Lists are easier. And some days are great.

Parental visits - 2 ! Shock horror. Not only have my Dad and his wife now visited our place, he actually came and fixed stuff - it's been 10years since he last fixed anything for me... I'm thinking the new wife brings out the parental side.

Food with neighbours - 2

Miles Run - 8 (getting there slowly)

Dog Miles walked - 16+

Beach walks - 1

Meals made by friends - 1 (and damn we're thankful... despite lack of contact)

Possible houses found for friends - 1 (there'll be something wrong with it, but at least it's nice to find a possible-on-paper)

Trees down taking corner of garage and smashing woodpile window - 1
Hours spent moving tree debris - 3.5
Satisfaction at moving all the wood and making a new woodpile - immense

Spa Experiences - 1

Grass Cut - 1
Knackering of Mower - 1 - if the grass is sooo long you can't see the tree stump...

Bottles and jars of foraged Rosehip Syrup made - 3

Whole attitude to housework adjusted and improved - 1

Rings to rule them all - 1

So now I'm back, somebody new, not that ....

you get the idea.
Roberta is the only way I could return without feeling shame, SHAME I tell you, for abandoning you all in this month of rain and misery.

Now I'm usually quite stoic about weather, it happens, you can't change it, you just have to live with it; but Jeeesus, it has to stop raining soon. No really, anytime would be fine. Sometime before most of the road and some pieces of the house actually float off would be most appreciated.

Now since the run of greatness (see far below) things took a somewhat pear-shaped turn as my bursitis flared up in my hip and I had to both take break from running and cancel running the Coll Half (it has not been a good year for races this year). This means that I've been trying to do a few bits and pieces so as not to lose the fitness.

Managed to swim 1K in the pool - which isn't tiring at the time, but you feel it a few hours afterwards. Also lots, and lots, and lots of dog walking. Have discovered that if I walk them enough they behave like angels in the evening - it's incredible - and fantastic. Definitely 2 long walks a day from now on... oh well, maybe not in the worst bits of winter...

During this time of blogglessness we had a fab w/end with HH, Teech, Spartan and Blarney who even brought the littlest up to see us for the first time (first time here, not first time seeing) and she behaved like an angel - went to the pub, survived a dinner party and was generally adorable. We were also spoilt by the neighbours who turned up with a rifle on Sunday for some target practice and mushrooms, which HH fell upon with glee.

One of our lovely neighbours also fed us last week. A fantastic 3 course dinner with 2 puddings! How did she know. It was fantastic and we managed to get drunk enough to stumble home very slowly at 1am.

Now TheO is away with HH in Copenhaaaaagen enjoying the finest food known to humanity and I am here, blogging, getting some work done and sorting out some housey stuff. Yesterday was a right-off for various reasons (but I'm blaming the rain) so today is going to be much more organised. Oh yes.

Nine miles of misery and elation.

Now, other things have happened. We had a dinner party that was 4 days work, and seemed to work well for all. TheO covered the whole menu and shebang on her blog, and I am left to witter on about my god foresaken running.

Last week I did manage to fit in a quick 5k. It was 28.29 for the whole thing which pleased me greatly. However it was just fitted in between cooking and cleaning. (Mostly cooking and daily trips to see Mr Tesco.) We also took a trip to see Blarney and Spartan and babybelle - Blarney was in sore need of a massage and I fulfilled my role as kitchen assistant (not that I did much, Spartan cooked up a storm) and baby holder.

Now, I'm still trying quite desperately to pick up the miles in search of the Island Half. - which may morph into the Island 10K. So after a wonderfully relaxing Sat where we went mushroom hunting with a neighbour in a secret location - many good eatings were found and RF made them into a risotto that evening; post mushroom hunting we headed for a spot of lunch, then a wander round a fabulous little garden. A nice way to chill out post lots of cooking - and I only had a tiny hangover.

So relaxing and eating of leftovers was not necessarily the best preparation for a long run, but as that's what I had to work with, better to at least try.

