Running: week 2

This week, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that my little jog round the park is actually over a mile long – and I’ve been doing two laps! I’ve also been trying to pick up my pace a bit and to extend the amount of time I’m jogging and reduce the walking bits in between. I’ve been advised that there’s a number of apps that can help me with this but my phone is years old and none of them will download properly so for now I’m just relying on a timer.

One of the negative things I’ve found out this week is the effect that the pollen count can have on my stamina/basic ability to breathe. I thought my hay fever was fairly mild but running seems to multiply the effects 100 times over. Eurgh! Also, I’ve had a bit of a weird week and this seems to have distracted and demotivated me a bit. I really had to focus on my breathing (or lack of) to get myself moving. No idea how I’m “meant” to be breathing, just trying to keep it steady and even.

Current plan is now to start bringing my lap times down by focusing on the run/walk ratio – and with that increase the distance that I’ve run. I’m also going to start trying to incorporate some of the steeper inclines in the park.

Wish me luck!

 

Career Worries

https://mobile.twitter.com/BluMarTen/status/605128443475456001

I don’t currently have a career. I used to, but I hated it and now I have no idea what I want to do. I’ve got so far down a career path (masters degree) to be able to swap to another profession at the same level but too old to seriously think about retraining.

The main problem is  that I don’t feel that I’ve been very good at any of my previous jobs. I’ve never really felt like I’ve made a difference or helped anyone. I’ve mostly been shouted at or complained to. I have been frequently patronized (I’m sure you can work the photocopier better than me, can you just run me off 10 copies? Will you be serving the refreshments? Are you here as a placement student?) and have often made people cry. I have had jobs that have made me so stressed I couldn’t sleep. I have sat in my office at 10pm on a Friday night and asked myself what I’m doing with my life.

I’d love to be a writer but I genuinely don’t know how that happens. How do you decide what to write about? How do you make money from it? I’m from the West Midlands, where jobs are based in factories and involve manual labour. I guess the answer is to write something first then see what you can do with it? Maybe start with short stories?

As always, any help or comments would be much appreciated!

I write because…

*This is a 15 minute free writing exercise as part of the writing 101 challenge. Please forgive any repetition or meandering thought processes!

I write because there’s all these thoughts and opinions insideof me that I need to let out, otherwise I’ll go crazy.

I write because I need a challenge and a focus in my life.

I write because I’ve read enough free ebooks/blogs/fan fiction to think that I can do better.

I write because I’m egotistical enough to think that someone, somewhere will be interested in what I have to say.

I write because I want to connect with the world.

I write because I’ve read my old diaries and they are unintentionally hilarious.

I write because I want to attempt an authentic snapshot of my life.

I write because hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I write because I believe that if you work at something you love, good things will happen.

I write because I want people to understand me.

I write because I want to spread some positivity and happiness.

I write because I find it cathartic.

I write because I love words and language.

I write because I enjoy it.

I write because I want to meet Neil Gaiman.

 

It’s all about me

Hello world,

Allow me to introduce myself, I don’t think we’ve met before. My name is Lucinda. I’m 33 and from the West Midlands – no, you don’t have to do the accent. I’m unemployed despite having two degrees and a load of professional experience. I usually work in HR which is an utter nightmare. For example, here’s a few situations which I’ve had to devote weeks of my time to:

* someone used the wrong milk – we need to investigate it as potential theft

*a dog was left in an employee’s car – can you look into it?

*someone has hurt their back having sex on top of a company car, are they entitled to free physio?

*someone is off sick but when we went round their house they appeared round the corner on a white horse, is this allowed?

*we need to employ a new temp – the old one has moved on and there’s no one to make the toast

*as a manager I shouldn’t have to look after all these people issues – that’s your job

*I’ve had to have a vasectomy because I’m Catholic, if you don’t let me have paid time off I’ll sue you for religious discrimination

*You took too long investigating my initial grievance so I’m launching a new one about the delay

*We can’t change his company car allowance, his ex wife had it written into their divorce settlement

So, I’m unemployed. Unsurprisingly, I haven’t been particularly motivated to find a new role. DISCLAIMER ALERT : I’m not claiming any kind of benefits (not that there’s anything wrong with that) I’m living off my meagre savings. This blog is about my life at home and what you can get up to when you’re not occupied 9-5 and have no income. (Seriously, who works those hours? I think you get my point though.)

I have a number of interests which I’ll hopefully be blogging about – gardening, interior design, antiques, reading, cooking, eating out, art, culture – as well as relationships, people, family and life in general. As I’m at home all day I wanted to do something that would connect with the outside world and would use my brain (I’ve literally forgotten how to write). I’d love to gain a few regular followers and to hear your opinions on what I have to say.