Reasons to run

Running with dogs has its downsides as well as its upsides. There's the obvious upsides such as company and safety when running lonely lanes or forest tracks but there's also the added bonus of effectively having a large dog pull you at times when you would otherwise have given in and walked - this also has the added bonus of improving running speed when not running with the dogs.
However the real downside as we've found out the last few times running is that we have to pull over for every single car on the lanes, all the stopping makes it harder and harder to get going again. If we run without the dogs then we don't need to stop as we can run far to the side but it's impossible when with the dogs, I think I'm going to have come up with some different running areas but it's going to mean driving to them first.
Todays GPS results show just how erratic our runs are

I can't believe how unfit I felt during this run, 5 weeks off has left me right back at square one which is a bit of a worry as we only have a few weeks left before our next 10k run.
At times when I'm worrying about being fit enough or am feeling despondent about not being able to run as well as I want to I try to remind myself of all the other awesome reasons for running.

Running with a GPS

Today was my first attempt at running since I slipped a disc in my back 4 weeks ago, when I say 'running' I use the term loosely because it was more of a dog walk spattered with bouts of jogging / running but at least I was back out there.
I don't really know why I bothered taking my GPS watch with me because it wasn't really needed but I'm finally trying to get used to how to use the thing to help me train efficiently and that means understanding the info it records.
Seriously though, even though I'm a visual person and prefer graphs and charts to text this information is all double dutch to me

I didn't realise while I was out that the GPS had either stopped receiving a signal or I accidentally turned it off (don't think I did though) so it only recorded 2/3rds of the run.
Guess it's going to take a while to understand what it all means.

'Dietbet' is up and running and is still open for newbies if you fancy joining in. There's a $25 (£16) stake but if you manage to lose 4% of your total weight in the 28days the challenge runs for then you'll make that back and more as you'll share a stake in the total pot - which currently stands at $8425.00.

Last night I needed to use up a cabbage that I'd cut from the veggie plot and my initial thought was Cabbage and Leek as I love it but I realised I didn't have Leeks so I had to improvise (which means make it up as I went along). I diced a whole Onion (also grown on the plot) and cooked that along with diced red pepper, garlic and Black peppercorns, then added the parboiled shredded cabbage, covered it and left it to cook away. I should have taken a photo but forget but let me tell you it was bloomin gorgeous!