#hollyruns10002k18

(Almost) a new year and time for a new running challenge!

I tend to do some kind of running challenge every other year, 2014 was running the London Marathon, 2016 was running every day and 2018 will be running a total of 1000 miles for the year (yikes).

I've been thinking about where I can take my running next and I had a few ideas. However when a couple of #ukrunchat friends said that they were thinking of doing 1000 miles and asked if I fancied joining them, it lit a small but wild fire in my running soul and I knew quite quickly that it was the right challenge for me. 

I'm also going to be raising a few pennies for Stevenage Haven along the way so my challenge benefits not only myself but others too. Haven is a homeless hostel in Stevenage that I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of weeks a go through work. It was a particular moment I had there that confirmed that I needed to take on this challenge and do some fundraising. I won't be sharing my experience here but I'm happy to discuss it individually with you if you're interested. 

If you're interested in following my progress, the best place to find me is on Instagram and Twitter, I'm @ohhollygosh on both. 

If you can spare any pennies and would like to see 2017 out with a good deed my fundraising page is: 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hollyruns10002k18

Thank you and best wishes for 2018...here goes!

Holly

xx

Westminster one week on

This time last week I was in Westminster, this isn't an unusual place for me to be as the organisation I work for's head office is based there. But last week, on the 22nd March I was there when the attacks took place outside the Houses of Parliament.

I want to start by saying that I was fortunate enough not to be involved in or witness the attacks, but being in the vicinity affected me in a way that I still can't describe but more deeply than I thought it would. I wanted to write this blog post to remind myself of how I felt that day. 

However, one week on the shock has subsided and I have made my way through what I can only describe as the 'fog' that I was floating in in the days following the attack. I've been sitting here, fingers poised at the keyboard ready for the words to come out as freely as they did last week. But they won't. In the days following I found it difficult to simply just 'carry on as normal', but my Britishness has caught up with me and whilst this has helped me look forward it isn't helping me with what I set out to do.

After sitting here for a while I remembered an email that I'd sent to BBC Radio London the day after. I don't normally listen to Radio London but my Mum does and she told me that they were speaking about the attacks all day the following day. You may think its strange to want to keep going back to an event that was so unpleasant, but hearing others talk about it felt comforting and made me realise that it was ok to feel as deeply as I did. It compelled me to write in to Jo Goode's show with my experience to remind others that it was ok to feel however they felt, even if they weren't directly involved. It felt odd at first and I spent an hour or so deliberating over whether I should, but I did and I'm glad. My email got read out on the show, which you can can listen to BBC iPlayer for the next 24 days (my email is read out about 1 hour and 25 minutes into the show).

So I hand over to my last week's self, she can articulate what I wished to say much better than I can:

Hi Joanne,

I live and work in Hertfordshire but was working in Westminster yesterday in my organisation's head office which is round the corner from where the attacks took place.

I was fortunate enough not to witness or be involved in the attacks but to be so close to it and see such horrific events take place somewhere where you visit frequently has shaken me considerably. I walked past Westminster Bridge and The Houses of Parliament on my way to work and was in the area on my lunch break an hour prior to the attacks

I can't stop thinking about PC Keith Palmer and the fact that I probably walked past him a couple of times that day, both of us with no idea of what was to come. Thinking of PC Palmer, Aysha Frade and the others that lost their lives, are critically injured and their families has moved me to tears many times over the last 24 hours and I'm finding it difficult to carry on as normal.

I have felt silly at times feeling so affected by something I wasn't directly involved in, but to those who are also feeling like me. There is no shame in feeling compassion and loss for your fellow human beings. Compassion, kindness and love are what makes us good human beings.

My heart goes out to the people that have lost their lives, their families and those who are still fighting for their lives and my gratitude goes out to the emergency services who looked after us all yesterday and every day. It reinforces my opinion that first aid should be taught as standard in schools and is a skill that we should all have. Inspired by MP Tobias Ellwood I will be renewing my first aid certificate.

Many thanks and have a great day

Holly Finnigan 

As I said in my email to the show I did feel silly and even not 'entitled' to feel how I did. But I know that I'm right and that compassion, kindness and love are what makes us good human beings and we should all strive to live these values in our day to lives, even if others do return it.

I know that the 22nd March 2017 will stick with me for the rest of my life and my heart goes out to all those whos lives have changed forever as a result of that day.

Holly

x

March Goals

I was inspired to write this post by Essbeevee's Sarah's Instagram post this morning about making some March goals.

I have quite a few goals this year, some I've started and are ongoing and some I'm yet to start. Looking at them on paper, its quite an overwhelming overview of things I want to achieve this year. So inspired by Sarah I have decided to break them down month by month starting today (how is it already 1st March?!)

I've broken them down into personal and work and have limited them to 3 each to keep them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time bound, those who work in care will know what I'm on about here ;) I'm only going to list my personal ones here though, because lets face it they're more interesting and no one wants to hear about my paperwork woes.

Personal

• Listen to one new band - I used to be so in to music in my early twenties and LOVED going to see live music. Its not that I've lost my love for it, but the older I've got and the more 'adulting' I've had to do and some of my interests changing and growing the more its taken a back seat. Plus also, now I've hit 30 its time to admit that I now purchase seated tickets over standing (comfort all the way folks). However, last weekend I went to see Me First and the Gimme Gimmes which is a band my boyfriend likes. I was feeling a bit non plussed by the whole thing at first, however since they are a covers band and I fancied a bit of a dance I switched my seated ticket to standing ticket and ended up being right at the front with my boyfriend's friend. As much as I didn't enjoy being dragged into circle pits and being squashed I forgot how much fun gigs can be. I'm making it my mission this monthly to properly listen to one new band I've never heard of before.
• Stick to my triathlon training plan - at the end of January I joined a new gym. I'm a runner and love to be outdoors, however I need to get to grips with cycling and swimming more as I'm doing my first sprint triathlon in July (eek) so I joined a gym. The first 3 weeks were great and I was kicking my training plans ass, the last couple of weeks...I've had to be a bit flexible with my working hours so my ass has been getting kicked rather than the other way round. I've also not been getting enough sleep so getting up to go in the morning has, well, sometimes not happened. This month, that will change. 
• Sort out the spare room - I know, *yawn*. We're planning on (fingers crossed) buying a house next year so I'm prepping way in advance by slowly but surely having a good sort out and getting rid of stuff. I know that we will be exchanging our 2 bedroom cottage in town for a tiny 1 bed flat on the outskirts so things need to go to avoid sharing a bed with a shelving units. I'm also trying to make the upstairs spaces a lot nicer, staring with the spare room.

So there we go, a little bit of accountability. I'm hoping that breaking down my goals into bite size chunks will help, I'll let you know how I get on. 

Happy March everyone, do you have any goals for this month? 

Love from

Holly

x