For Blogs Sake!

Why is it when you have a short week, your expectations are that it will fly by before the next round of bank holidays and for another four day weekend to be upon us. But no. It's Wednesday afternoon, time is dragging, I feel like I have been here 10 days already and I am so bored it is unreal. It's not the 'I have nothing to do so lets occupy my time with meaningless crap' boredom. It's the 'I have stuff to do but I really really can't be asked to do it, so I'm going to try to pass off my time with meaningless crap' boredom.

Seriously, I'm not joking - but I'm sure a morgue has more life than this office. It's only a small team anyway, so when over half of them are on leave and there is only about 4 others to occupy the space, you can literally hear a needle drop. I listen out for the buses going past my window to get a reprieve from the silence or try to find the fascination of seeing my glass of water vibrate every time a tube passes underneath our office.

There is only so much fun you can invent on your own, sitting at a desk, surrounded by work obsessed individuals, who still can't understand why it is my computer is switched off at 5:30pm promptly and I'm firmly out the door. 'You putting in another half day?' is the daily office joke. Except it's not actually funny, but I humour my colleagues by pretending to laugh with them whilst thinking, run! Freedom!

Ah, still, such is life! At least the office bunny boiler is still here to keep Ken and I entertained with her funny ways. Every time I look at her to see her staring and smiling at me, I can't quite help but hear the theme tune from Psycho resonating in my head - and only have to look at my desk buddy to know he is thinking the exact same thing. Then we resolve into quiet fits of giggles (well he's quiet, I'm not so, which draws a few sidelong glances...) which breaks up the monotonous day of city life. Sigh.

Walking on Sunshine

Don't you just love those weekends when you don't actually have anything planned, you feel a little apprehensive at the thought of doing absolutely nothing, but then it all comes together and turns into a top notch time you know you'll remember for a while to come.

This is what my Easter weekend has been about. I was sitting at home Friday morning thinking what am I actually going to do for 4 days, sitting around relaxing doing nothing has never been one of my strong points and the thought of listening to repeated stories from my dad for 3 days straight quite frankly filled me with terror.

But alas, the last few days have actually been pretty perfect. The weather has been warm, sun shining and we've been inundated with visitors - cousins, second cousins, childhood friends and my sister and brother-in-law popped down too with my niece.

We even invented our own human version of hungry hippos round the paddling pool which just finished the day off nicely, although getting the prime spot opposite my niece was probably a faux par as I ended up wearing almost half the water from the pool! But she more than made up for it by asking me, "When's happy aunties day? I want to make a special card to send you" ah, how sweet.

After being converted into a ladette we watched the setting sun with a cool fosters in our hands, soaking wet (and shivering in my case!) thoroughly chilled and with the making of a nice golden tan. Bliss, happy days!

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Wonder Towers

I think I have a fair idea of how Alice was feeling when she fell down the rabbit hole and wondered what the heck was going on.

Except I fell down my rabbit hole two years ago....and I'm still looking for the exit sign. But there is quite a few characters here to keep me on my toes and entertained, although whether in a good way or a bad I'm still on the fence. Plus, I'm pretty sure there is no 'Wonder' in this place, it's more like a tower that only the  criminally insane would choose to visit.

Seriously, I have never known a place like this. It certainly has earned it's reputation of being 'special' with like minded individuals to boot.

We have our own version of tweedle dum and tweedle dee, all wrapped up in one hit. I still do chuckle over the episode with the peas, that even made lord Farkwrought chuckle along with the Cheshire cat. Then there is the caterpillar, the all seeing eye who makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever to the average pleb, who takes great delight in playing games and looking down on all the menials beneath him.

We have our very own mad hatter that runs around all day making everyone dizzy, making me ponder how someone so small can create such a big ripple around them self. There really isn't a need for a megaphone either - the hatter has one built in, you hear the craziness before you see it.

Of course the biggest character of all - the red queen. Except ours is a king. I wake up in this wonderland everyday expecting to hear an office equivalent of, "Off with their head!" The king will be sat there observing everything, a shrewd smile playing on his lips whilst the latest victim scurries out the door with their tail between their legs, sobbing (quite literally in some cases) as they head out into the wilderness never to be seen again.

Oh, the joys of City life. So much fun, I can't wait for tomorrow........

Let There Be........A Steaming Pile of Shite????

I am seriously starting to doubt this little thing called life. Life! What the hell is this crap? I am constantly feeling like I am taking one giant step forward - only to be pulled back by two.

I try to stay positive, laugh off the bad times, be the bigger person, excuse others selfishness and/or rudeness, think to the future - but no matter how brave a face you put on it, something always comes along to trip you up so you splatter face first in the shite that is the very essence of existence. I am almost positive that God created man (and woman) so he could look down upon us from his glistening throne - and laugh his pants off at our misdemeanours and misfortunes. Ha bloody ha.

There are some people that breeze through life, finding every silver cloud along the way. Then there are others who spend their life searching for just a glimmer of silver - only to be left standing out in the rain. I have come to the conclusion that I must have really pissed the big man off upstairs and he is wreaking his revenge by putting me into the latter category and seeing just how many hailstorms he can pass my way. I even seem to get bonus rounds involving thunder and lightening, yippee!

