Feet in the cloud

"I am rooted, but I flow"

- Virginia Woolf

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It all started in winter 2012 when a few of my girl friends suggested we should go run the Brighton half marathon together; I was in a broken chain of half-hearted relationships and way too much vino, so thought this would give myself a nice challenge to step up to. Then as the runs go longer and further and faster, running becomes a habit, a fabric and a rhythm of life, an always much devoured break from the chimes of daily chores, through the sun and rain and occasional moonshine. In running, there is no destination, there is no sorrow. Only a moving meditation, a happy discipline.

Races so far (chronological order): Brighton half 2013 (PB 1:42) , Skye half 2013, Richmond half 2014, Hackney half 2014, Hastings half 2015, Edinburgh marathon 2015 (PB 3:44)

Favourite race: Isle of Skye half - scenic, hilly, exhilarating from start to finish blessed with Scottish sun

Gear: Love my new Helly Hansen top, currently on my third pair of nike free 5.0. Just got a pair of Saloman Fellraiser for the extra boggy trails. 

Routine: I usually run alone or with the boy but I also enjoy running with the lovely London/Manchester women group WMN RUN. I replenish with natural snacks made by the team at Tribe (they run great running challenges too)- or fuelled by Haribo. I no longer have energy gels after having too much of them during marathon race/training: they just do not feel natural or nourishing.

My favourite routes: Along River Lea then the Regent's Canal and River Thames. Hampstead Heath via the much dreaded Swain's Lane. Hill sprints at my local Alexandra Palace/Muswell Hill. The beautiful overgrown stretch of 3K the Parkland Walk. Wendover (a trail half marathon route by Rail to Trail, within an hour train ride from London). Box Hill. Run up any muddy hills in Snowdonia.


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This year I've switched from pounding the pavements to trails and fells - any excuse to escape the city is so welcomed. Upcoming races include the ever so hilly Endurance Series - Sussex 10K, a sprint triathlon (my first!) and hopefully, an ultra marathon (!) (Race to the King / Race to the Stones - inspired by the incredible audacity by the ladies of WMN RUN 100) - rota permitting. My next movement would be some early morning fell runs in the Lake District...

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Cinematic Writing XII

my own | cam llwch, Brecon

Midwinter spring is its own season

Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown, 

Suspended in time, between pole and tropic. 

When the short day is brightest, with frost and fire -

Now the hedgerow

Is blanched for an hour with transitory blossom 

Of snow, a bloom more sudden 

Than that of summer, neither budding nor fading, 

Not in the scheme of generation.

Where is the summer, the unimaginable Zero summer?

- T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding

Wintering

india hobson at the black shed, highlands

Longing for hills & snows more than ever. @wildguidescotland // Skye or Cairngorms? Or Iceland? // May this winter bring more peace to the world

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Capri sun

vanessa jackman

Dreaming of sun and sweet abandonment of village air. 

&

the first time I ever read Ferrante, by the ponds heavy with humid air and smell of grass: 

“Existence is this, I thought, a start of joy, a stab of pain, an intense pleasure, veins that pulse under the skin, there is no other truth to tell.” 

Girl of my Dreams XIII

Her parents (French & Korean) each runs a ceramic shop du bon heir au quotidian and writes children's books; she wanders around Paris with her pet shiba Pompon.

This is Philo, age (almost) 2.

http://instagram.com/philo_pompon

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The armchair wanderer

from instagram * richardgaston

....merely to be with the mountain as one visits a friend, with no intention but to be with him.

- Nan Shepherd

In spite of the avalanche of working life I've been reading and dreaming and planning ferociously - the next adventure is in sight, my wanderlust lurking and brewing and about to overflow. It's time to get away. It's time to get away.

The triggers - 

Eulogy to Peter Matthiessen, the founder of the Paris Review / Reading the Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd - Robert MacFarlane's hymn to the wonderful book / Oh the Adventure Handbook - instagram has never been so inspiring / Natalie Smith on Morocco / how does that quote go? - "I don't like it when summer leaves but I like the way it walks away."

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Midsummer murmur

1. How could summer solstice come & go already? I have been watching sunsets every evening, letting the crimson light flood my bedroom -

2. The foliage is dark green, air is thick with fragrant jasmine and quiet white flowers -

3. The wilderness was perfect. Every time I think of those perfect few days spent on the water and under the vast sky - my heart is still. There has been a lot of undercurrents in the face of apparent calm water at present, but all shall be well. We shall sail through (practising mindfulness) -

4. Ran a glorious (albeit the slowest) half-marathon, stopping to help in the capacity of a doctor. A sense of pride and also the inevitable responsibility -

5. I've found the perfect house to move to next - creamy white wall with laurel green window frames, stripped down wooden floor, looking over a cosy rose garden. Plus rugs! Plus a direct bus to Cafe Oto! I cannot really ask for more (in London)

6. Still need to go to: RA Summer Exhibition, the Monks House and one day, Atelier Cézanne; finish the Edward St Aubyn's novels (toxic yet thrilling, read in conjunction with his brilliant New Yorker profile)

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