Can best be described as: worst run ever. I took a new route as I needed to do a point to point run where there was a real destination rather than just building up the miles by heading up and down the same old roads. Sadly the route I chose (and had been warned off by TheO) was a very, very busy road. The verges looked like green pavements BUT the paths were all blocked and rough with huge divets and very long grass. Shoes were soaked in no time and I had to walk over the worst bits. This was followed by a torrential rain storm where it got so bad I couldn't see - but at that point the endorphins kicked in and this crazy, under-dressed runner was running though woods on a trail yelling "bring it on" - I may have seemed crazy but it was a very good moment. I felt like I'd defeated whatever nature was trying to thow at me. I hope that someone out there knows what I mean. I know it was all endorphins, but at least they did kick in.
9 miles and I felt I could have run further, but not a surprise as I was sooooo slow.

9miles, 1.42.29
avg 11.23 - noooooooooo

9.55
10.30
10.49 end of mile 3 the paths ended - and don't the times reflect that?
11.51 and then it started raining
11.48 and then it got dark under the trees
13.19 I finally went off road and through a woodlnd path - very rolling and there were bits of up hill walking in rain so heavy I could barely see
11.57 - still off road but getting back into my stride
11.04 - finally back on pavements and roads
11.13 - cannot be forgiven in time terms, BUT I was soaked to the skin and I swear my trainers weighed about 2stone each.

Luckily not hurting today but even before the run my knee has started to click (not painfully, just loudly) whenever I walk upstairs. Thanks body - that's the reminder of age I needed! Pah!

Stats.

Just done the figures. I've run (and it must be RUN, no long walks or mountain climbs count) 1355 miles since I started running 3 years ago. This is an average of 9 1/2 miles a week, every week for 3 years.... Must keep it up though.

Going to have a wee run tomorrow too... before heading to see Spartan and Blarney.
Finally managed to get house and work under control; sad not to have gone to London, but happy to feel much calmer and more focused.

Killing one bird with 2 stones.

Now, this could be a post about weight, but sadly there is well more than 2 stone that I'm dragging round as additional ballast.

This post is about the idiot who thought that combining my hill training with my long run would be time well spent. IDIOT. It was time knackering myself. The stats are pretty horrid.
I'll describe the run:
Out of the door and 1.25 miles uphill
Back down again (total 2.5miles)
Then up again
then down again (5 miles)
Then 0.25 miles along a flat section and back (5.5miles)
Then up hill for 0.75 miles
and back down again - 7 miles total.
Was meant to be 8 miles but the hills really did me in. 1.15.00 time. Avg 10.44 (11.54 was my slowest mile - eek)

So, I'm still at least one week behind on my training for the Island Half (which may become the Island 10K... it's been a while since I raced that distance...). But I have managed 17 miles this week and a circuits class (which was shit - taken by new guy who was rubbish).

Also - that time has come again to celebrate another anniversary. It was 3 years since my first ever run yesterday - and I'm still going.

Now last year there was a lot of stuff going on, this year has been quieter-ish.
We really did move house - it only took 2 months longer than expected and there's still plenty to do! We also managed to sell the old place. TheO passed all her exams with flying colours and qualified as a massage therapist. (Lucky, lucky me.)
Got a new nephew and the Cheeseboard had it's first addition (finally a girl!). There was Friends' Christmas, my Dad got married; we went to Santorini, and I developed a love of Gardening and asthma.

So put that way, it really was a quiet year compared to the year before. However it was the year we/I needed. Now I can focus on the future, and work, and a burgeoning love of travel - I'm already planning the next trip...

From a running point of view this year had been pretty shocking. I did the IslandHalf last August but haven't raced since. Mostly due to laziness. Luckily it's the Island that calls me again this year and hopefully that'll kick start the racing again. I've also logged my fastest 5, 8 and 10 mile runs this year so the PBs do keep improving all be it incrementally.

