Anyone who knows me well understands that I do not know how to sit still. Even last year on an all inclusive break, the most I could manage was 30 mins on a sun lounger followed by the rest of the time taking the kids to the park, walking, swimming and generally doing anything other than lying down.
Having fun with the kids at a theme park, Salou 2013
I just cannot remain immobile for very long; (probably just as well with my sacrolitis) something I have been working through in my therapy sessions lately. My therapist has her hypothesis for why and even has a name for it, I have a sneaking suspicion though that it's down to the way I was raised......
You see both my parents were always on the go, working hard, rushing around after us. If I look back into my childhood, the only times I can recall Mummy and Daddy sat down are the times we went to church. My mum, an aspiring ballerina, gave up everything in her early twenties to put my dad through university and then to have kids and educate us children at home until I was 11. Being too poor to own a car we walked EVERYWHERE, often for miles at a time.
Nanah en pointe, little Brug, Bridgnorth
She had very fixed ideas on what formation we needed to make us "rounded", and at the age of 9 enrolled me and my siblings ( even Jordan) in ballet classes at the Gaston Payne School of Dance when we moved up to Shropshire. (Interestingly, this school is still going, Mia and Ismay had lessons there as toddlers until they decided that they preferred gymnastics.) She would even join in our lessons, and was very good at making sure we did our daily exercises. I firmly believe that it's because of this that I've always had stamina to run long distances.
Having grown up on the Coalbrookdale road as a child and having the run of the (then) fields from Blists Hill (which didn't exist then) to St Michaels in Madeley, and subsequently the idyl of " little Brug" in Bridgnorth, Mummy was adamant that we too should experience the freedoms of living in the countryside. Although moving to the middle of nowhere in Mid Wales and (through no fault of my parents) living in some quite tough conditions, we did spend my teenage years surrounded by fields. My siblings and I would disappear for hours on end, hiking up to Dolforwyn castle, running races down the hills opposite our house and walking two miles to the bus stop to get to the village. It was at this point that having started secondary school I discovered my love for running, and after competing in the North Shropshire schools cross country championships and placing well, Mummy befriended the owner of the local athletics club. Even though we were short of cash and couldn't afford it, ever the resourceful woman, she exchanged reading lessons for his children in order for us kids to train with his club.
From that day to this, she has supported and encouraged us all to get out and do things, to see the world, to look after our bodies. Thanks to her inspiration, I took up running again and this was a huge factor in helping me overcome my health challenges over the last two years.
Last park run before the accident, I achieved my PB here, 23:15 for 5k.
My first (and last race) with Oxford Brookes before my back finally protested.
In August it will be a year since the accident and a year since I have been able to be properly active. These last 11 months I have literally been itching to run, ride a bike and just generally be on the move and have sorely missed the pleasure of running for miles. However, I am grateful that thanks to my mother, her insistence on an active life for us kids has meant that my body was strong enough to stand withdrawal from morphine without any symptoms, to survive two hours of theatre without anesthetic and to have the strength to look after my three young children.
Spikes bought for my birthday by Jason which unfortunately will have to wait a bit longer until they can be used.
And so whilst this holiday I may have exhausted myself from constantly telling Eden off for running and jumping and climbing and have worn myself out some days running around after the kiddies, this morning I have resolved to continue my mother's legacy, to embrace my boy's love of being "on the go" and to bring all my kids up to live active lives.
So thank you Mummy, these photos are dedicated to you xxx
Active kids, Cap d'Agde holiday 2014
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