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Life Lately September 2020

Sep 17, 2020 | Lifestyle | 7 comments

I feel like its been a while since I’ve done a more personal post, and whilst I psych myself up for a mega post in the next few weeks, I’d thought I’d check in to share what I’ve been up to recently and catch up as if we were old mates having a coffee or Pumpkin Spiced Latte…(when they finally make it to Starbucks UK). I actually found one in Portugal to have my first of the season this morning.

Life Lately September 2020

Life Lately September 2020

Travelling

But I feel so grateful to have managed to have some time off and come to Portugal (my in-laws have a place out here) for 10 days. Unfortunately, the UK travel corridor changed while we were here. So we’ll have to quarantine for 14 days when we get back which is obviously not ideal. I’ll be doing a mixture of ‘working from home’ and taking annual leave/overtime to make up the days when I get back.

Back in August, I also managed a long weekend in Stavanger, Norway – you can read about our weekend here, and our epic hike to Pulpit Rock here. With travel corridors with the UK changing so quickly, it’s hard to make plans for the next few months. But I do hope that there will be some trips and some UK mini breaks before the end of 2020.

WORK

I know this is such a high stress time for everyone. We’ve been holding our breath for months to see if Tom (my husband) was keeping his pilot job. We’re very lucky that he is safe, for now, albeit with pay cuts.

I am incredibly grateful for my full time job as a dietitian for the NHS. (I could rest in peace that my job was pretty safe throughout this period!) Workloads have massively picked up at work which has coincided with a lot less time to work on my blog. I have to admit, when COVID patient levels where high, I couldn’t even concentrate on watching any serious TV when I got home because it felt like ‘too much’. I don’t have that excuse right now but I am loving ‘Selling Sunset’.

Last night I shared on my IG stories about sponsored posts, and was really interested to see the results on the polls. Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer and send a thoughtful comment (I’ve certainly taken on board a lot of the feedback and will use that for future partnerships!).

It looks like around 40% of you don’t read a post if it starts with ‘AD’ whilst 65% said they aren’t put off reading a post that is marked as a ‘paid partnership’.

Most of you were super clear that you don’t mind sponsored posts as long as they are clearly marked as such (which I am in total agreement with, the UK law states this has to be obvious to the reader however laws are not the same in the US as far as I’m aware). A number of you messaged me to say that as long as the brand aligns with the overall theme of the IG account and that there aren’t too many #AD posts then you’re happy for those you follow to keep posting them!

I posted this partnership with London Marathon sponsor Flora yesterday, which got me thinking of the topic. With things quietening down between April – August, I’m thankful that brands that I love and feel like align well with my own interests, are reaching out to partner to share fun challenges, new products and stories!

Recent Reads

My bookshelf has been overflowing with books I’ve bought or been lent by friends and family. So I’ve been grateful of some pool time to catch up on reading. I was going to write a whole post based with full reviews. But to be honest, I’m not sure I’ll fully get round to that. So here’s a brief round up. These books were all included in my 100 Book Recommendations for Lockdown and came with high praise.

  • How to Fail – a non-fiction by Elizabeth Day expanding on her hit podcast
  • The Flatshare – brilliant easy-read Rom Com style book (lots of you messaged me on IG to say you loved this!)
  • The Language of Kindness – a Nurse’s Story – a sad, happy eyeopening book that gives me even more grateful for the amazing nurses I work with
  • Everything I Never Told You – (not quite finished) but really enjoying this tearjerker by the author of ‘Little Fires Everywhere’

Life Lately September 2020

Running

There’s not much to update on the running front…other than I’m not running a huge amount. I’m finding it all super hard. All of my runs for the last two weeks have been 4 mins run/1 min walk.

I spoke to my coach, Ash and we’ve decided that we’re just going to focus on consistency for the next four weeks. 5 runs, 20-30 mins each just to get my body (and mind) used to running regularly again. I thought that might mean all just super easy miles. But Ash explained that we’re going to throw in some strides and some short bursts of speed into runs. To keep my legs ticking over and to make sure my legs remember that I can run faster than my current easy pace. I can take walk breaks or even pause my watch if I need because this is not actually about pace. It’s about time and routine and starting to feel more like my old self again.

If you follow Ash you know that she is all about the positivity. So speaking to her always makes me feel better! She told me about her IG handle being ‘a happy pace’. Because sometimes you need to just be happy with whatever pace you have that day, with whatever pace makes you feel good!

 

7 Comments

  1. katie

    I like these type of life update posts. What do you mean by “psych yourself up to do a mega post?”.

    Reply
    • charlotte

      Haha more just that it’ll be a long one 🙂

      Reply
  2. Corey

    It always makes me feel better when I read a blog from a person, friend and fellow runner that is so honest. I’m about ready to start blogging again and talk about where I’ve been for the last year but when I started run-training a few weeks ago, I wasn’t even sure I could do it again. Running 2 slow miles felt horrible. But I got back w/my coach and now tomorrow I’ll do my longest run since the “appendix incident” last year – 6 miles. Everyday I remember why I love running…but the beginning few weeks was really making me doubt myself. As always, you continue to inspire and encourage me Charlie ?

    Reply
    • charlotte

      aww thanks lovely! Right back at you esp running in that Florida heat – can’t wait to come visit again x

      Reply
  3. Tammela

    I like the idea of a “happy pace”!

    Reply
  4. The Yoga Institute

    Good that you keep sharing your journey. It keeps us inspired and motivated to be high on life. Keep sharing!

    Reply

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