Thank you/ Gracias/ Merci/ Danke/ Shukran... I've run out

Well, hello there.

Tomorrow is the big day. Not the biggest day ever. But a big one still.

I can't believe it has finally come. After 6 months of training, running in rain, snow and sunshine, training with friends, then running solo and of course, dealing with crazy wiggly hips; I finally get to run the race I've been dreaming of running for years!

Yesterday, I got all my kit together, sorted out my train schedule to get to Greenwich and of course, tried on my racing outfit. So if you're in London, or maybe watching at home... keep your eyes peeled:

We had a mini photo shoot in the garden, my absolute favourite moment when Alex (chief photographer) tells me to- ' do the leg pop... it works.' * 

But, before I leave you readers until after the Marathon, I just wanted to say a few thank yous.

Prepare yourself for (the best christmas party ever)** some sop...

1. My Ma and Pa. Wow, I love my parents. You are such a great model of how parents should be. You challenge me, inspire me, support me and love me. From your generous giving to Amnesty, through to how brilliant you are Ma-getting me energy gels and lucozade, sending me sports bras (an annoying necessity for any girl taking up running)  and coming cycling with me as I ran my 22 miles. THANK YOU Mama and Paps.

2. Boyd and Alex. Aka- The best brothers a sister could have. Your generous donations, encouragements and coming up to support me on the day mean so much. You know just how to lift my spirits and I can't stop myself laughing whenever we hang out. You're the best, danka.

3. Aunties, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents. (The Kimbers and The Gwyther Clan). You are brilliant. Thank you for being constant. Always encouraging and loving as ever.

4. The "Dubliners". Our whatsapp sessions make me laugh so much, you girls are such an incredible support and bring me so much JOY. Can't wait until 9th August when we shall hopefully all be reunited again, Nina, Jess, Beks, Gem and Inz- BIG LOVE to you.

5. Pastorate/ St. Aldates friends. Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragements and hilarity. I love spending time with you, and getting to know y'all especially in pastorate. I have a lot of love for pastorate.

6.Worcester peeps. You are wonderful. Thanks to the JCR for such a kind donation, for everyone who bought fudge and cookies, for people in every year who have supported me and of course Zara for training for and running the half marathon with me!

7. Geography friends. Thank you for the donations, encouragements, snapchats (Katy they have made my day) and motivational texts. You are wonderful!

8. St. Andrews friends/family. (Pillow/Saz , Charlotte, Conners, Ranald and Judith, Simon and Janet, Geoff and Elaine, Jenny, Diana and Alison) Thank you for your support, whether emotionally, financially or lovely messages through mum, I am incredibly humbled by all of your kindness.

So, here goes.... AND a few extras which my wonderful friend Charli has challenged me to do... these are my top 3:

1. Make friends with/ have a photo with someone dressed as a power ranger.
2. Use the foil wrap as a cape and get other people to join in.
3. 'Accidentally' touch someone's bum as you jog past them. Cheeky! but hey, no regrets...***

Me and my brothers love this video, and have spent the day dancing to this. whatever you're doing, be inspired, appreciate today and shake it out. Go on.

* Rockin the 'oh so sexy pink compression socks' for my tendonitis...

**To get the reference you need to watch: Bane outtakes

***Let's hope it's some hot celeb.

Change

I avoid it as much as I possibly can. Surely most people do right? We get into small routines, like brushing our teeth twice a day, having a cup of tea at breakfast, walking the dog. And when something comes along, like you drop your toothbrush in the toilet and you can't brush your teeth that morning or someone uses up the last of the milk and you have to have black tea (nightmare), it freaks us out.

I am someone who used to actively resist change. I absolutely dreaded it. Despite uprooting twice to Venezuela and Egypt, starting new schools and joining new communities I still disliked change and not having a 'normal' routine. 

One year, when we had to change the clocks forward or backwards (I can't remember which), I left my clock at the wrong time, and lived for a year, always remembering I was reading the time an hour late- so rebellious. 

