Type 1 diabetes and my wee hero

I am in my bed. A simple pleasure that rarely presents itself before midnight and beyond 7:30am, frequently being interrupted with middle-of-the-night journey's into the boys room for all sorts of reasons, most of which are diabetes-related. I just perused some of my old blogs and musings, 2011 was indeed a good year, and my adorable bundle of joy is now almost 4 years old! Wait, what!?!? How did we get here!?!?! Oh right, 4 years have passed.

Life has changed considerably. I have put my career on pause and now have the joy of spending my days looking after my (almost age 4, and 18 month old) boys! I had been working part-time and was running a project at a homeless charity, a place I quickly came to love and still miss. However last year life threw us a curve ball (I think I need a less sporty analogy here, having never actually experienced the throw of a curve ball...!) in the shape of Type 1 Diabetes. Our oldest son was diagnosed just before his 3rd birthday and I have spent the past 11 months attempting to become as close to an expert as I can possibly be!

Type 1 diabetes is hard work. The pancreas basically stops working and when symptoms present themselves it has already lost 90% functionality. The remaining 10% function will eventually stop too, but at some unknown, unmeasurable time. The pancreas is a vital organ that produces insulin. Insulin basically acts a like a key and unlocks the door allowing sugars to move from blood stream and be converted into the muscles for energy. Without insulin the body cannot convert sugars into energy, the blood glucose levels can reach alarming heights and without immediate medical intervention can actually result in extreme illness, with life-threatening consequences.

We were incredibly fortunate and recognised the symptoms fairly early on, so after a few days in hospital and an intense crash-course in injecting insulin, counting carbohydrates and learning about the basics in managing type 1 diabetes we were home. Back to our home that we had left in a whirlwind only a few days before, but now with an entirely different perspective on life and wondering how to best manage this complex, fragile medical condition in our wee 2 year old.

The overwhelming feeling I currently live with is responsibility. Sure, creating 2 brand new humans, looking after them, teaching them about life, etc is massively responsible but it never felt that way. It still doesn't. It comes naturally and is mainly a lot of fun! Looking after and managing type 1 diabetes though, is entirely different. My job now is to learn as much as I possibly can, so that I can manage his diabetes in the best possible way until he is old enough to learn how to do it himself...and even then I don't imagine I'll just leave him to it!!

It is an intense, daily regime of insulin delivering, blood glucose testing, ketone monitoring, carbohydrate counting, cannula injecting, and so much more. It is knowing how to respond to unpredictable blood glucose levels, treating hypo's (when blood glucose is below 4), re-testing, stabilising. It is correcting with more insulin when his blood glucose is too high. Testing for ketones if he is above 14. Ketones can make him really ill and are basically bad and to be avoided and gotten rid of ASAP!

It is adjusting insulin basal (background insulin basically on a permanent drip, given through his insulin pump) rates, which are all on different hourly rates depending on his requirements at each hour of the day and night. It is adjusting his insulin: carbohydrate ratios to make sure he then gets the correct amount of insulin for each meal and snack time. It is learning how to adjust and tweak  these every day if his blood glucose then goes too low or too high.

It is managing the effects of a million and one variables that affect the body's blood glucose levels nd absorption rates. The weather- too hot or too cold. Any type of illness, cold, coughs, tummy bugs, a temperature, all have an impact. If he exercises or runs about. Feeling excited, or anxious, or anything where his adrenaline is pumping. It is looking for patterns and trends in his levels, uploading data from his pump to the hospital once or twice a week and reviewing the graphs and tables of invaluable information.

It is dealing with the emotional impact of how diabetes makes you feel. And I'm talking physically, not even the psychological effect of having the condition. Too much glucose in the blood pretty much guarantees emotions running high alongside. Crying, tantrums, shouting and aggressive behaviour. Too little glucose in the blood often leads to feeling exhausted, lethargic, teary, needing cuddles and going as white as a sheet. Once we have experienced loss of consciousness, eyes rolling back into the head, floppy as a ragdoll, until the emergency glucoboost treatment kicked in and brought him round. It was one of the scariest moments I have had.

We recently received amazing news, that he would be given a funded CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor), which basically monitors his glucose levels every 5 mins and sends the data to his pump where it can also be viewed as a graph. I'll probably blog more on this another time as it's a whole new realm of clever medical technology that we are incredibly lucky to be benefitting from.

