So very exciting, last night I opened the GivenGains link and I realised that the amount raised was sitting at R 4600, which was super exciting.....I had set the target for my fundraising at R 5000 but was not sure I could do it, at the time it seemed like a lot...As I have explained I've never done any kind of fundraising before....and this was all new to me....getting people to sponsor something that I'm passionate about seemed like a rather scary task....Well, my friends have pulled through and as of late last night, I got a few more sponsors and well....Thee balance is now sitting at R 5300...I can not believe it....something that seemed so crazy and impossible, well its come to be....I know the goal has been reached, but we can keep at it...there are still 36 days to go...Imagine if we could double the target...how totally cool would that be....
What has amazed me more is the people who have donated....I know many of you don't have a load of money, yet you have reached out and sponsored me, some of you hardly know me as well.....thank you so very much! The kids benefit, and that is what its ultimately about....Kiittos (thanks in Finnish, although possibly I've spelt it wrong ;)
Needless to say i'm not going to stop now....I sure hope you all don't ...hehe (emotional manipulation again)
So now about the new routes...in my running and in my life.....
I have been back on track with the running again. The two weeks following the return home from the states were tough. I did not feel like a fully functioning human and then I had a small procedure which involved prepping my body to the point of starvation and well it really knocked me, so I had to have a good longish break from the running ... I am so grateful I get to eat a well balanced diet is all I can say...
However, it seems I am back on top form and back out there....The weather has been brilliant and i'm making the most of it. I am very aware that time is moving very fast and I need to get in a few good long runs before the 27th March...with this kind of weather, it seems I am going to be able to do so.....yay....So far this week I managed to get in a long trot on top of some fast shorter ones. The long one was one of those kind of runs where you start, with a plan...and the plan evolves as you get moving and you end up just going on and on and don't want to stop.....I LOVE those runs...The weather was brilliant, the scenery as always spectacular and I discovered a new pah at the same time...
I really tend to be a creature of habit...I am well and truly horrendous at directions and my one great fear is going on a run and not knowing where I am...I have no sense of north..south...east west...I have landmarks, and here in winter, I get totally disorientated, it all turns a very monotone white and looks the same ;) A few years ago I set out and decided to take a risk...and well I ended up doing a very long run and not really knowing where I was...I discovered a chemical plant in Oulu which I had no idea was there....so yes, because of the climate, I am not keen to run places I am not sure where I am....So I tend to stick to what I know and just keep repeating those routes, its a bit boring, but its safe for a non-directional kinda person like myself..... ;) It seems like such a silly sort of thing, but I panic if I get lost, I once got lost along a hiking trail in South Africa, somehow I had gotten separated between the fast and the slow hikers.... mist was coming down, there were these massive sounding baboons (imagine a horror movie with this lonesome hiker trailing along in the mist and rain and wild creatures screeching all around here, darkness falling....that was me)....the sun was setting fast....It was one of the scariest things I've ever experienced and I know we don't have monkeys or baboons in Finland......but it etched a little fear of nature into my soul shall we say ...I did end up calming down and finding the right path eventually by consulting my map and using the brain cells I have....I also got to sit on a long drop/ loo / poop hole at the top of the mountain and enjoy my evening session with the most glorious view across a gorge, so was worth not getting eaten by the beasts....but that disorientation and fear...well they remain, I have a healthy dose of respect for nature and what it can do to us if we get lost...and I know I tend to always choose the wrong route if I am lost....so for me its safer to go with the familiar...
So its kind of fitting that I discovered a new route which is not on a path I usually run along...Its not far from my usual haunt, but I thought what the heck, its glorious....we cycle along here every summer, and well....just try! Thoughts of mist and baboons were far from my mind.... It was gorgeous....well worth the risk ;)
Well the discovery of this very lovely addition to my running route sort of resembles my life at the moment...new paths are being explored and so many exciting options out there....
This week we put our flat up for sale, its taken us as a family a long time to get to this point....I have been applying to jobs in other cities as its the time of year where jobs in the teaching market become available.....me and my little posse, we are about to embark on a new adventure.....Its fecking terrifying, we have wanted to do it for sooooooo long, but the fear of it has possibly kept us going on the old familiar sort of routes....now there are so many possibilities up in the air....its scary, its exciting and I cant sleep....I have no idea where we will end up....I just know, we've begun and woot woot...I cant wait to see where this one takes us...
I will miss the old and familiar of Oulu, so much I love about this place, as you have seen its beautiful....you have mainly seen the winter beauty in this blog, but to be honest, the summer is equally as magnificent....we have almost 24 hours of light, its so green its gorgeous, the cycling paths are phenomenal....we spend our summer on our bikes and outdoors, some days we really dont want to come inside......The friends that I have made here too, are special....my son was born here, I have been though some really hard times, through some really good times....Its one of my 'homes' now....I'm attached...I in fact think I'm ever so slightly Finnish too ....haha ok well I did say ever so slightly!!!!
I have learnt so much about myself over the past few years, I have been forced to learn patience, to grow up and smell the roses, its not all about me and what I want and that I want it NOW... ...and that can not be a bad thing, but also learning I do count too...... now i'm ready to move on, this time with my 2 lads and begin a new and exciting set of adventures as a family....So yea...new paths...new opportunities...I've no idea where our destination is going to be, but the bus has started its engine shall we say .....YAHOO!
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