But I started to realise, that without change, and embracing new things, I was living in the past (literally). Change happens all the time. And yes, it is sad when change means that you have to let go. Move away from friendships or relationships and focus your time on new things. 

Yet at the same time, change is exciting, it opens up opportunities for growth. 

New friendships, new passions, new experiences.

Change isn't always bad*.

When I was 15, I started running because I wanted to get in shape. I, like many girls that age, was ever conscious about my body shape, the way that I looked and what other people thought when they saw me. My goodness, the amount of time that teenage girls can spend focusing on this, is ridiculous!  

However, as I've grown older and running has become more of a passion of mine, my perspective has changed. Yes, I still want to be healthy, but the way that I view myself and others has changed.

Gone are the constant thoughts about what people think of the way I look. I finally found that striving to fit the image of what is 'pleasing to the eye' is tiring, stressful and frankly a waste of time. 

The way I see and value people is completely irrespective of their appearance. It catches me off guard when people say- 'did you see what he/she was wearing?' because I never really think about it. Sometimes I notice if someone is wearing something particularly cool or beautiful, but if I'm honest even that is rare. 

My body has changed whilst I have prepared for the marathon, I have gained weight, and lost weight. I have bigger thighs and now have strange little bicep muscles. I even got a hair cut.

A recent comment from one of my good friends really caught me off-guard, 'you can definitely tell you've been training, I mean check out your butt.'** 

I have changed

Don't get me wrong, I still sometimes have little niggles about my body shape or about what to wear each morning. But it doesn't consume me. The way I look certainly doesn't define me. 

Appearance doesn't determine the relationships that I have. I cannot account for how other people view me, but I hope that it goes beyond the surface of how tall I am, whether I have make-up on or what size jeans I'm wearing. 

My perspective, my body and even my mind has changed. Running such a long distance and training for so long, has definitely made me more determined, made me appreciative of having a healthy, functioning body and incredibly grateful for all of the support from family and friends. I know myself more. Hours of running by yourself means you can't really distract yourself from yourself (if that makes any sense).

So change, however scary it may seem at first, can be good.

Reinvigorating.

Liberating. 

Needed.

Maybe we just need to loosen the death grip we can have on things that make us comfortable, and start to go with the flow a bit more. That sounds uber hippie, sorry, but you get the sentiment!

Running update:

• After a few light runs last week, I decided on doing a 6 mile run on the treadmill in the gym. I watched 'Run, fat boy, run' which was hilarious. BUT, managed to somehow pull a muscle in my left leg, so I have spent the weekend and today resting it. It should hopefully be fine soon though!
• This has meant I have hardly left the house and am starting to feel a bit like a recluse. With Alex, and my parents all away at the weekend, I have been reading for my dissertation, watching the Masters and putting my feet up. Being barely active is driving me crazy, so this week I will hopefully manage to do some cycling/walking/cross trainer-ing! 
• Just under a week to go, thank you so much for the donations so far I am so grateful!!! If you haven't donated and would like to, here is my justgiving page: www.justgiving.com/jennygwyther

*My friend Will posted this on Susie's facebook wall, had to share it, it's amazing!

**If you know me well, you'd appreciate this would normally make me go red and feel really uncomfortable, but she's one of my oldest friends so I let it slide... #stillblushed. 

I don't wanna wait

In just under 2 weeks time, I'll be running the London Marathon - jeepers!

Check out what came in the post:

To say I'm excited is an understatement. I completely cannot wait and as the days draw nearer and all I have planned is finishing off bits of work before uni, going for 'light' runs and walking the dog, it's safe to say that I'm getting a bit impatient.

Patience has never been my strong point. I remember when I was turning 6. We had just arrived back in the UK after living in Venezuela and I could not wait for it to be my birthday. I was sharing a hotel room in Chorleywood with my mum and woke up every hour from 10pm til 5 am, waiting to get that 'birthday feeling' which I thought you were meant to feel when you turned 6. Poor Mama G!

