The weather here today has been patchy - it started off relatively nice (but overcast) and at about 4pm the heavens opened. I stared out of my office window in despair. I don't mind running in the rain, but to date those runs have been in the summer. Now the weather is cooler and I'm conscious that I don't want to get too wet and cold - I desperately need some colder weather outdoor running gear!
Work today was very frustrating. Our printer had a malfunction that required an engineer visit and thankfully he came today. Unfortunately, he was a complete knob and didn't know how to set up the scanner part of the printer properly - in the end I had to ring our IT support people to come out to help him. He was there for three hours, during which time I could do little or no work (because he was using my desk). Needless to say I am not at all impressed with OKI printers or their engineers!
The nights are starting to draw in and it's dark at 7pm - so I knew that I needed to cook dinner, serve it to the kids and my father in law, save mine and my husband's and then get out for my run. Today was a moderate 2.5 miles. I set off just after 6pm and thankfully it had stopped raining. Due to my performance on Sunday, I made a conscious effort to try to run slower during the first mile, but when my Walkmeter beeped at the end of mile one it said my average speed was 5.25mph. During mile two I really pulled it back - right on cue my side stitch reared its ugly head, but I was determined to just slow my run pace right down, rather than take a walk break. In the end I walked crossing two roads and then just started running again very slowly. My average speed for mile two was 5.07mph.
The last half mile was hard - there is a steady uphill climb for a few minutes before a nice, easy, flat quarter of a mile home. It had started raining by this stage - quite heavy and right in my face! The stitch was painful, but I could still run. I was determined to just get home as quickly as possible - I must have looked like a real sight, squinting and grimacing my way home! My average speed for the last half mile, according to Walkmeter, was a bit skewed - it said 7mph, but then it said my fastest speed was 5.77mph! At any rate, I was home in 27 minutes, and that is officially the fastest I've ever run 2.5 miles!
Thursday's run is an easy 2 miles which I will do after I drop my daughter off at Girl Guides. I find it funny that I'm thinking of 2 miles as "easy" now! Sunday's run will be a true challenge - 4 miles on the trail - I'm gonna need lots of encouragement for that one!
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We've had a mouse in the house - discovered on Sunday afternoon as I was cooking the usual roast. Well, I didn't discover the actual mouse - but rather his little brown presents! Now, I am not the cleanest person on earth, but I take exception with my kitchen and uninvited guests. Normally, I love being in there, cooking, baking, etc - but the last few days I literally cannot wait to get out the door! On Sunday night, we thought we had blocked up the hole where the mouse was coming in and I went to sleep thinking surely we'd outfoxed the little bugger - but 6am on Monday morning my son (who is the earliest riser!) came into our bedroom saying he saw a mouse in the kitchen!
The base cupboard where I found the brown presents was where I keep all my spices and so I removed all the spices from the cupboard - tossing anything that had been open and putting the remainder in a plastic tub. Well, the little blighter was only climbing on top of the spices! I happen to think he must be an Indian mouse, gathering up spices for a nice Korma!
Anyway, last night we put down the traps - and also blocked off yet another hole where we suspect he might have been coming in. And tonight my husband checked and yep, we've caught one! I'm not overly optimistic that he works alone - so we've put down another trap and will check that again tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm still not enjoying cooking, or being in my lovely kitchen in general. The plus side of this, however, is that I am less likely to snack!
I've just realised that I've not got a photo for this post - so I shall leave you with an image of my post-run treat tonight - a custard tart.... 232 calories of pure custard heaven!
We've had field mice. They only need the smallest of openings to gain entry- bastards! I now have those sonic plug-ins that supposedly emit a soundwave that rattles their nervous system. I haven't had any since!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look into those sonic plug-ins! I checked the traps last night and we haven't caught anymore, so fingers crossed this little chap was a lone gunman!
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