To all you parents out there, I salute you

I have spent last weekend with a very good friend of mine whose husband is in the Army and currently in Afghanistan. She has two adorable children, both under the age of four, one of whom is my gorgeous two-and-a-half year old goddaughter.

Belinda (my friend) needed to get few things done so I offered to look after the little ones. Oh boy, that was tough. Trying to entertain kids for 2 hours + is not easy. We played with toys, watched kiddies TV and chatted. Then we did some jumping on the bed and generally goofing around and finally bed-time stories. The weather was awful so we couldn't go anywhere.

By the end of the night I was absolutely exhausted. And then "rudely" awoken the following morning by the little people. There and then I was ready to go home, crawl into my bed and get some rest. I was so tired. Although I spend a lot of time with people with kids this has been a real eye-opener for me. My Mum gave up work when she had us and when I was younger I always used to think that she had it easy because she didn't have to work. How wrong was I. It turns out it was my Dad who was the lucky one. I really admire and respect all those parents out there who are trying so hard to jiggle the family, work and in our case the sport. It is simply incredible. God knows how I will do it one day.

Next week, next week

The photo above is of Shaun (hubby) after this year's NYC marathon. He set his PR there of 2:43:something on what was a great day. A week later he did Silverman full and came second in his age group. Well I am so excited that I will see him next week - he is coming to London. 

Although we've been married for over 6 years our marriage is not your typical (at the moment at least). But still for us it is brilliant. He is a British Army officer currently posted to West Point. I am a lawyer working in London.... When he got posted to West Point we were planning for me to join him. But somehow it never happened. My good job and great salary meant that we could afford our gear (this sport is expensive) and all out travels so we've decided to keep it going for as long as we could. And we are nearly there - 7 months left. 

It certainly wasn't easy and I have flown an enormous number of flights, spending my time between London and West Point. At least 2-3 times a month. It was pretty tiring to say the least but I am so happy now because next week he is flying over for few days. It will be so much fun, I can't wait. 

Looking forward to it darling!

The week of rest

Well I have finally decided to start writing this blog, it has been a long time coming. I do read few blogs out there and they are some of my favourite reading material. So it is time for me to start.

Now that Silverman half-ironman is out of the way (and I absolutely loved that race) I am back to London and back to work (oh joy). The first thing I did when I got back was signed myself and Shaun (hubby) up for next year's Silverman full. We are both so excited about this race and I am ready to face that challenge. Shaun did the full this year and came 2nd in his age-group. I think he wants to go back and take that 1 st place.

So this has been a week of rest. I finally got back on my bike today, if for nothing else, then the commute to work. My commute takes me from south-west London (Fulham to be precise) 7.5 miles east to the centre of the City. I love that commute as I cycle past the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben, London Eye and Buckingham Palace. Nothing beats waving the Queen every morning. Unless it's raining, of course, then it is utter misery.

So what next for me? We are doing Honolulu marathon in just over four weeks time. I am so looking forward to it. Not the marathon really but our first holiday in Hawaii. Yeah!!!! I think the plan is to fly on Friday, do the marathon on Sunday and then just have fun for a week afterwards. So I expect my coach to ramp up my training again next week, but I won't complain really. I love it.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!