May writers group

It was a very quiet writers group this month with only a couple of people able to attend.
Still we managed to have a chat about writing and life in general and I still set a homework.
I've got a few story ideas buzzing around in the back of my head but can't see me having time to write them down for the moment.  That was one good thing about the trip to Dublin last week, I found I had a little time between having a shower and going for breakfast which was great for writing in, in this case factual rather than fiction.  Its a shame I normally run at this time...

Homework:
Use the following as inspiration or the start of a story or poem: ‘I never wanted to be a hero…’

UX Intensive - Dublin 2014

I've just arrived back from a week in Dublin for UX Intensive Dublin 2014 by adaptive path.
Wow they really didn't lie when they called it intensive.
Over the four days we covered Design Strategy, Design Research, Service Design and Interaction Design.  The days were long and our brains were filled with a lot of information while our hands were covered in ink from our sharpies; but it was fun, the people (about 104 from 22 different countries) were great and I learnt A LOT.
Luckily they gave us some handouts, so now I just need to work out how to put it all into use…..

AltonTEN

Today I ran the AltonTEN running race.  (That's 10 miles not 10k.)  I hadn't been able to train as well as I did for the Reading Half Marathon, due to an injury and a mild cold, and so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I hoped I might manage maybe 01:30 so to do it in 01:28:31 (by my watch - still waiting for results on the website) was pretty amazing!  And into a very strong head wind at times!
But now if you look at all the races I've done you might notice that I haven't repeated a distance yet, a 5k, a 10k, a half and 10 miles.  Thinking about this I realise I'm scared of how I'll do next time.  Would I manage to get a new PB for any of these distances?  What I've managed so far seems quite amazing as it is.  Would it spoil it to do a slower time next time?  In a bid to find out I've signed up for the Brackenwood 5k again in July.  Can I beat 26:39 and does it matter either way?

After a busy weekend - a friends wedding and a 10 mile race, I have a busy week ahead.  I flight to Dublin tomorrow for the 4 day UX intensive conference.  I am very excited and can't wait to learn some cool new stuff.

Wedding post

I might be a little quiet on here as I get things ready for the wedding, but here's a little something I've been working on.  Its ages since I've done any painting so it was good fun, especially to work on something this big!  Hopefully it will make it pretty obvious where the wedding gifts should go.