So much stuff 😁😁

Sep 7, 2023

So much has happened since my last blog – I think I need a rest – next month I’ll have a rest !?

The best, best, best thing was Pizza Day 😁😁

It was so brilliant, and everyone was really, really generous with donations – more on that later !

I did start off the day slightly stressed !! I wasn’t sure that all of the 100 !!! pizza doughs had defrosted properly – and I did have to speed up the defrosting by putting them in the oven on a low heat, not all 100 at the same time !

But I knew the majority of the people coming along would be in the afternoon, so there was plenty of time. I’d already chopped up lots of onions, peppers, smoked sausage etc.

And people were bringing their own toppings but I thought it would be nice to have extras and I didn’t want anyone to come along and not have anything.

As soon as people started to arrive and I started to make pizzas, and could chat, I relaxed and was really enjoying it.

Chris had set up the suitably ‘risk assessed’ axe throwing – not in the direction of the marquee (oh I didn’t mention the fun that Chris, Rhona and I had putting the marquee up – luckily it wasn’t windy – no one was hurt and we didn’t fall out – it took a wee while but we got there eventually 😆).

So yeh, the axe throwing was popular !! There was also a slightly safer / more child friendly game of throwing the tennis balls into the big frog’s mouth 👍😁

With a little help from Lewis and Jamie we made loads of pizzas – some ‘normal’ combos, some not 😆

My picks of the day for the more unusual toppings were the bacon, mac and cheese pizza and the banana, grapes, tomato, spinach and cheese pizza 🍕 I know !!! I tasted both and they were both good 👍👍

We had ‘posh’ – anchovies, artichoke, capers, pesto.

We had ‘standard’ – mozzarella, ham, chorizo, pepperoni, pepperami – not sure I know the difference !? onions, peppers.

We had sweet – yes – Nutella, banana, marshmallows.

No pizza disasters 😁😁 (apart from my own pizza that I dropped in the floor at about 8 o clock at night hahaha – no problem – I just made another one 😁🍕).

I was so happy to see so many people and had lots of lovely messages from people who couldn’t make it.

I managed to have a wee chat to most people when pizzas were being cooked – not everyone though – so if I didn’t get a chance to say it to you – THANK YOU XXXXXX

And the total you guys donated………drum roll………£690 !!!! crazy 😁😍

And another £450 on the JustGiving pages (£370 for Maggies, £80 for Cancer Research). Just amazing 🤩 THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH 🤩🤩

And this week I got to go to the Maggies centre and present the BIG CHEQUE 😁😁😁

The weekend after the pizza day, I had the Scottish Standard Triathlon Championships to start stressing for hahaha 😱 I mean look forward to.

I did a ‘wee’ report for the triathlon club so I’ve stolen it – here it is … (don’t know what I’d do without emojis!!)…

Knockburn Standard Triathlon

Great start – I got 5 miles up the road and realised I’d not picked up my wetsuit !! Rookie !!

Anyway, I’d left with plenty of time so I didn’t panic – drove back and picked it up. All good.

The forecast was light wind and all day long sunshine, so I was quite looking forward to that – and when I arrived at Knockburn, the loch was glassy smooth and looked stunning (the wind picked up later :-/).

Scottish Championships so there were lots of people I knew and it’s nice to chat before the race to distract myself from the nerves. No pressure I kept telling myself, Chris said ‘just go out and enjoy it’ – eh yeh !!

The wind had started to pick up for the swim start – women and auld men (Norry and Dougal included) in the second wave. The start was the usual rammy – I love the washing machine though so I was quite happy and managed to relax and have a decent swim. I couldn’t get my wetsuit over my stupid Garmin in transition, faffed for ages and then pressed the wrong buttons again

Got on the bike eventually – dreading that last hill at mile 26 right from the start !! The flyer downhill at the start is great though 😁😁

I find the cycle quite tough in general – I was pretty rubbish on the first lap but sorted my gearing out better for the second and third laps – and did enjoy it, it’s such a lovely route. It was really hot though!! I got lapped by the leading guy at the end of my first lap !!! Ah well. I had a couple pass me and I passed a couple, so I was quite happy and my pace was ok (for me :-)). And the hill at the end, that I dreaded the whole was round, was a piece of cake !! I overtook about 10 people !!?

Faffed around with my watch again in T2.

Off the bike – freeedom !! Well I did feel totally goosed but I always look forward to the run. It felt really hot – did I mention how hot it was – 25 degrees – in Aberdeenshire – in September !!

The run is a wee toughy. Pretty much all trail, some grass, through trees and a horrible gravelly hill (that I quite liked 😁).

It was really windy by this time and HOT !!

I felt like I was running through treacle but I still seemed to be catching people all the time – I overtook loads on the run, but I couldn’t figure out who was on their first lap and who was on their second lap, so I had no idea where I was position wise. I saw Dougal a few times 🙂

Got my time from the timing van at the end – 2 hours 46 – I haven’t looked at previous times, and I can’t remember if that’s good or not ! The man in the van said to hang around for the prize giving – excited 😁😁 !!

The prize giving scheduled for 2pm eventually happened at about 3pm – but sitting around chatting in the sunshine – 25 degrees 😆 – and eating was lovely.

M3 had a good medal haul – with a 100% success rate !! All three of us got medals.

Dougal bronze, Norry silver and I got a gold !! Yeehaaa :-))

So we all went home happy and with all sorts of weird random tan / sunburn lines 😆

I’ve also done some actual running races !!

Forfar 10k – 43 mins 10 – with the help of a knight in shining armour (Geoff) who helped pace me when my stupid Garmin wouldn’t start, and maybe let me shelter behind him just a little bit 🙄