Pathetic.

Would be the word to sum up my running week. The running fairies were definitely conspiring against me this week. A ridiculously bad stitch on Tuesday, 7am on Thursday, and central governor on hiatus yesterday. I think I put in a total of about 15k. Pathetic. And this is with 6 weeks till my half. Better pull the stops out this week.

RIP Sammy Wanjiru

Crikey. The first forum post I saw about Sammy Wanjiru's death I thought was a weird, not very funny joke. Or that I was being stupid. Sadly, neither are true. Running really has lost a great athlete today, and I think the sport will be less for it. Sammy really was a fantastic athlete, with so much potential. Rest in peace Sammy.

Randomness

I seem to have gotten a little carried away with all the running stuff, and and somewhat neglected the randomness off the couch part. 

So to balance it out, here's one of my latest projects.

It's a bib necklace recycled from an old top I loved, but which had reached the end of its days. I got the idea from a necklace made of t-shirts on the great crafty blog Sisters Four Say More is More. It was great fun to make, but a bit fiddly. 

Here's how it worked:

Cut top into strips (trying not to feel sad, it's just a top!), then make about 20 of these little things by pulling running stitch through them really tightly. This was by far the prettiest, neatest one. Most of them looked like a ball of scraps, which I supposes is what they are really!

 Next, cut out a shape of fabric backing material, sew ribbon onto both ends, and get started on sewing on the thingys.  I started in one corner, worked almost to the middle, then started from the other corner and joining in the middle hours and hours later.

Its very cute, and I really like it, but I haven't actually worn it yet! I don't really have any tops it goes with, either because of the style or the fabric. Good excuse to buy new clothes!

 

Lovely Holiday in Thailand

That's were I've been you see! Had a week off work, so decided to go, well, elsewhere, and Thailand was a cheap easy option.

It. Was. Wonderful.

Air you can't smell and/or see, drivers actually adhering to traffic law, people being friendly, tasty food, not horrible beer, being able to enjoy cycling, gorgeous countryside, interesting museums, facewash without bleach in it, great Nature Watch spotting, and just being able to chill out and enjoy everything. Bliss.

Only managed a couple of runs, but really enjoyed them. One was after a storm, just around sunset. The sky was amazing while the sun went down, a whole mix of colours. Kind of like a kid playing with paints. I could see the water evaporating off the road too, creating a sort of mist around your knees. Kind of creepy, and a bit weird being warm mist.

Here's some pics of places we saw.

Stunning waterfalls hidden in the forest. We went swimming in here, but it was full of those fish that like sucking the skin off your feet. Did not like that AT ALL! So when I say swimming, that's not really accurate.

 

The Death Railway - nasty name, nasty story behind it, but very beautiful. 

Bridge over the River Kwai. I ran over it. Spent most of my time trying not to slip and fall in, and hoping no trains would come. 

Totals for holiday week:

Monday - 5.56k, 33:20 (continuous)

Wednesday - 10:07, 1:06:11

Total - 15.64k, 1:39:31, average pace 6:22/km