Gosh it’s a whole month since I last wrote. I don’t know how that time disappeared. A few times I’ve wanted to put pen to paper or rather finger to keyboard. Somehow, something always got in the way. Excuses, excuses.

After the incident with ‘Ant’ I got back to running and lifting weights and was feeling pretty good. It felt like full steam ahead. We have even discussed a possible adventure later in 2026. A run from point A to point B. Together. With backpacks. I’ll update in due course if this does seem likely to go ahead.

In the last two weeks I had a few incidents of ‘that’ dull ache at the top of my thigh. Sigh. It had pretty much disappeared previously and I was being so careful. I’m not 100 percent sure what antagonised ‘it’. I think I may have sat around too much during the ‘not allowed to run phase’ and then maybe gone a bit too mental in the gym with squats and weights. However, we are in the land of guesswork here.

None the less, all is not lost. I had a definite ache yesterday for example but today it’s gone. I have read extensively on this matter and for some people you have to ‘manage’ it. I hope that isn’t me and I can get back to where I was a few weeks ago but we will see. I try to keep my glass half full.

I also saw the physio a few weeks ago for a follow up. She gave me the latest rehab exercises I can now do (I’m not yet doing them all – until I’m without this ache for at least a week).

These exercises involve jumping off boxes, doing a lunge and hopping on the front foot. Sitting on a bench and taking a long jump from a sitting position. All of these plyometric exercises are designed to get your body stronger by mimicking the impact of running but in a safer more controlled way. One thing I find tricky is making sure the landing sticks. She showed me the most important element of the long jump is ensuring you stay on two feet solidly as you finish. No wobbles. This sticking strengthens the legs. The reason it works is because you cause micro damage to the muscles (bones too) and then when you take a day or two to rest, the muscles and bones repair and become more resilient. If you are interested in the ‘rough’ science (summarised without data here apologies); they’ve sawn through the legs of dead (obviously) runners versus people who are not doing impactful sport of a similar/older age and found the bone density stronger in the runners. I imagine hiking, dancing, tennis etc etc would have similar benefits. I use this example only to illustrate the purpose of box jumping.

Apart from running, hiking and jumping off chairs into gym oblivion, we’ve been settling more into our new house and area. I’m making some friends and we frequently find ourselves stopping to chat to the locals who are incredibly friendly.

Have any of you got some 2026 goals? I love new year and nearly always have a resolution. It feels like a chance to have a go at something new or another go at something previously tried.

For me I’ve got a few this year.

• I intend to finally finish editing my book. It’s got 49 mini chapters so I aim to edit one a week. Give or take, that takes me to the end of the year.
• Hubs and I are doing dry January. Ah not that you sigh. I know. It’s so predictable. But hey, I was busy cutting down anyway so we figured why not.
• Since I’ve retired I’ve had this bad habit of watching tv in the morning with a cup of coffee. It came about because my husband doesn’t share my love for detective dramas or reality tv shows. He has a tendency to say things like ‘wow who watches that cxxx’ or ‘this is really really bad’ or he doesn’t say anything but sits there rolling his eyes. Finally I found that if I watched my favourite shows in the morning (whilst he is at work) I could avoid the running commentary. However, I realise that this early tv watching is stopping me from getting on with my day and was extending into a bad habit. Thus my third resolution is to only switch the tv on after 7pm in the evening. As for hubs I’ll have to find another solution. Hmm. 🤔 Any ideas?
• Last of all I am going to actually start taking all the supplements I’ve bought that sit around in bottles gathering dust. Vitamin D, Magnesium and Collagen.

Right thats me until next time. Let me know if you have any resolutions.

And now for some pictures of various lovely walks and outings.

Lovely colours on canal boats spotted during a walk