Been a bit busy... sorry...

It’s been a while, the longest gap since I started this blog many years ago… 

It’s been a while for many reasons, not least I’ve been a bit busy and injured – and as regular readers know (well knew, its been a while) I don’t blog well when I’m injured. 

I’ll start with the busyness… the good busyness… Jiminy Cricket is now Mrs Jiminy Cricket, we got married in June, with a small select gang of our closest friends up in Scotland – she looked as radiant as ever, I looked hot… We followed this with a day of celebrations for more of our friends – we started with our local Parkrun, followed by a walking tour and then finished with a proper party and one hell of a cake.  We had friends from all of our worlds; some travelling for days to come and see us and join us in our happiness… THANK YOU ALL

We planned the hell out of the wedding and the celebration day, and between Mrs Jiminy Cricket’s attention to detail and my Bridezilla moments we had an almost stress free couple of days – I still worry about false teeth and inflatable batman taking too long to inflate… but if that’s the only stressors then I think we did good.

Our honeymoon was characterised by rain, lots of rain and lots of fun – our mini-castle was a wonderful base camp for adventures near and far, culinary and in virtual reality. 

So what of the running… Well, I’ve tried… the new year half marathon was ok, a run walk that we enjoy, as there’s no pressure on anyone to finish quickly, apart from the pressure that all runners put on themselves.  Then the first of real fun runs of the year – the Mad Dog, dressed as a hotdog (yes, it’s a hotdog – not a penis!)… However, half way around my ankle creaked and I walked the second half, in pain and grumpy. 

The grumpiness continued for most of the spring, ankle not quite getting better, me trying (probably too early).  However, I had some fun – Fat Thor is an easy costume for me to emulate (well the fat bit).  Five and 10Ks came and went, as did the Liverpool Rock & Roll half: reasonable walk – run (definitely that way around).  

We’ve walked a bit, again not as far or as high as we’d have liked – Ben A’an is a delight, short, steep, lovely views – if you do no other hill in Scotland do this one.  It really is a beauty, and was Mrs Jiminy Cricket’s suggestion… 

We also attempted The Cobbler – and had a fit of sanity, I’m experienced enough to know when to risk a yellow weather warning and when to change walks to something else… The mildly amusing Glen Loin and for ¾ of the walk I thought I’d sold us a pup, and then the heavens opened and the rain did bounce, and we got soaked.  We were safe, it was a long and gently undulating walk – the height gain was accumulated in thighs rather than knowing you’d gone up and up. Special shout out to the Arrochar hotel who found and returned my beloved kindle… The journey back was a nightmare – the problem with the highlands, one road in, one road out… or other road out is a 70 mile diversion.  But it was a good walk, and tested our new alt-berg boots out – lovely alt-bergs and in a weird couply thing, we have the same sort of odd shape feet – you’re meant to go aaaahhhhhh at that point, unless you don’t like feet.   

We DNS’d a couple of runs, neither of us is completely injury free and then just as I’m feeling my ankle may be ok I bought some new walking sandals… wore them indoors, and all was fine… then walked outside for two kilometres and was bleeding… massive blisters on both heels – compeed is good, but nothing could make my heels able to be run on – so instead of building up for the Great North Run, I’ve been trying and failing to get myself ready solely for a weeks walking holiday. 

Part of that, and part of my usual routine is the annual check-up… the first with the service now safely moved to Liverpool Heart and Chest – they were friendly and professional… Good job, Mrs Jiminy Cricket came along for the first time!  Basic message, no real change from last time… At some point they’re going to want to replace a valve, no I’m not a candidate for trans-catheter, most of the "when" of when they want to do things will come down to when I start feeling effects… I know I’m not as fit as I should be, but two half-marathons and some long walks suggests that’s not now.  There are many advantages to keeping fit with a CHD, one of them is knowing when things are beginning to slip… I need some luck with injuries and a bit more mojo and I’ll be back:-)

If I had any doubts, which all of us do, then walking around Edinburgh for the last couple of days helped push them away – Edinburgh isn’t a flat city, and c100,000 steps in five days puts a smile on my face. 

It was a normal Edinburgh Festival & Fringe for me – in that I had a varied diet of pie, baked potato, curry, and pasta… I want a salad…

The shows varied from performing in a silent disco flash mob rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, solo cellists showing off their range, an exploration of the universe by a nine-piece brass band, the songs of Bond and ten songs to make the world a better place (basically, don’t be a dick, and weirdoes will save the world).  

So, where now – Newcastle & the Great North Run – so if you’re about give us a shout and lets see if the CHDers, CHD-rellies and CHD-friends can come together for a photo on the front… 


TTFN

Paul