Type 1 diabetes is often misunderstood. It is often underestimated. It is exhausting and relentless and today I feel shattered and a bit like someone's punched me in the stomach. And it's not even me that is living with it.

I think my emotional morning was actually triggered last night by him making sure he took his testing kit to bed with him, just incase he was low during the night and so I could give him his jelly babies and check he was ok. It was so sweet and broke my heart a wee bit!

But our boy is an absolute star! He has just arrived home from the shops munching said jelly babies as he just had a hypo. He is delighted with his new puzzle and we are going to spend the next few hours making it and playing in the garden. Life with type 1 has become the norm and he takes it all in his stride. It's not without it's challenges, far from it, but my cheery wee guy is my proper hero. And he has absolutely no idea what that really means!

Our boy is an absolute star.

Scum in Glasgow

greetings loyal readers!

hark, another blog doth appearest!

i am aware these are rather sporadic posts, but not to worry, they are here for your simple enjoyment every now and then!

so, today's is to highlight the visit and blog of a fabulous team of folk from the US of A, to the Glasgow City Mission, an amazing charity who provide practical, emotional and spiritual support and care for the homeless and vulnerable in Glasgow.

check out there blog, Scum kids in Scotland here, or here, or even here! :)

Nice one 2011, you did good!

Whoa, so here comes a cheeky wee blog sneaking in right at the end of 2011!! Admittedly it's been my most lacklustre year on the blog thus far, but as real life goes 2011 has trumped all the others! :) turns out that producing a human is quite time-consuming & does not leave much space, (or brain power) for doing anything more productive, in my now rare moments of peace, than reading Harry Potter or Heat magazine! Still, here I am to wish any readers who might happen across this a very happy new year indeed!

2011 went basically something along the lines of this:

• Jan- was 4 months pregnant but in the dismal stage of just looking fatter & still occassionally vomiting / fainting! partied in the new year with friends in Stockholm- a true delight!

• Feb- stopped feeling so unwell & consumed every pregnancy book known to man(woman)kind in an attempt to prepare for giving birth! Spent my days completely distracted & additionally consuming combinations of sweet/salty treats!

• Mar- long wknd in London to see the family & enjoy last wknd away with husband before tiny human arrived! Shopped, dined, theatred & still failed to spot a celeb, on my ever-failing quest!

• Apr- work got v busy, i spent my days trying to prepare for a year on mat leave & spent many hours indecisively researching, purchasing & returning baby-related items. As suspected, I am indeed a marketers dream!

• May- began prep for finishing work & relaxing for 3 wks before my due date! Enjoyed a yummy- mummy tea party thrown by family & friends, & a delicious cocktail (ok, mocktails) evening with work girls!
• - 7th may as I got ready for a friends wedding my waters broke!! Eek! 3 days of contractions & a stay in hospital ensued, passed time by freaking out/ sunbathing/reading all my books again!
• - 10th may I spent 14 hours in the labour suite & finally gave birth! 3 weeks earlier than expected! Gorgeous baby boy appeared & I fell madly in love!

• June, Jul- spent most of the summer in a blur on the sofa! Or in the park! Realised I forgot to read any books on actual babies/ parenting & experienced steep but most excellent learning curve based around nappies, feeding, dressing tiny people (trickier than u may think!) & sorting baby-related stuff! Surprised myself with how little sleep one can survive on!

• Aug/ Sep- first family holiday to cottage in Northumberland! Swapped my couch for armchair by log fire & enjoyed my extremely cute baby! Visited various castles, beaches, chippies & realised prams are not easy to drag across sand!

• Oct/ Nov- started participating in more 'parent-type'' activities with my other new- mum- friends & felt like part of a new unofficial club where it's all a bit uncool but totally excellent! Days now generally consist of coffees, 'bounce & rhyme' time, buggyfit exercise classes, shopping, blowing raspberries/silly faces/playing, etc & I couldn't be happier! Have gradually re-discovered my social life, albeit at slower pace, but then who really wants to be out every night anyway!?!

• Dec- baby now 7 months & a definite adorable cheeky wee monkey! Festive merriment inspired new sparkly-themed clothes for me & Santa/elf/reindeer themed clothes for my poor son who will no doubt look back in disgust when older! Enjoyed Christmas parties, lunches & other festivities with various friends, family & folks from our most welcoming church! :)

So, all in, 2011 was a bit of a life-changer! I've never had such little sleep, so much time on the sofa & so much pleasure from a tiny new human!

