Update from the personal development front...

I know I know this is shocking. Once again it has been 3 weeks since I've posted and I haven't even caught up on everyone else's posts either. It's all happening guys - I will catch myself up (coming the other way probably but hey).

And where have I been? Gazing at my navel in self-contemplation? Reading through such eminent tomes as I'm Okay, You're Okay and The Power of You? No don't fret - I haven't completely gone over the cliff of that place called "myself, and what I'm feeling right now". No chance for that anyway - life is a 10 ton truck racing along at the moment. Hurtling like madness towards Christmas - which is also going to be FULL-ON!

I have been trying to stick with "the opposite of me". Not so much with being counter-intuitive (that wouldn't really be the point) but more trying to break with certain self-destructive knee-jerk reactions. Apparently it takes 3 weeks (though some say 3 months, and others say a lifetime - I'm sticking with the optimists here) to change a bad habit. So far ... well, I'm on my way. After my initial success in resigning from those parts of my job that I didn't want to do any longer, my boss (remember, a friend? A fairly manipulative, lovely one?) is choosing to ignore my leaving and is just pretending it's not going to happen. So I'm once again bracing myself to go and speak to him once again, clarifying further what I will continue to do on a freelance, working from home basis for them, and what I will no longer deal with. I'm having to be more persistent than I hoped to get the message across. In the meantime, the job is busy and full-on, family life is busy and full-on, December is THE social season in the countryside here and there are constant parties and nights out. Great stuff but busy and it gets in the way of blogging, posting, commenting and occasionally running.

Although, so far, so good. My weekly mileage is not very impressive - anywhere between 20 and 25 miles per week - but I'm managing to keep one 9-10 mile run in there each week as well as a few shorter runs and I've never maintained as well as this between race training. I'm looking into training schedules and training goals and will reveal when I know.

Sorry for this boring post - but I thought I'd update, let you know I'm still running and that I AM still here. And rooting, this weekend for Lizzie Lee and next weekend for the amazing Charlie who is going to run Las Vegas - this only weeks after running Chicago. And of course Jen and Aron who will be running the California International Marathon together.. Respect to you all and good luck!

And finally - because I really do feel bad about contributing NOTHING of any major import in this blog post (nor - and I do realise this - am I doing this in my comments..) I will add some photos to make this slightly more interesting..

Me after running 9M last Saturday morning (before 8:30 am and it was chilly hence that weird hat on my head..)

Slightly mortifying in so many ways but this is us before going out to a St. Andrews Ball on Friday. I have a poodle on my head and my husband - has Scottish origins. I'll leave it at that..