One of those tedious running posts

This is my running diary. I bought it to keep a record of my running progress. Sure, my Garmin watch and app, and Strava take care of that for me in a digital format but I wanted a physical thing that I can actually fill in, with a pen. I'm also hoping that writing in it every day will help to improve my ever-crappening handwriting. These days I only ever write shopping lists, greetings cards, bead package address labels, and terrible, awful illegible notes for essays, and the latter have got so bad that I now make notes on my laptop so I don't have to spend ten minutes trying to decipher what the hell I've written.

So far my diary is full of me moaning to myself about not being able to run, along with a record of what exercises I'm doing each day to fix my banjaxed groin. It has one date in it, though – a race date! My first one. Me doing an actual running race! It's the Supernova 5K in London in March. The race is at the Olympic Park and it's run at dusk. Everyone gets given a head torch and you wear neon clothing and lights about your person. I've seen some photos from previous events and it looks very pretty and a lot of fun. Chris and I are going to make me some form of neon tutu that will be lit up with little LEDs, and I'm going to get some trainer lights and wear some of those glow stick bracelet things. I'm a bit excited, can you tell? I'm pretty confident that I wont have a repeat of my first running-in-a-tutu experience. I did a Christmas parkrun in December and the Facebook page said to wear a festive outfit, so I did. 

Me, the Christmas tutu tit

Yeah, you know when Bridget Jones turns up to the tarts and vicars party dressed as a sexy bunny but when she gets there nobody else is in fancy dress? Well, that happened. There were 460 runners in normal running gear, with a handful of them wearing a Santa or an elf hat (lazy festive outfit cop-out) and then me in a red tutu, long striped socks and Father Christmas deely boppers, and two six year olds dressed as an elf and Mrs Christmas. I decided to just style my way through it, and I stood in the queue, warming up like normal, but looking and feeling like a complete tit.

Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion

I ran the whole 5K in my tutu and socks because they said festive outfit and festive outfit is what they got. So yeah, hopefully everyone (well, everyone except the inevitable snooty super-serious runners) at Supernova will embrace the light-up dress code and I won't be the solitary tutu tit again.

Anyway, I think I'm going to do one post a week here about running. Maybe on a Sunday. Runday. Sunday Runday. Or something. That way I will limit my rabbiting on about running to one easily-avoidable post for all the people, who like me six months ago, do not want to read about running. I always scrolled right on by all those tedious route maps and times that people posted on Facebook and Twitter. Now I actively seek them out, following other running people and bookmarking websites and blog posts about injuries, exercises, fartlek (I know), nutrition and just about anything I can read about running. I've just finished listening to the audiobook of Christopher McDougall's Born To Run which was so good even a non-runner would find it interesting.

See? I think I could easily waffle on about running for one blog post a week. I do have beads to show you today, though. They are these 'Purquoise' ones. And yes, I know I've named umpteen sets of beads 'Purquoise' over the years but I've become lazy with bead-naming. Simple as that.

The beads are in the shop as I type. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to squeeze my exercise ball betwixt my ankles and knees in an attempt to mend this sodding groin injury. Have a good Saturday!

Standard January sky

Isn't January just the worst month? It's long and nothingy and it promises everything yet delivers nothing. Nobody has any money because they spent it all on food and other people at Christmas. (Yes, I grow increasingly Scrooge-like with every passing December.) Then there are the resolutions. Everybody starts a January full of plans to do this, do that, lose weight, get fit, give up this, or take up that, but by the middle of the month most people are all "Ah yeah, I remember now, shiny new years are pretty much like all the other years" and most of their plans dwindle away. Until next year. This is why I don't make resolutions. I never keep them so why make them, break them and therefore disappoint myself? If you want to do something, don't be worrying about the date – just do it.

My main issue with January is the sky, though. It doesn't do anything. Right now, the sky here is just shades of pale grey. Hang on, I'll show you...

See? No glimmer of sun, no actual moody clouds, no rain, no nothing. Just dismal, light grey blandness. Standard January sky. I spend a lot of my day looking out of my shed window at the sky, while waiting for glass to melt or for beads to round up, and looking out at that particular flavour of sky is depressing. I'd rather it rained than do nothing; at least if it's raining it's actually doing something.

Standard January sky is a nightmare for taking bead photos. I've not used an actual 'proper' camera for taking bead pictures for about eighteen months now. I use my iPhone. It's less faff – no cables, no memory card, no batteries – but I can't use it with a daylight lamp as it makes the camera 'strobe', so I rely on daylight for bead photography. It's great when it's a nice day but the nothingy January sky is an arse-pain for taking nice bead photos.

