New House

Well we have been busy. Just 6 months after getting an offer accepted on a house, we have finally got the keys and the previous owner has moved out. To say it dragged on a bit would be an understatement, and we finally completed on Friday afternoon - the final day of our mortgage agreement - just a few minutes before close of business for the day.

Eeeeeeeek!

Then it turned out that the previous owner had left the house in something of a state. It was full of old rubbish and absolutely filthy. Luckily we aren't moving in yet, and he has to cover the cost of removing the stuff he left behind.

What the living room was like when we went in!

So we have spent the week trying to get things sorted. We've had the rubbish removed, and today we are getting the whole place deep-cleaned.

Meanwhile, I haven't had time for as much running as I'd like... But my parents were here last weekend, and that meant that on Saturday, Pete, Robbie and I could all do parkrun! Mum and Dad looked after Emma while she played in the park; Pete ran with Robbie and I ran at my own speed for the first time since June!

As I'm pretty unfit at the moment, after missing runs with my ankle injury, I was curious to see how fast I could run 5K. I hoped to run under 27 minutes, but I actually finished in 26m01s. I was pleased with that.

It was a lovely sunny morning and a nice run. Pete and Robbie finished a few places behind me, and Mum took some nice pictures.

With his finish token

Dad and Emma spectating

Hail, thunder, sunshine

In my last post I mentioned that we have had loads of rain recently. Nothing has changed since then, although there has been the odd dry spell in between the wet.

Last week Pete was on holiday, which meant that although I was working, he did all the cooking and picking up kids from school, which made things much easier for me. I also had 2 days off (as usual), and on Tuesday, we took the opportunity to go to the cinema - yes - in the daytime! First time we've done something so decadent for at least 8 years... We saw Captain Phillips, which was pretty amazing.

On Friday, my other day off, I simply insisted that we do something more worthy, so we decided to have a bike ride together. I can't remember this ever happening before. We biked to the coast, did the crossword over a leisurely coffee, then biked home (in the rain). It was a really nice way to spend the morning.

Not at work = beard

On Saturday it was of course parkrun-day, but Pete wanted to run, so he did it with Robbie while Emma and I spectated. They set off on a course covered with puddles and us girls had a wander round the park.

After seeing them at the half-way point, we were on our way back to the finish when there was a huge clap of thunder. It was so out of the blue it came as a surprise, and Emma was a bit scared...

It started to rain, so we walked a bit quicker, and then suddenly the skies opened and there was a HUGE hailstorm. I've never been out in anything like that - the hailstones were fairly big and it just went on for ages. We got totally soaked to the skin - I mean I literally couldn't have been wetter if I'd jumped in the lake - and we ran to a bus shelter to wait for Pete and Robbie.

Not happy

They eventually emerged looking like drowned rats. Apparently the barcode scanner didn't work because everything was so wet, so all the results were worked out manually - thanks volunteers! It was an incredible downpour.

Hailstones and water everywhere

On Sunday though, such a change! It was a lovely dry, sunny day - much more my kind of weather. We took advantage with a family bike ride. All 4 of us got on our bikes and went a coule of miles up the local trail. There were LOADS of people about - clearly everyone was sick of being indoors during the rain and had come out in the sun.

Emma managed to cycle really well, and although Robbie fell off his bike after skidding in mud at the end, we all had a good time.

It's rained all day today, and the same is forecast for tomorrow (when I'm planning a longish run). Will the mud ever dry out? Bring on the cold and frost!

Off-line

It's been a while since my last post for a number of reasons...

Firstly, I was lacking in enthusiasm brought about by my ankle injury and not being able to run. I was feeling a bit blah...

Secondly, last week was half term here, and with the kids off school for a week, we went on holiday for a few days, staying away from home.

Thirdly, when we got back, out internet connection wasn't working, so I was without access to the internet for a few days - nightmare!

So here are some things I've been getting up to since my last post;

1. My ankle is not entirely better, but I'm back running. Just short distances so far, with my longest run being 5 miles this morning. Yay!

2.  I've run 3 more parkruns with Robbie - he's now done 14!

3. October finished with me having run a spectacular 6.35 miles (2 parkruns). At least I also cycled 34 miles.

4. We had a lovely break in Buxton. It's a beautiful town in the Derbyshire countryside, and an extremely picturesque area.

Caves!

Pavillion Gardens, Buxton

5. I spent 2 days being put up in a posh hotel in London for some teacher training. The food was great, the room was lovely and I met some really nice people.

6. I had a last-minute meet up with my sister (who works in London). We has a lovely dinner and a rare chance to chat without being interrupted by children!

7.  I went to the gym in the hotel and had fun playing on the treadmill, bike and cross-trainer. This was a gentle test for my ankle.

8. On Friday morning I went for a run around London! It was a scenic run, involving 2 bridges across the Thames, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and the Millenium wheel. I loved it!

9. I missed Halloween. However, trick or treating went ahead without me:

10. For the last few weeks it has hardly stopped bloody raining! It's very mild, but I could do with some dry, sunny days as I ease back into running again.

The best thing about rain

So hopefully I'll be back into running in the next few days and weeks, and regain my enthusiasm for blogging and all things running related!