenging myself to run 5k on the treadmill trying to improve how quickly I did it each week. Then, once I realised that actually I didn't hate it, the trainer encouraged me to start running outside. My thoughts on outdoor running prior to this had been: "Yeah, but people see you..."

Anywho, the trainer persevered and she began dragging me off the treadmill to the great outdoors. The turning point I guess was the week she suggested we run Pitsford Reservoir. After telling me it was 10k (it's not. It is 11.6k. She calls it stretching the truth, I call it lying) I conceded and agreed to give it a go. I was scared. Actually scared.


But we made it round. And I didn't die or vom. Bonus! I was buzzing for the rest of the day, high off endorphins and a smug sense of achievement! It felt so good that I did the same run every Saturday morning for the next few weeks. And this was when it happened - I became an addict.


In October I ran my first competitive 10k and completed it in 47 minutes which I was stupefied by! Now I run outside whenever I can and always fit in a long run on Saturdays. I save the treadmill (or deadmill as it has now become known) for interval training and short warm up runs (unless the snow sprinkles...).  

So, the next goal is to run a half marathon with the trainer in the first half of next year... Yep, scared again!

In other news ... day two at work went really well. The brain mush eased and I think the fog started to clear a little. Huzzah! Have pounded the stress out at the gym the past two evenings and that has helped muchly. Although trying to sleep after day one was impossible. My mind was going at one hundred miles an hour, think I probably managed about 3 hours sleep. Very bad times. Coffee has been the only way!

Image from acceleratingyoursuccess.com

Auld Lang *sigh*

Is it just me or does New Year seem a tad... well... overrated?


I might just be saying this because at the moment my New Year plans are non-existent (the policeman is working and apparently my friends have family and stuff. I know. Selfish.), but now I'm a big girl I stay up past midnight quite a lot. Actually that is an out and out lie. I'm normally in bed by 10pm, but that's not the point, if I wanted to, I could!


I guess for people who have had a bad year it is a good way to see the back of it, and for those who have a had a good year it's a way to celebrate, but what about the rest of us? Is it just an excuse to try to out do each other on party plans?

Don't get me wrong, I feel the New Year pressure like everyone else. All I'm saying is I don't really want to throw huge amounts of cash at a night out which I probably won't be able to remember the next morning and will result in me feeling like this:

Image from Colorado Wine Company

All I really want to do is go to bed at a decent hour and wake up on 1st January fresh and perky.  Maybe this will be the year I finally do that ... maybe. It won't be of course, because the thought of telling people I have no plans for New Year fills me with dread and embarrassment despite everything I've said. *sigh*

So now to give in to the pressure of finding something fun to do, that I can actually afford, to see in 2011. Ideas (and offers) welcome...

In other news... first day at the new job went well (despite the snow ruining my outfit plans). I'm afriad I have mush for brains at the moment so I will blog about it later in the week when I am more coherant and a bit more settled!

Vino, falling down and an angry Chinese lady

So, the snow didn't listen to then. We had about four inches in Northampton on Saturday evening and, because the airports were closed Naomi didn't make it home. In fact, she is still not home. As I write this she is stuck in Zurich, where she did manage to get to, trying to find a flight home to an airport that is open. Y'see? What did I tell ya? Snow sucks.

Those of us that were in Northampton braved the arctic conditions and hit up Northampton town centre. There was vino and dancing a-plenty. There was also falling down from Loz and an angry Chinese woman wielding a knife. Really. We went into a Chinese take away to get some food but she thought we had just gone in to get warm which, to be honest I think we could have been forgiven for. So she banged her knife on the counter and shrieked "Are you going to order?" at us. Needless to say we told her we would not be spoken to in such a fashion (or something less coherent and more drunken but with the same sentiment) and stormed out on our high horse! Anywho, a lot of fun was had and I think I have just about thawed out. It was freakin' freezing.

First day in new job today. Frick. Will let you know how that pans out...

Leaving presents and fashion porn ...

So, yesterday was my last day at The Words Workshop. *sad face* I loved working there, but more for the people and the atmosphere than the actual work. Y'see I was writing about things that I really have no passion for which tends to make your brain numb after a while. Still, I love the folks there so I'm really going to miss them.


They bought me lovely 'goodbye' presents which included a gorgeous Paperchase notepad (I love the Paperchase), Next vouchers and two of these lovely Christmas baubles:

 

I become the 'new girl' again on Monday. You can see my feelings on that here. However, since I have written that post something else has dawned on me...What the frick am I going to wear? This is not a rhetorical question by the way.

Ideally I'd like to wear this gorgeous piece of fashion porn:

 Marc Jacobs Python-effect camouflage blouse from theoutnet.com

However the bank balance says no. So, help. What do you wear for the first day at your dream job?

