Day 150 - Miles 130-136

A whole week since my last entry after what can only be described as a crazy busy week! Work all week, and Friday was the wedding of my lovely friends Kelly and Pete, Saturday working then catching up with friends who had came up for the wedding, and Sunday we went walking!

Joachim had demanded that if he was coming all the way from Cambridge to Yorkshire that he "wanted to see hills, and lots of them, as Cambridge is so flat". So I decided that a walk around Malham would satisfy his needs. Both Jo and his girlfriend Alex stayed at my house on Saturday night, and we headed out early on Sunday to the hills.

Picnic bought and packed into rucksacks, we parked up in Malham to a very strange sight.... Elephants. It seems that there was a Bank Holiday Safari on where they place random animals around the village and kids have to spot them.... all made for a slightly different first impression for Alex and Jo.

We took the stepping stones over the river, along the river's edge and up into the wood that leads to Janet's Foss. Then from their up to Gordale Scar and climbing up the waterfall. I hadn't done this since Uni, and there was a hell of a lot less water this weekend than I had remembered. It was a good job though as we clambered up the rocks feeling a great sense of achievement when we got to the top.

At the top we headed out over the fields to the Tarn where we had a lovely, if very windy, picnic. The water in the Tarn was very choppy, not quite a day for jumping in! Then back down through the valley, over the Limestone pavement, stopping to take in the view and the enormity of it all, before taking the hundreds of steps back down to Malham cove. The bottom of the cove was a lot less dramatic then I have ever seen it due to the good weather we have been having, but you could still see he water appearing from under the rocks.

As the clouds loomed over head we headed back along the valley and into the village seeing more animals, before jumping into the car and taking Jo and Alex to the train station.

An amazing day was had by me, and Jo and Alex seemed to have enjoyed the variety of the day, even if we did nearly get blown away several times. Jo's need for hills was satisfied for a little while at least!

Brilliant pictures here....

Love Iona x
365milesin365days@googlemail.com

Day 143 - Miles 126-129

Race for Life!

It was 27ish degrees yesterday as Trina and myself set off to do the Skipton Race for Life! Unfortunately Helena was poorly so she couldn't run, but she did come, with her boys and my housemate Katy to support us... an have a nice picnic!

The walk up to the event start was really hot, and we had a glimpse at what we were in for. Just walking the half mile or so to the start we were all hot and sweaty already. After finding a shady spot for the picnic, Trina and I were called to do our warm up.

It was great to see so many people out ready for the event. There had been a morning session too, so I think that spread out the numbers. We all en-mass participated in a warm up, all laughing and joking at how ridiculous we all looked!

After a quick trip to the toilets we found out space in the joggers section, and off we went! It was all very quick, no hanging around as I have done at other events. We made out way up the hill towards the house, and into the fields. Even the sheep were running, not in the same direction as us, but it all made for laughs! We were so hot we took on a running downhill and walking uphill strategy, it seemed lots of other people had decided the same too.

We were very glad of the very small parts of the route that went under a bit of shade, and the support of the marshalls. Finally as we came to the top of the last hill, you could see views out to the dales - beautiful.... just what we needed to spur us on, and keep us going 'til the end.

As people passed with their reasons for running, it really makes you think how many people have been touched by and how many people have survived cancer. It was really emotional as we jogged the last little bit and over the finish line with loads of people clapping and cheering, and hearing Helena, Calum and Katy cheering us on!

Sunny pictures here.....

If you have read this, are reading my blog, or just feel like it, all donations are welcome, and thanks to those who have already done so!

Love Iona x

365milesin365days@googlemail.com

Day 141 - Mile 125

Friday was hot!

and what could be better after a hot day at work than diving into a cool pool!!

It was lovely to be heading over to the Aquatics centre after work and before going to a friend's house warming BBQ. The pool was cool and refreshing and reasonably quiet.

Mandi couldn't join me swimming, but she was their in spirit. Last Friday she swam a mile in 37.12 and I wondered how I would fair with no one to push me on. I kept and eye on the time and ended up finishing in 37.45 - must try harder..... :)

The kids training next to me swimming were doing very graceful butterfly lengths as I plodded up and down doing front crawl and breaststroke. I don't know how they do it, I have tried butterfly on several occasions and always end up feeling like I am drowning!

Getting out I felt happy with my time though and headed over to Rob and Nell's for their housewarming BBQ. Lovely to see friends after a few busy days at work.

See the odd set of pictures here...

Love Iona x
365milesin365days@googlemail.com

Day 139 - Miles 122-24

I am currently sat at my cousin's house, baby sitting for Mae, and writing the blog on their iBook. All the keys are in the wrong place and the format of this blogger is all different - hope it turns out ok!

Tonight, I dashed home from work, got changed, collected Trina, jogged, dropped Trina off, went home, showered, got dressed, ate and them dashed over here to Wortley.

