Once again starting to blog :) (Let's see how long this lasts!)

I'm now a stay-at-home Mum of two. I know what you're thinking...last time I blogged I'd only just had my first baby...well life is pretty busy now and time/motivation to blog is rare. I generally have blogging thoughts while I'm out walking the dog, but unfortunately that's not particularly a good time for writing! By the time I get home and have any time for things like that, I have no idea what it was I wanted to write.
Today, however, is one of those very rare occasions that I am actually sitting down and writing. My youngest, 2 and a half month old N, is fast asleep in the sling. My eldest, P, has fallen asleep in the pushchair on our way home from walking the dog, and normally I wouldn't let her sleep during the day, as it makes for horrible bed times and 4.30am wake up calls...but today I am feeling blessed to get a break (and we're out later so she'll be going to bed late anyway!)
 I woke up this morning feeling totally wiped out and not in the best state of mind to be dealing with a toddler who is most definitely going through the 'terrible twos' plus a 2 month old baby, who...well...needs feeding and changing and all the other things babies need!
At one point this morning, I almost posted a status on facebook to say 'WANTED: 5 minutes peace and some sanity. OFFER: 2 children and a dog...free of charge!
Instead, I decided to pray. I prayed for peace and strength, patience and compassion to deal with my 2 year old who I was sure was just determined to break as many things as she could while I fed the baby! I prayed that in the midst of all my emotions of frustration I would find the strength to praise God for today...everything about today. To see the blessings and to smile.
I hadn't even finished my prayer when P climbed up onto the sofa next to me and tried to open my eye saying 'Do you wanna build a snowman?!' (Anyone who has young kids and has watched 'Frozen' so many times you know all the words whether you like it or not, will know what my daughter was acting out!) and I had to laugh. All the tension immediately melted and I just wanted to burst! She's so awesome...even if she drives me crazy sometimes...she's always gonna be awesome!
(This is how desperate I am to keep my peace and quiet for a little bit longer...I have actually just signed for a parcel through the living room window so that I didn't have to go into the hall and move the pushchair to answer the door, for fear of waking P up!...yes the postman laughed at me!)
When I sat down to write this blog I was feeling quite negative again. It's wet and windy outside and P cried most of the way round the park wanting to get out of the pushchair. But actually, now that I have had chance to collect my thoughts and get them out...I'm reminded once again how much I love my kids and how I wouldn't change my job right now. I don't want to miss these moments. The moments of carnage where I end up sinking to the floor in fits of giggles...laugh or cry people, laugh or cry! The moments that after driving me crazy for hours, my 2 year old picks up a book of songs and starts singing them, wanting me to join in with her. The moments when my baby boy gives me the biggest smile he can muster, lighting up his entire face and melting my heart in one beat. The moments where I am walking along the road, carrying my baby in the sling, pushing the pushchair (which, by the way, acts like a parachute in the wind!) and holding on to the dog, whilst being blown backwards as I attempt to walk up a hill and thinking to myself 'I used to take some pride in the way I looked and would feel self conscious if I knew that my hair was a mess or I looked tired etc...I'm struggling to remember what that was like to have time to worry about those things...!' And this moment right now...when they are both asleep and the house is silent apart from the tapping of the keys on the laptop as I type, when I can think straight and remember that through it all...I am blessed.
Ask me again later if I'm still feeling this way...but for now...it's a nice calm feeling that I will enjoy for as long as I can...and eat cake!
Until next time... :)

First ever non school-related running event...complete :)

Nearly 4 months of training leading up to the race for life, running 3 times a week (most of the time) reaching a 5k personal best of 30.59 at the parkrun a couple of weeks ago. Was it worth it you ask?...totally!! It was race day on Sunday and to be perfectly honest I was genuinely nervous. We all really wanted a pb and I was desperate to say I'd done it in less than 30mins, but I didn't think I was upto it yet and dreaded the disappointment of not quite making it on the day.
Typically it was a roasting hot, muggy day...just what you want for running :-/ We all met up and followed the crowds. People had turned up in the thousands to run,jog and walk to raise money for cancer research and there were some tear-jerking stories and reasons for participation pinned to peoples backs. We decided to join the joggers, thinking that it might be nicer for us to be overtaking people than being overtaken constantly! However, when we started the race, we weren't sure if we regretted our decision...it was chaos! There were people sprinting one minute and walking the next, which caused a few near collisions and we must have spent the first 2k weaving in and out of everyone trying not to get tripped up. Getting personal bests seemed like a bit of a pipe dream though as we couldn't find enough space to pick up the pace at all. It settled down after a while and finding a bit more leg room was manageable but I didn't want to push too hard, too soon and not be able to finish the race running! So I kept a steady pace until I saw the 4k sign and then I tried to pick it up a little bit, saving as much energy as I could for a sprint finish. The whole run didn't feel spectacular, or very fast at all so when I crossed the finish line after 27.25 I was in shock but total relief!! I had completed my own challenge and not even just by a little bit! I had smashed my pb by 3 and a half minutes and as you can see, completed 5k in under 30mins for the first time!! Helena, Fi and Chrissie all got under 30 minutes and Emma achieved personal best as well at 31mins! I'm so very proud of all of the 'couch potatoes' and I reckon we have officially outgrown our name ;-)

