Richmond Running Festival Kew 10k

Ok, I've been away from the blog for a loooooong time. Plenty of things have happened, both crafty and running-wise (not so much progress on the knitting!). I really have loads to show off. But the thing that's finally spurred me back online was the race I ran on Sunday with my boyfriend.

It was the Kew Gardens 10k, part of the Richmond Running Festival which also includes a half marathon, and a post-race music festival. It's only in its second year this year, but sold out. We had originally wanted to do the half, but places were already gone by the time we heard about it.

Why I keep running

I've had a bit of a struggle with running recently. It felt like I was getting up early for too many mornings, to do a chore that I wasn't enjoying - and ending up with times that I was disappointed with.
So I took a week off from my entire training plan. I used it as a chance to make some changes with my diet. And now that I'm returning to my training, I've reassessed why I run - in the hope that I'll avoid any future similar grinding halts.

Summer throwback makes

It's actually been resembling summer here in London, most days anyway. I've not been able to sew as much as I want (I have SO many ideas!) due to uni work, but have still managed a bit.

What I have made has ended up being vaguely childhood throwback themed. First up, a friendship bracelet. I used to make these when I was little, and even set up a little card board 'stall' and tried to sell them to the uninterested members of my family. With a pattern refresher from here, I made up this little summer themed beauty;

Colette Madeleine Mini Bloomers

One of my recent sewing projects has been the Madeleine mini bloomers from Colette Patterns. I like to kick my legs around a lot when I sleep, so pyjamas just ride up my legs and shorts wedge themselves where no shorts should wedge. These seemed like a perfect solution to my nighttime wardrobe woes...

Sewing

I've been busy sewing recently. Including an epic weekend wrestling with a project for my sister's birthday...more of that soon.

Marathon training begins

...this isn't a triumphant return to training. I've left it a bit too long and my fitness has plummeted. We've recently moved house, and while we're now actually local to Bushy park for our weekly parkruns, I don't have any familiar running routes. I've just started my Masters dissertation this week, and the day by day timetabling combined with some serious mental overworking has left me feeling pretty fatigued. Not to mention my commute into uni now totals an hour each way. And depending on the time of day costs up to £15 a day.
So, despite my careful planning in a newly designated training diary, I've only managed one Nike workout and an 8km run. 3 days after the workout my legs were still sore for the run, which should've been perfect - glorious morning sunshine, little rabbits and baby geese along the river.... but instead was an unpleasant slog.
Still, got to start somewhere. Like I've been saying to my study subjects when I stick their hand in ice water - the first bit's the worst.

Long term WIPs

Just to prove that I do still manage to do some knitting (it's not all running and my new obsession with sewing), I'm finally making tangible progress on a project that's been on the needles for years now. Properly years.

To cut a long story short, it took me an age to knit the back piece, and once it was finished and looking lovely I placed it against a jumper I already had and realised it was a good few inches too short. No mention in the pattern of it being a more 'cropped style' jumper, just rumblings on ravelry about having to add length. I was a bit distraught and put it away in a bag of shame. Where it sat until something so mindlessly boring (lace knitting) made me feel ready to face it again.
And now I've got a front and a back! Of an appropriate length!

By the way, the pattern is Craft, from Kim Hargreaves' book Scarlet.