I got muddy in London

I travelled down to London on Friday to meet up with some folks from the industry (SEO/web) and run a ‘pretty muddy’ Race for Life 5k at Finsbury Park the following morning with the gorgeous Lilian. Both were awesome events, although having consumed far too much wine on Friday night I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get up for the 5k, let alone run it in a decent time (yeah, I know, that’s not the point of these things) — we did it in ~34 minutes, though, which accounting for the obstacles was an awesome time.

I’ve managed to raise £185 for Cancer Research by taking part and it’d be super duper if I could get that up to £200. You guys have a little bit of time left if you want to sponsor me and help me reach my goal. As a reward for your help, here’s some pictures of me covered in mud:

pretty-muddy-5k-finsbury-park

mud-in-mouth-5k-finsbury-park

finish-line-5k-finsbury-park

Although it was a fantastic weekend, after another late night of (celebratory, obviously) drinking on Saturday and some rather worrying physical symptoms I realised that I’ve seriously let myself go this month and I’m suffering as a result. Looking back I’ve had Gaz moving in, going self-employed again, the holiday and all that entailed, post holiday boozy BBQ, the run up to the kid’s summer holidays, meet-ups and this 5k to deal with, and it all adds up to a shit ton of alcohol, far too much junk food and not enough veg which ultimately means I have a lingering cold which is causing me to cough up chunks of snot in a variety of pretty green shades, and me going distinctly soft around the middle again.

I suppose in a way the hardest part about losing weight and being fit and awesome is realising that it’s a continuous, consistent process. There’s no take-it-once magic potion to get you slim and gorgeous: if I want to maintain a reasonable level of health, looking after myself has to be a constant thing until … well, until I die. Sometimes I think it was easier just being fat.

5 Comments

  1. Kris Turner

    28 Jul at 3:08 pm

    From what I recall from a few posts ago, didn’t you say that you didn’t like the use of that word?

    Naughty naughty.

    • Jem

      28 Jul at 3:19 pm

      Only in front of the kids – I said it didn’t count on my blog. :P

  2. It looks like a lot of fun and for a good cause!

  3. YOU LOOK AMAZING! I’m so jelly! X3333

  4. You look great (happy and athletic) in these photos. Congrats on completing it in such a good time. I’m not much of a runner, but I’d love to do a 5k. I just have to be extremely careful about cardio.

    I think you summed up perfectly the problem with good habits. In order for them to be habits, they have to be kept up, which is annoying.