Nice one 2011, you did well! :)

Hope 2012 brings more excitement, satisfaction & adventure! & my waistline back!

Happy new year everyone! Xox

THINK boutique Fashion launch

Last night saw the pop-up shop, DJ spun, and very well attended launch of {Think} Boutique, a brand new ethical fashion company run by Vic McQuillan! In Glasgow's Merchant city the beats were fast, wine flowing and excitement mounting for the fashion show and for many, a first peek at the clothes and accessories available. I did succeed in gaining a sneak preview of the range, as Vic kindly lent us her collection for the NYA2010 Stepping Up ethical fashion show last weekend (more on that later!).

So what is the company all about...

"Stocking the

most exciting and

fashion-forward ethical brands {Think}

Boutique strives to retail

clothing that have the highest possible social

and environmental credentials. Products are from Fair Trade,

organic, sustainable, up-cycled or

locally produced sources." (from website)

{Think} currently stocks 8 suppliers, all varying in their styles and backgrounds, but consistent in their creation of fashionable pieces made from recycled, up-cycled, fairly-traded materials.

There were some fabulous items, including coats, dresses, cute knitted tops with sparkle as well as winter woolie accessories.

The camel coat is predicted to be a top trend for the autumn season so if you're looking to invest a little more in an item which you can wear, in the confident knowledge that not only will you look stylin' but are helping the environment, it's a serious win-win! :)

Up-and-comings...!

ok, so it's been a while, I admit it!

However, I like to think I have made resourceful use of my time away from blogging: doing some travelling, expanding things in my job (really I mean increasing my hours, sigh), planning events, meeting new people and more! and from this year I have a few more ideas to share and exciting ventures to blog about! excellent!

a few blogs to watch this space for:

• Think Boutique's fashion launch- a new ethical fashion company, launching this weekend in Glasgow's Merchant City!

• NYA 2010- it happened last weekend in Stirling, it was excellent, and it involved around 200 young people having a voice within the CofS! Discussions were focused around Violence, Ethical Fashion, Politics, Mental Health and much more... Check the COSY blog for more!

• a variety of upcoming gigs! phew! similar to 2009, the first half of the year has been a laid back one! Now it would appear gig season is descending and I am thoroughly pleased! Gig thirst: about to be quenched! it starts tomorrow with RBRBR, Bright Light Bright Light and Mopp at King Tuts! and the guest list! I'm all about the guest list these days! :)

• Photos: i have a new camera. And a new iphone. And a new photo app which i've just started to play with! *PLEASED*

So it's happy times here! nice to see you again friends :)

Yeah Yeah Yeah

December saw my unintended gig-drought come to an end as the 4th Dec brought one of my favourite bands, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, to the O2 Academy! Support band were way too metal for my liking so after warming up with a few drinks in the bar we snuck thru the crowds down into the main floor and secured our spot!!! a giant sphere hung over the stage, and as the lights began flashing it rolled round and eye-balled us all, a little freakishly!!! 

Karen O absolutely owned the stage when she appeared throughout the night in a downright bizarre range of outifts, including metres of draped fabric hung over wooden arm extensions, hoods and masks!! the music and atmosphere were electric, everyone was well into it and they played a great mix of tracks from their most recent album 'It's Blitz'- stand-out performances were definitely Zero and Heads Will Roll! one of the best moments was when she switched things down a gear and played a more laid back version of Maps from their older album 'Fever to Tell', with the whole crowd joining in !!

'wait, they don't love you like i love you'! 

sandwich solutions!

this morning radio 1 had a genius idea! rather than spending hard-earned pennies on new lunchboxes for the school/ office/ picnic experience, u can instead give the VHS case a well-earned comeback!

1) take one sandwich









2) clean out a VHS case from one of ur favourite videos



3) and Voila, a fabulous looking, highly affordable, and rather kitsch lunch box!! :)

what katie wore

my friend Ing discovered this most excellent blog site by katie and joe! it's simple really:

katie wears a different outfit every day of the year.


joe photographs her and writes a wee blurb.


people like you and me have a nosey and see whatkatiewore!

lovely!

