Well a good week for donations - we’re up to £450 and we haven’t really gone public yet. So a good start and a big thank you to all the donors to date.
So this is now serious. Not such a good week running wise. I had a break on Monday after the race on Sunday. Then Tuesday and Wednesday I was back and forth to Brussels by train with the inevitable early start and late return. Thursday was a full but enjoyable day of visits with various groups, businesses and organisations in Scarborough. It included a really good exchange with students at the 6th Form College - this is one part of my job I really enjoy. Then Friday I seemed to have a telephone stuck to my ear all day about one thing and another - just no escape. If I tell you the Lindsey Oil Refinery is in my constituency you may begin to understand.
Then at last on Saturday I was able to get out. I head down hill out of my village to the bank of the Humber estuary. It is cold,as there is a direct east wind blowing straight up the estuary but it is gloriously bright with sunshine. This is what I love about running; to be able to think about anything or nothing for a couple hours. Even though my mobile is in my pocket, it’s just a personal one for outgoing calls in case I get into some kind of trouble. I then head up away from the waterside and across the Humber Bridge; quite something to have this amazing structure as a regular feature of your run. It is also relatively flat and the surface is good, so sometimes I can go quite fast, but not in this east wind. The few people out on bikes look really precarious, indeed on the way back I almost manage to keep up with one guy on his bike who is having a real struggle, but eventually he escapes me. Then I head homeward along the road to finish with the really long steep hill to the house. That’s it! I been out for two and a half hours; not particularly fast but I feel much better. At least I know I am up for two and half hours running - now just have to be prepared for almost double that!
Sunday no chance to do any running. I have to go down to the Lindsey Refinery to do a TV interview. It is freezing cold but I also get the chance to talk to some of the union guys who are also being interviewed. They seem very genuine; there is no doubt that there in something that needs properly investigating about this wretched contract.
So that’s it. No more running this week and every chance of snow now, but then I’m off to Strasbourg early Monday morning for our parliamentary session week. The only running in prospect is from one terminal to another at Amsterdam to make my ultra short flight connection!
Diana Wallis
PLEASE SPONSOR DIANA IN THE LONDON MARATHON:
www.justgiving.com/dianawallisendowerf
Tags: diana wallis, endometriosis, european parliament, london marathon, werf, world endometriosis research foundation