The Walker With Heart

It's almost the month of lurve... The month most closely associated with hearts... And that means it's time to think about awareness raising... But what about? Is it - we exist... some of us die as children... some of us have life limiting conditions... some of us defy the odds and run, cycle etc more than we were ever allowed in our childhoods - or it all of them. In marketing terms its a complicated sell, what is the USP of being affected by a congenital heart defect? I honestly don't know - 20+ years in the awareness raising game and I'm not sure if anything makes us a unique group of individuals.  We can be defined by having or knowing someone with a congenital heart defect but that in itself is not a selling point. We're not all cute... We're not all blue... We don't all need help to do things... So I'm still struggling with the USP... What I do know, is that awareness raising is about going out into the wider world, telling people who do no...

I grew up with my nose stuck in many a book; my favourites then are still some of them now - The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sherlock Holmes, Tales of Robin Hood and King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Not having a set of particularly robust male role models I sought solace in tales of daring do, mystery and chivalry. I also like musicals, and much to some of my friends disgust, and love Camelot and Man of La Mancha partly because they draw together some of themes from the books I loved and made them manageable.  They also managed to turn pages and concepts into a line or two of song... Might for right, not might is right - I've said elsewhere I don't like bullies, and its a sad fact that some who've been bullied find the attraction of the power that brings when they encounter someone they have some level of power over too tease, bully and impose themselves on that person becoming that which they hated most. And boy, is that a seductive trap... Checking yours...

... with the English countryside... The Peak District is one of my favourite places on this planet, once you get away from the normal honey spots you can walk for hours seeing no-one else, and yet know that civilisation with all of its pluses and minuses is only a short way away... When the day starts out like this, its not going to be a bad one... Throw in about 650m of up and down, and just under 22km (2000ft & just under 14 miles), a fair chunk of it over a moor that gives views of the sharp edges over the Derwent valley, and the rest through the historical plague village of Eyam (pronounced Eaamm, not Eyam, or by the American guest at the Youth Hostel E-YAM) down to Stonet Middleton where the climbers were playing and a slap up tea the Youth Hostel (they do do food, it's cheap and the better than much in pubs these days). Good Job I burned those 2000 calories!   The only downside on 2 and a bit days walking - a mysterious blister on my heel... Why mysterious, b...

New Years Resolutions... Blargh.... Don't do them, when I did I didn't keep them... However, that doesn't mean I don't do change... I just pick random dates... well semi-random...and some like the title are long term projects... Apologies, I'm on a blogging roll, so you'll need to wade through other stuff first... Weight loss - Reviewing my training plans for 2012 in November, I decided one way to improve would be to carry less weight... My collection of titanium , tissue thin waterproofs and micro-towels is a good start. Unfortunately the only thing really left to trim weight off is me... The best objectives are ones with an element of precision - so by the Belfast Marathon (7 May) I'll have lost at least a stone (14lbs, 6kg). How - simple really - I'll eat a bit more sensibly. My slow cooker will work its magic for my evening meal, lunchtimes will be mainly a tin of soup and I will try to remember that although its easy to improve my moo...