Trina and I jogged from our normal turn around bridge to the bridge in Kirkstall. It was nice to see different scenery, Bramley Fall park and the locks. It was harder to have markers to run to, as there isn't much apart from lovely scenery, but as we got closer to the city, you could really see the way the scenery changed. More and more noise and less and less greenery.

There were some lovely view though as we got towards Kirkstall of the Abbey, the river and the trains that kept passing us. I have a lovely picture of the graffiti that was at the bridge in Kirkstall before we turned around.

On the way back there were lots of dandilion "fairies" flying aorund..... I'm not sure if anyone else calls them fairies.... but in my world they are! (maybe this is my mother coming out in me? can't be a bad thing!)

Keep you eye out for fairies,

Love Iona x

p.s. pictures here...

Day 138 - Miles 120-21

After another busy couple of days at work, I had arranged to jog at with Helena on tonight. The sun was shining as I left work, and I felt great!

I say that I had arranged a jog "with Helena", however we just jog "at the same time". Tonight she wanted to do a 3 mile jog and get a quicker time and I wanted to get into the country a bit, not knowing how far it was until I got back.

So as Calum had his bath, we both set off, and I jogged for a long time down Warm Lane (what a nice name). It is all down hill so it was much easier to keep going and get a steady rhythm. I decided to get off the road as soon as their was a foot path and then make my way back to the road when I thought I needed to head home.

I ran though a lovely 'dingly dell' full of bluebells and wild garlic... all the smells and the rich smell of earth was lovely on this.... dare I say it.... summer's evening. There was a few bikers out in the wood, tearing about, so I had to keep running to keep out of their way.

Soon I arrived at the other side on the wood, after winding my way through the trees, and hit the bottom of the road I had taken earlier. Great to know I was back on the right track, but I knew that it was all up hill! I have to say that there was considerably more walking than jogging being done up the hill!

As I arrived at the spot that Helena and I had parted, I could see her finishing off her jog, and we arrived back home at a similar time. Her having down 3 miles, me having done 2. Graeme and Calum were waiting for us with cries of "We'll eat your dinner if you don't come in soon" as we did out stretches. We didn't need much persuading!

Lovely pictures here....

Love Iona x
365milesin365days@googlemail.com

Day 136 - Miles 116-119

Well, after a busy week and weekend at work, I needed to get out and get a bit of exercise and fresh air. As I had a migraine most of the day a jog was out of teh question, so a walk it was. The sun was still shining when I left work on Sunday, so I roped Trina into coming for a walk and a pub dinner.

I had planned the walk to Armscliffe Cragg a couple of weeks ago, to do with friends who needed a pushchair friendly walk, but it never happened, so it was nice to do the walk finally.

We parked in Huby and walked up the hill towards the Cragg, making the most of the fact we were in the countryside and enjoying the sun (and wind!). When we arrived at the Cragg there were still lots of climbers clinging to the rocks, even in the wind.

We had a little climb to the top - what a view! - you can see a 360 panorama of the best Yorkshire has to offer from there! It was wonderful! Definitely blew away the cobwebs.

On the way back down to the road, we made friends with some cows..... lots of pictures here.

What a great way to finish off a really good weekend!

Oh and I tried out my new camera bag - it was perfect, thanks Juli, Nick and Rowena!

Love Iona x

365milesin365days@googlemail.com

Day 130 - Miles 113-115

Trina and I had our jogging date early this week because we ended up having fish and chips after getting very cold doing a car boot yesterday. Obviously fish and chips were just what our cold bodies needed.

My car is having it's MOT so after Trina picked me up we went straight out to the canal.

Damn it is cold..... we seem to be having cold weather again.... and there I was thinking it was nearly summer dress weather! So after putting on as many layers as I could, we jogged. Actually as soon as we started we both got warm quite quickly and jogged, yet again, for further than we did last week. Although my legs ache a bit, they don't ache and much, and I don't have blisters from my trainers - hurrah!

We did a couple of short sprint sessions on the way back to spice things up a bit - made us laugh if nothing else!

Unfortunately, I didn't charge the camera before we went out so there are a few photos here.

Love Iona
365milesin365days@googlemail.com

Day 127 - Mile 112

Mandi and I haven't swam together for a while! Mandi has been religiously going, as she is at the pool due to Louis diving anyway and I have just had such a hectic social life I have been slacking!

I was tasked with counting the lengths, which was good really actually as it meant that I could set the pace. I found it hard to swim after not properly swimming for such a long time, must get to the pool more often. Mandi and I swam a mile and Mandi's daughter Ellie swam..... well I'm not sure how far - maybe 4 lengths!?

With the variety of swimmers at the pool tonight, from the man "paddle steaming" up and down the pool, to the man who seemed to need to use the whole lane to keep going, it was an interesting swim tonight.

I was pleased to be finishing our swim and get up to watch Louis diving. I even managed to get a few sneaky shots! See here!

Not sure what the weekend holds yet, but I hope you have a great time!

Love Iona x
365milesin365days@googlemail.com

Day 126 - Miles 110-11

Due to the speediness of Helena and my still lack of ability to jog continually, I decided to set off before Helena and she could catch me up. Not only did she catch me up, she over took me and got home before me!