Being patient is a hard thing when you get excited by so much, and thinking about the future is no different. A few years ago I watched a film called The Bucket List, if you haven't seen it, it's really good, definitely watch it! Anyway, the film (as you can probably guess) is about two men going through a list of certain things that they want to do before they 'kick the bucket.' And ever since I watched the film, I've been making a list of my own, adding to it different challenges, hopes and dreams that I have for my life. And for your eyes only, here are some of them (I'll let you take a guess which ones I've actually done):

Learn to surf, snowboard and water ski

Have a handicap of less than 36

Drive across America and see the Grand Canyon

Experience life on a farm

Volunteer with something I'm really passionate about

Do a ski season

Build an igloo.

Travel (Australia, Chile, Vietnam and Madagascar)

Write a blog

Perform at an open mic night

Be a bridesmaid

Have my first kiss (had to include a cringey one)

Go to Cadbury World

Cook Christmas Dinner

Climb a mountain

Sky dive

and of course... run the London Marathon.

There are a few (quite a few) more things on my list, but they get quite cheesy so I'll leave those hidden, safely at home. I guess the issue is, there are so many exciting things to do in life, I just want to do them all now! This song has pretty much summed up my week, as well as made me want to watch Dawson's Creek again...

I was catching up late last night with one of my close friends from home about life, uni and, yep of course, boys (oh typical girl chat).

With both of us having never been in a relationship before we were laughing at how impatient we've been in the past to be in one. We concluded that the time we've spent being single has instead been quite a blessing. Now with the different people/boys that are in our lives we encouraged one another to be patient, to know that whatever is in store for us, will happen when (and if) it happens. And that's not always an easy thing to let sit. In some respects I prefer my brother's advice when it comes to boys 'Basically, just go up to him and kiss him. See what happens.'

Let's be honest. I would never do that. For one thing I am significantly shorter than said boy (or any boy really) and would probably nail my face in his chest, get a nosebleed, and then feel uber awkward. 

But back to the point, it is said that patience is a virtue, and I understand that, I do. You learn a lot when you have to wait for something. 

It is in the waiting that we can appreciate truly what we are waiting for. 

That doesn't make it easy though. And I'm realising that it's ok to feel frustrated sometimes. That's better than indifference. There is a prayer that is written on the front of my bible my mum gave me when I was baptised:

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Whatever you believe, I think the sentiment is the same. For most of the things in our lives, we have the opportunity to make things happen. Most of the items on our bucket lists are achievable. There may be an issue of money, time and goodness knows what which makes it challenging to make those dreams come true. But they are possible. My friend Con always tells me that I'm someone who likes to live life on the front foot. And it's true I like to get things going, experience all I can out of life, push myself to try new things, do things that scare me. I can't fathom a life where I concede to letting it just get 'boring'. 

BUT at the same time, there are things I cannot change. I cannot speed up time and right now, I'm a student, I don't have millions of pounds to my name. So I have to, we have to, learn to be ok with that. Hopefully I'm not going to become Drew Barrymore in 'Never been kissed,' but even if I am, unless I decide a complete personality change then I have to learn to be ok with that.

So after all that, the marathon is only 13 days away (I know I need to get a grip), until then I'll keep training (tapering down) and trying to relax.

Running Update:

• I ran 22 miles last Monday which was great, though pretty tiring! Since then I've limited my runs to only 5-8 miles each which has been good to 'taper down' and relax my legs.
• The next couple of weeks will include a visit to physio to get some more hip exercises (they keep giving me grief) and chilling out-lush!
• Thank you so much to all who have donated, I am so nearly at my fundraising target. If you have any spare change or anything at all you would like to donate then you can do so here: www.justgiving.com/jennygwyther

Hope y'all have a lovely week Xx

For all the geographers out there.

Oh you do Geography?! ... rrriight... how's the colouring in? 

If I had 10p for every time I've had this reply after saying I study Geography, let's just say I would probably be able to buy myself 5 extended packs of Crayolas and a compass. The funny thing is, before getting to Uni I never realised that there was even a joke about 'geographers colouring in' for their degree. Fresher's week was a whole other level.

