This will be my last blog post for a week. Don’t miss me too much! Haha… The reason being, is that tomorrow morning I leave for my ‘quick trip’ back to Oz. Hmm, when first working it out and booking flights etc, it seemed a quick 3 day visit back to the land of Oz, to run the Goldy half marathon and see my bestie. Turns out there is THREE days of travelling, one and a half ish either side of my actual time in Australia, courtesy of us not living in bigger city or a transport hub. So, tomorrow morning I will make my way up to Hangzhou (the capital city of Zhejiang province) and stay the night there before checking into my flight on Friday morning. I arrive into Australia early on SATURDAY morning though, due to a long (cheap) flight. Oops… (The return journey is equally a mission, but I prefer not to think about that right now…)

So, today is the day for packing, organizing, and then stressing about how much STUFF we have accumulated when attempting to do some more of the bigger packing, for our impending leaving of this school when I return from the Gold Coast.

This morning I completed my penultimate training run: an easy paced 6.4km run, in the STINKING heat and humidity! It was a particularly sweaty affair, but no leg pain dramas or otherwise. Phew…




Kristina over at Blog About Running (http://www.blogaboutrunning.com/7-things-about-me-you-might-not-know/) gave me a shout out for this Very Inspiring Blogger Award/Game (thanks Kristina!), so I’ll be passing that on to THESE fellow (and awesome) bloggers. You’re up! Kim (http://day-with-kt.com/), Amy (http://runwritehike.com/),  Karen (http://moreclutterfromkaren.blogspot.com/), and Kristen (http://www.glitteranddust.com/)!

Enjoy. So, the ‘rules’ are to share seven things with your readers that they don’t know about you, and then pass it on and nominate other bloggers who can then share their seven things.

Hmm, so for those of you who know me in the flesh, these may not be that surprising or new information, but hey-ho, here are my seven things you may or may not know about me:

1. When I was about 11 or 12, I won first place in the Kent Championship Fencing competition (under 14 female category), held, not surprisingly, in Kent, UK. En garde!
   
   
2. I think I am very dichotomous in the way that I love to be SUPER healthy and into fitness one day, and then would gladly be heavily into all kinds of partying and debauchery the next day. It’s good to have balance I guess?
   
   
3. I can speak French (but I am quite rusty).
   
   
4. When I was younger my ‘hilarious’ (ironic) running joke was to tell people of my plan to migrate to America and find a rich husband to settle down with. Hmmm, yeah, I know, missed my stand-up comedy calling with that one. However, I did start a 4 year degree reading American Literature at Sussex Uni in Brighton, UK, where the 3rd year was to be spent in the states, so this gave a lot of weight to my ironic ‘joke’. (In the end, I quit this course two years early and went back to work/live in London for a bit while I figured out what I want to ‘do’ with my life. Still figuring it out today, haha…)
   
   
5. I would love to go back to Peru (and other parts of South America) and have a few ayuhuasca experiences (again, with the figuring out life malarkey…)
   
   
6. I am very clumsy. No glass, cup or plate is safe in my hands. Husband has a special, affectionate term for me in this sense. Now, I hope you don’t take offense at this, and he says it in a completely loving, jokey tone, but he calls me Edward-Penis-Hands sometimes, as I, ahem, f*&k everything I touch.
   
   
7. In about 5 to 10 years time, I hope to be living in an Earthship home, off the grid, and self-sustainable, growing veggies, making wine, writing trashy novels etc… I would love this be in Australia or Bali, or both, ideally.
   
   

So, that’s all from me for now. The next time I write here will be after the Gold Coast half and when I get back into town next Wednesday. Wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week and weekend ahead, and I can’t wait to tell you how it all went (successfully I hope!)

 

Tell me something I may not know about you!

Welcome back! It’s been a while hey. Have well and truly been on a bit of a running/blogging hiatus of late. Here’s what happened: I took an impromptu trip back home to Australia in early January (probably just after my last entry I suppose) to buy an apartment (yay!) and didn’t take my laptop, thinking ‘I’ll write when I get back’, and well, that just never happened hey. If it weren’t for the lovely, caring, and inquisitive Kristina and Annie, then this would probably not be getting written now. So, thanks you two! Here it is as promised…

 

SO, lots to catch up on then. Here are some nutshell points from the last couple of months:

 

-          In Australia I did as many runs (in between house viewing appointments and bank trips) as I could in the early morning sunshine and under those blue, blue skies. LOVE RUNNING IN AUSTRALIA. Namely beautiful Newcastle, which has a lot more hills than I remember.

