Tomorrow is Big Run Sunday and I have set myself the goal to run 12-13 miles in 2 hours. I managed 10 miles last Sunday so I want to improve on that to prepare for the 16 miles run I've entered next Sunday. However, the weather is absolutely rotten at the moment, especially today when I got sleeted on and it's showing no signs of improving before 11am tomorrow. I'm not sure what I'll do, I'll really need to find some special inspiration to make me run outside for 2 hours in 2 degrees weather with strong winds, rain and snow getting in the way too. I could always run on the treadmill, with an incline, for a couple of hours.... but it's not the same.
Just had another thought to me. I could always run on Monday as I'm off work. My friend is will be coming over to help me decorate that day but I could always get up earlier and run then. There won't be a dramatic improvement in the weather but it will be sunnier. And hopefully the miserable blustery, windy, rainy, freezing unpleasentness will have calmed down a little. I could go to a Bikram yoag class instead tomorrow and stretch myself out. Ninety minutes of yoga in a stiflingly hot room sounds much more appealing right now. If I'm disciplined enough to make sure I run on Monday, then Sunday yoga could be an option.
Running long distances is hard enough, I don't need the weather making it harder for me. Boooooo!
Saturday, 22 March 2008
Monday, 17 March 2008
Another New Focus
This morning, while I was brushing my teeth, I decided that I am going to write a play. It sounds like such a simple decision to have made but carrying out the task in hand will be very interesting/difficult. I've been thinking a lot about doing some writing in recent months inspired by attending rehearsed readings of my friend's plays and taking part in the the "home-made" musical recently and meeting aspiring writers through that. I used to write in my early teens and then I stopped. I think that's when I tried to become a songwriter so my focus changed.
I decided to be more commited to reading books as I believed that "ingesting" new words would help me become a better writer. I'm still trying to commit fully to this but I'm getting there. I've started reading 4 books since the start of the year so now I am forcing myself to stick to one at a time and to not start/buy anymore books until that one is finished. It didn't work, I bought another 3 on Friday but I can always try again. This pretty much sums me up. Always flitting between a couple of projects, never pausing on one long enough. Then a new idea comes along and I get carried awy with that and other things in my life are set aside and then maybe I come back to them later. Now it's happening again.
So this morning as I was getting ready for work I was thinking about one of my theatre groups and how the writing stages of the next play we are producing are almost completed (by the woman who was the make-up artist on our last show) and the idea just came to me. Why not write something for the group to consider as a third production? I am a creative person and I must be able to dig deep and come up with a funny, quirky and smart little play, re-write it, present it to the group and even if it's not chosen to be a future production, it's still mine. All mine. So this goes onto the mental "Things To Do In 2008" list. Now all I need is an idea to get started with.....
I decided to be more commited to reading books as I believed that "ingesting" new words would help me become a better writer. I'm still trying to commit fully to this but I'm getting there. I've started reading 4 books since the start of the year so now I am forcing myself to stick to one at a time and to not start/buy anymore books until that one is finished. It didn't work, I bought another 3 on Friday but I can always try again. This pretty much sums me up. Always flitting between a couple of projects, never pausing on one long enough. Then a new idea comes along and I get carried awy with that and other things in my life are set aside and then maybe I come back to them later. Now it's happening again.
So this morning as I was getting ready for work I was thinking about one of my theatre groups and how the writing stages of the next play we are producing are almost completed (by the woman who was the make-up artist on our last show) and the idea just came to me. Why not write something for the group to consider as a third production? I am a creative person and I must be able to dig deep and come up with a funny, quirky and smart little play, re-write it, present it to the group and even if it's not chosen to be a future production, it's still mine. All mine. So this goes onto the mental "Things To Do In 2008" list. Now all I need is an idea to get started with.....
Friday, 14 March 2008
Eat, Sleep, Run
I'm feeling quite bright and perky this morning, probably helped by the fact that it's a Friday and Fridays are always good. I have spent this week working, training and sleeping and not much else. I had no social engagements and even decided not to go to the audition for the play I'm interested in (I can still audition on Sunday) in favour of getting home nad relaxing in front of the TV with a nice bowl of Red Thai beef curry. My body was crying out for that all week (subcousciously telling me I need more iron in my diet maybe?) so I listened and had a very tasty Thursday evening in.