Geography is hard to define, it basically includes everything you can name, with just adding 'the geography of....' to it. E.g. "The geography of dust". Yep, that is an actual thing. (who knew, ay?)

I realise that's not the best description I could give you, and believe me I sometimes have no idea what I'm doing for my degree. For my extended essay I somehow managed to end up reading articles about the issues of squishy carrots. (which for your information, there appears to be lots)

 Anyway, although geography is largely considered boring and confusing, I want to make a bit of a bold statement, here we go:

GEOGRAPHY IS FLIPPING FUN.

Yep, you saw that right. And yes I realise that is a completely nerdy thing to say. 

What am I chatting about? 

Well, last week I was in Tenerife. With 40 other geographers, walking through stunning scenery, going to the beach, having Sangria, swimming in the pool, running along the beach in the mornings and getting to know a great bunch of people all in the name of a "geography field trip." I started to realise that geographers have it good. 

So today I am thankful for a week in the sun and a chance to get to know some hilarious, kind and wonderful people. Here are a few pics:

On another note, tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I love Easter, and tomorrow is made extra special by the fact that all my family are home, my grandparents have come to visit and I'm looking forward to a going back to my home church and really being back in Chorleywood.

Running Update:

• I managed five 3 mile runs whilst out in Tenerife which was great, though a bit hot! 
• Monday I am doing my last long run which will be about 21 miles around Virginia Water, then I start to taper off the running.
• Healthy eating starts again now, so after my Easter egg, no more chocolate until the marathon-drastic I know, but it's a good challenge I think!

As always, thank you for any donations, really not far off the target now! My justgiving page is here: www.justgiving.com/jennygwyther

Hope you have a lovely Easter! Xx

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom - Marcel Proust

Last week the Hunger Games was on Netflix, which if you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend it! For some reason, I have this thing where I like to watch the film first and then read the book. I know, I know that's completely the wrong order, no idea what's wrong with me (don't answer that). But in my defence, 99.9% of the time, the book is better than the film, surely your experience of the story only gets better! 

So naturally, after I'd watched it with my friend Tim, I read the Hunger Games trilogy. Phoa, it was a good read. Although, I completely think it ended wrong and that Katniss is flipping annoying and needs to develop some kind of emotional response which doesn't involve kissing people all the time, jeez woman.

Anyway, more to the point, in all of the books, a current theme is how Katniss would do anything to save her family, friends and two boys she's cares deeply about/is stringing along. And in that respect I can agree with Katniss. As I've written before, I'm pretty big on the whole relationships front and how important my family and close friends are to me.

This past week and a half, I've really been reminded about being grateful for them as well as the other things that I am blessed to have. In the light of that, here's another 'ten things to be thankful for' post.

1. My parents.

Last Friday. It was the end of term and I decided to do one last run around Oxford. A long run. 17 miles to be precise. And yay, I managed it fine. The only hiccup being that I did not take enough food or water to run constantly for 3 hours. Mistake. Cue 10 minutes after the run, my body starts going cold, shaky and I'm exhausted. I feel sick and very strange. Classic course of action, I ring mum (or Mama G as she is more commonly known) and she makes sure I eat something and drink food. By this time it's about 6.30pm on a Friday evening. An hour later, Mum and Dad arrive in Oxford, bringing a duvet to warm me up in, food, hot coffee and drive me home. They are amazing and incredible. Thank you!

2. Tearfund Emerging Influencers

Inspiring lot who I am so pleased to have met and share dreams and plans with. Lovely to see you on Sunday!

3. Oxford/Aldates lot. 

Monday evening saw me back in Oxford celebrating Aidan's birthday with a great group of people. Park end/ Lava, whichever you want to call it, was hilarious, let's do it again sometime.

4. Viva Forever.

It's not really a massive thing that I talk about, but I LOVE the Spice Girls and was a huge fan (wasn't everyone?) growing up. Mum took me to see Viva Forever on Tuesday evening. Absolutely amazing, we stood up and danced in the theatre at the end. 