In other news... I'm off for long run this morning and I might drop in to the gym for Body Pump if my motivation doesn't wane. I shall then be primping and preening for tonight's 'Christmas do' with the girls before partaking in some vodka-ing - that's what they mean when they sing "'Tis the season to be jolly", right?

Dear Snow...

I've seen you around a lot recently. I know, I know, I always look away as though I haven't seen you in my bid to deny your existence but you always manage to make yourself known by ruining my leather shoes.

It has been a long time since we have been on talking terms and I really do want to rectify this. So, dear snow, I am hoping we can come to some arrangement...

Y'see, here's the thing. You always seem to show your face when I have arrangements that may be hampered by your appearance (I won't mention my 18th birthday again. You know my feelings on that). Take this weekend, for example. The girls and I have a big night out planned. We rarely manage to get all of us together but this weekend everyone will finally be in one place at one time. But then Tomasz (Y'know the BBC weatherman? The one who got caught flicking the finger to one of the other presenters live on air?) told me that you were planning on turning up in  Northampton on Saturday as well.

Considering our nights out normally involve high heels, no coats and a plethora of vodka you can see how you might cause us a problem here.

So, here is my suggestion. I hear you are pretty keen to bestow upon us a white Christmas. I'm totally down with that. In my view you get a three day window - Christmas Eve, Christams Day and Boxing Day - when I acutually quite like you.  So how about you save it all up and do your worst then and skip this weekend? Give yourself a few days off and come back in full force next Friday instead. Whad'ya say? Yeah? Yeah? Yeah!

I await your response.

Lottie

Being a policeman's 'wife'

The Policeman and I have been together for just over 7 years now, since we were 17. I know. 'Tis long time. (To clarify he wasn't a policeman at 17, that would be crazy. He was just a regular boy.)

Once he was done being mischievious and getting scalded by the policemen of Brixworth (nothing terrible you understand, just young scallywag stuff.) he decided that actually fighting crime actually looked pretty fun. He joined the force just over a year ago. *Proud face*

To me, this is him:

Image from watchingamerica.com

So, obviously I am very proud of him, but being a policeman's 'wife' is a puzzler (Note to the Policeman if you are reading this: Please don't freak out at this reference to lifelong commitment. I know we are not married, nor engaged. It is simply a word I am using to emphasise the fact that we do in fact live together. No pressure... although it is sinful and all that.). The pressure they come under in is the kind that most of us mere mortals really can't really relate to, yet I rarely see the Policeman stressed. They seem to have this camaraderie between them where they pick each other up and carry on, even if they have just had to inform a family that one of their loved ones has died, or deal with a schizophrenic heroin addict all day.

The hours they work are all kinds of crazy. Yeah, they have set shifts but unlike the rest of us who can drop what we are doing at 5:30pm and make the mad dash home, if a murder or missing person (Misper as they are called in the force. That's right. I'm down with the lingo) is reported 15 minutes before they are meant to finish they could be working long after their set finish time. It means, as a policeman's other half, you can't plan anything. You might book to see friends or to go out for dinner but you never know whether you are actually going to make it. It's kind of a state of limbo.

At the moment he is working night shifts - they're a puzzler. What? You mean I'm going to bed... and your going to work? And then, I'll be getting up and you'll be coming in...? *Confused face.*

The main thing for me is, the chuffing criminals never take a freakin' day off! That means that this year the Policeman will be working Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Bad times. Crims, if you're reading this why not get in on the 'peace and goodwill to all men' thing and make a pact to be reeeeeaaally good over the festive period this year? Y'know that Santa doesn't come if you've been naughty, right? Yeah, that's right. Get on it.

In other news ...This morning saw me rolling out of bed in the dark and the cold (although it still appears to be both these things) for an early morning workout because tonight's activities mainly revolve around eating. Y'see the big sis is home from the US of A for Christmas today and due to the lack of good Indian food in America she is demanding a curry tonight. Hard life. 'Tis also the day before my last day at work ...feeling very strange.

My personal trainer is amazing. Simples.

When you say the words 'personal trainer' to someone they tend to come back with something like, "Personal trainer? Ooooh, you fancy." The truth is, paying for my training sessions is the equivalent of buying one dress a month... well, one dress from Warehouse, 5 from Primark! I see her for training sessions once every two weeks in between my other gym sessions. It's just often enough to keep me motivated with just enough time in the middle for us to have accrued enough gossip to distract me over my hour session!

