Good morning! Happy first Monday of 2019! I thought it might be a nice idea to share a little life catchup post with you all (and welcome any new readers!)

If we were having coffee this morning, (lets face it, it would be a double shot) but I would tell you about…

My Strained Quad

So if we were having coffee, the thing I would stress about most would be my recent quad strain diagnosis. I felt like the side of my leg/ITB was tight a couple of weeks ago but didn’t think too much of it. However, it got worse and worse. It wasn’t too bad when I was running, but I found myself hobbling around after track on Thursday morning and knew it was time to see the physio.

When we first started talking, the physio mentioned a torn hamstring, so a strained quad is a less terrifying injury. However, 5 weeks out from my goal race and I am very worried about how this is going to heal…fingers and toes crossed.

I’m icing, stretching, resting and eating all the anti-inflammatories. Plus I’ve booked in for Cryotherapy on Tues…can you tell I’m desperate?

But it also had me thinking about my options if I can’t race Phoenix… I’m running the LA marathon in March (watch out for a giveaway this week!), and am signed up for the half marathon in Edinburgh in May, perhaps I could switch my goal race for LA or Edinburgh if a BQ isn’t happening on Phoenix.

Our New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve is Tom’s bday so it’s usually a big event. This year we hosted 10 friends for a murder mystery dinner party – the perfect way to ring in 2019. Everyone looked amazing in their costumes, and really got into character. Turns out, I was the murderer!

Never not in sports kit – even when wearing fancy dress! (wearing my new Pro Compression socks, super excited to have been chosen as an ambassador this year!)

I drank far too much champagne on NYE, and as such, felt dreadful on New Year’s Day. Nevertheless, I managed to pull myself out of bed and make it round Woodley parkrun in 31 minutes!

Christmas

Tom and I spent Christmas Day down in Devon with my family, I found a local parkrun that was hosting a Christmas Day 5K which I had thought I’d convinced a number of my family to join…however when it came to it, I was the only one up for a wet and windy run. My Mum came with me to cheer me on and take pics which I was really grateful for, and I somehow managed a 5K PB despite having to run on the pebble beach for 300m of every lap and the final 0.1 miles (my legs were totally gone by that point!). I was disappointed not to hit my goal of a sub 22 min run but 22.23 would have to do. We hot footed it back to meet my family at Church (although I did end up just changing my top and wearing my leggings with trainers!).

My cousin, aunt and uncle did an amazing job of catering on Xmas day, with gluten free and vegan options, as well as all the good stuff.

Boxing Day took us up to Tom’s family to do it all over again! We’re on the same rotation as Tom’s sisters so this was everyone’s Christmas together, with turkey, stuffing, crackers, presents – the lot. I had quite a lot of fizz to drink and woke up with serious anxiety the next day, but had a lot of fun with Tom’s family, esp with the kids. Musical Chairs is going to be a new festive tradition we think!

Going Back to Uni

Today is my first day back at university since August! I finished my final hospital placement in December, and so am back on campus in lectures for my last term. I have a dissertation to write, plus two modules to complete before I become a qualified dietitian.

I’ve had a load of questions recently about my journey to becoming a Registered Dietitian, so am planning a whole FAQ post – so let me know if you have any questions.