Happy 2012!!!

Yes, I mean it!!! This is going to be THE year! I'm pretty positive about 2012...why? Well, for a number of reasons...

I am my own boss now work-wise and everything is up to me...if I screw up it's my bad, nobody else to blame. I will have to work hard to make a living out of my profession, but I'm prepared to do that as I love what I'm doing. No sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day, being able to help people and make them feel better. What more could you want. It's early days yet but I'm looking forward to it. So glad when I have my next qualification as well as that'll give me even more scope in what I can actually do.

New Years resolutions. I know a lot of people only see them as a fad, something they will attempt for a few days, maybe a few weeks, just to fail and decide to drop the resolutions altogether. Well I say: Fail! Fail again! Fail better! :)

Decisions made - well, some anyway...

I haven't been writing anything in a while now, so I thought I'd just give a quick update on the decisions I had to make and was pondering over in my last post.

Some of them have still not been fully made, but I'm getting closer to a decision. Especially the business one is a hard one. There are tax implications, a lot of forms to fill in and a lot of other factors to consider as well as getting a website, stationary, business cards etc. This is currently all work in progress.

The naughty VFF Bikila continued

I finally managed to fix my left running Bikila.

I was impatiently waiting for the shoe goo I had ordered to arrive. Once it got here I made an attempt to reattach the soft arch bit to the actual rubber sole as they had come apart. Not sure what caused it - they might just not have been glued properly initially. I was glad to see that there was no damage, just a bit of detachment ;o).

So I got a bit of surgical spirit, some cotton buds and some clamps. I cleaned the area with the surgical spirit, using the cotton buds to reach inside the little gap as well. I then went and put some shoe goo in with the cotton bud end minus the cotton. It seemed to go in pretty well, and I probably even used a bit too much. As it's a big tub though I didn't worry about that (there's enough to fix another ton of shoes, but I hope I won't have to use it again anytime soon). I put loads in and then secured the two parts with a big clamp. I wiped off any excess goo that was coming out of the gap as soon as I put the clamp on and put the vff into a safe and well ventilated spot....and left it there for the next day and a half to allow the goo to cure.

The fixed Bikila with excess shoe goo

Decisions decisions...

I am currently in a position where I have to make a good few decisions. Some are going to affect my life more than others. They just all seem to come at the same time and anybody who knows me has a fair idea of how difficult it can be for me to make up my mind.

Decision number 1: when am I going to start my own business. I have the qualifications, can get insurance and membership in a professional organization and have most of the gear I need as well. But am I ready yet? Do I know everything I need to know about being self-employed? I'm not sure. Doing a course at the moment to learn more about starting a business that will still be on for another month. I guess it would make sense to be patient and not dive in too soon and at least hold off until the course is finished.

Decision number 2: I need a new car. What car to buy? A smallish cheaper one that would cause more trouble taking Cara anywhere and later fitting my work gear in? Or a bigger one that has enough space to carry all the above but might be slightly more expensive to buy and to run? I tend to option 2 for convenience reasons. No having to fold down seats and the dog cage fits in easily too. Starting to look at cars next week hopefully.

Barefoot Treadmill Running

I was dying to go for a run today as I haven't been running in a week. The last time was still in Germany. My VFF Bikilas are still not fixed, waiting for the shoe goo to arrive.

As the weather here has been anything but pleasant since we got back on Sunday, I opted for a treadmill run (otherwise I would have used my new Bikila LS on the road). No need for Bikilas there (they're slippy as hell on the belt because it's quite worn, kinda like sand paper that has been used a lot). No need for any sort of shoes for that matter. I decided to go barefoot and work on my form. I find the treadmill quite good for that as it is unforgiving. One wrong step and a blister is guaranteed.

The naughty VFF Bikila

During my last 5k race one of my beloved silver/green Bikilas started to disintegrate... The rubber sole is starting to come off the EVA arch yoke (not sure does it actually have a name...). I spotted it after the race. Not sure if it was due to the amount of water on the course - we were pretty much constantly running through puddles. When I took the shoes off I saw an approximately 3 cm long gap under the left shoe. I was not happy...to say the least. Cian helped me to do some research on the interweb to find out how to best deal with the issue at hand as I was not prepared to give up my Bikilas because of that. And we found an answer: SHOE GOO! :)

Holidays in Germany - week 1

I couldn't wait to finish work and head to Germany with Cian for our well deserved 2 week break.

The first day would be a tough one straight away. We were up at 2am as we had to drive to Dublin to catch a 7am flight. Arriving in Germany around 10am we had some breakfast. Then we started to prepare for our 5k race in the inner port that afternoon. The weather was so different to Ireland, really hot, the air a lot more stuffy. We ran in a team of 4: Cian, my brother René, Judith and myself.

Team Potoothsenmeerschweinschken :)

A morning run at Lough Key Forest Park

After a 5k run on the treadmill yesterday I was delighted that my friend Caroline had asked if I would go running with her today. She is just starting back into running and is happy to have me as a running buddy (at least that's what she said ;o)). So hopefully this will be one of many runs.

Cara - all excited about the run

The coincidental VFF run

After I had been for a 6k treadmill run yesterday I hadn't intended to go for another run today. The weather still wasn't the best, overcast with some occasional showers (I sound like the weatherman ;o)). I had been doing a lot of housework today (a late spring clean...) and was just moping around the house after, not really in the mood to do anything. Then I saw my Bikilas sitting innocently on the bedroom floor, on their own (because I had tidied everything else away..). So I took a notion and decided to take them out for a spin (never mind the rest day...I normally never run 2 days in a row).

So I got ready and Cara got unbelievably excited. She loves her runs!

My Bikila feet

First attempts - at blogging and minimalist running

Ok, so this is my first attempt at blogging...
I have never been very good at expressing myself and bearing in mind that English is not my native tongue I might sometimes struggle to find the right or appropriate words.

First of all I'll share a bit more about myself. I'm a German living in Ireland for over 10 years now. I live out in the country with my boyfriend (he's a little crazy at times) and my mad dog Cara. I'm working in corporate banking but due to a fortunate event (ok, I don't know if I should call redundancy fortunate or not...) to happen in the not so far future I am currently training to be a massage therapist (and loving it!).