Run, run, run

Hello, hello.

A rather busy week with new clients starting courses at work and some also finishing, which means writing up reports. The office is being re-painted and renovated, so it's all a bit chaotic, but everyone seems to be coping well, no doubt cheered by the fact that Golden Week is just around the corner!

I've upped my running this past week, going out for about 5km 6 days out of 7, which has resulted in feeling very energised, albeit with a huge blister on my small toe! What prompted me to do this was a study I read about which took place in Scotland, showing the positive effects of listening to music whilst exercising. The researchers found, on average, runners could improve their performance by 10 - 15% if they were plugged into their ipods and listening to some up tempo tunes. So, I gave it a go, and I must say it has really helped. Especially toward the end of the run when things begin to ache a little bit, a blast from Simian Mobile Disco will give me the extra boost to keep on going. All this seems pretty logical to me. I mean, music has that power to motivate and move us, and humans have always had some sort of music, be it a drum beat or an electro mash-up, and now science finally "proves" it.

Some more pics

A lazy Saturday afternoon

Spring in my step and the sun is shining, all is good. Five tattered cats bask in the rays of April sun, in a concrete church yard not far from our house. I buy a bar of organic soap at the local supermarket, and the price charged is 25% lower than the display price. I go and buy another bar, and feel slightly naughty. It's the little things that keep us happy. I'm contemplating going to the gym to try my new routine. One rapid round of light, high rep weights and another of very heavy, low rep weights. But my body aches from a week of running. Running around like a rat in a race, but feel like running some more. Caught in a loop. I suddenly realize I don't have a hobby. Do I have room for a hobby? Time seems shorter now with Jay on the scene, not that it's a bad thing, but I do feel slightly uneasy not having a hobby (I don't think going to the gym counts - that's just exercise). Is my world contracting? Does it contract as we age? Do we get more tunnel visioned? Maybe, and that brings a slight melancholic smile to my face, the tears dried up long ago.

Sakura falling

How quickly spring has come. The river walk near our home has turned pink with cherry blossom, and we've had a couple of hanami sessions (drinking/eating under the cherry blossom tree).
Jay can now pull himself up to a standing position, and spends a lot of time leaning on the coffee table playing with toys and sprouting a language all of his own. He's a fast crawler now too. He loves playing hide and seek with us around the house, giggling loudly whilst trying to find us.
Enjoying work at the moment. Some new courses have began in the fiscal new year, and I'm trying out new ideas with positive results. There hasn't been too much negative impact from the sub prime crisis, although I do hear of cut-backs and some belt tightening going on in the financial sector.
I've been trying to get back into exercising again after taking two weeks out due to a nasty virus that we all came down with. Also making efforts to get back into meditation, after reading of the positive long term benefits it creates in mood and well being.