Drops like stars

is the title of rob bell's new book, just out on aug 1st! looks very interesting! his books always provoke some new sort of appreciation of the bible and faith in an actual relevant way! i find them refreshing! and am looking forward to engaging with Drops Like Stars!

'Official Description: 

We plot. We plan. We assume things are going to go a certain way. And when they don’t, we find ourselves in a new place—a place we haven’t been before, a place we never would have imagined on our own.
 
It is the difficult and the unexpected, and maybe even the tragic, that opens us up and frees us to see things in new ways.
 
Many of the most significant moments in our lives come not because it all went right but because it all fell apart.
 
Suffering does that. It hurts, but it also creates.
 
This book is an exploration of the complex relationship between suffering and creativity, driven by the belief that there is art in the agony.

a few things of note, for tonite!

• i am tired and exhausted in every way!
• i have had an outrageously fun weekend involving coffee's, deep chat, bbq's, a 4am bedtime, probably too much rosy, some great company, top tunes and a highly satisfying full breakfast brunch at stravaigins!
• this evening 6 of us went to the Arches for Alien Wars... only 3 went in, of which i was not one!! i suspected nervous disposition and nightmare tendencies would not combine well with massive alien, sharp claws, darkness, confined spaces and being chased!!
• costa coffee only charged me £1 for a mug of steamed soya milk, vanilla syrup and marshmallows :)
• fopp is my favourite shop. even when i can't afford anything it's so nice to wander about and lose yourself amongst it all! books, cds, dvds= perfect! it might (might!) even beat clothes shopping!
• in the Oxfam bookshop on Byres Rd my friend's book is being sold! 'God's Never Offside'! now sitting at front of shelf of religious books!

that's all really!

in a blink...

life is short. in the grand scheme of eternity we really are a drop in the ocean. sometimes i wonder where the time goes and wonder why i waste so much time doing silly, pointless things. i'm not beating myself up for it, just wondering why.

on friday night i saw a lady dying on the street. she had been run over by a van only a few moments before and as the paramedics worked on her my car was stopped by the police to let other vehicles by. i only saw her for a short time, probably only ten seconds, but it felt like minutes were going by as i watched her, surrounded by blood and her handbag sitting on the road. it was brown and so was her curly hair. i heard later she died on the street and that it was a hit and run- police are still looking for the driver that killed her. 

it has really hit home how fragile how life is and how in a second it can be taken away. i wonder about who she has left behind and how many lives have been impacted by her passing. about how many other people have been shaken and shocked by seeing her lying there. i had to pass the spot today on my way to work and flowers now colourfully mark the spot where tragedy occurred. our world is so full of contrasts and conflicting images... words... behaviour... opinions... reactions... and in the blink of an eye it, or we, can be gone.

so, what are you living for?

a world of readers...

My little cluster map (bottom right of my blog page!) is about to get its yearly clear and refresh so my little map of readers will be all sad and empty in a few days! on the nice side, my blog has had 819 views since 17th june last year so i hope u'v all been enjoying my reviews and ponderings! its fun to see where people are reading from and there's been some curious views from far flung lands! so here's to all of u, familiar and new!

the Britney Circus comes to london!!

and i was there to experience it!! arriving at the o2 with hazel we were both slightly tired but rather excited! we were about to see Britney Spears live in London, or as live as seeing Britney can get!! outside the venue were a variety of circus/ fun fair rides incl a helter skelter and carousel, which made us giddy on sight!! once inside we grabbed some food and ascended to the heights of level 4 where our glorious seats were to be found-not recommended for those with vertigo! the upper floor of the o2 is so steep its almost vertical, i feared that with one wrong step i would topple over the edge!!

thanx to the tube strike we were a little late 

for doors open but just in time for supporting act, Ciara!!! she was fantastic, the ideal performer to warm up the crowd with funky r& b beats and impressive vocals! then, the lights dimmed, the stage shifted and out of

 nowhere appeared... clowns!! and magicians!! and acrobats!! 

and lots of colourful and sparkly props!! there was an impressive circular screen hanging over the central stage area with videos, graphics and images of circus and britney related footage!! then came 

the opening beats of Britney's hit song "Circus' and there she appeared before us, descending from the centre of the arena 

in a golden sphere!!

the rest of the evening was non-stop!! the overall performance and show was high energy with some amazing stage props and dance moves from the accompanying dance troupe!! 

