Last weekend we had planned to head to Disneyland Paris, for the Star Wars and Frozen extras that are going on. Due to a few different things, we didn’t end up going, which was a shame but meant I could go to parkrun- silver linings and all that! As they were celebrating IWD I wore my purple Disney top to fit with the colour scheme.
I parked up and headed for a little warm up run, to see the llama (or alpaca- I’m never sure). My hands were so cold they went bright pink! I managed to time it quite well, getting back to the start with a few minutes to spare. They had a few milestones including (an arbitrary) 200th run.
I loved running around there, as I’d not been for ages (recently I’ve been going to Jersey Farm with Dad more often) and it is such a pretty park. When I edited my run on Strava I added IWD as I could not be bothered to type out the words, and it turned the route purple.
I’d bought some almond croissants to make us feel better about not going to France, and added a few chocolate buttons before heating them up, because chocolate almond croissants are king.
My tea club arrived (including cream egg tea and simnel cake tea) which also cheered me up. Then we headed out to visit a couple of National Trust places, Wicken Fen and then Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire.
It was lovely to get outside in the fresh air.
Silver birch trees are my favourite.
On Sunday I ran 9 miles (realising that the next half marathon is only 3 weeks away- and I realise now that it probably won’t go ahead, but I enjoy the running anyway)- it was chilly but really felt like spring was around the corner. We’d been to Lidl and got these delicious marzipan dark chocolate eggs (well, they are shaped like half an egg)- soooo good.
On Tuesday I had to pick up an order in town, so decided I would change into my running kit at work and then run around town. This was all good and I had a 5 mile run, but then as soon as I stopped running I got really cold. I picked up a chai latte as Caffe Nero was still open, and then collected my order (a yoga mat) and then had to walk back with the awkward box under my arm- not so easy!
I also loved the reminder on the Action for Happiness app- I feel I need this now more than ever.
On Wednesday I walked up to Starbucks at lunch, and due to the C virus they were not letting you use your own cups, so I had to have my drink in a paper cup and then pour it into my cup myself (I wanted it to stay warm for the afternoon). Seems a bit of a waste but equally I can see why everyone is so worried about it.
I went to yoga for the first time in ages, and took my mat with me.
We practised a handstand against the wall, and even though (as I get so nervous) my hands were so sweaty, with a little bit of help from the teacher I managed to get both legs up and even held it for a few moments before coming down. Later we also did headstands, and I can get one leg up, so the teacher steadied my hips and I managed to put up my other leg. I felt like I would overbalance, but I think it is psychological and I find it hard to work out where my limbs are when I am upside down. I know so much of this is down to my belief in myself, as I know I am strong enough, I just have to have confidence. I’m getting there!
On Thursday I had a busy day and we were heading into London after work to see a podcast recording (Reasons to be Cheerful), so I got up early to have a run before work instead. As it was just getting light it wasn’t as bad as last time I tried (where there were no streetlights). 3 miles done and I felt pretty good- I think I was running before my muscles started aching from yoga!
At work I feel like I am out of touch from the world (no constant new updates) and when I got home I think Andy didn’t really want to go into London due to all of the news of the virus spreading, but in the end we didn’t think the trains would be that busy (they weren’t) and we only needed the overground so it wasn’t too bad. The actual podcast was really good (I think they said it would be out next week)- all about nature and farming and carbon, and Robin Ince (from Infinite Monkey Cage) was their comedy guest and I think we all needed that. I was shattered when we got home though.
How has the virus started to affect you? At the moment at work we have to wash our hands a lot (and so do the kids- eg as soon as they come in, before they go home as well as the other usual times), but Andy is now working at home and not having any face to face meetings. Have you seen any podcast recordings?
I think we’re really about to see the impact of the virus now with a lot of things being cancelled and various restrictions in place. It feels like there are difficult times ahead for us all.
It seems to have escalated so quickly in the past few days- seems like it’s only going to get worse for a while now.
Love your new yoga mat! Inversions are so hard, for me as soon as I’m upside down I lose all concept of what my body is doing…I need to practice more, I don’t tend to teach them but maybe I should start to!
Thanks. Our teacher likes to do some of them each week, but I am still not used to where my body is once I am upside down!