Achieving A Goal - W/E 18th May 2024

The week started with a longer shift at work on Sunday. My manager messaged on Saturday night to ask if I'd start work a couple of hours earlier on Sunday, which I was happy to do. 

I was only due to work on Sunday and Tuesday last week, so I was hoping that I could spend some time catching up on housework for the rest of the week, between runs/classes, etc. The weather was forecast to be a bit changeable too, which would mean less outdoor distractions. In the event, I was added to the rota for and extra shift on Friday night and I got very little housework done this week, as I just wasn't feeling it.

Monday, was mainly taken up with my second to last training run and then heading out to do the weekly shop, so I didn't have much time to do anything at home. I did a full 5K run on Monday, so at least I know that I can run the distance. The weather was cooler, which helped a lot. OH took Monday off from working in his office and planted out all the tomatoes and cucumbers at the allotment, then he prepared the shed base, as it will be arriving next Monday. At least he had a very productive day.

On Tuesday, it was my turn to walk the dog, before heading off to my usual class at the gym. The class went okay, save for the floor exercises, when I got struck down by an attack of vertigo and just felt dizzy and sick when lying down. It eased off after lunch, but came back the next morning. It's either vertigo or low blood sugar.  Not sure which. It did make me think twice about going out for my run on Wednesday morning, but as it was my last training run, I decided to go anyway. It's not good timing, with the race being on Saturday, I just hope it get's better as the week progresses and I'm okay on the day.

My run started off very slowly, as I wasn't feeling too good, but by half way round I was feeling a lot better and even managed to sprint (if you can call it that) towards the end. I didn't do it any faster though in spite of this, but at least I know I can comfortably run it, vertigo or no.

The rest of the day, I decided to sit in the garden and read a book that's been on my bedside for months. It was Capital by John Lanchester. It's very entertaining. I didn't quite finish it that day, but continued to read it and finished it the next day. It's the first time I've been invested in a fiction book, for a long time.

The dog wasn't well on Wednesday night. Not sure what's wrong with her, but she's quite old and has started to deteriorate lately. I decided to sleep next to her on the sofa all night, as I was worried about her. She was okay and got up later to get a drink and move around, which reassured me. It's so sad to see her markedly slowing down. It makes every walk precious.

Thursday, was a bit of nothing day. I didn't do much at all. LB called as she was having a few problems, so I chatted to her and tried to reassure her. I guess that kind of put me out of sorts for the rest of the day. I didn't go to the gym, as I didn't want to overdo it before the race on Saturday.

On Friday, I paid a visit to a new charity shop that opened on our local high street this week. It was pretty busy when I was in there with people browsing. I found a sports vest for running, a pair of paper bag pants which I later took back as I didn't like them on (they had no fitting room), some shoes to wear for work over the summer and a t-shirt for LB. I then spotted some trailing verbena in the local hardware store, which then came home with me, as I think I'm going to make a hanging basket to hang on the new shed. They're very pretty and are one of my favourite trailing plants.

I was working in the evening. I was so happy to get through this shift, as it marked the start of two weeks off work. I so need a break. There'll be plenty to do, what with going off to the family wedding and putting the shed up, not to mention housework that I haven't done yet.

I woke up excited on Saturday morning and couldn't wait to get to where the 5K was being held. There was lots of entertainment all day, such as work out classes to follow and stalls to visit. We got our bib numbers and then had a good look around before our race started.  The 5K was split into three different runs. We were doing the first run at 12 noon. I think there were more than 2500 entrants taking part in total. There were warm up exercises at the start and then we were off. It was a great atmosphere.

As expected, I was very near the back of the field. I kept running the whole 5k though and managed to beat my Personal Best by 4+ minutes. I even managed a little sprint to the finishing line, which unbeknown to me OH filmed. It was good of him to slow down to my speed and accompany me around, especially when he's a really good runner. I was happy with how I did on the day. I was hoping to get my time down to a certain level and I did. I can't ask for more. 

Here's a picture of my medal, which is so lovely to receive after all the hard work I did training for the event. It means a lot. It might not seem much to people who find running easy, but to me it was a big thing to take part in this event. Something I never really saw myself ever doing.

After the race, we had some food from the multitude of food vendors at the event. I had a breakfast wrap, which was very tasty. We then walked home. By the time we got back we'd done over 14,000 steps or 10km of walking/running.

As a consequence, I was happy to spend the rest of the day just relaxing, napping and watching a movie on Netflix.