The Lakes

Before the kids arrived me and R did quite a lot of camping (as long as the weather was nice, fair weather camper, me!). Our favourite place to stay was the Lake District, although The Isle of Skye (and Glen Nevis) comes a close second. Over the years we've probably stayed at most of the campsites in the Lakes and my enjoyment tends to come down to whether it's sunny or not. We also used to do a fair bit of fell/mountain walking. I used to hate the start of the walk, being really grumpy, hungover and chesty after an uncomfortable night in a cold tent; but gradually, as we neared the top, I would feel better (I would also bring up a heck of a lot of phlegm on the way up ;-)) and I'd feel really elated as we finished the walk (the first pint in the pub after you've finished tastes fantastic as well ;-))

Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that last weekend we took Abby (and Oscar) to the Lakes for the first time. We stayed near Grizedale forest in Hawkshead near Windemere. We also took Abby and Oscar on a little walk in Grizedale forest (I carried Oscar in the backpack) and Abby had a play in the wooden play area at the start of Grizerdale trail, a place that's very popular with mountain bikers. We decided rather than take a chance on the weather we would book a place in a Youth Hostel (surprisingly nice, actually more like a cheap hotel with bunk beds) and leave the camping till June/July) Oscar is now crawling all over the place; he's a real handful! And he's put on loads of weight after putting that ill spell behind him. Has some allergies though, nursery rang me up today because he got a rash after eating a casserole with peppers in it.

Time is getting very close now for the Manchester Run, (next Sunday) we've been training 2-3 times a week; R has been running well but has got a massive blister, I've got no blisters but I've been struggling with the running part. This is mainly due to horrendous stomach pains and trapped upper-gut wind that is so painful I have to stop running and try and bring the wind up. I've upped my omeprazole on the days when I run and this seems to be helping, I just wish I had another month or two of training to go and then I could maybe get a reasonable time...