Have I taken on too much with catching up on the circular economy course and doing my regular work, taking up running again and doing my #1000wordsofsummer? All on the hottest week of the year so far? This week it certainly felt like it.
I haven’t had much time to think about writing this blog this week because when I have had spare writing time, I have been doing my #1000wordsofsummer which has been hard because I am having to re-engage with a long-untouched storyline and pull scenes out even on days when I don’t feel like writing. The good news is I put down 13,500 new words, mostly linked to the work in progress called I’ll Drown My Book.
Why not 14,000 if it’s 1000 words a day for 14 days I hear you ask? It’s because I didn’t complete the final day on Sunday. I just felt there was nothing left. I know that’s the time you’re supposed to push yourself, etc., but as Hoagy Carmichael would say, Some days there just ain’t no fish. (And I didn’t follow his “sound advice, to put away some extra fish on ice.”)
In addition to all this, we have also been planning for our next trip away which is coming on Saturday next week. We’re off for a week of hiking in the Peak District staying in Bakewell and Castleton. And of course after several weeks of good weather, the week we head away to spend time in the great outdoors is the week the weather turns back cold and rainy again. Not ideal weather for hiking. (Yes I know, no bad weather only bad clothing…) All the same, we had to spend some time with our maps to figure out what walks we will do – or at least plan to do. We have plenty of optimism if nothing else.
Despite my lack of fitness when I tried to start running a few months back (which frightened me enough to make me stop), this week with the realisation of closeness of the hiking holiday, I decided to pick up the Couch to 5K program again starting week four to try and crash-boost my cardio capacity in anticipation of all those hills that will be waiting for me in the Peak District. To my surprise, since deciding to start, I have run every second day and gone from feeling knackered after running several five minute “sprints” with rest breaks in between to feeling knackered after running two x eight minutes “sprints” with one rest break to feeling knackered after running 20 minutes with no breaks. I’m feeling quite proud of myself that I was able to (a) follow through on doing this and (b) get back to running 20 minutes after a week.
We started a new jigsaw puzzle this week. It’s a nature scene of maples in autumn by a waterfall. Lots of red, lots of yellow, lots of green, lots of brown, and not much in the way of markers to indicate where the pieces belong. It’s a lot tougher than the ones we’re used to. It was my choice to buy it so I can’t complain. I’ll just say it’s not one we’re going to keep.
I hope this week you have all the fish you need; or at least some extra fish on ice.
Tales from Tobhamhor 