The Wrong (size) Trousers

Well I have just run, walked and walked-with-bounce for 8 kilometers. This had absolutely nothing to do with The Great North Run or keeping fit but everything to do with trying to squeeze myself into a couple of pairs of trousers that I would like to take on holiday with me. Following a shower I had a quick try on and it seems a lot more miles are going to have to be run between now and next weekend whilst also cutting back on my food consumption quite dramatically - even then the odds of them making the suitcase are quite slim and even if they do they will have to earn their space in the first 2 or 3 days, after that they will be useless!

It's one of those rare hot days in the Norfolk today, it possibly extends across the country - I've not seen the forecast but it was far too hot for running. As usual though I'm cramming at the last minute.

We are off to France, for the first time ..... in, well - ever Andrew and I are having a holiday without the children. Well the first week anyway, the second week Madi and her partner are flying out to join us in Carcassonne. We are going to travel down the east of the country, hopefully avoiding the toll roads and seeing a bit of the 'real France'. We'll start out visiting the war graves at Verdun - we know how to have a jolly time! no, it's something I have always wanted to see. From there we will travel through the Champagne region where I'm hoping we can pick up a bottle for November. We will stay in a Hotel in the mountains that night, very close to the Swiss Border.

The next day we will travel down to the Provence Region where We are staying a couple of nights and Andrew wants to see the scull of Mary Magdalene - I'm not really sure about this but no doubt there will be a lot more in the area to see as well.

From there we will head to the coast and drive, as much as possible along the coast to Montpellier where we'll stay overnight. I was rather hoping we could have done this bit in an open top car but it's not going to happen! We'll then head to Carcassonne to pick up Madi and Jordan. On the 14th we'll see the Bastille Day celebrations when they 'set the castle ablaze' (with fireworks). It's supposed to be quite a spectacle! There is a festival in Carcassonne throughout July with music and dance happening all over the place, I'm hoping it should be quite lively and staying right in the heart of the town we can have some fun. Then it will be back up to Calais, this time on the quick roads and hopefully return to a house that's still intact!

I'm sure we will have a great time, just wish I could get into the damn trousers!

Blog Transforming

Well as you can see I have been changing things about a bit, moving things around, adding a splash of colour and a picture ... resulting in, well, no running today!

You see I'm on a bit of a mission. Truth is I can't possibly continue to do the job I'm doing at the moment, it's driving me nuts and I feel there are changes afoot that I'm not liking. I need a change. I figured, I like writing and I have enjoyed writing this blog so why not see just where I can go with it. As I mentioned before I've been reading, viewing, listening to every 'expert' that I can find and I'm possibly more confused than I have ever been but I enjoy trying to work things out so I'm going to stick with it. I would rather be doing it during the day but for now I'm going to have to get used to working late.

I think the first job and really the most important one is to write content that people want to read because what I need more than anything is readers, lots of readers. I was playing with the idea of starting something completely new but then I wondered if I could just take VivsMountain in a slightly/very different direction. Deciding that this idea is, for now the most simple, that's what I am going to do, for a while anyway.

I have come to the conclusion that I don't possess the 'running gene' and it would appear, no amount of training can cultivate it. I am still intending to take part in the Great North Run in September and raise money for the Association for International Cancer Research. After that, I'm going to find something else to do to bring health and happiness to my late summer years. I am going to discover the best of health, the most happiness and the greatest fulfilment that I possibly can with my limited time and funds. Finding that is what my blog will be about.

I hope you stay with me as my blog transforms into something that I'm confident you'll enjoy. I would love to hear your idea's on the subject.

Building a new Blog

"You'll be up and running in no time"

was the statement that sold it to me

somewhere in the region of 20 - 30 hours later and I am no closer to my goal!  I do wonder, is it me, am I really so computer illiterate or is it just not that simple?

Let me explain. I have decided to take my blogging to the next level and try to create something without the limited 'shelf life' that I feel vivsmountain has possibly already surpassed. I've enjoyed blogging and would really like to build a blog with a lot more information that would be of some use to people reading it and then maybe I could get a lot more people reading it. I have read that a successful blog shouldn't be about me - that's not to say that this blog hasn't served it's purpose, it's kept people informed about what I was doing - but if I'm serious then there has to be a little more giving.

I have read loads, visited a huge number of sites and blogs and watched endless numbers of video's on the subject. I now know the do's and dont's to serous blogging. About three weeks ago I felt ready to jump in. Of course I'm limited to the time I can spend so it's been a bit of a stop/start operation! first I needed a proper domain name, then I needed a host, then I had to install the software to build my blog .... I appear to have performed all three of these operations though it has taken me hours and hours of work. My problem seems to be connecting all three up, so that I have the correct domain name on the blog and I am able to get to the 'dashboard' in order to start building my blog. From there on I think it should become relatively simple and I can start doing the bits I really enjoy, but can I get to this point ... absolutely not. I just can't connect to the place I need to be to build the blog, result - no new blog ... yet!

I have sent off a request for help but who or where I've sent it I have absolutely no idea. It's now Sunday evening, I've spent all day on my laptop, I'm shattered and I'm no further forward and tomorrow I will be back at work spending all day staring at another computer. I am so frustrated.

Should I ever be able to get this sorted I will make a very grand announcement to let everyone know where I have gone - but don't hold your breathe!

Blogging Drought

There has been a bit of a lull in the blogging of late! There are several reasons for this:

1)   Discord was the warm up act for 'Park Alive' in Diss on Saturday so the weekend flew by and not a lot got done.

2)   I am trying really hard to get my book out there so that I can start making money for the AICR. and it's all a bit time consuming.

3)   We are on holiday very soon and at this moment we are short by one overnight hotel, I have no holiday clothes, we have very little money and I am just not ready at all.

4)    I have a bit of a plan to expand my blog and make it something that many more people might like to read and I am desperate to get on with it.

I shall let you know as soon as my book is available, I need to get it out there and selling.

6 Really good reasons for getting back on the running machine

Having spent the best part of 3 weeks feeling dreadful I must get back to it, tomorrow I need, I must, it is imperative that I get back on the machine, I thought I would come up with a few really good reasons for getting back to the running, here are my top six:

• Tomorrow there are only 15 weeks to the Great North Run ... and considering at my last attempt it took me almost and hour to do 5 kilometres (just over 3 miles) I really have to get on it. I don't want to be walking half way round again.
• I'm getting stodgy ... I have been doing a lot of lying on the sofa recently which is such a shame, not only had I got into a bit of a swing with the running but I was regularly doing my 'muscle strengthening exercises' and they have all gone by the board too. My stomach is again creeping over my waist-band and it's so depressing.
• Everything is getting soooooo serious ... I started running for fun, to make myself feel better about myself but sometimes it's hard to remember that. I need to get back to that sense of achievement at the end of each training session.
• Because consistency is the only option ... I'm not back at school when I used to open the books for the first time the night before the final exam. Cramming is not an option for endurance sports.
• Raising funds for AICR is so important for all of us ... I think you would go a very long way before you found anyone who hasn't been touched in some way by Cancer. It's up to all of us to play our part in finding a cure for this dreadful desease. I'm no scientist and I am never going to be the brains behind that cure so I have to help support the brains that will.
• If not now - when, if not this - what? ... it's a scary thought but as you get older you begin to run out of new things that you can start. The list of things you are never going to be gets longer than the list of things you can still be. The excitement you feel when you start something you have never done before becomes a distant memory, running is something you can take up at any age, on any level.

I would really love to know what motivates you to get out there 

day after day.