I've been feeling very sleepy all week despite getting a reasonable amount of sleep. My trianing must now be taking it's toll on me so all I can do now is eat well and sleep well. How did I ever manage to work full-time, training and perform in 6 shows only 4 weeks ago. I was tired then but I wasn't as sleepy as I feel at the moment. I guess that's just the way my body responds to a lot of exercise.
I've signed up for a 16 mile run at the end of the month so how I cope with that will be very interesting and will gve me and idea of how I'll cope with the marathon itself. I'm going to look after myself and train well in the meantime and hopefully that run will go well and build up my confidence for running the actual marathon 2 weeks later. Fingers crossed. I've been talking all about this non-stop to everyone and I'm sure they must be bored. I bought my running shoes and heart rate monitor on Monday and when I got home my official London Marathon magazine was waiting for me full of information on the race day. So now I'm packed full of information and it's all I ever talk about now. It's probably for the best - a feat this big, I NEED to get obsessed about it.
I've been feeling very sleepy all week despite getting a reasonable amount of sleep. My trianing must now be taking it's toll on me so all I can do now is eat well and sleep well. How did I ever manage to work full-time, training and perform in 6 shows only 4 weeks ago. I was tired then but I wasn't as sleepy as I feel at the moment. I guess that's just the way my body responds to a lot of exercise.
I've signed up for a 16 mile run at the end of the month so how I cope with that will be very interesting and will gve me and idea of how I'll cope with the marathon itself. I'm going to look after myself and train well in the meantime and hopefully that run will go well and build up my confidence for running the actual marathon 2 weeks later. Fingers crossed. I've been talking all about this non-stop to everyone and I'm sure they must be bored. I bought my running shoes and heart rate monitor on Monday and when I got home my official London Marathon magazine was waiting for me full of information on the race day. So now I'm packed full of information and it's all I ever talk about now. It's probably for the best - a feat this big, I NEED to get obsessed about it.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
A Little Bit Of Me Onstage
This is me (in pink) on stage in my most recent show. I have lots more including backstage pics to share but at the moment I'm just working from what's on my work computer.*sigh* Missing the stage...
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
The Positive List
I've been in an odd "down" mood lately and I understand where a little bit of that is coming from but the rest of it can't be down to post-show blues, can it? While doing some random reading on some random blogs earlier today I realised that I need to not focus on the negative things but instead focus more on the positives. Now, I love a good list so I've made a (unfortunately short) list of things I need to be happy about in my life at the moment:
1. With all my marathon training I am getting fitter and getting more toned and in better shape.
2. I've made a new network of friends and acquaintances through my theatre comapny and shows and I am seeing more of London theatre because of them. And being more sociable in general
3. Even though everything is quiet now, I am confident that I will get more performing opportunities soon.
4. Clarissa will be having her new flatwarming party soon so I can plan a nice visit to Brighton and paddle in the sea soon.
I'll have a longer think (without the distraction of the office around me) and try to add more to it tonight.
1. With all my marathon training I am getting fitter and getting more toned and in better shape.
2. I've made a new network of friends and acquaintances through my theatre comapny and shows and I am seeing more of London theatre because of them. And being more sociable in general
3. Even though everything is quiet now, I am confident that I will get more performing opportunities soon.
4. Clarissa will be having her new flatwarming party soon so I can plan a nice visit to Brighton and paddle in the sea soon.
I'll have a longer think (without the distraction of the office around me) and try to add more to it tonight.
Friday, 29 February 2008
Filling The Void
With the musical over and my leg feeling better and me getting some energy back into this body, my thoughts can now fully turn too the near future. Not that I've ever NOT thought about what's coming up next in my life but I've survived nearly two weeks with rehearsals or performing so I think I can last just a little longer.
I've already got two shows in mind that I want to work on (well, 3 actually but as the director of that play is slowly recovering from an illness, we're still a little unsure if his show is still going ahead). The first is a musical and the auditions are this Sunday. It will certainly be an interesting audition as I haven't set foot back into their rehearsals rooms since I had the Worst Audition Ever there 18 months ago and for 1 minute I decided to give up performance as I momentarily believed that I'd never be any good. Obviously I got over that and went on to bigger and brighter things and I will have to take those with me into the audition room this weekend and gain strentgh from that. I've sung in public now, on stage, in front of maybe 300-ish people altogether and I didn't die. Nothing bad happened. I even surprised a few people who didn't know I could sing. So I have nothing to be afraid of this Sunday. I can sing in front of others, I have a good audition song and I know I can sing it well. I just have to hope ghosts of auditions past don't show up.
