I used to run and quite well at that. My distance was the 200 metres and this is a specialist event. Athletes who excel at this distance rarely do well at either 100 or 400 metres. It is all about the bend because a 200 metre specialist must know how to run the bend well enough to use that momentum to run the home straight. Why am I reflecting on this? Two reasons. The first is that I liken a trip to Glasgow with a 200 metre run. It is important not to charge off the train and use up all your energy in the first hour. One needs to ease oneself off the train and gently introduce oneself to the madness that is Christmas shopping in Glasgow. It soon becomes about the bend though as you hit the middle section and fear that you are not going to make it back to the station. If you run a good bend in the middle section you can use this momentum to get you to the station. My mother and I just about managed that although the walk to the station was so slow you might have thought that we weren't actually moving at all.
We choose the 200 metres rather than the 400 metres because that gets us on the 3.15 ferry home. If we went for the 400 metre option that would mean getting the 6pm sailing and neither my mother or I have the stamina for that distance now.
The other reason for reflecting on my running career is this wee blog. Just when I think Scottish island mum is cruising to a nice round 35,000 page views to end the project it too has used its bend well. All of a sudden the site has leapt back into life just as the end is upon us and we have soared well beyond 36,000 page views. It is a mystery how these things work in life and therefore the interrogation of my 200 metre experience only gets me so far.
We were fortunate with both the weather and the lack of people in Glasgow and managed to get everything done that we intended including a slight diversion to the fabric shop to pick up fabric for the new year collection. I love Glasgow and I love spending time there and the continental Christmas market was a delight. Over recent years Glasgow has reinvented itself and is now a cultural city to rival ones further south. The shops have improved as well and with a brand new Paperchase opened recently I have to drag myself out of the door....
With the shopping behind me I can now truly concentrate on spending time with my lovely family. Molly will be home in a few days and she thinks she is coming home to eat, sleep and study but we have lots of other things planned. She will be making stockings for the animals, decorating a jumper for Save the children and making a Christmas scene along with the rest of us. In exchange we will be on hand to talk to Oystercatchers or whatever we need to do to help with her dissertation. If Molly reads that last bit she will kill me!
Stepping back onto the island after a dash around Glasgow is always a wonderful experience and it reminds me of just why I chose to live here. The lack of people, traffic and noise is immediate and it is a perfect place for me. The odd visit to Glasgow helps a sense of balance but I have successfully manage to shift so much of my work online now that I can live anywhere as long as I can get an Internet connection.
So, now back on the island with my cat lying across my legs it has if Glasgow never existed. Tomorrow is the first day for weeks when I don't have lots that must be done that day. We are all going in Brodick because the boys want to buy their mum some birthday presents while I go for a wander along the beach. That will all be topped off with a lovely coffee somewhere. It is a gentle day and I am thinking that is just what this girl needs.
Until tomorrow. xx
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