Seriously, here was me thinking I could try to give myself a goal to distract me from my lets-drift-a-while-phase-of-life and I can't even get that right! I managed to get my training of the ground with a good start, even managing to build up my last three runs to a cool 7.5 - 8k and then wham comes the lightening bolt. It appears I do not have runners knee as previously suggested, that would even seem like a blessing right about now. No, it appears that after spending a whole week limping around in agony and having gained the nick name peg-leg Lil at work, it seems I have actually accumulated some tissue damage to my knee. The result as per the quack? Total rest. No exercise. An MRI. Total boredom.

I need to exercise, I need to train otherwise I am going to go stern crazy. Not to mention the fact that I may start to represent the Pillsbury dough man from lack of sport.

I reckon I know where I am going wrong in life and what to do from now on out to stop getting so harangued. If you just come to expect the worse, then you really won't give a shit when it all comes crashing down around you.....sit back, put your feet up, take a toke on your cigar and a sip from your beer - and laugh at life's attempt to pull you down with it. Not today matey! 

Runners Knee

Following on from the pain saga of my first long distance run last week - it appears my persistent knee pain is rather common among runners, especially females. As if women do not suffer enough as it is, now I find out that there is also a very common problem with our DNA which makes us susceptible to runners knee - lovely!

Apparently it is caused by week muscles supporting the knee cap and instead of the knee cap moving up and down over the thigh bone, if the muscles are weak then it doesn't hold it in place and instead moves to the side.

After doing some investigative work I have found out that it doesn't cause any lasting damage providing you do not run through the pain (looks like I may have to give running a rest for the next week) and that there are some simple exercises to do to strengthen the knee muscles.

I say simple......

I figured that there is no time like the present and thought I would start doing these simple stretches last night. All was going well until I tried the one for the hamstrings, where you have to lay on your stomach, one ankle resting on the foot of the other leg and raise the leg slowly towards your back. Then I heard this really loud crack and felt pain shoot all  the way up my thigh muscle.

Now, you don't have to be a genius to figure out that perhaps that shouldn't have happened.......

After spending most the night tossing and turning trying to get comfortable, I awoke this morning not only looking like a tired old hag - I was also hobbling about like one too. So Londoners, if you see someone limping around the City today feeling sorry for herself, please take pity and do not barge into me whilst I'm walking at 2mph and your whizzing by.

Although, to be fair alot of the fluid seems to have subsided so maybe it has done some good, in a backwards knee-cracking-pain-shooting kind of way. We shall see.........

Push It Real Good...

I have finally bitten the bullet and decided to put my arse into gear to get fit, healthy - and lose some weight for the summer sun.

Having shied away from strenuous exercise after collapsing at work a few years ago, I took the doctors orders literally by doing 'less taxing sports' which won't cause my chest to seize up - and to be quite frank, I have been totally bored using it as an excuse to feel sorry for myself.

There is no excuse - I don't believe in 'can't do' attitudes and a friends recent stint in doing a half marathon has finally given me the wake up call I need to stop being scared and milling around the fact that I have just become plain lazy.

I'm afraid to say I haven't quite signed up for a half marathon, but I have signed up for a 10k run instead. I figure I should at least try and break myself in gently before doing myself any serious damage - or looking like someone on steroids with pumping muscles from too much running!

For the last six weeks I have been gradually building up and I had got to a comfortable 5k when last week I decided to join The Boutique run with Katherine and go for a challenge, thus being the 10k.

I have til the 9th July to build up and double my running length. This shouldn't be that hard surely? I feel this may well be my famous last words....

I did a practise run Sunday afternoon and managed to push myself and do a nice 7k - I was extremely tired when I got back but well chuffed with myself for running that far. My only main problem was my knee, getting pain down the outside whilst running.

To combat this, I thought I would invest in a knee support and test-drove this on Tuesday evening when I got home from work and it made a huge difference. I had a few twinges in my chest but when I woke up Wednesday morning I felt fine.

After all these years you would think I would learn to listen to my body, but no. I decided to go for another run this morning, hell bent on keeping up the momentum and new found 'spring' in my step. The run itself wasn't that bad - I got up at 5am so there was no one about, there was a nice chill in the air keeping me cool and I had the added bonus of seeing the sunrise whilst half way round my circuit.

The problem came when I had about a mile left to run - I started getting pain build up in my other knee and then felt my chest getting really tight. I was determined to finish the run and made it back in one piece - but my god was I in pain! My knee had swollen and looks like it has fluid built up around it, my chest felt like it was in a vice and when I sat on the floor to stretch out my thighs I felt my spine crack in two places I didn't even know existed.

I know they say no pain no gain - but is it really meant to be this painful?! I feel I need to stop being so stubborn and take a step back, building it up gradually. But it seems what the body says and what my head says are two completely different things! I shall definitely need to get them in synch before July, can you imagine how embarrassing would that be flaking out in front of a whole parade of people....!!!