I’ve only posted twice this year; once with a 2021 wrap up, and second to share free National Running Show tickets. Lots has happened over the past 6 months, but I also have things planned for the rest of the year. To start, let me get you up to date with what’s been happening in my life!
2022… So Far!
It’s fair to say that I’ve had a pretty busy start to 2022!
The first few months were occupied with wedding planning and preparation. I asked Emma to marry me on October 27th 2021, so we had a very short engagement before setting a wedding date of April 2nd 2022. This meant that we had a lot to do in a short space of time!
April 2nd came around, and boy was the day just perfect. All the stress and anxiety that had been there beforehand disappeared on the day as all of the little details came together. I had been really nervous as Em and I started off by signing the song “A Thousand Years” to each other from opposite ends of the aisle.
Finley was a superstar and really did us proud as the Chief Page Boy and Ring Bearer (getting the rings from an owl, no less!).
The venue, Kedleston Country House, was amazing and the staff were all great. We couldn’t have asked for a better day.
And yes, in case you hadn’t already guessed it, we did have a Harry Potter theme!
The next day saw us heading to Rhodes for our honeymoon. This was also our first holiday abroad together, and it was a much-welcomed break. We made the most of our all-inclusive hotel, and we even had a private swimming pool!
Since then, we’ve had a quite a few adventures. We’ve been to Legoland, Trentham Monkey Forest, Alton Towers, and Derbyshire Sausage and Cider Festival, just to name a few places.
Oh, and we both got tattoos to commemorate our wedding day! My second session is booked in for August to finish the patronus stag and add Hogwarts to the background.
The Rest of 2022:
Although I have a lot of positive memories of the year so far, that isn’t to say that I’ve found it easy. My mental health has been challenging and I’ve been struggling to manage it properly since the loss of my younger brother in 2020. Previously, I used running as my therapy, however, that has been difficult to do as my anxiety has been (and still is) high, but my self-confidence is low.
My last running event was the Virtual London Marathon in October 2020. Since then, I have put on weight and currently weigh 181 pounds. It feels like a bit of a vicious circle as I’ve been struggling to find the motivation to train, but then I put on weight as I’m not training, which also makes me self-conscious, and then my self-consciousness makes me more anxious about running outside. I’ve managed to get my trusty treadmill back and setup in the kitchen (much to Em’s dismay!), so I’m hoping that this will at least solve some of my motivation issues moving forward. I’m working on my diet and making sure that I’m eating and drinking better.
With 95 days to the London Marathon (October 2nd) I know that I really need to get my head down and put the work in. At the minute, running for a mile non-stop is a challenge. I’ve debated a few times as to whether I’m going to still attempt it or not; at the moment, I’m leaning towards starting in the hope that I can get to the finish line, even if it means not getting a personal best. It’s going to be a tough one for me now anyway, but I think the regret of not attempting it would be worse than the disappointment of not getting within my goal finishing time.
To try and help with my motivation and getting back on track, I’ve ordered myself a Garmin Forerunner 955 which should be arriving on Friday. I’ve been using my Garmin Forerunner 935 for over 3 years now, so I’m really looking forward to the upgrade!
I’m also looking for some local races to sign up to as another way of motivating myself to get training again. I’m not familiar with a lot of the events in the East Midlands, so it’ll be nice to try out some new races.
Another big focus is to get back to blogging regularly again, so that I can provide training updates, race reviews, gear reviews, and everything in-between!
