Good morning. I hope that everyone who reads this final Juneathon blog had a fabulous weekend. I can’t believe how quickly the weekend flew by, one minute I was walking into Sutton Park for parkrun, the next I was getting my ‘stuff’ together for work. I think we should work two days a week and have five day weekends.
Yesterday, as it was the end of the month, I spent a bit of time reflecting on what happened during June.
It was definitely a month with a lot of change; I started the month living and working in Wallingford and ended the month living back at home in Four Oaks and working in Solihull. I’m missing working in the Wallingford office far more than I thought I would. I was part of a great team, and had an amazing post-work social life. I’m going to try to make it to a ‘Beer and Bants’ session ASAP. I’m still getting used to my new office, new role and working as part of a dispersed team. I’m sure that I’ll be fine once I get past the initial ‘I’ve no idea what I’m doing’ stage.
I won’t mention the morning and afternoon commute. I’ve done more than enough complaining about trains already. I don’t want this blog to turn into some sort of train woes blog. Again, I’m sure I’ll be fine once I get used to the early starts and irritating commuters.
My running – well this is meant to be a running blog – has been a bit up and down. The majority of the first half of the year was a complete write-off. I had injuries and then a severe case of overindulgence and loss of running mojo.
Thanks to the powers of volunteering at parkrun and the support of the running community, I can feel my running mojo slowly returning. I managed to run four times in June; not great but a vast improvement on April and May. Hopefully now my right knee has stopped randomly niggling, I’ll be able to start running a bit more consistently. You never know, I might actually have a go at running my local parkrun.
I think I referred to this briefly, but June was also a month of reflection. I spent a lot of time working on what will be my PhD supervisor Geoff Petts’ last ever academic paper. Most of you know Geoff unfortunately passed away last August. This paper will feature in a special issue of the journal Geoff founded back in 1987. I found switching back into what I call ‘academic mode’ quite challenging. The support and input I received from two of Geoff’s old friends and students definitely helped. I was reminded that I wasn’t alone and that help was available, I just had to ask for it.
Would I take part in Juneathon again? I’m sure a lot of people will be pleased that the answer to this question is a resounding NO! While I’m pleased I have a lot of photos from my last week in Wallingford, I don’t think my day-to-day life is interesting enough to justify another Juneathon. I found blogging every day quite time consuming and if I’m being completely honest, boring.
So, a huge thank-you to everyone who took the time to read and to comment on my Juneathon blogs. Knowing that people were reading – or at least opening the page – really helped, at times I thought about ‘quitting’ but I’m not a stubborn Taurean for nothing 😉
Random Photo from Day 30
Not a photo as such but I thought I share something useful I found on Fetcheveryone. I used the new ‘Summary & Analysis’ feature to analyse my running (or lack of running) this year.
Oh dear!
Best thing spotted on the Internet on Day 30
Can a pair of £10 running shoes pass our test, or will they destroy our feet? Anna and Kate try out these budget kicks. I found this YouTube video really interesting.
Grab a cuppa and watch our latest YouTube video. We ask: Can £10 budget running shoes be anywhere near as good as their more expensive counterparts? We put these crazy cheap shoes to the test ? https://t.co/sCtpqXjSp8 pic.twitter.com/hRqYNWyWTk
— The Running Channel (@runningchannel) June 30, 2019
If you don’t already subscribe to the Running Channel on YouTube definitely hit the subscribe button!
Cumulative Juneathon Distance: 27.36 km
Would you ever consider taking part in something similar to Juneathon? Last time I took part in Juneathon I said never again; I’ve always had a terrible memory. If I’m still blogging next May and I mention Juneathon, please point me in the direction of this post!
Hi I'm Emma. A 44 year old Brummie who loves running. I'm a runner, medal collector, race number hoarder, and hydrologist. Join me as I try out new things and take on new running challenges.
Well done Emma for sticking with it! I have tried a couple of monthly blog challenges (one for poetry) and they can be quite a chore. On the other hand, the discipline was helpful and i produced things i wouldn’t have otherwise (whether this is a good or bad thing is another matter). I don’t think your life is boring at all, there is something affirming and normalising about your experiences/perspectives. I’m pleased you’re easing back into running again. I joined “Fetch” on your recommendation and just received my infographic too – I think this could prove to be quite motivating. Strangely, I didn’t get any ascents, but i can assure you I haven’t been running on the flat all the time. And oh, I was looking forward to your “Julyathon”!
Thanks Derek; yes the Juneathon blog challenge did threaten to turn into a bit of a chore towards the end. I’m pleased I stuck with it as I now have a record of my final week in Wallingford and the start of my new job. I suspect that most people have quite mundane lives, they just don’t write about the day-to-day stuff. When I started blogging I wanted to ‘keep it real’ I hope by sharing the reality of working life I did that last month.
I’m thrilled you’ve joined Fetch (for some reason I thought you were already a member). My username is FreshStart; when I have time I blog on Fetch too. Check out the forums, I would say 99.9% of people on Fetch are great. The other 0.1% don’t last long. I’ve no idea why you didn’t get any ascents; perhaps contact Ian the founder of Fetch.
I seem to remember a blog every day in December challenge. I can’t recall it’s name…