I was out running the other day on my once a day exercise thinking about all sorts of things, as you do when you are out for a run or walk, the mind swirls this way and that way and I think all manner of nonsense but occasionally I think of something useful and on this particular run I was thinking about the positive changes to my life that have only happened because of COVID. I know this is a weird thing to say and I hope its not insensitive as I realise its been an incredibly hard time for many and my heart goes out to those who are suffering, especially for those with loved ones who are ill or indeed may have even lost someone they love.

When times are tough I like to try and remind myself of good things. I think its a natural protective instinct. So I thought I would take a moment to reflect on this time and wonder what positives changes have come about in these recent times.

1. The combination of not being able to swim and moving my Ironman back to next year has meant I’m spending more time working on strength in my garden and I feel physically fitter than I have in a long time, maybe ever.

2. I’m cooking and baking all sorts of things I haven’t tried before. We have very little flour left but I made Roti breads to go with our favourite homemade curries a few times. It’s so lovely to make something like that rather than buying it from a packet.

3. Lots of family household time. My son and stepson have spent some time together painting fences in the garden and are getting to know each other better, so lovely to see.

4. I’m not remotely domestic and normally struggle to find time to clean or do jobs in the garden. Recently I’ve been catching up a bit and it feels nice to be more on top of things.

5. Getting to know the neighbours. Our neighbours are lovely and we’ve now joined a WA group with them and chat about all manner of things. People help each other out and today they all came out sing one person down the road happy birthday. It’s just so heart warming.

I could in fact list many more but I’ll stop at five so I don’t get too boring and waffle on.

My family, my friends, my colleagues, going to the local cafe for breakfast, going to the theatre and biscuits (cus we just ran out)……

What do you miss?

Just come inside following the mutual clapping supporting/thanking the NHS for all their hard work. All the neighbours were out clapping, all very heart warming stuff.

Today was a positive day in so many ways. I went out early this morning to the corner shop and everybody was observing the social distancing as well as being very polite, good to see. When I got home i went to ‘work’ which is basically the spare room upstairs now. I looked through my window and saw a family across the road (sorry not snooping honestly) doing their daily exercise routine presumably in front of the tv. It’s so lovely that families are doing this and spending quality time together, good for them.

This afternoon I did a 5 mile run with my son along the canal, the sun was shining and i felts so lucky to be able to go outside, I realise how much we take our basic freedom for granted. I hope this allowance to do one exercise outside a day lasts but I intend to appreciate it as much as possible as you never know what will happen next.

After the run my husband and I had our first virtual personal training session. This was quite good fun and we used my iPad out in the back garden. Our PT Emma chatted, demonstrated and generally encouraged us through a series of exercises.

Is it weird that in these hard times I feel really serene? I feel I’ve been given a chance to appreciate every little thing, my husband, my family, my friends, my home, cooking, reading, enjoying music and I could go on and on. It’s time to take stock and breathe, look to what you have and look forwards with anticipation and hope.

Been a busy week so the most I’ve managed so far is a short run and a turbo session. I’m hoping to swim tomorrow and Saturday if the pools stay open and do a half marathon on Sunday if it’s still running. However a reality may soon be gym training in the garage, turbo time in the lounge and reading up on swimming techniques rather than doing… we will see what happens oh dear covid.

In the meantime I’ve just had my singing lesson, enjoyed singing At Last, a great jazz tune. However shortly maybe I’ll practice some blues, covid blues… to the tune of heartbreak hotel…

Since they’ll close the schools down, the gyms and pools too, we’ll have no place to train and then we’ll need the loo …

I got the covid blues babe , and it’s taking its toll, I don’t know what I’ll do when I’m out of bog roll…

They may soon cancel races, events and laughter too, and I’ll be eating biscuits, watching movies , finding things to do

I got the covid blues babe, and it’s taking its toll, I don’t know what I’ll do when I’m out of bog roll….

La la la

Had a rest day yesterday. This was not supposed to be the case but after many many nights of interrupted sleep due to hot flushes added to my pollen tree allergy I found I’d reached a whole new level of tiredddddd. Went to bed last night at 9pm and struggled to get up before 7am….sigh

At least day I was slightly more energised and managed a lunch run of 2.5 miles and a visit to the gym after work. I wonder how long the impact of menopause goes on for but I’ve heard months and years and some have even said it never stops….ah what now? So the wonderful side effects include feeling b*****sed, waking up hourly through the night, feeling slightly nautious and then having a hot flush every 30-60 minutes, having a brain that has been removed and replaced by tumble weed, losing things, forgetting things and last but not least noticing that alcohol no longer agrees with you (boohoo!!) 😩

Still I will do my Ironman I will, I will and no annoying hormones are going to stop me even if they do prevent me from getting out of bed sometimes….. so if my dearest hubby should read this please please please pull me out of bed tomorrow by my feet and kick me out the door so I can go swimming before work. Ta very much, your wife x