Still No Running!

A week in review

Last week was the second week I was not well enough to run. I struggled with my energy levels and felt as if I needed to sleep most afternoons. 

Monday night I bowed out of the usual gentle run and didn't go to my spinning class or Supple Strength and I certainly wasn't going to be fit enough for the tough Thursday night running. Two weeks off but I feel I must listen to my body or I might end up making things worse and having to have even longer time out.

There were some very nice outings to compensate the lack of running.

• A talk about Antarctica at WI
• A visit to our local theatre
• A quiz night
• A visit to the Museum of London
• A Mother's Day treat (strictly speaking the start of the next week)

A talk about Antarctica at WI

Peter Garner came along to our WI to talk about Antarctica, South Georgia and The Falklands which I found totally fascinating. His description of Shackleton's determination to push himself to the limits of human endeavour to get help so that his men could be rescued made me want to know more about this amazing man.

Shackleton's statue

I run the ACWW (Associated Country Women of the World) Pennies for Friendship Flower of the Month competition at our WI. We try to raise money to support projects which help women in poorer parts of the world improve their lives and so help their families to have a better quality of life. In April I have organised a walk as part of the ACWW Women Walk the World campaign and I hope we will be able to raise some much needed money for this good cause.

I always make a small number of items to put on the competition table that people can have for a small donation. This month I made some key rings. I try to have a 'shabby chic' theme.

It is good to have something creative to do when you are unwell

A Visit to our local theatre

All singing, all dancing comedy

We were supposed to go to see this last Friday but I was too unwell and my husband went into Colchester and the Mercury Theatre very kindly changed the tickets to this Thursday for us. Well! this was absolutely barking but thoroughly enjoyable local theatre. It was inspired by the Alan Bennett film 'A Private Function'. It was so energetic and the singing was very good. It was a shame the theatre was half empty even though it was a weekday. Quite a romp!

 

A Quiz Night

I am a golf widow! However, there are compensations and one of them is the Quiz Night organised to raise money for the Junior Golf section. Our team used to be called Gin'll Fix It but that obviously had to go given the very horrible associations with that name now. So instead we are the Why Knows? We have not had the success we usually have with our old name and have yet to win but we did come third which is not bad. My one outstanding answer of the evening was in the sports section being able to answer the question about who won this year's Superbowl - the Seattle Seahawks, of course! (I am sad enough to have sat up all night to watch).

The Seattle Seahawks logo

A Visit to The Museum of London

A sculpture of a salamanda brooch decorates the outside of the museum

One of the highlights of this wonderful week was a visit with a dear friend to The Museum of London to see the Cheapside Hoard. This is a hoard of buried Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery discovered in the cellars of a seventeenth century building in Cheapside which was being demolished in 1912. I was astonished by the freshness and immediacy of the workmanship and the beauty of the pieces on display. I found the mystery surrounding the burial and the sheer skill involved in making these pieces combined with the fact that they were a glimpse into a far away age was so exciting. 

Enamelled chain necklace 

Jean and I then walked the Embankment on part of the Thames Path along to Tower Bridge and then crossed over and made our way back along the path on the opposite side enjoying the very warm Spring sunshine and crossed back over the Millennium bridge. I was surprised to note on my Vivofit that we had walked over 8 miles that day.

Jean's photo captures the spirit of the day

A Mother's Day treat

Technically the beginning of the week but I felt a day which rounded off nicely a great week. I took myself off to the Mothering Sunday service at our local Church, St Edmund King & Martyr where I was happy to see that the posies I had put together in a bit of a rush on Friday were still looking fresh. Then home to a delicious roast dinner prepared by my husband and enjoyed by my daughter, myself and the two Grandmothers. A couple of glasses of bubbly and I was mellowed enough to enjoy looking back on a week without running but with plenty of examples of physical stamina to inspire a return to exercising in the week to come (just for fun, and to relate this blog to it's theme, I have put anything I found inspiring in green text - sorry, such a geek!).

Spring flowers at St Edmund King & Martyr Church - perfect running weather too!