I'm lucky in as much as Becca (the Trainer) also teaches a lot of the classes I go to (seriously, that woman doesn't stop) as well as a bitch of a boot camp each week, so if I skip a class she knows about it! Not that she's a ball buster. She is crazy fit but she isn't one of those 'tough love' trainers that bullies you into it - No, I tend to rebel in the face of this tactic. She encourages me to work hard but also doesn't lay on the guilt if something comes up and I can't make it to the gym, or if I have a weekend of over indulgence.

Here she is. I mean ...look at her. Inspiration enough, no?

Images by Jo Blackwell Contemporary Photography

I would recommend a trainer to anyone and here's why ...

• They have faith in you when your confidence is down
• They give you a kick up the bum when your motivation is waning
• Seeing a trainer regularly can mean the difference between sporadic gym visits and a routine
• You won't get stuck in a rut with your training
• They will always try to better you and encourage you to achieve your best

Basically, she is aces and I owe her a lot. You can learn all about her here: becca-mclachlan.com

Not any old week

'Tis a funny old week for me this week. Feelings I expect to be included in this week's events include: excitement, happiness, nerves to the point of vom and sadness to the point of teariness. It's all in there! And here's why. 

The big sister and her hubby return home this week for Christmas - Big Freest (or Astrop now that she is all married and that) and her husband moved out to Ohio about 2 and a half years ago. Hubby is very brainy and landed himself a PHD at the University out there. So, they are there for 5 years and I miss them muchly. Bad times. But they are home on Thursday for ten days so I get to see these two beautiful faces. Good times. So, Thursday night is for curry with the family.

Milk cartons and moustaches. Not milk moustaches. That's something different.

On a very similar note, one of my lovely girls moved out to Dubai a couple of months ago to teach at a new English school out there. She is back for Christmas this week which means one of our other girls who lives in Hull is coming back to the 'hamp and we all get to party like it's 1999 on Saturday night. Aces!

It's also my last week at my current job. I start a brand new one next week. Eeeeep! My feelings about this are the following:

• I love the guys I work with so boo.
• I'm so excited for my new job so yay
• I'm freakin' nervous about being the 'new girl' (see previous post: New job fear) so ...eep.

So, generally a bit all over the place this week. Will be zoning out a plenty at the gym by way of gaining a bit of normality! (Unless vodka creeps in somewhere and puts that at risk too...! Likely.)

Mr Podge and Stiglaaaa

It's Monday morning. Bleurgh. So here are some cute and fluffy things to cheer you up. It is time to introduce you to these two furry fellas:

On the left we have Mr Podge, and on the right is Stig (They look like they've been caught having a smooch or something don't they?).

Podgey is a fatty. There's no two ways about it. He likes to eat and sleep and he demands belly rubs on a regular basis by throwing himself at your feet, presenting his stomach and letting rip a loud meow.

Here he is ... sleeping

Stigy is a monster. He is mischievous and curious and darts about the place as though he has consumed too much red bull. He likes to climb up things and be at the highest point in the room (Podge likes to watch him but doesn't exert himself to join him). Oh and he plays fetch like a dog. Seriously. I have video evidence.

And here he is ... pretending to be shy

So that is them. They're cute and fluffy and they make me happy.

Pop on over to fitgirlabouttown.com. It's aces.

Hi you guys,

Just a quickie today because, well it's Saturday and there's running to be done, wine to be drank and x factor to be watched. Capeesh?

Have any of you discovered the amazing fitgirlabouttown.com? 'Tis truly ace. Jocelyn who owns One Personal Training Studio in London does an amazing job of dishing up loads of fitness and nutrition advice without the 'preachy preachy' tone that comes from some other fitness sites. Plus, the girl's body is banging which means we all know she is practicing what she preaches and going through the burn with us!

Anywho, the lovely Jocelyn let me guest post on the site. So, to find out how and why I got the fitness bug trot on over and take a look at my story:  Inspired Reader Story: Couch potato no more…

New job fear

So, I have a new job which I start on 20th... and I have the fear. The kind of fear you have as a child going to school for the first time.

Image from The Mommy Files

Don't get me wrong, I'm beyond excited about my new job. I used to work for a local magazine as a beauty editor and then I moved on to a general PR and copywriting agency. I love the job I am about to leave but more because of the people than the job itself. I'm writing about some pretty uninspiring things and was always hoping to return to the beauty industry. So, for me, this was the perfect step.

However, I am going to be the 'new girl' who has replaced the 'old girl' who they probably all liked. I'm not going to know where the toilet is. I'm not going to know where the post room is. I am not going to know if I have broken the unspeakable rule of parking in someone else's spot (even though they aren't designated spaces) therefore pissing someone off before they've even met me. And, worst of all, I'm not going to know what to do at lunch time.