Live the dream. 

5. The Dubliners/girls and home friends.

 The 'girls' and our Whatsapp group, hilarious skype sessions and Gem and Beks popping over tonight to say goodbye before I head to Tenerife. They're all wonderful, incredibly kind and always make me laugh. 

6. Justin Timberlake. I just love him.

7. The girls from Oxford I'm 'dating'/ going steady? I feel like this analogy has gone too far....

Anyway, lovely friends like Susie, Kellie, Charli etc etc. who send me funny pictures and texts, who are incredibly welcoming, we are uncannily similar and my goodness they know how to make me laugh.

8.  Eggs. They are so versatile and needed for all the dishes I'm attempting to learn this Easter. At the moment I'm attempting to perfect simple egg dishes. I've got scrambled and fried down, I'm working on poached.

9. Baths. I've never normally been a bath person, when you lay down and the sound of bubbles fizzing near your ears makes me shiver, it's such a strange sensation. Still, having had some sore leg muscles recently I've had a couple of awesome baths and am coming round to them being a 'thing' that I may get into.

10. Pinterest. I know, I've mentioned it before. I still love it and here's some more funny pics.

Running update:
Other than the 17 mile run on Friday, I did an 11 mile run on Tuesday morning and then a 3 mile run today. Tomorrow, I'm off to Tenerife on a geography fieldtrip for the week, but hopefully I shall be able to do some running over there. Not long before the Marathon countdown begins!!

Have a great week Xx

What's your inner pasta?

Imagine this...

It's a Friday night, you're about 8 years old. You've had dinner and practiced your spelling test words with Mum. You've counted up your change so that you have enough money to buy some jelly tots and a curly wurly when you head down to the newsagents with Dad the next morning. You're feeling pretty content because it's the weekend, and that's two whole days away from school. Next week you might even have a 'Mufti' day (best thing ever).

The family sit down in the lounge, you get the best position in the corner on the sofa. You may or may not have a hot chocolate- lets be honest, you probably will. The TV is switched on, and boom, that familiar intro busts out from the speakers. You all know it people, well unless you've been hiding under a rock since 1994 (Gutting).

 That's right:

Friends was the show to watch growing up. And what I love about it, is not just how funny all the characters are, but how wonderfully weird each of them are. 

See, I've recently started to realise and accept just how strange I am. 

What does that mean? Well, there are different things which I do or like, which apparently aren't normal... For instance:

I love the colour lime green, almost too much. 

My favourite number is 22, I despise the numbers 59 and 97- even writing them feels wrong.

I think in another life I would have braided hair, have awesome attitude and be called Shaniqua (or Shanay-nay). 

My favourite word at the moment is 'sassy' sometimes when I'm in a different mood it's 'edgy'.

I regularly think about what it would be like to have an afro and what I would keep in my hair if I did (pencils and lip balm are the most frequent choice).

I get freaked out by wrists, cows and geese. 

Pigeons seem to have a frequent habit of flying into my face (once when I was riding my bike to rowing, that was horrific). 

Every time I walk down a street I will go out of my way to not step on any cracks in the pavement.

I sometimes (pretty much always) in life, imagine I'm in a film, and what music would be playing in the background. Currently Norah Jones, Blink-182 and Journey are creating good soundtracks.

I have recently joked with my friends about forming an a cappella group like in Pitch Perfect, I'm actually being serious... 

I used to get really embarrassed by things, how awkward it is when you mess up big time and someone discovers you're a little bit insane. I always thought that I'd stop being embarrassed about things when I had kids, surely after childbirth and messy toddlers you just don't care anymore about what people think of you. But, then I realised that, that's a while away. 

Flipping Nora! I have to get over myself. I am weird, in a sense we're all a little bit odd (at least that's what I hold on to). And, you know what, I am ok with that.

A while ago my friend sent me this card, which I love:

Whatever pasta you are, you have to embrace it. The more that I have, the more I've realised just how fun it is. What's more, chances are, most of your friends are pretty crazy too. 

