My blog is dying (or how to make your life difficult)

Wow – I don’t do anything by halves. I hate the phrase ‘go big or go home’ but I’m seriously feeling the side effects of trying to do everything at once. I’ve even had to miss two runs and take a sick day from work. Not at all like me.

I’ve done 5 pitches since Christmas, my team has grown, I’m going on holiday to New York next week, I’m training for my half marathon, I still do yoga and I need to move house. I might also be in the process of buying a house.

I knew this would be a big year and I knew I wanted it to be. It’s long been time to light some fires under myself and make some changes. It does worry me that these changes are going to break my routine though. They already have.

A few months back, I was posting twice a week. Not prolific but enough to keep me happy. I only managed 2 in April. I was also always on top of the new music that was doing the rounds and keeping an eye on upcoming nights out. Time and budget issues have pretty much put a stop to that.

Maybe I just need to get back in to the swing, maybe my new adventures will inspire some good new posts or maybe I’ll just not find the time again and this blog should come down.

I know I don’t give up easily and it doesn’t take long to write a post. I know I’ll also kick myself if I let my 2+ years of effort on this fade away. Can we agree to call it a temporary break in service?

Running update

My place in the Run to the Beat half marathon is booked and the training for the Bupa 10k in London on 27 May is rolling.

I’d have never have thought that I’d have been able to up my pace as quickly as I have and then maintain dedication to a training plan for as long as I have. I’ve surprised myself by actually enjoying the majority of the runs and remaining relatively injury free.

I’ve let my strength training and yoga slip for the last few weeks and am paying the price with a pretty tense left hip flexor but I’ll use that as a reminder to keep paying attention and not letting that part of my prep slip. I’ll be sure to incorporate even more stretching in to my daily routine.

If nothing else, I’m already turning out my fastest 10k times and a whole clutch of PBs. I pulled off my first 100% pace perfect interval session on Sunday and that was off the back of a night on the tiles with a vodka in my hand. Although that’s not clever (well – maybe slightly…), it does bode well for the real thing. I’m a little bit proud.

Only the Horses

Oh gosh. This is the first bona fide big summer tune I’ve heard this year. It’s classic Scissor Sisters with that Calvin Harris big room sound and a Boys Noize twist.

This is watching the sun rising over the sea in Ibiza or sitting in a field with your friends. Or maybe even walking home through the streets of London at 7.30am when you really should have been out running already. It’s that moment when you realise no-one knows where you are right now and it doesn’t really matter anyway… Perfect.

Music nostalgia

I’m pining away for Ibiza now whilst simultaneously wishing winter away and wanting to be in Miami for the music conference.

As I’m running so much, I’m also spending a seriously large amount of time listening to music and the sparkle on my collection is starting to fade. I’m not sure if the effect of SOPA is starting to be felt or if it’s just the time of year but the amount of preview music released to blogs has taken a nose dive. The days of legally pre-seeding tracks to generate some buzz seem to be well over.

So… I’ve created some new playlists. The big tunes of 2009 and 2010 to be precise. They contain the top 150 tracks of each year ordered by most plays. Top of 2009 was Major Lazer – Keep It Goin Louder and top of 2010 was Florence + the Machine – Swimming. If you have no choice but to stick to what you know, those aren’t a bad place to start.

Roll on Miami and Ibiza. I’m all excited to get some fresh tracks to provide the backing to my race training.

 

March wish list

I’ve officially packed away the hardcore wool and thermals. I’ve pulled out and ironed the blouses, t-shirts and lightweight merino wool.

As is my way, I’ve been planning out some new strategic additions to my wardrobe –  all quite timeless and interchangeable with other pieces. I’ve also got a plan to remake an old peach coloured dress in to a midi skirt. Not quite sure how that will go but I’ll try.

I’ll hopefully get to work my way through this in the next few months…

Orange J.Crew 4″ chino shorts

Ponyskin leopard print ballet shoes from French Sole

A blonde ponyskin belt from Topshop

A striped navy and cream top like this one from J.Crew

YSL Rouge Pur Couture lipstick in Le Orange

More AW12 looks

I’ve been falling behind in keeping an eye on the latest shows but am definitely waiting for the Paris favourites with baited breath – Chloe and Chanel especially…

I’m loving the mix of textures in both of these and especially like the irreverent mix of bird print sweatshirts with smart tweed and a cute belt that Burberry pulled off. Gorgeous.

Images from Style.com

Images from Style.com

The first rain run

How I’ve been running all these kilometers without once having to go out in the rain, I don’t know, but today it happened.

Full on, puddle making, cold, in your face rain. Grim as. I suppose it makes up for the light and sunny sprint session on Thursday morning.

I got chilly, my face got sore and my legs got wet. On the plus side, I got to test out the waterproof-ness of my Casall running vest and it passed with flying colours.

I need to get used to the idea that when I actually race, it might be in the rain. In fact, in May and October, it’s more than likely it will be raining. So all good preparation really.

A few things I learnt:

  • You don’t need a fancy waterproof bag or waistpack for your phone or ipod. A freezer bag with a well placed hole for headphones works just as well.
  • Get some kind of hat or visor. Rain in your eyes is actually pretty distracting.
  • You’ll be colder than you think. Wear a thin, sweat wicking, long sleeved top rather than a t-shirt.
  • If you avoid proper puddles, your feet won’t get wet.
  • Get in the shower asap and bundle on the sweats. You need to get back to warmth asap.

My GPS tracking seemed to fail at about 35 mins in so it was more difficult to keep pace but, all in all, a 7.4km tempo run in the rain isn’t too bad. Happy Sunday!