Time to race for life!

So the time has come for the race for life tomorrow... 5k around sheepmount/bitts park. Now it has come to my attention since we've started running that in the running world, 5k is generally seen as a short leisurely warm up run, a distance for when you're short on time but want to get out running anyway. So I feel I need to stress the point again...this has taken 3 months of training, a lot of red,sweaty faces, some injuries, some frustration but mainly a sense of achievement. When we started out I struggled to 'run' (I use the term 'run' very lightly, as it was definitely not much faster than walking pace at the beginning and its not a great deal faster now!)for 1minute, the thought of running for 5 worried me, and now we are running more than half an hour! This is genuinely the most I have ever run in my life and I'm proud of myself and of Chrissie, Fi, and Helena...we stuck with it and we are finally putting our training to use! So the last time I blogged I had reached 4.7k in half an hour. Since then I have been going to an event called Parkrun, which is a free 5k run every Saturday morning, which is timed and results are logged and published later that day. Its a great event and they regularly get over 100 people turning up to take part. It was on one of these that I have got my current PB for 5k...30.59! Which means it has come right down to the day to see if I can make it in less than 30 minutes and with the weather forecast saying tomorrow will be hot, hot, hot...a challenge it will be! Check back tomorrow for the results! :-)

Personal best today :-)

So I've officially completed the NHS podcasts but have been carrying on doing 30 mins of running 3 times a week whenever possible! Its definitely harder with a gap of more than 2 days between runs and on Sunday, Chrissie and I went out whilst visiting the family in yorkshire and it was so hard! It didn't help that it was warm and I'd got my layering totally wrong! We managed 4k in half an hour. So today, back on home turf I went out after putting Peyton to bed. I knew where I had previously got to, so knew that I had to at least get to the same point but preferably further. I managed to get the layering just right today with a couple of new purchases and with chase and status playing in my ear...off I went. I was feeling confident and was tracking it on 'strava' on my phone so I could see how far off 5k I was. 4.7km in half an hour so not too much more to go before we reach our target of 5k in half an hour! Hopefully I'll get out again on Friday and let you know how I get on :-)  bye for now x

Run for half an hour...DONE!

Well we have reached the final week of the podcasts and I went out last night to complete the first half an hour run :-) I went out by myself due to the time we ended up getting Peyton to bed and then I needed some fuel in my body too. I knew my target of where we'd got to with 28 minutes so I knew what I had to beat, and I did it :-). I surprised myself with a slightly faster than normal pace, which I managed to keep up all the way. Recovery time is getting less and all in all I am proud of myself so far! I've still got a long way to go to reach the half marathon mark, not quite covered 5k yet, but almost. After I've completed this week, I'll work on covering more ground in the half hour. Well I won't manage to get out until Sunday now I don't think so until then....ciao x

Last 28 minute run...done!

We have just completed week 8 of our 'couch to 5k' podcasts and now only have one week left!

Running with a pram = owww!

On Thursday, Chrissie and I had been into town together in the morning and on the way home we were talking about the logistics of going running again, and it wasn't looking promising with time and childcare. So we came up the genius plan that we would take the babies with us and do as much as we could. Thursday was a boiling hot day, (or at least it felt like it whilst running with a pram!) and we were due to run for 28 minutes. Set an alarm for 14 minutes and we set off. It was so much harder and I reckon it had a lot to do with not being able to use your arms to help pump. Kept having to remind myself to loosen my shoulders so I was pushing with my body not just my arms. We had to stop and walk a few times, but I am still proud of us, as we ran further than we ever did to start with and when we did stop it wasn't for very long...and Chrissie also challenged me to a race at the end which definitely finished me off! We had lots of comments while were out, I guess seeing two mums running with pushchairs and not trying to catch a bus, must be an unusual sight! Well done Chrissie...but definitely making sure I have a baby sitter for the next one!