-          I missed my husband and puppy (who had to stay here in China due to no puppy-sitter being available) A LOT.

-          I got to catch up with my two besties a lot during my quick trip. LOVE THESE TWO:

-          Teaching, teaching, teaching, as usual.

-          Husband and I got interviewed by another journalist, this time from a newspaper from the province, not just our city, who is writing a book about ‘foreigners’ in China and has chosen 15 lucky ‘laoweis’ to be in it. Watch this space for a copy. J

-          I turned THIRTY. (So, really must update my ‘about me’ section hey, still living in the past of 29…)

-          Eating, eating, eating, Chinese food, Chinese food, Chinese food…

-          We accepted a job teaching at a university for next year (term starts in late August) in Inner Mongolia!!!!

 

We are VERY excited about moving to Inner Mongolia!!! I am now picturing me (and Puppy) running through endless grasslands, with those blue, blue skies, and (we’re hoping) fresh air. Mongolian hospitality is famed as being awesome too, and the food (we think) will feature lots of hotpots, strong booze, and yoghurt at most meals. Combine that with loads of happy 18-25 students of ours (instant group of friends yes?), and an exciting, colourful (the traditional clothes look amazing up there) culture and outdoors, back-to-nature lifestyle = one happy husband and wife teaching team.

 

For those who are unfamiliar with where Inner Mongolia is, it is right up the top of China, just next door to Mongolia, but it is a part of China. Most of the people there are Mongolian, but the national language is Chinese.

 

Bring it on!

 

Oh, and in other exciting news (well to me anyhow) – I have registered to run in the Gold Coast Half Marathon in July! So, another exciting trip to Australia (for both of us this time) is on the cards, and in the next few months leading up to this I’m planning to train my arse off and get under that 1:34 time from my last half. Would LOVE a time of 1:30, so I’ll see if I can make it happen. I’ve got another training plan, so I’ll be putting that into action in the next few minutes when I head out into the (getting warmer) morning air. This training plan is much longer than my last 12 weeks one, so I’ve missed the first few weeks of it already (it is an 18 week plan).

 

Lastly, is this the face of the happiest dog in China?? Quite possibly. Here’s our beautiful puppy on her first trip to a further away park (we finally installed a puppy-basket on Husband’s bike), where you can imagine you’re in Bali or somewhere a lot more tropical than our city, on a good, sunny, clear day, which amazingly it has been all weekend.

Happy Monday and Happy Running everyone! xxx

While making breakfast this morning, and leisurely getting 'up' for the day (followed by copious lounging and chilling with our laptop in bed), this question repeated in my head: Why the blog?'

Why write a blog? Online? For all to see? I know, I know, a 'blog' is a kind of online journal or log of something, yes? Well, then why not call it something a little nicer than a 'blog'? (Which honestly sounds a bit euphemistic: another blokey phrase re: dropping the kids off at the pool, or laying cable etc. You know what I mean.) So, why not Ournal? (online journal) Or, Oiary? Or Oniary? (online diary). Or Oughts? (Online thoughts.)

Well, whatever its name, here it is: my thoughts on running while living in China. So, why do it? Why put my thoughts out there in a manner akin to that described in Ben Elton's 'Blind Faith', i.e. just like sharing? One word: motivation. This has  already helped with my running training, and no doubt will continue to do so in the future. I love running, I love writing, and I love rambling on about things, it seems, so why not combine the three? Further more, if anyone out there feels the same, then they can respond/get in touch/or tell me about their own running lifestyle (hence the reason behind the online/public aspect I suppose).

Love Sundays. But that has been said already and won't shock you. Been very lazy since the run this morning and it is perfect cloudy/rainy weather to do so. We were going to go to a local hotel and use their sauna/spa/get a massage/lunch buffet etc, but think we'll do that another time. Far too relaxed here to move too far yet. But think we'll definitely play more Ping-Pong in the near future. That was heaps of fun. Here is us, doing it for Australia and England: