I run because it makes me feel free of thought. When I run I feel like I’m meditating (not that I’ve ever done that successfully, but it’s how I’d imagine I’d feel if I made time to meditate – though with a more elevated heart rate!). Running frees my mind of thought. I only think […]
running
My seventh half marathon, running in vineyard heaven!
I’m so glad I made the decision to start my forties with a half marathon, as I haven’t looked back in the past two years – only forward to the next challenge. Thankfully New Zealand has an ever-growing array of organised races to participate in, with various distances and terrain. It’s fast becoming an addiction […]
I must be a runner now… a poem
There’s days when I’m not convinced, that I’m really ‘a runner’ now, and then I have a crazy moment, where not even the weather can stop me. I used to drive past runners, on inclement days, and wonder, ‘Why?!’ A part of me admired their determination, but on the whole, I thought they were crazy… […]
Rotorua whirlwind trip to run the half marathon
The last weekend in April I jetted up to Rotorua, on an Air New Zealand turboprop jet departing Wellington, for a less than 24 hour whirl-wind trip away. I planned to run the half marathon, after my ambitious plans to run the full marathon fell short, due to not enough training time (family commitments and […]
Dear Feet… #AprilLove2016
Dear Feet, I am grateful to you, for all the miles we’ve travelled. I am happiest when treading the earth with you. There have been times, trapped behind an office desk, when I’ve felt your restless sadness. You aren’t the kind of feet, that like to be still for long, from the moment I could […]
Journey running as opposed to road running
I’m reading a marvellous book at the moment called, ‘The World at My Feet‘, by Tom Denniss “In 2013, Australian Tom Denniss became the fastest person to circumnavigate the world on foot. His epic journey lasted nearly two years, and for each of the 622 days it took him to run around the planet, Tom […]
Magic Moments from Easter Weekend, in Wellington & Martinborough
School finished on the Thursday before Easter with a very touching Easter Service in the Wellington Cathedral, especially as our oldest daughter sang in the ‘Choral’ and our youngest with the ‘Princess Singers’ choir. I popped into my youngest daughter’s classroom afterwards and saw this beautiful nature arrangement. Good Friday morning was a relaxed start […]
Cigna Achilles Half Marathon – Wellington 2016
Just over a month has passed since I ran my fourth half-marathon, around the bays of Wellington. This is such a fun, community supported event, with Cigna Insurance as the principal event partner. The event’s charity partner is the amazing ‘Achilles International New Zealand‘ (a 100% volunteer organisation), that supports Kiwis with disabilities to participate alongside able-bodied […]
#ThePrompt – Fun
‘Have fun, enjoy!’ he says, as I head out the door, I respond with a forced smile and a nod. I’m not sure that I am running for ‘fun’, But if it’s not fun, why the hell am I doing it?! I run to feel free, I run to feel pain, I run to feel […]
Getting back into routines and the new school year
It’s the second week of term 1 and we are getting well into our stride. Thankfully the first two weeks of this term have been short ones – four day weeks (if only all weeks were four days on, three days off!). We headed over to Martinborough for a couple of days this weekend, to […]
The Prompt | View – Walking in the hills of Wellington’s south coast
Last week, after dropping the girls off at school, I drove back to the south coast, with my dog on my lap, and decided, on the spur of the moment, to do a walk I’d often thought about doing, but hadn’t yet got around to doing. I wasn’t best equipped. I really should have taken […]
Lochmara 1/2 Marathon in Queen Charlotte Sounds, Marlborough
I’m always looking for the next challenge to keep me motivated to get outdoors and exercise (especially given the Wellington wind can often make that less appealing!). Over the past winter I have felt the most upbeat I’ve been in years (given that my three daughters now sleep through the night, and my eleven years […]
Magic Moments & My Third Half-Marathon
This was the scene into the second kilometre of the half marathon I ran on Sunday morning – The 5 Bridges Half Marathon, organised by Capital Multisports. It was a beautiful winter’s morning, with a fairly gentle northerly to contend with for the first 10 kilometres (I was just grateful it didn’t start gusting any […]
After the Wellington winds, the stillness… a poem
Wellington is known for its wind and it’s something that I have a love / hate relationship with. It can make me feel alive and refreshed, or knocked down and eroded like a well worn cliff-face. It takes stamina to live in Wellington and a mental strength that I don’t always have. Before we had […]