Huge News Times Two

Happy Tuesday you lovely gorgeous lot. It may be cold and miserable outside here but I for one am up for spreading a little sunshine. And I haven’t even had coffee yet!

 

This morning I was able to pull myself out of bed for a workout before work, I picked up my favourite salad and soup combo for lunch and we are even closer to my sister coming down.

I know little Flake will be pleased to see her!

 

But there are two other things making me feel very chipper today and although I have known both for a little while the time is right to share them with you.

 

First up, a little confession. You know how I told you all about my food buys in London a few weeks ago? But didn’t really give you any reason about why we were there or what else we did?

Well, I was in London for a job interview and I got the job!

Here I am looking all professional for a work picture last year. And tired. And a little unkempt – we had five minutes to take my picture before it was plastered on the front of a newspaper with my byline.

A new job? Does that mean you’re moving away from journalism?

Absolutely not! I love my job and being a reporter but the time is right to leave my current company (where I began working in my third year of university in 2010) and face new challenges. I’ll pretty much be doing the same thing, working for the national newspapers in Bristol – just with a different company.

So what does this mean for the blog?

Probably not much at all. My crazy hours should be a little better and I will be based at home, though out and about pretty much all day every day. It will involve working with a new team who will also take awkward pictures of me as I try to do my job..

So don’t worry about missing those

How do you feel?

Really excited! Really nervous! I’m going to be doing video with the new job, which terrifies me but I firmly believe that pushing myself out of my comfort zone is the right thing to do. I’m going to be trying new things, getting lots of awesome opportunities and have a whole new board of people to impress. Eeek!

 

I leave my current job a month from today and start on April 22 at the new one, so expect me to sound a little more frazzled as the weeks go on.

 

..Especially as I’m running a half marathon before my new job starts!

I’m running the Edinburgh Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon on April 14 after winning a giveaway for two places on Laura‘s blog.

Here’s me at the Bristol Half Marathon (my first and only half to date) last year, just about to take a sip of water. Nothing like being caught on camera at the right moments.

Wow – a half marathon! So you’ve been training and not telling us?

In a word, yes. But mainly no. I haven’t actually adjusted my training a huge amount, I’ve just tried to get in 2-3 good runs every week, with a few long runs thrown in to see whether my body is happy with the distance. There’s been no extra workouts.

 

You won two tickets, who else is going?

I’m going to be running with a complete stranger. Yup! I couldn’t find anyone I knew who could take the place so put the word out and one of my sister’s friends came forward. I have never met Lewis but we’ve emailed a few times and he sounds hilarious. If I’m going to have two hours of running, why not take the opportunity to get to know someone? He is a seasoned runner and had an HOUR PB in the Oxford Half last year with a 1.31 time.

So you’re going for a PB with Mr Speedy Legs?

No. My aim for the course is to get round and enjoy the experience. To have fun! If a PB happens, great but I’m really not expecting it.

Umm Claire, what about the whole HA, over-training thing?

Really, really good point. Yes I’ve been worried about going back to those dark days but I can honestly say I’ve been ridiculously chilled this time around. I’ve been running 2-3 not 5-6 times a week and my mileage has not been anywhere near last time around. I’ve been eating lots of good food, nothing has been banned and there has been a lot more sleep involved.

I hope you can forgive me for not mentioning this race on the blog sooner but I wanted to make sure I didn’t start holding myself accountable for my training, or eating in a way that I could easily fall into an obsessive pattern with.

How do you feel?

So excited! I just want to get there, meet Lewis, run a happy, fun race and snag one of those amazing guitar-shaped medals. Especially after reading recaps from Alex, Molly, Caitlin, Theodora and Allison from their Rock ‘n’ Roll experiences last weekend.

That’s all folks, Happy Tuesday!

* Do you have any news to share? New favourite breakfast, PB, or even that you’re wearing matching socks?! I want to hear it!

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