Monday 25 January 2021

Its been a while...

I miss boxing so much - here I am with Amy of Smurfitness, I have learned such a lot from this lady.

*Warning* this is not going to be short! I like to think of my blog as an online diary which documents the active side of my life - my last blog entry was in December 2018 - what a slacker!  

So, here is a round-up of whats been happening in the life of theladyfellrunner since then...

My sister and I with Ricky Hatton
In a nutshell highlights of 2019 include - moving house and beginning the mass renovation and restoration of our (hopefully) forever home, learning to box, training my RunTogether group for a half marathon, running with the dog, a canicross leaders course in Scotland, learning to helm a monohull boat, learning to stand up paddleboard, starting open water swimming - both with and without the dog, 
volunteering to be the hare for a school cross country competition,
 riding the old boys (our two retired horses) with Scarlet, avoiding the town being washed away on 1st August when the dam was breached and damaged making headline global news, running a few fell races, doing a couple of parkruns and keeping up with pilates and HIIT classes, competing in the Dart 18 Nationals in Bridlington, and riding my road and MTB a bit (and introducing it to the dog).  Phew, quite a substantial nutshell!

But 2019 hadn't seen anything yet because then came 2020! It started well with a brilliant Ricky Hatton boxing course and I started the running year off with a Marple parkrun as part of the new Goyt Valley Striders championship.  All was going well until we started to hear chinese whispers about someone eating a contaminated bat and by March we were brawling in the supermarkets over toilet rolls and pasta...

Life was so different, it was like living in an alternative, impossible dreamworld where freedom was suddenly revoked.  People became paranoid, in some it brought out the worst but in many it brought back community spirit and hope. Coronavirus changed everything.  People stopped and the world stood still apart from checking social media constantly to see what was happening and what was to come.  Reports of Italy having a massive outbreak made it seem a bit closer to home than Wuhan and after all the Italians don't eat bats so it was suddenly becoming a bit of a worry.

Fast forward 12 odd weeks of lockdown and people were socialising on zoom, kids were spasmodically jerking away to tiktok moves, running clubs were doing virtual events and many exercise classes were held outside in small groups of 6.  My COVID highlights include getting aftershokz headphones for my birthday in April, staying in our caravan on the drive at Easter for 4 nights, running laps of my own (very undulating) fields, camping in the field, bonfires, home workouts, press-up challenges, running with William being towed by the dog, meeting one other person to run with, getting chickens!, going into tier 2, going into tier 3, back into lockdown and tier 5!


Aggie in lockdown
We did manage a summer holiday to South Wales (not the originally planned South of France!) and the kids really enjoyed spending time at home, during hot weather they walked 1 km to our nearest river and had a splash about and enjoyed a bit of independence.  
I never in a million years thought I would end up back at square one homeschooling the kids, almost a year later, which is where we are now - January 2021.  My primary teaching days seem a long time ago, certain skills are helping although teaching two of my own children is definitely 10 times harder than teaching a class full...
Running is now just something I have to try and fit in - ideally 2 or 3 times a week but sometimes more like once, mornings are now schooling, I do one pilates zoom class per week and try to do a few other online exercise classes, to keep my core and arms strong.  

Aggie modelling her K9 Trailsports Medal
Races are all virtual, I try to do a monthly medal race with K9 Trailtime which are canicross based and help various charities and I am trying to do a walk with the kids every afternoon.  The Goyt Valley Striders new championship requires members to run a mile as fast they can in January, 5km as fast as they can in February and 10km offroad as fast as possible in March.  These challenges are great as they give us a focus and an opportunity to train for something.  

Wearing the Freetrain vest
I have become a bit despondent about running on the whole over the last couple of years.  I am slower than I used to be and heavier although not unfit - on the contrary, doing boxing and all round body workouts has made me stronger than ever.   I had been trying to think of a way to improve my running mojo before lockdown, I had been considering joining a club with access to a track, thinking that might inspire me a bit but everything is now on pause, a sort of continual groundhog day.  For now just getting out is a victory!
Recently I was sent a V1 running vest from Freetrain to try out.  I usually wear my Ultimate Direction vest but tried this out as an alternative.  I really like the look of the vest, it feels comfortable to wear and has lots of handy features like reflective graphics on the back, a brilliant flip down phone holder which even fits my massive iphone 8+, a key pocket and a flattering shape.  

Sarah wearing the vest 
I had Sarah - one of my RunTogether members (and great friend!) in mind to try it out as she runs with headphones and has to carry her phone in her hand - this is not ideal as it unbalances the runner and isn't comfortable or practical.  Her review of the product was "I use it all the time, I can't tell I'm wearing it, its reflective and light, doesn't move or slip round, the design is great especially the flip down, you can still use your phone through the plastic.  Sarah's only negative was not having a key pocket - I pointed out it does actually have one! So its a solid 10/10 from us - highly recommended!

Sarah looking fresh in the vest
As I said earlier, I have been focusing on sorting out our home and it has been and continues to be a massive team effort.  Anyone interested can follow my home account on Instagram - slatersbank_farm and photos of my running etc. are still on my theladyfellrunner account.  

Rear view of vest
Sorry for the biblical nature of this post but I am going to try and keep updating regularly again from now on! 

So take care, stay safe and remember - you will never regret going for a run!

Happy running,

TLF x