It's been quiet lately...

Hi everyone,

It has been very quiet on here since I got back from the London Marathon in May, but that doesn't mean to say that I haven't been doing anything. It was great fun and I will never forget such an experience. I doubt that I will ever do another marathon like that again! Now, I must look forward. There are two things that I am hoping to do over the next year:

1. to run faster

2. to improve my marathon time

For the last couple of months I have been doing shorter runs, but doing some speed work and tempo work in the week as well as just 'running'. I think it's starting to pay off too and my pace is improving, even if just a bit. I have been going out four times a week, which is difficult at the moment as it is winter. Some days are beautiful, but lots of them are very, very windy and/or very, very rainy!

I have entered a couple of races over the next couple of months:

A 10km at the beginning of September and a half marathon at the end of September. I needed to book something - I needed a focus. It is all very well running - but I need a goal!

So, that's what I've been doing.

Oh, and I had a bit of an accident a few weeks ago, ending up at the dentist for an emergency session! I was out to do 12km with Steve cycling alongside me. All was ok for the first few kilometres. We turned to come back to the Pearly Beach road and we needed to turn right. However, somehow cycle and I collided and I went flying - straight on to my face! There's nowhere else you can go when both feet are being held back by a cycle wheel! Without going into graphic detail, I ended up having a front tooth 'reconstructed'- and looked like Daffy Duck (according to Steve) for a week! I couldn't count all the bruises on my body and hands. Thank goodness, my bones are fairly tough! Steve has his own version of events, but we won't even think of going there!

So, there was no running for a couple of days, which was frustrating. However, I have been out regularly since then, and am feeling a lot better. Bruising has almost gone now!

On a nicer note, we went away for a few days last week - treat for Steve so he could learn to fly-fish. We stayed in a little rustic chalet on a farm with a couple of dams. The owner very kindly taught him how to fly-fish and Steve actually caught some bass and a trout while we were there. First ever fish caught in South Africa!

Whilst we were there, I went for a 5km run in my brand new trail shoes (need to find a trail run to do now!) and Steve came along in the car (he did promise not to run me down) and as it was such a beautiful day, it was a lovely run. Later, we saw a secretary bird in the fields, which was a real treat. I have only ever seen them in a zoo before.

So, it hasn't really been very quiet after all! Hope to be back again soon!