That last one probably bothers me the most (seeing as I am always worrying about my stomach and where its next fill is coming from). Do they go out at lunch time? Do they take lunch in with them and eat it at their desk? Or, do they go down to the cafe and buy lunch? And, if it's the later, where do they sit? Does each department have their own table that they sit at? What happens if I sit at the wrong table? Will I get chased out of the office with fire torches? Or, worse still shunned and ignored! *drops to the floor and sits rocking in the corner*.

So, advice please dear friends. Have you started a new job recently? How did you deal with being the 'newbie'? And, most importantly, where did you sit at lunchtime? And also, what did you eat? (Nothing to do with being the newbie, just wondering.)

All I want for Christmas is... well, all these bits please...

Each year, as requested by the mother ship (in October this year might I add. October I ask you?!), I put together a Christmas list by way of preventing receipt of those random presents that make me realise that, actually, my family doesn't know me at all. One year I received a cactus. An actual cactus. I have no words.

So here are a few bits that have made it on to my most wanted list this year:

Silkskin pillow case

So, it's time to face facts, I'm getting on a bit. I mean, I'm nearly 25. I jest. But in all seriousness, my motto when it comes to anti-aging is 'stop that shizzle before it happens' or, put more succinctly 'prevention is better than cure'. Silk pillow cases have great PR. The claim is that they will prevent lines, wrinkles and assist in reducing hair damage and loss. Yes please! We've all woken up with pillow creases on our faces and frizzy hair, right?  Well Silkskin pillow cases mean you wake up with perfect skin and hair that doesn't need brushing (I might be over selling it there but something like that!).

Alexander McQueen Brass and glass-pearl skull ring

This needs no explanation. Gorgeous and I neeeeeeeeeed it.

Nike Plus Sportband

This fandangled gadget records distance, pace, time and calories burned while you run. It connects to your computer where you can track your runs and set goals at nikeplus.com. It also saves a week’s worth of workouts - which is good because downloading the deets after each run just isn't going to happen is it? There are showers to be had and food to be consumed.  

 RapidLash Enhancing Serum

I want long fluttery lashes please! Apparently this does that. Gimmie it.

So, those things please. Oh and peace and goodwill to all men (and women). Fanx Santa!

Snow way, snow how.

So, after dropping the bombshell in my first post that I don't like snow I feel I should explain myself, especially considering the current snowy conditions.

It hasn't always been this way. I, like every other child, used to enjoy the white stuff - building with it, throwing it, sometimes eating it (only if it was white of course, not yellow.). I guess the end of our friendship occurred on my 18th birthday 6 years ago.

I'd been planning the big night out for weeks, had gathered and recruited 20 or so friends. Northampton town centre awaited us - I know, the dizzy heights. We spent the day of the big night at sixth form discussing, squealing etc, and then, driving home, the snow began. And it did not stop. Not for about 3 hours. By that time it did we had had meters of snow (<<<<exaggeration).

Cars were abandoned, as were random woolly hats and gloves (I never quite understood that. Why are there always rogue hats and gloves lying on the pavement in weather like that? It's as though someone has said: "Bah! Snow shmow!" and discarded all of their winter protection. Puzzler.). Still I was determined to get myself into Northampton town centre in my tiny dress and inappropriate footwear.

Flickr image from John Young UK's photostream

I rang round taxi ranks only to be told that they were not operating due to the conditions. So, did I man-up and re-arrange the night for the following week? No. I did what any self-respecting 18 year old would do. I sat on the floor and had a tantrum. I cried like a three year old. The night out was off and my 18th birthday ruined. And all because of the white stuff. 

Since then our relationship has been strained. Yes, I know, it is very pretty. Very. But only when you have nothing at all planned and can sit inside looking at it. For me, there is a two day window when it is acceptable for it to snow. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - that's it. Any other time and I am afraid it will be greeted by a scowl and a grunt from me.

Oh and for those of you wondering what I did end up doing that fateful night. Vodka. Vodka is what I did.

Welcome to me!

*Peaks around the door nervously and waves*

Oh, hi you guys!

My first ever blog, eep! (Which by the way is both my excited noise and my scared noise. This information will probably help you in the coming weeks as my blog progresses.)

So, a few things about me to get you going. I live in Northampton (or Norfaaaampton as many call it) with a boy (who will be known as the policeman as that is what he is ...amongst other things!) and two lovely cats (Podge and Stig - they will get their own post). Things I love include: food, running, gymming, clothes, make up with pretty packaging and list making. Things I hate include: peach schnapps (vom), Elton John, coldsaws and snow. I've discovered some pretty fantastic blogs over the last year or so, mainly thanks to Twitter, and to be honest, I want in on the blogosphere.

So, that's the important things covered. Now I've started a blog. Yes I have. Here it is. Welcome to me!