Tiptoeing into 2025

Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who’s reached out and said lovely things about my last newsletter - it was hard to write something so vulnerable but it’s also been really gratifying to know it’s resonated with people. I know every person and their dog has a newsletter/substack at the moment so thanks for spending time with mine!

On New Year’s Eve I was feeling really nervous about this year - mostly on the basis that I’m 40 this year and when I turned 30 a decade ago lots of things in my life went to shit. I realise this is somewhat melodramatic but I then spent the first week of the year with a raging infection in my tooth so maybe I’m right to be worried!

As a result, I’m mostly going to be channeling that meme about walking into 2025 very carefully, trying not to break things. I do however have ambitions to write a newsletter every month so let’s see how that goes...

Things I loved in 2024

On the basis that no-one wants to hear about my dental travails, I thought I’d write this month about some of the things that made my life good over the last year or so. In a time when the world is (often literally) on fire, it feels really important to celebrate the good stuff.

Triathlon

2024 really reignited my love of triathlon which was something I honestly wasn’t expecting. After a long stretch of virtually no triathlon racing due to both the pandemic and being repeatedly injured, I signed up for a half-ironman triathlon last year despite being absolutely convinced that I wouldn’t be able to do it. Turns out I was wrong!

I’m going to write more about triathlon as a sport, why I love it, why everyone should give it a go and so on in a future newsletter but I had the time of my life training for and racing Cotswold 113 last year. This is despite training through an unseasonably chilly spring only to end up racing on one of the hottest days of the year. It’s ridiculous to be so pleased with myself for being mediocre at three whole sports but I very much am!

The library

Growing up, the library was pretty much the only place I went for books - I basically lived in Wrexham library, even to the extent of getting a part-time job there at one point. But moving around the country so much and being able to afford to buy books kind of got me out of the habit - until the last couple of years when I’ve been trying to avoid buying books from Amazon.

The library in Leamington has been an incredible tool in helping me do this - they have such great stock that I usually find the book I’m looking for in their catalogue. I’d also somehow forgotten the joy of mooching around the library and picking up books you’ve never heard of, just because they look interesting. It’s also a really cool community space - support your local library!

Lifting heavy things

I feel like I mention this everytime I open my mouth these days but it’s true, strength training has changed my life. I signed up for six weeks of strength training sessions at a local gym over a year ago at a time when I had been getting injury after injury and I honestly thought I would have to give up running. I’ve been going pretty much every week since September 2023, barring illness or holidays, and it’s been amazing. I can lift the dog above my head (I don’t because he hates it but I could…)! I can do a deadlift! My calves don’t disintegrate every time I walk up a hill! Truly incredible!

Community/Belonging

I’ve moved around the country a lot since I left home, mostly because either me or my partner needed to move for work. The last time we moved was in 2022 and it was different in a lot of ways: one, we were finally able to buy a house rather than renting; two, working from home gave us the flexibility to pick where we wanted to live. We moved back to Leamington Spa because we’d lived here ten years ago and liked it and because it was closer to family - but we didn’t actually know anyone here. It’s been such a great move for so many reasons but one of the greatest has been the community we’re starting to build here.

A cornerstone of that has been the friendliness of our neighbours - our street has a really active community feel, multiple people came and introduced themselves when we moved in, and there’s often parties and get togethers. The other part of it has been the vibe of Leamington itself - there are a lot of independent shops, restaurants etc and it makes for a really different culture when you know you’re supporting the livelihoods of people who live here with your coffee/brunch/fancy dinner. I also have to shout out my running club Spa Striders for being a really friendly bunch - I’ve joined running clubs in each of the last three places we’ve lived and it really helps you get to know both people and places better.

I’ve also been really lucky to have some great online communities - Fund Her Tri UK and 10 IronWomen have been amazing groups for advice and meeting other women in triathlon. Having all these layers of community in my life - from whatsapp chats with friends to saying hello to my neighbours in the street (or the pub) - has been something I’ve really valued over the past year and it’s made my life a lot richer.

Thanks very much for reading - let me know what’s making your life better!