The next show is a play with a company I have not yet worked with. The character I am very interested in has been described as "bonkers yet fiesty" which sounds like something I could easily do. The audition's not for another couple of weeks so I've got time to psycho myself up for it and practise a bit of self-hypnosis and "big up" myself.
In the meantime I seem to be keeping myself busy with training, piano lessons, theatre trips (and the Alicia Keys concert tonight!) and other random interests. I'm giving serious consideration to seperate acting and singing courses that I think will be a big help to me. I'm also keen to get writing again, just for fun, so I'm reading a lot more than usual and am looking out for a creative writing workshop/course to help me get started again. There seems to be so much I want to do right now and even though there is now show looming on the horizon, I still seem to be short of time to get everything done. I like it though. Maybe I'm compensating for lacking something else in my life but I like to constantly move forward and aim towards something. The marathon is a huge goal to work towards yet I'm still not satisfied by that. The creative side of me needs to keep moving at all times. Even in times of rest.
I've already got two shows in mind that I want to work on (well, 3 actually but as the director of that play is slowly recovering from an illness, we're still a little unsure if his show is still going ahead). The first is a musical and the auditions are this Sunday. It will certainly be an interesting audition as I haven't set foot back into their rehearsals rooms since I had the Worst Audition Ever there 18 months ago and for 1 minute I decided to give up performance as I momentarily believed that I'd never be any good. Obviously I got over that and went on to bigger and brighter things and I will have to take those with me into the audition room this weekend and gain strentgh from that. I've sung in public now, on stage, in front of maybe 300-ish people altogether and I didn't die. Nothing bad happened. I even surprised a few people who didn't know I could sing. So I have nothing to be afraid of this Sunday. I can sing in front of others, I have a good audition song and I know I can sing it well. I just have to hope ghosts of auditions past don't show up.
The next show is a play with a company I have not yet worked with. The character I am very interested in has been described as "bonkers yet fiesty" which sounds like something I could easily do. The audition's not for another couple of weeks so I've got time to psycho myself up for it and practise a bit of self-hypnosis and "big up" myself.
In the meantime I seem to be keeping myself busy with training, piano lessons, theatre trips (and the Alicia Keys concert tonight!) and other random interests. I'm giving serious consideration to seperate acting and singing courses that I think will be a big help to me. I'm also keen to get writing again, just for fun, so I'm reading a lot more than usual and am looking out for a creative writing workshop/course to help me get started again. There seems to be so much I want to do right now and even though there is now show looming on the horizon, I still seem to be short of time to get everything done. I like it though. Maybe I'm compensating for lacking something else in my life but I like to constantly move forward and aim towards something. The marathon is a huge goal to work towards yet I'm still not satisfied by that. The creative side of me needs to keep moving at all times. Even in times of rest.
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
After Show, Aftermath
I'm slowly getting over the events of the past two week. Slowly. I spent last week in a trance as I was so run down from doing the show the week before and I still had a busy evening schedule. Nothing ever really changes. I was also in quite a bit of pain due to a mishap at the aftershow party so that was quite draining and depressing too. More on that later.
The rest of the show run carried on without any drama until the final day. It was Saturday, we had two shows to do that day and most of us singing solos were lsoing our voices. I wasnt too bad as I didn't have a big chuck of solo bits to sing and my throat was in not as bad a state as some other, but I was still extremely worried especially as my friends were all coming to the evening show to see me, including Kelly who was flying in from home that afternoon to see me. I got through the matinee (one of the othe cast member's songs had to be cut to save her voice for the later show), I sang my song and I managed to croak out something half respectable. A few people backstage told me it still sounded good so I felt a bit comforted by that.
Then came the evening show as it really was quite unbelieveable. I had such a good run up to then and felt I gave good performances, however everything seemed to go wrong in my scenes on that final show. Props didn't work so we had to improvise, doors wouldn't shut that needed to be shut, some old woman fell flat on her face during one of our song & dance numbers, I messed up my lines a bit at one moment and had to recover from that. I felt quite annoyed at myself for jumping to the next line and did feel like tearing up in the interval, but it's something to learn from. I must remember to forbid my friends with big booming laughs to laugh when I am onstage as this can be quite distracting! I guess it all had to go wrong for me in at least one show, it will be something I can look back on and laugh about. The important thing is that the audience, unless they'd been to a previous show, didn't notice the mishaps so we seemed to do a good job or working around them.