however, as much as i love and am loyal to britney, she was

 definitely lacking a certain sparkle!

 her costumes certainly tried to make up for that, but having been prepared for her miming i was at least expecting some outstanding and energetic dance moves! which were sadly lacking from the leading lady herself! lots of strutting around and being twirled on various props but not u got the impression she was just not on top her game! i am convinced that on thurs evening i was singing and dancing at the 02 more than britney!! however, she performed/ mimed a great variety of her tracks including new remixes of Baby One More Time, Slave 4 U and Me Against the Music,

 the atmosphere was buzzing and we were all on out feet dancing and singing along!!! fabulous!! and to be fair to her, she did sing Everytime (her one live song!) whilst suspended from the ceiling attached to a giant sparkly umbrella!! and did mid-air acrobatics which was pretty impressive!

So despite my slight disappointment at her lack of effort we still overall had an amazin time! the show was a colourful explosion of some classic hits, impressive stage performance and lots of sparkle!!! and i got a circus mask for free!! what's not to love...! :)

Millport Magic!

fresh sea air, picnics on the beach, entertaining island features, the joke shop, a bitter wind, 10 miles, 3 bicycles and 3 of us.. why yes, it was a day out to Millport!! sadly minus the luvly ing, but karen, roo and i braved the elements for our fun trip round the isle of cumbrae!! i think we also beat the record for most modes of transport used in one day: taxi, train, ferry, bus and bicycle!! we set out from sunny glasgow and as the sky became increasingly grayer the hilarity heightened! i had already changed my outfit at least 10 times before leaving, and the nearer we got to millport the more layers went on!

it was such a funny day out! we got our bikes, helmets, waterproof gear on and after cycling for, oh, about 8 mins, stopped for picnic: part 1! this was closely followed about 9 mins later with picnic part 2: at the cafe! :) however, we then got some serious cycling under way, had some photo stops to capture those classic millport sights- the indian rock, lion rock, crocodile rock, to buy some rock! we also create some art of our own in a tribute to dear ingrid who had been got by the hangover monster!!! the day was complete with a visit to the joke shop for some exploding bangers and fake cigarettes, haha!! and a trip to the very retro Rio cafe on the sea front where we proudly presented each other with our We Cycled Round Millport certificates!! the perfect ending to a jolly day out at the seaside!! and now a little achey and very appreciative of a seat which isn't made solely of rubber and springs- ouch!!

the beauty of Bell X1 :)

Bell X1 have long been one of my favourite alternative bands and having just release album no 4 'Bluelights on the Runway' they were winding up their tour in Glasgow on Thurs nite at the mighty King Tut's! along with Ing, Miss Bliss and Olivia Lovely (genuine name, amazing, and claim to fame of being David Kitt's 2nd cousin!!) we began in Nice and Sleazy's for a few drinks, which brought back fond memories of singing at their open mic nights in years gone by!

The Villagers were supporting but we missed most of their set being too distracted by our own entertaining chat! we managed to claim a decent spot before the band came on and opened with How Your Heart is Wired, which wouldn't have been my first choice, not the catchiest opener but it seemed to do the trick! They played a great selection of tracks from their earlier albums which was pleasing, including Alphabet Soup, Eve the Apple of My Eye and Rocky Took a Lover!! I sadly missed Flame due to a trip to the loo but was back in time for The Ribs of a Broken Umbrella, hurrah! It was a fairly mellow and chilled out gig but every now and then they upped the ante with a more upbeat song and lead singer, Paul Noonan, was full of the Irish banter!! Overall I loved the whole nite and the others seemed to enjoy it too- Olivia has also been a die-hard fan since day one but this was Ing and Miss Bliss's first encounter! I even kept up gig tradition and bumped into a couple of folk i knew and hadn't seen for ages! Lovely!

Andrew Bird at the Oran Mor

Last nite was spent most enjoyably experiencing Andrew Bird present his musical genius at the Oran Mor! what a guy! after a tasty (and massive!) burger in Ashton Lane's 'Loft', myself, Karen, Rich and Scott made our merry way to the corner of Byres Rd to the basement of the Oran Mor, which was a pretty cool gig venue! after some deliberation we chose a drink in the bar over listening to the support act, and a fruity pimms and cranberry later we meandered down to the gig! 

