A year without buying clothes (April 1 2020)

Little did I know that when I used the word 'stockpiling' in February's post that along with 'unprecedented' they would become the words of 2020

I ran the Meadows Half Marathon at the end of February and received my first race t-shirt of the year. Turns out it could be the last for a while...
However, the plan was to give them to charity or a good cause, but I think Susan has eyes on it!

Prior to the week we commenced lockdown Susan and I were scheduled to have a week in Madeira. This got cancelled (thankfully!) two days before we were due to fly out. So instead we had a week in a camper van travelling around Scotland, and I took the same clothes I had packed for the sun. I made sure that all of the clothes I had hadn't been worn for a wee while, it was good to give them an 'airing'

This is maybe the first time in my (almost) adult life that I haven't bought something new for going on holiday!

So we're now in lockdown and I'm using this time as an opportunity to further explore all of my clothes, I'd encourage you to do the same, dig into the back of a cupboard or the bottom of a drawer to find that old gem you used to love wearing, and let it back loose into the world!

My Facebook memory today threw up this image from Pitlochry 7 years ago...

I took the time today to dig that same t-shirt out, the logo? (if you know you know!)

#wedontneednewstuff #lovetheclothesyouhave

Meadows Half Marathon Race Report

Seemed like a good idea to leave Perth at 10:45, drop Susan off at Portobello and then drive into the Meadows in Edinburgh for registration, which closed at 12:45

Cue roadworks in Edinburgh, me getting to registration at 12:44 and then having to find a parking space and get dressed for the run which began at 13:15 !

After finding a parking space and a quick bite to eat (banana) I got changed and at 13:05 made my way to the start, make that in 10 minutes...surely?

Turns out I'd underestimated the time to get to the start and had to sprint (for me) to get there in time for the race start. When I say in time, as I turned the corner with 200 metres still to get to the start, I heard the person on the microphone go "10, 9, 8..." I was last over the start line, but as Yazz sang about, the only way is up...baby!

The Meadows Half Marathon is 9 x 1.35 mile loops of the Meadows park area, there is also a full marathon version as well as a 5k and 10k.

All of the events go of at different times, which means the park is nearly always busy with runners. The people in the Meadows just for an afternoon stroll were very encouraging, and the marshals were awesome, I made sure I said thank you to each and every one.

My objectives for this event were to:
A) Finish
B) Finish pain free-ish

Both objectives were achieved in a time of 2:04:33, delighted with that, considering it's been a few weeks since I've done any serious running due to injury. 
I wanted to simply get round, manage the sore leg and any pain that may occur, and I'm proud to say I managed that perfectly.

Check out the calorie burn...

Storm Jorge was present in full force and on one stretch of the park the wind was blowing across the runners and I seen some runners being blown off the path and onto the grass.

I made it my mission after two loops to take over at least five of the other half marathoners on each remaining lap. I finished in position 158 out of 249 finishers.

Big shout out to all marshals, volunteers and organisers. Oh and a massive thank you to the lady with the green pom-poms and massive smile encouraging everyone on, it means a helluva lot!

This is all part of my build up for the London Marathon which I'm running to raise awareness and funds for Rooprai Spinal Trust

Donate to my marathon fundraiser and #makeadifference

A year without buying clothes...

After reading an article about not buying any new clothing for a whole year, I decided I would take part myself and see if I could go through 2020 without purchasing any new clobber!

Today is February 29, and I'm pleased to say I haven't made a single purchase of clothing this year...thus far.

I've noticed that some of my work shirts are looking a wee bit past their best, so I'm digging a bit deeper into the cupboard to find some shirts that have been lurking in there for years, some of them have never been worn. If any of my PKC colleagues notice a shirt is looking a bit sorry for itself (and me) please let me know, I won't be offended.

And that's my point, how many of us just use the top layer of t-shirts or jerseys, or the first thing that comes to hand? I start at the back of the cupboard now, and have been amazed at what I've found.

My big thing is t-shirts, I have around 200, (yes 200 !) and that's probably enough to last me for the rest of my life (I'm 54 years old). Today I'm going to sort them out and bring some of the items I've never laid eyes on for years to the top and start wearing them, If they don't fit, I'll recycle them.

My point of this post? Have a wee think about how you use clothes, do you think about it? Or are you doing just like I did, just keep buying them, and stockpiling?