Here we are. It’s now Friday afternoon and only a couple of days since I launched the blog. I find myself super keen to run and to write. I ran early this morning and now it’s time to write.
From the moment I decided I was doing this and all the while I was going through the endless technical complexities of actually setting it up (some may read and laugh but seriously, I found this very challenging. I will tell you all about it another day), I kept scribbling down my thoughts, usually pouring out of my head, straight after a run. That was a lifesaver for me! If you know me, you know I love my lists and my notes. The simple reason is that once it’s on paper, it’s out of my head and the queue of thoughts patiently waiting their turn, moves along.
So, I do have a lot to share. Promise or threat? I’ll leave it to you to decide.
Today I want to start with Part I of Facts and FAQs. The post zooms in on my life and background, setting the scene, I hope, and providing some context.
Irrelevant thought: As I type away on my laptop, I realise just how used I have become to typing on my phone for messages or social media updates, that I catch myself looking for an emoji to help me get a point across. As if somehow a little yellow head can express my thoughts better than my words can… How weird is that? (emoji shrugging shoulders as if to say “I don’t know, how weird is it?”).
Back to the facts. I am a 46 year old woman from Greece living in the UK since 2016. That fact in itself is worth a blog. My husband is Doug. He will feature heavily in the blog for all the right and wrong reasons. In the months to come we must always remember that he is my pillar of strength, love of my life and his smile rocks my world every single day. So even when I have rants about how he did this, that and the other, please remember the above. Doug is a fantastic runner and he is also running the marathon which I am sure he will smash.
We live in a beautiful village in West Sussex just outside Brighton (hence the Brighton Marathon of all Marathons. Well actually, Lucy, a good friend of mine might have something to do with that choice). By marrying Doug I became a stepmother to Jasmin who is living and enjoying life in Brighton and Frankie who is living and hopefully enjoying life with us. Our family also includes 2 dogs, Indie and Pixel which you might recognize from the photo. Indie is white and is a boy (often confused with being a girl) and Pixel is black and is our lovely girl. Doug and I often go running with the dogs. Indie loves it. Pixel hates it and lags behind looking to hang out with random people walking. Indie has run a race with Doug and has his own medal to prove it. Frankie is built to run but doesn’t. He does however love the running shirt Lucy gave him, so there is always hope.
As we speak, my height is 1.63m and my weight is 64kg. My height seems to be dropping year after year when I am measured in my annual check up. Definitely something wrong there. With their measuring system I mean. There’s no way I am already shrinking (angry emoji). On a more positive note, my weight has also been dropping and more importantly my body has changed shape as I drop fat and gain muscle.
Initially, it was getting in shape for the wedding. A pivotal time in my life is when I met Liz, my Personal Trainer who is now a very close friend. Liz kick started my fitness journey and has always been there along the way. She is a running legend herself, a constant inspiration and the founder of the Upper Beeding Runners of which I am a proud member.
Next milestone was a miscarriage just over a year later. That was the real trigger for me to start looking after myself. Doing something nice for me, you know? Not to please anyone, be liked or loved more, attend an event or get into a pair of jeans. I just really, really wanted to feel better. And guess what? I do. It’s so strange to even talk about my weight so openly. (Doug was surprised to see it in the post). Believe me, it’s the first time ever that I am happy and proud to disclose my weight, take full body photos and look forward to being measured.
I’ve lived most of my adult life hiding it from others and from myself. The last 18 months have been an unbelievably incredible journey, which goes hand in hand with the running, and I will be coming back to the topic of doing good things for my mind, soul and body again and again because it’s so important to me and such a driving force in my life. And there’s no emoji to capture that feeling.
Hey there!! I truly love what you are doing here, blog, marathon, the lot! I have so many amazing memories from our days, not so long ago, only 30 years back! You have been an inspiration to me back then, and here you are again, inspiring me again!! Keep it going girl!! (Your eternal admirer ❤️)
Absolutely loving this! So happy that you have a reason to smile everyday, to get inspired and to love yourself just for you. I’ll be running along with you, giving you a thumps up and feeling proud of you once again! Hopefully I’ll get inspired by you as a friend of ours inspired me to quit smoking years back! I have the best friends in the world!!
First of all I'm really proud of you my friend for speaking so openly about things most people don't and also I'm very glad that you found the love of your life!!! 😚
Reading this makes me smile and cry at the same time. Smile because although I really miss my friend and “sister” in a way, I find myself feeling happy for the life she has made for herself. Cry because I feel that she has finally won her life long battle and this makes me very emotional. There is a lot to learn from this journey and I hope that we will be together every step of the way although we are so far away....
Love this blog! It’s soooo real, so honest, so human and so uplifting! Love the new post!!!