Andrew Bird has a really unusual style, his newest album Noble Beast is lovely but i had completely not appreciated how multi-talented he is! His performance had me in awe! basically, he began his songs playing an instrument, mainly violin in which he is classically trained, but as he performed he also recorded it and played it back on a loop! he would then do the same with another instrument, record, playback on loop, etc until the track was layered with various rhythms, sounds, melodies, whistling, glockenspiel, etc, before his vocals rolled across the top as the icing on the cake!

his lyrics are always interesting and the overall sounds merged beautifully throughout the evening- i actually felt transported at times into different places! like, during one song i felt as though i should have been running thru a victorian house in the country; in another that i was in China- it was reminiscent of the movie Memoirs of a Geisha; during another i felt like playing with a giant dolls house! the rose wine perhaps contributed to this too! i felt happy and excited and inspired by his creative musical genius!

Lovely :)

10k accomplished!! :)

hooray!!! i did it!! i can now say with pride that i have run my 10k race!! in precisely 1 hour, 13 mins and 13 secs!

so... last sunday i woke at 6:30am, rather anxious about what my day held, had a wee breakfast, a luvly tropical Berocca energy drink and got my running gear on! chris dropped me near the start point which, despite reading all the pre-course info, wasn't where i was expecting it to be! as in, not even in the park but on a street! i braved a portaloo before the queues became utterly mad, found the Yellow Zone and hovered around trying to look casual and nonchalant as i scoured the sea of faces for a familiar one! amazingly, the meeting place which sandra and i had agreed was actually successful and we did the warm up, smiled for photos and psyched ourselves up!! i swung rapidly from being outrageously excited, soaking up the atmosphere to the dreaded realisation that i was about to run for a very long distance!! 

we were started in stages depending on our colour group and at 10am the race kicked off with the very fast people taking off at a mighty pace, followed by fairly fast runners, followed by us, followed by people dressed as banana's and bumble bees!! classic! there were over 10, 500 runners and the atmosphere was VERY exciting, i kept laughing, at nothing really other than how brilliant it all was!! the first km flew by the quickest, and throughout the race there were hundreds of people cheering us on- crowds lining the streets, people hanging out of their flat windows, drivers tooting enthusiastically, members of the public handing us water/ energy sweets, and at every km mark there were bagpipers!!! 

sandra and i both successfully ran the ENTIRE way, of which i feel very proud of us!! i think back to when i first started running and literally couldn't run more than 2 mins at a time! we had some luvly chat on the route round, cheering each other on and being generally impressed with ourselves that we hadn't collapsed in a ditch along the way!

crossing the finish line was magical, and a wee bit emotional too! as i approached the final stretch i heard my name being shouted and managed to spot my plews cheerleaders, gave them a quick wave and pressed on for the finish! what a feeling!! we were then given a medal, banana and goodie bag (which was potentially exciting but contained pretty random things including a herbal sweet(yes, just one!) and a jar of cranberry sauce!) 

there have been many positive things related to training for and running this 10k- general feelings of health and well-being; becoming part of an informal community of fellow runners; actually disciplining myself enough to complete what i set out to do- this was a biggie as i tend to love something passionately and then find something else and move on and love the new thing passionately, and then find something else, etc...! but best of all has been all the support and money raised for Stop the Traffik through my JustGiving website, it has truly blown me away! Your generosity has been incredible and going to a really worthy cause! so a final MASSIVE THANKYOU to each of u! :)

a new running phenomenon!!!

eek, it is finally here- RACE WEEKEND!! having now been training for roughly 9 weeks and starting from scratch i must say i am rather pleased with myself to have reached this point!! i went out for my final pre-race run this morning, a quick 15 min blast round the park, in the lashing rain! gripped by the clutches of spontaneity i dashed out into the rain, not fully appreciating the icy drench until it had overtaken my entire being! thru gritted teeth i pushed on, and started enjoying it! and, haha, i had watched Friends the other nite, and it was The One Where Phoebe Runs Like a Maniac, so feeling inspired i decided to try it, and it was invigorating!! for those of u who have somehow missed this episode, Phoebe runs with limbs flailing at full pelt, just because its more fun that way, and reminds her of when she used to run when she was little!! i did feel a tad self-conscious but the mad flailing of arms enabled me to shake that off and i ran like an out-of-control maniac!!! i would SO recommend doing this at least once in ur life!!