I had a right old struggle this morning taking pictures of the 'Garnet & Grey' beads above and at the top of this post. The beads are a rich, deep garnet red in real life but no matter where I went to take their photo – the lounge window sill, outside on the garden table, down on the lounge floor next to the back door – I couldn't capture their true richness and niceness. Thanks, standard January sky, you big pillock! Ah well, I just hope the buyer of them does that "They're so much nicer in real life" thing.

Long time, no type

The last time I posted here (let's not discuss how long ago that was) I was telling you how I couldn't run because I was injured.

Well, since then I've got myself un-injured, turned forty, bought new running shoes, restarted and completed Couch to 5K, run two parkruns, have achieved a sub-30 minute 5K, run a 6.5K, and got injured again! This time it's my groin and it's on the mend so I hope to be back out running and working my way up to a 10K soon.

The face of a woman who had just run 3.1 miles in under 30 minutes

I've also completed my first year of university and will be starting my second year in February. It's going to be a lot of work and I'm pretty apprehensive about it, to be honest. I'm filled with all the self-doubt and "I don't think I can do this" about it but I shall see how it goes.

And obviously I'm still making beads because that is what I do. The 'Blackcurrant & Mango' ones at the top and just above are the most recent and I'm a bit in love with the colour combination.

I've also made a few Anemone beads which I've turned into necklaces.

'Indigo' Anemone necklace

The aforementioned beads and necklaces are in the shop at the time of typing.

It's now time for a cheese and pickle sandwich (I tried Branston pickle for the first time ever over Christmas and I am now obsessed with the stuff) and then I'm heading shedwards.

Running to stand still

I never run. I've always thought of running as some kind of bizarre self-torture. I think it's because I hated every flavour of P.E. at school. I've always been quite clumsy as far as sports go, and my ineptitude at catching and hitting balls always got me picked last (genuinely) for P.E. teams. That sort of thing can put you off sports for life.

The idea of going to a gym makes me feel sick. I tried a Pilates class a few years ago and it had the same P.E. effect on me; I felt that I didn't fit in and that I shouldn't be there. Plus the Pilates room was really cramped and when I was lying on my back and stretching my arm up for some particular exercise, I kept making hand-to-foot contact with the long toenails of the man in the the row behind me. Also, the instructor made us do Pilates to the music of Simply Red. As soon as I heard Hucknall's first "Love the thought" that marks the start of Fairground, I knew I would never be attending that Pilates class ever again.

I've not owned a pair of sportsy trainers since I was a teenager. I walk everywhere as I don't drive, and my Converse were starting to give me ankle issues; I think they're just too flat and un-bouncy for walking long distances, so I bought myself some Skechers walking trainers. I wore them on a walk for the first time a few weeks back. It was a sunny day and there were wildflowers everywhere and poppies in the fields. (The photo at the top of this post is of one of those fields.) I also had my earphones in and when OK Go's The One Moment came on I broke into an uncontrollable, spontaneous run. I still don't know why. But I ran for a short while in the sunshine and I bloody loved it. I walked the rest of the way home and for the next couple of days I couldn't shift the thought of that feeling of pure loveliness which that little run had given me.

I Googled "how to start running" and found the NHS Couch to 5K website. I'd heard of C25K before but my anti-sports filter had always done a great job of blocking it out, pretty much in the same way I'd always scrolled on by people's social media posts about running. I got reading, searched a few hashtags on Instagram and Twitter and immediately ordered a pair of running leggings and a running belt (to hold my phone and keys) from Amazon. I already had a couple of sports bra top things that I'd bought for the godawful Pilates class. I decided I would start the plan the following Monday and set about making a running playlist on Spotify.

The first run was a five minute brisk warm-up walk, followed by one minute of running and then ninety seconds of walking for a total of eight running segments, then a five minute warm-down walk and then some warm-down exercises.  I honestly didn't think I'd be able to complete the whole run and I had visions of collapsing and Chris having to come and fish me out of a hedge somewhere. But I did it! I was very red and very sweaty by the end but I absolutely loved it. With the C25K plan you have one or two rest days between runs and I was actually really excited about my second attempt.

Post-run. No make-up, no filter, no shits given.

What I've found I love most about running is the way it switches my brain off. I have never done any other activity that silences all my other thoughts. When I run, it's just my music, the C25K app telling me when to run and when to walk, the environment around me and the running. It makes me smile really huge grins. It makes me do arm-dancing to Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. It makes me forget everything else but the running moment I'm in. How la-la does that sound? Very. But it's true.

