The holidays are over!

Merry/Happy etcetera, etcetera... 

Yes, I can believe it's 2016. No I haven't made any resolutions. Why? If you need to ask then you've clearly never made any. 

Have I been for a run this year yet? YES. Yes I have. Today. 

Ok, so it was the first time in about a month but please save your pointed disappointed stares, my aching legs and semi-burst lungs tomorrow morning will be punishment enough. Oh, and just in case you think it's not a sufficient punishment then you'll be happy to know I've signed myself up for a beginner's spin class too. The first lesson is this Thursday which will give me just enough time for walking to become bearable again. The almost certain leg agony aside, I am excited to be mixing things up with my training as I have to admit I was starting to get a tad bored of just running all the time and this will also be a good way to kick start this year.

Speaking of which, this year is actually going to be a pretty big one for me. 

2016 is the year in which I will be turning 25. I will be getting married and letting go of the only surname I have ever known. I'll be going on my honeymoon. I will be running a half marathon in February and hopefully take part in a mini triathlon in July. Last but not least I will be planning a potential trans-Atlantic move which is both terrifying and exciting and may not actually happen until 2017.

So, here's hoping this year goes well for me in all my endeavours and for you all in yours!

Back to Reality

Delightful rainy England, waiting to welcome me home as I stepped off the plane. Yay.

Excuse the long-ish absence. Returning to real life was not fun and not as smooth a process as I would have liked. First world problems, huh? Anyway what this means is that other than my daily swimming in Italy I haven't really done much exercise recently. This will change very shortly as I have finally settled upon a 10k race to enter and so will need to begin training in earnest if I'm going to stand a chance of actually running that far on the day. The day in question is the 26th of September and the race is the Running4Women 10k in Windsor. I was torn between this and one in Finsbury Park but decided that I would enjoy a change of scenery from London. I've been to Windsor once before and it was beautiful so I am looking forward to running there. Also the race starts at noon which means a tiny bit of a lie in for me! Which is always good, right? 

What this all means is that training is about to kick up a notch in order for me to hit the new distance. As much as I love my easy, breezy two mile runs, I am going to be waving goodbye to them and replacing them with 5k runs instead. They will have to become my easy, breezy runs. Am I dreading this slightly? Yes I am. I'm worried that, when I eventually do run 10k, it will take me so ridiculously long that everybody will have packed up and gone home. 

Ok, so I exaggerate slightly but you get the point. 

Anyway, wish me luck over the next 50 days (according to the race website countdown) and as always I will attempt to keep you updated on and (hopefully) entertained by my struggles... I mean training. 

Life's Tough

So here I am half way through my lovely holiday. It was my birthday on Monday and I celebrated by getting up at 4am to go stand in many queues at Luton airport before landing in the 34 degree heat that is northern Italy right now. The 4am part wasn't ideal but at least I had the whole day ahead to enjoy my birthday. Since then I have done a bit of swimming, some sunbathing (although I will still be depressingly pale upon my return to England) and a lot of eating. Ice creams, proscuitto, salami, homegrown tomatoes and all of the fruit ever grown in this country. I have to say it has been a struggle, but someone has to do it. 

As for any running, well I didn't pack any of my kit so that's not happening. I am swimming every day though so hopefully should be able to pick up where I left off when I get back to training next week. The thought of doing any planned or regimented training at the moment is far from my mind. It is beyond hot and humid here. While this means I need a fan on all night in order to sleep it does also mean I can completely justify floating about in the pool with a cold drink all day. And (most importantly) I can have multiple ice creams a day. It is almost encouraged! 

Anyway, I am off for a swim now. I will leave you with a photo from yesterday's pre-lunch drinks in a town near my house.