this week has been a bit of a struggle due to feeling a bit under the weather and having a bad few days with my stomach, but i am now recovered i think, have my race pack through and am all set!! Race pack is quite exciting and includes: a free underground pass for 4 people for sunday; a parking permit; information on the race and route; my cool electronic chip which will give me my time, and a brand new race t-shirt!! having spoken to fellow runners, apparently it is not cool to wear this on the day, but afterwards u can wear it with pride!

i also want to say a massive THANKYOU to everyone who has sponsored me so far!! i have been overwhelmed by the amount of support raised for Stop The Traffik, and the total before gift aid is currently at £450.01!!! and incl Gift Aid it comes to an amazing £562.83! You people are wonderful! And for anyone still wishing to donate to Stop the Traffik, my sponsor page will be live for the next wee while so if u would still like to give then it's not too late :)

only 2 sleeps til race day....

Stop the Traffik is an amazing charity who work to fight to prevent the sale of people, protect the victims and prosecute the traffickers.

 

They are based in countries around the world including the UK, India, Australia, Belgium, USA and Bangla

desh and all money raised through my 10k will go toward the Global Fund. Stop the Traffik will make sure that funding tackles root causes such as poverty and gender

 discrimination amongst the most vulnerable groups, targets early intervention and rescue, safe houses, good options for either going home and building a new life, or if that is too dangerous, finding a new place to live and work or study. Finally, the fund will help frontline professionals follow through on prosecuting traffickers and seeing that this does not remain a crime with high benefits and low costs.

Some more information taken from the Stop the Traffik official website:

• TRAFFICKING IS...
  to be deceived or taken against your will, bought, sold and transported into slavery for sexual exploitation, sweat shops, child brides, circuses, sacrificial worship, forced begging, sale of human organs, farm labour, domestic servitude.
• TRAFFICKING IS…
  where family members and friends deceive parents to release their children or sell themfor as little as $20 each, selling them on to local gangmasters or serious organised international trafficking rings.
• TRAFFICKING IS…
  growing. 2–4 MILLION men, women and children are trafficked across borders and within their own country every year. More than one person is trafficked across borders EVERY MINUTE, which is equivalent to five jumbo jets every day. a trade that earns twice as much worldwide revenue as Coca Cola.
• TRAFFICKING IS…
  where victims usually suffer repeated physical abuse, fear, torture and threats to families to break their spirits and turn them into saleable commodities. a person can be sold and trafficked many times.

Stop the Traffik focuses on 3 main areas:

• Education: Spreading the message, creating awareness and understanding of people trafficking.  
• Advocacy: When people act things change. Engaging with those who have the power to minimise the trafficking of people. 
• Fundraising: Financing anti-trafficking work around the world working with those vulnerable to and those who have been trafficked.

We have to work together to fight to prevent the sale of people, protect the victims and prosecute the traffickers.

we are SO in the running groove!!

today ladies and gents, i found my groove!!! not on the dancefloor, for that groove was unleashed many years ago, but on the streets!!! today i ran 8km!!! in just about an hour!!! and i feel amazing!! admittedly a little achy now, but so worth it!! Lady Gaga had been replaced by Chris and after a difficult start with crampy legs, visit to the loo after about 15 mins, and a giant blister, i persevered and found my running groove!! a nirvana state which i had heard talk of from experienced runners but never imagined i would ever attain myself!!

yet here we are! happy sigh!! and lots of these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

what is the secret i hear u all ask!! well, once u push thru the leg crampy pain, get your breathing under control and work thru the barrier which tends to hit at around 23 mins, u just keep running! and running... and running! usually 35 mins is my average, i have managed 45 on a couple of occassions but this evening we were out for 68 minutes! including toilet break in the park (in the public toilets, please note, not behind a tree!!) and a couple of pauses to shake off cramp/ cross the busy road/ make up an excuse so i could pause for breath!! and once in the groove i discovered it is actually possible to hold a conversation whilst running, something i have attempted and failed at many times! oh the joy! no need to temporarily withhold my thoughts any longer (altho i suspect chris may have been enjoying some welcome peace!)!

and incase u are wondering, or have read previous blog where i mentioned that i was going to be doing this as a sponsored run, i am indeed raising some awareness and funds for a very worthy cause! See blog above this for more details!! :)