I haven't really found the time to put my thoughts on this year so far into words, or even the right audience to aim them at. But it really has been a journey which is worthy of these pages as the central theme has been healthy living.
In December last year, our first child was born. A daughter, Eilidh Iris Armour. 8lb 12 of loveliness. She spent a considerable amount of time in hospital with several lung issues. I'm happy to report that she is fully recovered, and the noise she can make stands testament to her fully functional lungs!! Anyway the day she was born, I made a deal with myself whilst worrying away the hours in the neonatal intensive care unit. I would do whatever I could to make sure that it was as long as possible before she had worry like this for me. I didn't want her having to deal with her Daddy having a heart attack or worse, when she is still a child, or a teenager with so many other emotions she is still learning to deal with. I know I will have to leave her eventually, but I want her to be a grown woman with a family of her own to lean on when it happens.
I was considerably over weight back then (I still am, but less considerably) so that came first. Cut down the drinking, eating rich foods, and constant snacking. Replace with fibre rich foods, sugar free squashes, and fruit snacks. In the first week of this new regime I dropped 12lbs. After a month I was a stone and a half lighter, and today I am 3.5 stones lighter. All thanks to eating sensibly.
I guess the bug for healthy living gets you and that's when I wanted to try exercising more, as a way of speeding my losses. I tried getting back into swimming, which went ok but I never went back to it after a couple of weeks of the flu. I walked 2 miles every day at lunchtime, although when the hot summer started I stopped, as I didn't want to sit at my desk all sweaty for the rest of the day. I found C25K back in April, and I tried it once, but didn't get past 3 reps of the first day of week one. All the running gear I bought to do it in got thrown into the back of the cupboard and I didn't think about it again until a friend who had done the plan told me he was training to do his first marathon. I have always thought I didn't have the physique to be a runner, I'm 6 foot 3 and stocky. I used my knees as an excuse... they'll never cope with the strain. My friend is the same build as me, so he is my inspiration I suppose for getting started running. Thanks Phil. I started again, and this time cracked week one with ease. now I'm on week 6 and loving it. I look forward to running days and get frustrated on rest days.
So that's my story, if anyone wishes to read it and has got this far, thanks for indulging me. My inspiration, my guiding light, the one pushing me out the door on a rainy November night is always going to be little Eilidh. And in many years to come when she hands me my first grandchild, I will thank her for changing my life in so many ways. All of them for the better.
My journey so far....
So proud of my ten-year-old!!
Couch to.... how far? - My journey
The journey begins...
Update! Running and the journey so far!