Whilst I haven't blogged as much this year as last year, and I definitely haven't run as many miles - it's fantastic to have a record of everything, and to be able to assess what I've done and how I've done it (slowly and with much winging) a the years pass.

Feeling quite introspective now but I think that's just the endorphins leaving the need for a shower growing. Here's to another year where I might even get the extra ballast shifted too.

Arrrg, passage of time faster than I would like.

So, whilst Juneathon didn't kill me, July seems to have taken me hostage and kept me well away from the ol' blogosphere. It wasn't an uneventful month.

* There was an excellent lunch at Sangsters with the neighbours. Much laughter and good wine.
* Some running, but not enough. I managed an adequate 10K outside before heading to ...
Santorini: it was a wonderful, relaxing (read: lard-inducing), hot, luxurious holiday. It's been 2 years since I was away for more than a few nights in the UK, and it was bliss to not have a phone, any internet (ok, internet would have been nice), and just be in the heat for 7 whole days. I could describe more but I hope the following images give a clear picture.



On returning I'd barely carried my extra stomach up stairs before we were heading out to compete in the 2009 Mouse Race. (Posts from 20th-ish July 2008 will give full details of the concept.) This time it was held at Wheeler and RFs - this is because Wheeler won last year by amassing such a vast stack of points for various activities that he could not be beaten.

This year we were treated to Bacon butties and coffee on arrival :-) Not only that but the only blissfully sunny day of the last week! Then the games included dog agility (Baffie's bidability proved to be useful, and Bridie's biscuit addiction was no bad thing), space hopper jockey racing, treasure hunt, boule, gladiator battle in a river (see below where I can be seen attacking a small child), tree swings and pinata, skittles, quoits, arts and crafts, costume show and some genius rounders in grass as high as pooch; Teech's slide into the last base to win our team the game was a stroke of brilliance but TheO deserved all the plaudits as she scored 80% of all the rounders and was a force to be reckoned with. Throughout the day food was brought out to keep our strength up. And we finished with a barbecue, some excellent jamming on the guitar, fiddle and cello, and a little impromptu ceilidh dancing.

The outcome of all this was that I went into a highly competitive points frenzy and WON! You know when your serious rival is 11 that you should probably calm down, but who cares, as I was an organiser last year I couldn't take part. And yes, this does mean that next year I can't take part as we'll be hosting "Mouse Race 2010, bringing it home".

Since victory was assured I've not been resting on my laurels, today I finally dragged myself out for a proper run, a 5 miler, although it was hot, and hard, and quite unpleasant at times. But I had to do something to try and recover from the meat feast that was a barbecue followed by a huge roast Sunday lunch with Teech and HH.

Having just discovered that we don't have to go and cat sit in the middle of August this coming month is looking like it should be full of nice meetings with friends, work and pooch walks. Oh, and maybe a little more running if I want to be ready for the Island half in 3 weeks time. Eeeeek. I might even have a moment to blog it.

Not dead, Juneathon did not kill me. Although it might make me ramble a little.

Well Juneathon seems to have come and gone. I can report than I was a complete blogging failure but my Juneathon exercise stats are getting better.

Last year 10/30
This year 22/30

I'm happy to call this a result! Although I just read a quote that says, "flexible goals lead to mediocrity" - a statement that is all too true; there's nothing like pesky self justification after-the-fact...

Since I last blogged there's been a lot of walking; some in Little Glenshee with Tigger; and an epic 3h explore in Glen Garr which was bloody marvellous, although there was a little breaking-a-path through head high braken that made it less than perfect at the end. The views and complete peace was fantastic when we were in the heart of the glen.

Also walked to the pub one night which was lovely, it's so nice to live somewhere where there's a pub you actually want to go to. Where the food is tasty and the welcome friendly.

A few circuits classes have also been completed, I'm finally feeling like I might be making progress, the (knees down) press-up no longer fills me with dread. Still shit, just not as shit. Arms are definitely feeling stronger. That and I keep using them for gardening!

