Happy Easter! (almost) Happy Spring! Happy season of bunnies jumping out of eggs, of egg painting, chocolate egg eating, and of throwing raw eggs at each other (this is an actual thing my in-laws do, apparently it’s “festive”). My friend Monika tells me that, in her native Slovakia, at Easter it is traditional for men to douse young women in cold water and then spank them, which is not something I endorse but each to their own I guess.
However you chose to celebrate the spring festival it is a time of renewal and rejuvenation as the world comes back to life after winter, and probably a more sensible time for a “new year’s resolution” than the 31st December. I’m not going to pledge anything new but it’s a good time to check in on those resolutions we made nearly 3 months ago and see how we’re doing.
My parents had a joint resolution of running their local Parkrun in Hereford, a relatively flat but very exposed route around the race course. At this point they have both run it a number of times, building up slowly at first, and now, rather irritatingly, my dad’s PB is similar to my own parkrun PB. Yes, he’s 63 and new to running, but the Bovey parkrun is like, SO much hillier. And just tougher. Generally. Probably. So good on them. My resolution (other than passing that driving test…goodbye tatty, scratched, ancient provisional licence) was to do a 10k in a time pertaining to my pre-pregnancy best and although I will take most of the year to do this, I managed my first 10k run since pre-pregnancy, last weekend. It was slow, it was hard, but it felt like a huge achievement. I have also managed my first 5 mile Dartmoor run (Hay Tor to Buckland Beacon and back) and my first “fast” 5k. I didn’t time any of them, nor set myself a target pace, I just enjoyed them. I don’t want to feel stressed nor put pressure on myself, but as I said in my new year blog post, I want to feel inspired and invigorated by the challenge, and I do!
I also feel inspired to train in pregnancy massage. I can safely treat someone who is pregnant (there are caveats) but I would like to have the skill to treat specific ailments. I know how much the body changes during pregnancy and childbirth and while I am confident treating post-natal women (and exhausted new fathers!) I would like to be able to offer something extra. I often think “what would I want now,” and its these areas I wish to investigate. Watch this space.
The other new start in my life is my full time devotion to Dartmoor Massage. I’m increasing the opening hours of my home clinic to include two full days – Tuesday and Thursday. I’ll still be around in the evenings and the weekend but I’ll be focusing on these two days and when I’m not treating I will be using the time to study more, develop myself professionally, and garner new skills. I’m excited about having more time to immerse myself in the business and am so grateful that the business I’ve had so far has given me the opportunity to do this, so thank YOU!
Exciting times ahead!
