I have a new social media project where I’m posting regular videos to remind you that you are enough just as you are. Chris Is Proud Of You.
Last week I was thrilled to complete the parkrun obsessive challenge. Which is the achievement you get for completing 50 parkruns in a year.
It’s a tough ask, although New Year’s Day and Christmas Day mean you can miss up to four Saturdays if you complete those. I made it to 45 in 2018 and 2019 and then 46 last year. But around September I realised I had only missed two so far and if I could be consistent, I could get to 50.
That made for some nervous times with multiple storms, including Storm Darragh cancelling 16 of the 20 parkruns near me including all of my locals. But I made it! In fact, I managed to end the year on 52. parkrun has been such an important anchor over the last 18 months and I’m looking forward to plenty more in 2025.
For the final club swim of the year we did a video analysis session. It’s so much easier to work out where you can improve when you can see yourself swimming. So we did just that and took the footage to the pub for a Christmas drink and video review.
I’m really pleased with my overall body position. Lots to improve, of course, and some great action points for my hand entry, catch and pull.
Last week, Santa visited Elina’s office and met two bears.
Every year, Venla’s school puts on a winter concert. This year, Venla’s class sang Try Everything from the film Zootropolis. Well done, Venla!
I haven’t made bread for years. But I recently started experimenting with making my own butter, so for the hospital Christmas lunch I hade a few loaves of focaccia with some lemon and sea salt butter. Went down very well. One of the most important things I’v elarnt from Elina is that you can absolutely bake your way into people’s hearts.
What’s the standard unit of measurement for evelvation gain? TrainingPeaks has gone with giraffes and I’m on board with it.
More Than Yorkshire Puddings: Food, Stories and Over 100 Recipes from God’s Own Country is a cookbook by Elaine Lemm.
Lots of nice stuff in here. Again, I didn’t make too many of the recipes, but probably more than Coast, and I did make a few of them several times. If you’re unfamiliar with Yorkshire food, this is a good guide.
Coast is a cookbook by Rachel Allen and subtitled recipes inspird by Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Coast”. Its organised in narrative form as she takes us on a journey from Cork all the way to Donegal.
It’s a fun read. I didn’t make many of the recipes because they tend to be quite involved in terms of sourcing ingredients as well as the cooking itself. But it has some lovely photography and stories in, too, so it is a nice book to have.
Bliss on Toast is a cookbook by Prue Leith.
The idea of a toast cookbook might raise eyebrows but the book is excellent. I tried almost every recipe. It makes such good lunches. They’re often quick to make and still delicious. If you are bored of your usual lunches, this is a great way to mix things up for little effort and big results. This is instantly one of my favourite cookbooks.