The garden in question is slowly, slowly getting a little bit clearer. The work to do is so enormous I only tackle a little piece at a time, and just enjoy the flowers and being outside. TheO is doing the veg patch so we might even get some food from the wilderness. People are beginning to walk in and comment on some bits that look nice though, which definitely lifts the spirits.

Had a fantastic BBQ w/end a few weeks ago with many friends and even some family. Those who were here for the whole w/end went shooting (clays) and pottered about in a boat on Loch Tay. It was a ridiculously "Perthshire" w/end. Marvellous in every way, and the BBQ and wicker man all worked a treat, friends, family and neighbours all mingled very happily. There's nothing like previously calm friends attacking a pinata with coloured sticks! Even the calm can appear to lose their minds. I will add that the shooting was particularly brilliant and I can't wait to do it on a regular basis. I need a gun licence, and a gun!

On a sadder note the dogs had a horrid fight (again) - it was a week ago now, and Golden dog still has a huge gash on her leg (despite vet intervention). She's such a cutie and doesn't deserve it. And damn it, the black dog is still adorable to us... ah well, life carries on as it ever did.

I've also been running more, which does nothing less than make me a MUCH happier person. It's so ridiculous; all I have to do is go for a run to be in a good mood (ok, the run has to be somewhere below disasterous).
I managed a 5 miler that was fine; a 10K in the gym which was damn fine (59.13), a horrible 5miler outside when it was so hot and heavy that I made it 2.5miles, had a 5min rest and ran home. NOTE TO SELF: when it's summer, and hot, and horrid, remember to take your preventative inhaler before going on a run, also remember to take your antihistimines. OR YOU WILL DIE. The less said about that run the better. I think I melted and sneezed myself to death simultaneously.

Today it was still a bit hot, and I'm a wuss, so I went for a run in the gym. 8 miles completed! Also my best ever time, 1.16.29. The machine was on 1% for the whole time, and I just toggled the speed between 9.40 and 9.13. Hard, and I will ache tomorrow; but definitely worth it. Proper distance running definitely fills my heart with joy. All the 3 and 4 mile runs just don't do it, they don't provide the same sense of completion and the same rush. The endorphins really get going after about 5 miles. Joy, joy, joy. (Even if I did consider going to bed at 10.06pm.)

TheO managed to cover the dinner we went to with our neighbours. We'll call him Tay and her Pickle. They were giving us a lovely 7lb salmon in thanks for past dinners and BBQ event. We were lacking in a freezer that would hold such a beast - so they set up a dinner party which was not only delicious but very good fun. We drank FAR too much and rolled home at 1.30. Luckily no apologies had to be made, but my liver may never recover. TheO manged to, very temporarily, have a little nap on the bathroom floor. Sadly I'd already passed out in bed, after forcing us to drink pints of water and eat some toast - a hangover is all in the planning!

Also - and quite finally for this huge catch-up, managed to fit in a nice, little lunch with Dr in Edinburgh, then we went to see Spartan and Blarney and Babybelle - I am delighted to report that they are not only alive (contrary to what phone and text silence would imply!) but seem to be doing wonderfully. For people who are still about to move house, and got themselves a new wain 3 weeks ago, they are coping like pros. Babybelle is alive, adorable, and always dressed beautifully. I'm reliably informed (and can feel the difference) that she's also gaining weight just like the little bloater should. Parents are looking human and able to make conversation on a number of topics, this is surely even better than can be expected at this point in time. I'm sure with a little more sleep they'll be partying like they always have. (Just a few friends, scattegories, and a little glass of wine.)

Tomorrow is a trip down the coast to Sangsters for lunch with Neighbours. Should be delighted. If I can walk after the run.

**Quick mini edit - just discovered that my fastest ever 8 miles is exactly a year after my last fastest ever 8 miles. Bizarrely feels like quite quantifiable progress.**