Reasons to be Cheerful: 50 percent, proud mum and fabulous fell racing #R2BC

 
I was MIA from reasons to be cheerful last week as life just got too hectic - I did have plenty of things to be happy about just no time to blog about them! Michelle is handing back the baton to me next month after looking after us for June. For now here is a bumper crop of reasons to make up for last week:
1) 50% achieved

As I have already posted in my FitB4Fifty update I have hit the magic 50% age grading. This means I am an average speed for a woman of my age! Next goal is to get back to my PB from 2015. Hopefully my prize inov-8 Parkclaw trainers will help with this:

2) Proud Mum

My son is continuing to do well at fell running. He is working really hard and as well as beating competitors who have always beaten him he is closing on some of those who have always been miles ahead:

3) My girl

I have been able to spend a lot more time with my daughter and her beloved Sherlock this week. Not being together all the time is hard but we make the most of the times we do have:

#FitB4Fifty A good start

Well I have realised I didn't get a chance to update after the first week of the Mediterranean diet! As with many healthy eating programmes week 1 saw a huge loss in weight of 7 lb - what a great motivation. That sort of loss even shows in my progress photos in just a week:

It made a huge difference to my parkrun time too as I knocked nearly 50 seconds off and I am back to my times from 2017 which was my second best year:

I have to say I have found week 2 a lot harder... Plenty of times when I have been rushing around or unprepared and still eating rubbish. This made for only 1.25 pounds off  (still good) and a new stone number at the front. Going to make a concerted effort for week 3 to stay off the carbs...

Reasons to be Cheerful: Roses, blue skies and speeding up #R2BC

 
I may have to dig out my ark construction plans but I still have reasons to be cheerful! Michelle is having a week off so come and share the happiness with me instead:
1) Declutter
We had a much more successful car boot last Sunday. It's good to part with things we no longer need and add to the holiday kitty. Nice for me to see familiar faces and chat too!

2) Roses

I love this time of year as my roses are starting to hit their peak. Most of them are surviving the deluge too:

3) Blue skies

Unlike most of the UK we have actually had some blue sky this week! I made the most of the lovely weather on Sunday evening to take a little jog up to the castle:

#FitB4Fifty Update and Going Mediterranean

So we are nearly half way through the year so its time to evaluate my fit before 50 campaign! I wanted to run more and get into better shape this year. Signing up to the RMR Challenge has given me a lot of focus and I have certainly been running a lot more. 

Cumbrian parkrun

The first part of my challenge was to Run every Cumbrian parkrun. So far I have managed Barrow, Millom, Penrith, Ford Park (Ulverston), Fell Foot, and Keswick. This leaves me with the four from the North and West of the county: Whinlatter, Workington, Cockermouth, Carlisle. My times are definitely improving (Fell Foot winter course is the hilliest one I have done which increased my times briefly). Millom lived up to its muddy reputation and of course came after I'd already run Barrow:

Lakeland Trails

The second tier of my challenge is the Lakeland Trails 10 km series. I am half way there after a muddy Cartmel and a 12.7 km Hawkshead with coffin trail. I've also taken part in the Grasmere Gallop 10 km. My next two races in the series are October as I don't race in the heat of summer (if it ever gets hot this year!). Hopefully I can carry on building on my fitness this year to keep those times falling:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Galloping into June #R2BC

 
It may be grey and damp outside but that doesn't mean I have no reasons to be cheerful! Joining in with Michelle to share the happiness:
1) Grasmere Gallop
I have been taking part at the Gallop since 2013 and my son since 2014 (we missed it last year!). This year he knocked over 2 minutes off his time from 2017 to finish 3rd under 16 boy and 8th overall in the 5.7 km race. It was my 2nd attempt at the 10 km race and I was a couple of minutes slower than in 2017 but it still felt like a great run:

2) Peace & Quiet


My son went off for two nights on a residential. This not only meant the house was really quiet (too quiet!) but I had time to enjoy a rare sunny evening and have a girlie dinner with my mum and my daughter.

3) Blooming lovely

We might not like the damper weather this year but it has meant that my garden is starting to burst into flower earlier than during last year's heatwave. Plenty of the wildflowers have self seeded and some of my bulbs seem to have survived too:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Half Term Time #R2BC

 
I am running a day late joining in with Michelle for my reasons to be cheerful this week as its been such a busy weekend! We've had a busy half term with plenty of reasons to be cheerful:
1) Time to socialise

I have already written about our day of fell running at Sedbergh. It's great being part of a great club and a bigger fell running family.  Every event is a social occasion for adults and children as well as celebrating great running:

2) Time with the family

The advantage of working in a school is that I get most of the school holidays off. A chance to have fun together or to just relax! My daughter and I strolled into town and grabbed churros and coffee at one of our local restaurants:

3) Time!

It's great not having to rush around every where for work, school and activities during the holidays. I managed both a walk and run up to Kendal Castle this week and it was lovely up there: