I am no longer a woman, I am a machine...

Donned my short shorts for a 'speedy' 5k this morning. Felt good and really tried to pick up the pace, but wasn't actually much quicker than usual. C'mon legs! Ah well, enjoyed it anyway, it's a beautiful day. Did some squats and super-light weights when I got in. Gotta get tough. Tough like a...robot!

Printing in progress.

Nellbots drying

Robo-bibs

How's that for a tenuous link?? Today I am doing more editing and updating, you can now buy little robot bibs on my Not on the High Street store. Other nice new things are on their way!

Busting out some speed and witnessing some bumcheeks.

Had a great run at run club tonight. Did a slightly unexpected 10k, including last-man sprints, which I only agreed to do because of the rest of the group said they were doing them! It’s a conditioning exercise, where a group of runners jog single file at a steady pace, and then the last runner in line sprints to the front of the line, taking the place of the first runner, and so on. I surprised myself by actually really enjoying them and getting a pretty good pace on. I finished feeling strong and came home to so some yoga stretches for my hips and legs. Hopefully won't be in pain tomorrow.
Earlier I went out on my bike to do a reccy of the canal to see if I would be able to do a nice run to work down there. I was disturbed to see a man with his shorts down past his bumcheeks, so I'm putting that plan on ice! 

Lovely shiny, but ultimately disappointing, avocado.

Longford Park in bloom.

parkrun participation!

Last night I checked out the MMU degree shows with my guy and some pals. We had a jolly time, it's always nice to see the work students have made and to have a catch up. The new art school building is very impressive, much nicer than the dingy old building that was there when I did my Masters! Afterwards we went to the pub and had a few pints, but I was conscious of running a 5k in the morning so was eager to get home to eat and get some sleep!

Cheets.

The Bird.

The new art school buildings. Futuristic!

I managed to talk my pal Nick (available for all your film and photography needs, plug plug plug) into doing the parkrun with me, so we met at 8.15 in the morning on our bikes in the cold drizzle and cycled down the Fallowfield Loop to Platt Fields Park and waited around nervously for the run to start. There were quite a few fit and healthy folk around and I spotted a few familiar faces from run club. The race started and Nick sped off into the distance. So began a mental battle for me, half saying, "my legs are like lead, so heavy, I can't do this", the other saying, "yes you can, you know you can, keep going!". The sun made an appearance and it was pretty perfect running conditions, nice and cool but bright. At least it would have been if I wasn't wearing a waterproof! When will I learn? Anyway, I managed a pretty decent pace the whole way round and sped up a little at the end for a strongish finish. It felt like a lot longer than 5k somehow, but I ruddy well did it! I thought I'd taken over half an hour, but on checking the results a pleasant surprise, I managed 27:54 and was 40th woman! Plenty of room for improvement and maybe next time I won't have 3 pints of ale the night before.

Pre run face

Turned out nice!

Post-run faces

It's Nellybob to you.

2 weeks in to Juneathon!

Did my 8k route slightly faster than Wednesday this morning, hurrah! Then I went to a much-needed Pilates class. My hip gives me quite a lot of pain, so it's becoming more important to keep limber with all the running I'm doing.

I go to a beginners/mixed ability class led by the very lovely Jo Murphy. Feel so much better after a good stretch!

Feel pretty proud of myself for getting 2 weeks into Juneathon - I've only missed one day of exercise! To be honest, keeping up with the blogging feels more challenging than getting out and doing something. Remembering to take photos, uploading them and finally thinking of something interesting to write! I always seem to think of lots of things when I'm out running, then they all escape my mind when I sit down to write. Hey ho. Anyway,this seems like a good juncture to remind anyone reading that I'm doing all this to help my training for the Great North Run and to put up the link to my JustGiving page! I'm raising money for Diabetes UK, a very worthy cause. Any amount is very much appreciated and will spur my little legs on!

This is where I go to Pilates class!

Chorlton Runners

First ever club run! I flipping did it you guys! I got up early and had a smoothie and lots of water. Cycled down to the waterpark car park and waited around nervously. A group of super-fit guys came running in, so I commenced lurking. Then a nice lady came over (Nicole?) and introduced herself. I was in! Then my pal Paul arrived and I started to feel better. There was quite a big, mixed group of folk, we did a gentle warm up and a mile trot round the lake. Then the group split, I went for the short run round Sale waterpark, about 5 miles I think. So a pretty good distance, more than I would have done on my own and a lot more enjoyable, chatting to new people. I'm going again on Tuesday night and am pretty tempted by track Fridays! Good to try something new eh?

My sister recommended Running Like a Girl by Alexandra Heminsley, really enjoying reading it so far. I just read on Twitter that there's a Mexican street food van around today, so think I'll go grab a quesadilla and sit in the park reading. Happy Sunday!

You can just make out a swan with cygnets in the background.

Thank god Gino was still waiting for me when I came back. He doesn't usually live outside, too precious!

Really lovely, friendly group of people!

Saturday Sunshine

This morning I cycled to work in the glorious sunshine. Cycling from Chorlton isn't really a challenge as it's fairly flat. The problem is the traffic when you hit town. Busy busy!

New Vans to compliment Gino.

I printed up a couple of custom baby bibs and posted out an owl print commission.

Soya ink Risograph print on recycled card. Yum!

Oh, did I mention I personalise baby wear?!

I thought I'd put down some of my goals for the month, as writing them down in public might help me to achieve them!

Firstly, join my local running club, The Chorlton Runners. A combination of natural shyness and laziness has prevented me from going before now. I will conquer my fear tomorrow!

Secondly, do a Park Run. See above paragraph for excuses. Add to that working a lot of Saturdays means that it hasn't been easy to get to. Until next week when I will be taking part, no matter what! It's at 9 a.m at Platt Fields Park, so I should just have enough time to complete the run and cycle to work if needs be. I've just registered, so there's no turning back now!

My work-related goal is to have good photographs of my main products to start a website revamp by the end of the month. I made a start on this yesterday.

So now they are here in black and white, feel free to berate me if I fail!