Hello October – Linkup with A Chronic Voice

assorted-color lear hanging decor

Hello, lovely readers!

I realise that I have neglected my blog a bit recently. Ever since the initial lockdown rules were relaxed the “new normal” (hate that phrase) life took over again. I’m still working from home but it’s been super busy lately and I’ve been finding it difficult to find the time I’d like to focus on my blog. However, I wanted to write a bit about my life at the moment, and I thought what better way than to take part in the October linkup from A Chronic Voice?


Prompts for the Month

  1. PRODUCING

This month, I’d like to start producing regular blog content again and also get back into my YouTube channel, which I started during lockdown. In many ways, I miss aspects of lockdown, which sounds strange I know! I miss the time I had and there was no pressure to be anywhere, see anyone or do anything. Since the lockdown restrictions eased I have been busier but I hope to pick up where I left off again, especially as further restrictions have been put in place again in the UK.


2. ACQUIRING

I have noticed over the last few months my back pain has been particularly bad and I seem to have acquired new pains. I’m not sure whether it’s the working from home and general lack of movement, or the running I’ve been doing, although I have been doing less running than before lockdown. I tend to get quite a bit of lower back pain and I also get numbness/nerve irritation from my spinal fusion, which seems to be worse as well recently. I think working from home hasn’t helped. I try to move around as much as I can but there are days where I don’t even go outside, which is bad!


3. SWITCHING

It’s been a strange old year – we’ve all had to switch to a new way of life, to wearing face masks in public places and keeping socially distant, which sadly, now seems normal. I’ve been working from home since March (who’d have thought it would last this long?!) I know I’m very lucky to have a job at the moment and in some ways, I prefer working from home. Over the last 6 months we’ve all had to adapt a lot and learn as we go. For example, I now have better equipment than I did back in March, and we have tools and processes in place at work to make working from home and communication easier. In some ways though, it can be tough mentally and I have definitely found it difficult to switch off from work when working from home. Whilst there is a higher degree of flexibility, there is definitely more of merging of work and home life. My flat, which used to be my sanctuary, now feels like a place of work and sometimes it feels like there is no escape from it. Especially with no holidays or social occasions to break it up and look forward to.


4. DISAPPOINTING

There certainly seems to be a lot of disappointment around at the moment. There have been so many mixed messages from the government that it’s difficult to know what is going on and what the rules are.

One minute we are being urged to “eat out to help out,” and things seem to be re-opening and getting back to “normal” again, the next minute restaurants and pubs are being told to close at 10pm and there’s a threat of another lockdown. This doesn’t really affect me too much to be honest as I’m not that bothered about going to the pub, especially at the moment.

However, one thing I’m disappointed about is Parkrun (which I love) announced a few weeks ago that they were starting back up again in October. I got really excited about this as I’ve really missed it – it used to literally be my life, every Saturday! But then, the rules were tightened again a week after this announcement and so it won’t be happening now. I understand that we need to control the virus but it seems daft to me that Parkrun is not allowed but yet people can still go to pubs, restaurants etc.

The Manchester marathon that I was training for earlier this year was rearranged for October 2020, then April 2021, then October 2021. I highly doubt this will be on for a long time as it’s such a big event, so I’ve kind of resigned myself to the fact that I probably won’t be able to do it. There are some races that have gone ahead this year but they are the smaller ones and there are so many restrictions (no crowds etc) that it’s just not the same. Most events are being cancelled again now though.

I also had to pay quite a bit of money to move my fundraising Machu Picchu trip (which I had planned to do next month to raise money for Scoliosis) to next October, which now clashes with the new marathon date ha. It’s just so hard to plan anything or know what’s going to happen, which means there is not a lot to aim for or look forward to at the moment.


5. FORMING

In relation to the above, I have formed some positive new habits with my training/running and since lockdown eased I have started doing Heart Rate training with a run coach. I started this mainly to help keep my fitness up, as whilst the gyms are open again for now, I don’t fancy going at the moment. I also thought it would give me a bit of motivation as it’s tough at the moment with nothing to really train for. So, watch this space I guess!


Thanks for reading my ramblings. If you’d like to check out the other bloggers for this month’s linkup you can do so over at A Chronic Voice.

Feel free to follow me over on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest 🙂

Stay safe!

Louise xx

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12 thoughts on “Hello October – Linkup with A Chronic Voice

  1. Good luck with keeping up with some regular blogging. I’m sorry your Parkrun is not going ahead, it does seem daft as it’s all outside, but you can go to the gym or the pub. I don’t understand some of the rules myself but I don’t get out much anyway. I’ve missed going out for a meal though, we only do it for special occasions and we’ve missed 4 birthdays now. I wouldn’t risk it just yet though.

  2. I also do Not like the phrase ‘the new normal’ because who the heckballs wants this to be Normal? lol

    It may be your decrease in your normal activity is increasing your pain. My vertigo basically halted my exercise routine altogether and this has definitely increased my painload. Unfortunately, I need to get this better managed because I can even go for short walks. So I wish you better luck with your running which I think will improve your pain levels back to what they were. One would hope. Here the weather barometric pressure has also been very erratic and this has also contributed to a lot of fluctuating pain levels. Usually Autumn is more stable but not this year.

    1. Thanks Nikki 🙂 Exactly, nobody wants this to be normal haha. I hope you can get your vertigo managed, that doesn’t sound nice at all 🙁

  3. Thank was a quick entry, Louise! Thanks for joining us this month! 😀 And yes the prompts are great for getting back into writing or to the community I find 🙂 The participants are all very supportive and lovely. I hope you have a fab rest of the month x

  4. Hi Louise. I’m new to your site and I’m visiting via A Chronic Voice’s link-up party. Your post is resonating with me, especially with your comments about back pain. I have AS and my scans are dismal. Exercise on my feet is next to impossible, so I’m making do with stretching and floating. I hope things get better for you. My best friend lives in Manchester and she works for the GMC. She says things are a mess. I don’t think things are going back to what they used to be any time soon! Sending spoons and wishing you all the best!

    1. Aww thank you Carrie. Yeah it’s a huge mess here at the moment. We’ve just gone into another local lockdown so people don’t know whether they are coming or going at the moment.

      Take care!
      Louise X

  5. Hi, Louise! I never realized before just how much having an activity to look forward to, was beneficial for my mental health. When activities get cancelled it is so hard to take.

  6. Hi Louise, great to see you participating for another month. I hope you continue to be well and as safe as possible. I live in Wales and experiencing another lockdown and resonated with your comment about missing parts of lockdown. Not feeling the pressure to be anywhere or do a lot is something that I am grateful for at the moment and the time it’s given me to write, catch up on blogs and read!

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