That's basically what this blog will be about. Mostly my efforts to get better at running, but also other random things that get me away from endless cheap DVDs and TV box-sets. Anyway, welcome, pour yourself a cup of tea and make yourself at home.
So, on to introductions! My name is Louise, I'm originally from the UK, but at the moment I live in Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City if you're being pedantic, but no-one really calls it that, except Hanoians and tourists) with my boyfriend. I work as an English as a Foreign Language teacher, so I move around a lot. Other places I've worked are Hungary, China and Taiwan. I think Hungary is my favourite so far, but I'd love to live in Germany too.
I ran on and off while I was at school, but usually only because we had to. I always preferred it to team sports though - I'm not the most coordinated of people, and PE lessons were more ritual humiliation than exercise, so running was relatively appealing. At uni I started doing a bit of jogging to try to burn off the ridiculous amounts of beer I was drinking, but it didn't go too well. I'd basically just go out and run for as long as I could. Not particularly fun! I started running
more seriously when I was living in Budapest, and fell in love. It probably helps that Budapest is a fantastic place to run - it's mostly flat, there are foot paths down the river, there's a running track around Margit Sziget, an island in the middle of the Danube, and the roads are quiet enough if you want to go explore around town. How could you not love running here?
I did a 6.5k race after a few months, and didn't come last (yay!), ran in a relay marathon (I only did 7k, not the greatest achievement), and then signed up for the Budapest Half Marathon in September 2009. I got round, and stumbled across the finish line in 2:12:27. Admittedly with (more than) a few walk breaks though, so I can't saw I really 'ran' it. After that work and studying and life got a bit too much to fit much running around, and I didn't really manage much for most of the next year.
So, now we get to Saigon. It's hot, it's humid, it's horribly polluted, it's busy. Not exactly the best running location. But I am determined to get back into running. I love running for the feeling of mental space, as well as feeling that I've done something good for myself, and I need that here more than ever! After some half-hearted treadmill training for the Siem Reap half marathon in December (which, sadly never happened), I decided that I would have to get away from the gym and get outside if I was going to run, no matter how uncomfortable it was. That was January, and I'm still going.
I started this blog to help me motivate myself to keep going. I'm progressing rather slower than I would like, and find it really hard to get out of the door as runs are nowhere near as interesting, or enjoyable as in Budapest. In fact, they're often downright boring, painful plods around the same circuit. There is also an almost complete lack of races in this part of the world, something which I usually find a great motivator. I'm hoping to be able to run 10k non-stop before we leave (I'm up to 5k at the moment), and do another half-marathon in spring 2012.
I also find it hard to motivate myself to do pretty much anything these days. Lying on the couch watching DVDs is much easier than getting out into the sweltering heat to do something in town, and now I'm in such a DVD-rut I find it difficult even to do other things around the house, like baking or craft projects. I'm hoping this blog will help me do some more interesting things. Not sure quite what though!
So, I'll be posting here about my running, and all the other randomness I will hopefully be miraculously motivated into doing.
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