Before I came to uni, my friend Lam told me that I had to make sure I kept a filter on things I did and said before people got freaked out. Harsh, but fair. Yet, I think there comes a freedom with letting it all out. Even if you end up in awkward situations laughing at yourself, it's way more fun, believe me. If not, text me, I'll probably laugh at you too.

Have a delightful weekend my friends! 

Running Update

Last Sunday, Zara and I ran the Silverstone Half Marathon. We managed it in 2 hours 14 mins, which I am so proud of! 

When we lined up to start, it was pretty nerve-wracking, not only because we were about to run the furthest we've ever run, but also due to the fact that there were so many people who we'd have to dodge and weave around throughout the run. In other words, you're not just running a marathon, you're also battling an obstacle course of people in shark costumes, pushing prams (?!) and the one man who decided to run in just a pair of pink pants...

It was brilliant to run it together, I really enjoyed it, but sadly now it means I have to go it alone for the rest of the training over Easter- sad times.

Today I'm going for a 15 mile run. Hopefully Oxford will be kind to me!

6 weeks to go-Ah! Thank you for your donations: www.justgiving.com/jennygwyther

Bring it on

You know those weeks when everything that could possibly goes wrong, goes wrong? 

This week started off as one of those weeks. I wasn't sleeping, I hadn't managed to get out running as much as I wanted to and every deadline I had tapped me on the shoulder just to say hello. Bun deadlines.

All in all, I felt pretty pants.

What I normally do in this case, is shut myself off. Attempt a happy exterior whilst on the inside I'm an utter mess.

So exhausted, tired and in need of some home comforts, I headed to Essex to see my grandparents on Sunday. As it turned out, this was exactly what I needed. Afterwards, back in Chorleywood, I managed chat with my some of my closest girl friends. I am so thankful to both my family and friends, who know me incredibly well, can bring wise words to each situation and are just brilliant support. 

What a difference perspective makes!

Yet, coming back to Oxford, all my problems have not vanished. I still have lots to think about, make decisions about and process. But, I am assured that it is in the hard times that we are refined. We may be brought to the brink of our abilities, emotional capacities and patience, but I believe we always come out stronger in the times when we feel most weak.

You are stronger than you think.

Especially when things are getting a bit too much, it can often be hard to not feel isolated or lonely. Loneliness is something which has sometimes scared me. I know there are and will be times when I am alone in a given situation or period of time. But, rather than choose to dwell on what is missing, or rather, who is missing from our lives.

I wonder if it is time to turn around that view point? Focus on being the person that shows other people what they're missing. This doesn't mean you have to be happy and cheery all the time, but try and find the good in situations, laugh at how ridiculously messy life can be. At least, that's what I aspire to do. 

Every time I've walked through town this week I've listened to this

...and silently sung along. I may have looked totally cray, but believe me it makes you feel awesome!!!*

On a more practical level, if you just need something uplifting, head to pinterest and search through the humour section, these are my favourite:

Apologies to the other people in the Rad Cam who had to work whilst I chuckled to myself, clearly 'essay writing.'

Tomorrow Zara and I are running the Silverstone Half-marathon. I have been trying not think about it the whole week, but having carb-loaded like mental today, I'm actually pretty excited for it. And yep it is possible to eat too much pasta, feeling like the pillsbury dough man, but instead of poking my belly and me laughing, things would look a little different #stuffed #michelin(wo)man.

Crazy it seems after the week it's been, I feel assured, joyful and strong.

So, 13.1 miles- hit me with your best shot**

Have a great weekend friends!xx

Over half way on the fundraising, thank you so much to all who have donated. For anyone who wants to donate you do so here: www.justgiving.com/jennygwyther

*Before you say it, I know the song is talking about a broken relationship, and yes Kelly Clarkson has done better songs, but overlook that and focus on belting out the chorus-way to make you feel empowered...oh my poor flatmates.

**Check out Rock of Ages, it is brilliant! Me and my Pa absolutely love it!

...Actually, in that case, probably don't, we're not known for our good taste in films...