Gosh, I’ve been up to all sorts this week and last weekend – seaside, running, wild swimming …….. and work! Yes, I do work full time and this week has been one hell of a week so this post is a reflection on this week and all about balance in life.
Now balance is something I got wrong for a long time. It’s easy to look at social media (I try not to) and look at other people’s seemingly perfect life as they travel round the world with what seems to be endless financial resources, have the body of a Greek goddess and nibble on carrots while drinking coconut water. But that’s not real life.
For me happiness is in finding the right balance between everything I try to cram into my life, and I try to fit a lot in. Work, exercise, two children, elderly parents, friends, hobbies, evening classes, reading, music, household chores, an allotment garden and a guinea pig which I appear to have adopted. I also drink alcohol, love caffeine and will fight you for the last piece of cake! For me it’s all about everything in moderation and getting the balance right.
Last night the balance was slightly wrong as it was a get together for dinner and drinks with my two secondary school girl friends. The balance was wrong as there was more drink than dinner, this morning I have a slight headache but I’m still celebrating our victory in the Waggon and Horses pub quiz, not bad for the three imposters in the corner. Even the regulars in there looked surprised we’d stolen the victory, we obviously didn’t look that academic. It seemed that the more Pinot Grigio we drunk the more intelligent we got!
So this morning to clear the head it was running training, up and down big hills in the woods where I live. It’s that time of year when I get slightly nervous as I enter a set of 10k running races in the English Lake District, two of them back to back on one weekend and as usual three weeks before the event I suddenly think I need to do a bit more training. They are not easy races. They are off road and the one on the Saturday is straight up and down Helvellyn, not a hill but officially a mountain and the third highest point in England. But this post is about balance and not taking things too seriously.
There is an excellent book called Sky Runner by Emelie Forsberg which talks about finding strength, happiness and balance in your running. She is someone who inspires me because she is at the top of her game, has two small children, an allotment garden and a normal life outside running. She holds the fastest known times for running up and down some of the world’s highest mountains: Grand Teton, Mont Blanc, Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and Kungsleden and she eats cake!! Ok, she does not have a full time job in a school too, but she is an inspiration. She runs because she enjoys it, not to be the best, and in her book she talks about the balance between running, food, nature, gardening and she also gives you the recipe for the best cinnamon buns, as like me, she loves food.
My running has to be balanced with my love of caffeine and cake. I do not diet – just the word ‘diet’ makes me miserable and I will snap your head off if I think I’m on a ‘diet’ so I don’t do it. I just try and make good choices some of the time so I can eat cake. Anybody who knows me will tell you that I wear my Garmin watch not to track how fast or far I’ve gone but to track how many calories I’ve burnt, because within an hour of finishing a run I’ve normally replaced the calories I’ve burnt off with cake and I make it in my way to do so. Every run route normally ends at a café or I’ve baked something for when I get home, like the cinnamon buns above – I love baking, but more of that in another post.
I also love running, but I don’t take it seriously, I run because I enjoy it. I’m only ever racing myself, which is a good job as I normally finish in the middle of the field. When I stop enjoying it I’ll stop doing it. In her book Emelie Forsberg says that: “We were all built to run – all you have to do is put one foot in front of the other”. Now when I was younger I hated running and I really can’t emphasise how much I hated it, particularly school cross country. I was the slightly chubby one at the back who got stitch in my stomach before I set off, always ended up with a cold shower at the end as the faster ones had used all the hot water. It did not take me long to work out if you got far enough down the dip at the far side of the field Miss Harrison could not see if you walked for a bit.
I started running only around 10 years ago following a tragic event. I lost my best friend and flat mate to cancer. We were only forty, with young children and at that age you think you have your whole life ahead of you. The three former flatmates, including myself, were absolutely devastated and we went through that stage where you just feel so helpless and need to do something, anything. So we signed up for the Cancer Research Race for Life 10k at York Racecourse. We chose the one at the racecourse as we figured it would be flat. It wasn’t! None of us had run since school but it ended up being quite a happy event that came from such a sad event. Not only did it reunite us after many years but it also resulted in my love of running because it became addictive. Running releases endorphins and endocannabinoids – which make you feel good. The latter, chemically has the same effect as the mood altering chemical THC in marijuana. So basically when I run I feel happy. It got me over that hump of grief. Now technically it is possible to experience a ‘runners high’ – I’ve never gone fast or far enough to experience it but I’m working on it!
So although in my posts I might look like I’m a bit of a slave to exercise, believe me I’m not, I do all the bad things too in moderation, it’s all about balance. I’m not a natural runner but am capable of putting one foot in front of the other. So in short this morning was all about the balance between running, cake and clearing a bit of a hangover. A five mile route around the woods with as many up and downs built in as possible to simulate Helvellyn. A batch of Emelie’s cinnamon buns were baked last night ready for the return breakfast. I’ve burnt off 533 calories so by my calculations that’s two cups of coffee and one and three quarter cinnamon buns, but I think I’ll stretch it to two!
So in short, find that balance, do everything in moderation, the good stuff and the bad stuff and if it makes you unhappy, stop doing it!