Like with my play in December, we had another all night aftershow party. Cheesy music, alcohol (cola for me) and outrageous dancing. It was there I did myself a mischief. If doing a backward bend and falling on my head wasn't enough I then threw myself into doing the splits, however as I was wearing no shoes this time, I slid down faster than expected and pulled a hamstring. The rest of the night was spent with me limping around in pain and the odd outburst of freaking out about what my personal trainer would say. By 5:30am the party had definitely died down into a group of drunk people just biding their time in the theatre until the tube opened and we could all go home. Yet, by the time us sober/semi-sober people tidied and cleaned the theatre and rounded up everyone else, it was 8am when we finally left. After making it home with Kelly I passed out on the sofabed and snoozed for a couple of hours before getting up again, determined not to waste the day.
I took Monday off as I was in no state to work and on Tuesday I made my way to my personal training session waiting for my punishment. Lots of upper body work and a good hamstring stretch-out and the advice "don't be the hero" followed. Luckily now my leg is feeling much better (although I won't officially recover for another fortnight) and I'm getting back into my training schedule. I need to make up time out of action last week and with no show to do now and more time on my hands it's going to get a lot tougher. Help!
Pics of the show will follow as will a lot on pondering on what to do now, what to read, what acting course to take, should I try creative writing etc. I'm on a roll and I want it to stay that way.
The rest of the show run carried on without any drama until the final day. It was Saturday, we had two shows to do that day and most of us singing solos were lsoing our voices. I wasnt too bad as I didn't have a big chuck of solo bits to sing and my throat was in not as bad a state as some other, but I was still extremely worried especially as my friends were all coming to the evening show to see me, including Kelly who was flying in from home that afternoon to see me. I got through the matinee (one of the othe cast member's songs had to be cut to save her voice for the later show), I sang my song and I managed to croak out something half respectable. A few people backstage told me it still sounded good so I felt a bit comforted by that.
Then came the evening show as it really was quite unbelieveable. I had such a good run up to then and felt I gave good performances, however everything seemed to go wrong in my scenes on that final show. Props didn't work so we had to improvise, doors wouldn't shut that needed to be shut, some old woman fell flat on her face during one of our song & dance numbers, I messed up my lines a bit at one moment and had to recover from that. I felt quite annoyed at myself for jumping to the next line and did feel like tearing up in the interval, but it's something to learn from. I must remember to forbid my friends with big booming laughs to laugh when I am onstage as this can be quite distracting! I guess it all had to go wrong for me in at least one show, it will be something I can look back on and laugh about. The important thing is that the audience, unless they'd been to a previous show, didn't notice the mishaps so we seemed to do a good job or working around them.
Like with my play in December, we had another all night aftershow party. Cheesy music, alcohol (cola for me) and outrageous dancing. It was there I did myself a mischief. If doing a backward bend and falling on my head wasn't enough I then threw myself into doing the splits, however as I was wearing no shoes this time, I slid down faster than expected and pulled a hamstring. The rest of the night was spent with me limping around in pain and the odd outburst of freaking out about what my personal trainer would say. By 5:30am the party had definitely died down into a group of drunk people just biding their time in the theatre until the tube opened and we could all go home. Yet, by the time us sober/semi-sober people tidied and cleaned the theatre and rounded up everyone else, it was 8am when we finally left. After making it home with Kelly I passed out on the sofabed and snoozed for a couple of hours before getting up again, determined not to waste the day.
I took Monday off as I was in no state to work and on Tuesday I made my way to my personal training session waiting for my punishment. Lots of upper body work and a good hamstring stretch-out and the advice "don't be the hero" followed. Luckily now my leg is feeling much better (although I won't officially recover for another fortnight) and I'm getting back into my training schedule. I need to make up time out of action last week and with no show to do now and more time on my hands it's going to get a lot tougher. Help!
Pics of the show will follow as will a lot on pondering on what to do now, what to read, what acting course to take, should I try creative writing etc. I'm on a roll and I want it to stay that way.
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