It was all going really well. I visited Dad last week and I did my fifth run in Abingdon, through a woodland path, over the lock and along by the river. I felt a couple of knee twinges but got back to Dad's, did my warm-down, necked a couple of Ibuprofen and then went off and did some blacksmithing, which I'll write about another time. I came home last Thursday and all was fine knee-wise. On Friday morning I set off for my third week two run which was running for ninety seconds and walking for two minutes, for six run segments. Two thirds of the way through my run I felt a twinge, not actual stabby pain, about two inches under the knee on the insides of both legs, but I carried on.

Well, that was a terrible error.

My five minute walk home afterwards took me three times that long and there were many tears and swears as I hobbled home, the pain worsening all the while. I did my warm-down exercises (which I probably shouldn't have done) and then put some ice packs on my legs. There was no swelling and only a tiny bit of pain when I touched the affected leg bits. I assumed it was some form of ligament sprain or something so I did the RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) and no HARM (no heat, alcohol, running or massage) shenanigans all weekend. However, there wasn't a lot of improvement. Basically, when I put weight on them, the tops of my tibiae feel like they're being stabbed with red hot daggers and it makes me feel like my legs are about to go full Shakin' Stevens. The sofa and I have become one. I can't walk around the house without holding onto things for support and I'm having to go up our spiral staircase like a sad old cat, which Nigel thinks is some kind of hilarious funtime game.

I spoke to the doctor on Monday and he reckons it's pes anserine bursitis in both legs. One or more of the bursae (little liquid-filled cushions) in and around my knees have possibly burst or become irritated, which is causing inflammation and pain. This is most probably because my quads are weak. I've gone from zero running to doing some actual running but my legs are not used to this. I'm going to get back to the plan when my knee bursa sac things are all better. (Bursa Sac sounds like a bounty hunter from a planet in the Ryloth system.) The doctor was fully aware of C25K and he gave me some really good advice. He says that I mustn't let this put me off and that it's quite common in new runners, especially not-really-very-fit-and-active-40-ish women. His advice was to get my legs totally better and pain free, then do leg strengthening exercises—quaddy ones like squats and lunges—then make sure I have the correct footwear, and then restart the plan, doing each of the first few weeks twice, to really get my legs and body used to this running thing. In the meantime, it's rest and staying off my legs as much as I possibly can for about a fortnight, accompanied by icing my legs and taking ibuprofen. I'll probably go for a gait analysis so I can make sure I buy the correct running shoes and then I'm going to take the running so slowly the slugs will be overtaking me.

I am absolutely determined to do the Couch to 5K plan. I never thought that I would ever run or enjoy doing so. Right now I am frustrated and angry with myself for not having the correct shoes—I was going to get those sorted this weekend just gone but then the knee thing happened—and for not stopping when my knees were having twinges on that run. But you live and learn and I am very much looking forward to getting back out there, running while grinning and arm-dancing without a care in the world.

Where I'm at with the beads right now

I've been making a lot of jewellery recently. I've had several "Where are the loose beads, Laura?" messages and emails and I thought I'd explain why there is a lack of them.

Right now, my beadmaking time is limited. I make beads in the mornings and then I study in the afternoons so in effect my bead production time has been halved. However, my financial needs haven't; those archaeology books cost money. Also, the cat needs food.

I know that if I make some beads and turn them into something wearable, I am more likely to sell the jewellery than I am the loose beads. It also means that I can make my beads 'go further'. For example: one set of seven daisy beads can become seven Little Something necklaces. Additionally—and this may sound crass or harsh—as jewellery, I am able to get the 'correct' price for my glasswork. Some people would argue with me, but my loose beads are very much underpriced; as jewellery I am able to ask for, and sell them for, what they are actually worth.

So for now, expect more finished jewellery than loose beads. There will be loose beads but just not as many as usual.

In a similar time-related vein, I also get several "Can you do a video or a tutorial for...?" requests a week. It's really lovely to know that people find my videos and tutorials helpful but right now I just do not have the time to create them. So there will be no videos, tutorials or magazine articles for the foreseeable.

I'm aware that this sounds like a misery-moan post, but it's not intended to be. It's just me explaining why I'm doing and not doing the bead things that I'm doing and not doing.

Now, I must away to the shed...

(PS: Some of the jewellery featured in this post is currently available on my website.)