It was easier to jog on my own, but not as much fun. It's easier to breathe and keep a rhythm , but no laughing or chatting..... hummmmmm..... maybe I should alternate jogging with people and on my own?

I thought it was worth taking some pictures of the blossom before it all gets blown away, and I really love the STOP, GO pictures that I took.

Take a look here!

Love Iona x

365milesin365days@googlemail.com

Day 125 - Miles 107-109

Trina and I have set up a Wednesday jogging date. As we are running the Race for Life in a few weeks with Helena, we really need to get our jogging up to standard.

As grey clouds loomed tonight we parked the car by the canal and set off. Trina was amazed at how far I was prepared to jog before needing the walking rests that we have. So between us, we picked targets in the distance to run to, pushing each other when we were lagging and we think we probably jogged over half of the 3 miles we did tonight. We jogged for longer distances and jogged back, as well as to the bridge.

There was not as many people out tonight - and to Trina and my disappointment the hot man wasn't jogging tonight. I think this was the only reason Trina had agreed to come jogging tonight. The weather only got worse, with spitting rain for most of our jog. We did pass some fishermen - hardy people I think, and our new fan club - some strange men over the other side of the canal. It keeps us going though and makes us laugh, so it can't be bad!

We did see a beautiful swan on it's nest, right by the canal towpath. Amazing! Some pictures here...not the best set as the camera struggled in the rain, but still worth a look.

Off jogging with Helena again tomorrow...... hope my feet will toughen up soon as these blisters are not fun!

Love Iona x

365milesin365days@googlemail.com

Day 122 - Miles 105-6

"Ooooooh, I do like to be beside the seaside......!

Rowena and I had decided ages ago that we needed to go to the seaside when she came to visit and as everybody says just how lovely Whitby is, we decided that this was probably our best destination.

After a rather adventurous journey up to Whitby, trying to stay as close to the coast as we could, we arrived in Whitby in time for a picnic lunch on the Marina. It was wild and windy, but we stuck it out, like many other people enjoying the Bank holiday weekend.

We walked along the front and down to the beach where we decided that a stroll along the sand was needed. Even though it was cold and very windy, there were still people out walking and playing, but no-one in the water....... we decided that after our dip yesterday, a plunge into the ferocious ocean was not necessary today!

We walked down the beach, peering in rock pools, and back along the promenade, passing the famous beach huts and the cliff lift..... yes you read right, there is a lift from the bottom of the cliff to the top - Amazing! We decided, as we were meant to be getting some miles in, that getting the lift up wold be cheating!

As we reached the top of the steps to the top of the cliff, it started to rain and the brolly kept turning inside out! As we got to the corner by the Whitby Whale bones, we decided that a tea shop was just what we needed to hide from the rain. I had wanted to go to La Rosa, but not knowing quite where it was we just headed for the nearest Tea Room. Low and behold, it was La Rosa! Wonderful!

We were greeted with such loveliness, served amazing tea and scones, in their Mad hatter Tea Room, exploring all the wonderful trinkets, furniture and ornaments that have been collected.
See the photos for today - they are a great set.
We walked back down the back streets to the car and off we went over the moors to home! What a nice weekend Rowena and I have had!

Love Iona x
365milesin365days@googlemail.com

Day 121 - Miles 103-4

One of my bestest friends Rowena is up from London, so we were heading out into the dales today for many reasons.

1) I had an appointment with the Pub to arrange my birthday party
2) Rowena thinks of coming here as her country retreat
3) River swimming has been too long go
4) Helena, Graeme, Calum and Samuel had wanted to join us for a picnic and walk
5) I just LOVE IT!!!!

We headed up to Appletreewick to the Craven Arms pub to meet Mark for menu discussion and to look over the Cruck Barn etc. On the way we had to rescue a lamb that had found it's way out of the field but not back in again. We felt this was necessary as it kept headbutting the gate! Check us out - country rangers!

Helena, Graeme, Calum, and Samuel arrived in time for us to have a walk down to the river and into the woods. The bluebells are out so I had to take some pictures for Mum who loves them! As it was raining a little, we stopped in the woods to have our picnic before moving down river where Rowena and I could have a quick dip in the river, and Calum could play football.

What a lovely, bracing dip we had! Even though the river is quite shallow at this point, there was still quiet a current and I was generally swimming in the same place, unless I really put a sprint on!

Jumping out to the promise of Hot Chocolate and cake, I felt great. I don't know what it is about the river, but it makes your skin so smooth! Quick dry and clothes back on, warming back up on the walk back to the cars, before off to the Buffers Cafe - where they have model railways upstairs. Obviously my favourite part of the day was the river, but Calum's was definitely the sight of hundreds of model trains! Bless him!

To see today's pictures see here!


Hope you have all have a lovely May Day!

Love Iona X
365milesin365days@googlemail.com

p.s. you have no idea how many times I write gogglemail!!!!