1. Hello and Welcome

Hello. Welcome. Bienventue.

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a wee while now. A creative outlet in my otherwise very scientific and routine lifestyle. As a kid, I used to love writing in my diary and this gives me that new diary feeling. Although hopefully with less angst and definitely less boy drama. I'm hoping to combine my two favourite things in life: vintage fashion and running! An odd combination, but we'll make it work. Much like my style, we make it work. You tend to raise eyebrows when you turn up for work at a power station dressed like a 50s housewife. Such is the life of this engineer. 

I can't get enough yellow at the moment

I've recently been seconded away for work and my partner has taken up axe throwing in my absence. Odd, but he keeps winning me T-shirts so I can't complain. But it's off the back of this that I have been inspired by him. When we met, he lived and breathed running and the gym, but since then he has mellowed a bit, doing other things and generally being more creative with his hobbies. And I'm trying to do the same up here, trying new things - I'm going to a Lindy Bop dance class this week *excited* as well as keeping up the training for all the crazy events we have booked this year...

Ahhhhhh! Typical Jennifer, mouth open, eyes shut photo

Up until November 2017 I'd never entered a race, never ran more than 10km or even heard of adventure racing. But in April that all changed. Over the course of a weekend I ran a half marathon, a marathon, and an ultra marathon. To top it all off, I fell off a bridge, only a small bridge but a bridge none the less, and then got up to do the whole thing again the next day. Add multi day ultra to that list; over terrain that made the first day look like a Park Run. If any of you have been to the Isle of Arran, you will know what I mean. Sadly, I didn't complete the second day, poor preparation is gonna do that to a girl, but I will be back next year and Goat Fell will be mine!

My partner and I at the end of day one at Rat Race's Ultra Tour of Arran

So I've gone from running my local Parkrun, to 10km obstacle courses, to being the first woman to complete said course, to multi-day ultras in 6 months. It's been a whirl wind and set the bar high for the rest of 2018 and beyond!

Post Wolf Run celebrations

I mentioned being seconded away, which also means I am living on my own for the first time in my 25 years. No housemates, which has taken some getting used to. Especially when I get the lid stuck on my Nutribullet and can't get it off for a week (I did eventually resort to asking a man walking his dog to undo the lid for me. Not my finest moment, but I am compiling a list of solo living bloopers to share with you). On the plus side, I have had the opportunity to decorate and style my new flat to my tastes. Something I have had a lot of fun doing - Ikea and Facebook market place are my new best friends! When my boyfriend visited for the first time, he said you could tell it was me that lives here. Making the time and effort was all worth it. It's a vintage inspired paradise to house my ever growing vintage clothing collection. I cannot wait to share the space I have created.

One sunny Bank Holiday by the sea

I still feel like I am settling into life up here, so I'm aiming to post about once a week. Whether that's what I've been up to at the weekend, what madness I've put my body through, my favourite outfit that week or how I'm training for my next event... Only time will tell. So stay tuned for my next post, but in the meantime comment below: what brought you here - all things vintage or running? 

J x