I’ve never dedicated an entire blog post to updating you with news before, at least about me. But, there’s a first time for everything, like trying Sour Cream and Chives for the first time. Your brain wants to shut down to stop feeling the vile taste.

Anyway, this blog post is slightly shorter, because of three main reasons. No, it’s not 20 questions, so I’ll tell you.

1.) I’m writing this before Easter because I will be busy over the weekend. Yes, I’m doing something at Easter, so the chances of me sitting down to work on New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website are slim. Not impossible, just slim, so I thought I would be prepared.

2.) As New Zealanders, we generally don’t boast about our achievements. This tendency stems from our history of being an isolated and pragmatic people. I’m not one to discuss my accomplishments or lack of. However, I feel compelled to share something significant that happened last weekend.

Long-time followers and subscribers of this wayward blog will know that I like running. To be honest, it’s somewhere between walking and jogging, but I pretend it’s running. Last weekend, I ran in one of my favourite half marathons, and something odd and wonderful happened.

2014 was the last time I ran a half marathon in under 2 hours. I’ve come close, dangerously close to that time, but that target has alluded me for over 10 years. In all honesty, I accepted the fact that I would probably never run another half marathon under 2 hours again. I thought my body had said, “To hell with that, we can’t do that anymore!”

By now, you can see where this is headed. For the first time since 2014, I ran a half marathon in under 2 hours. I know that in the grand scheme of things, it may not seem significant, but honestly, I thought I would never achieve this again. It’s surprising to realise I’m faster than I was in 2015, which feels almost unbelievable to me. In that sense, I feel proud of myself, which is a bizarre feeling.

It will sometime before that happens again. Maybe.

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3.) For us, we are well and truly into Autumn, with Winter popping its ugly head up now and then. And just like the inevitability of the seasons and an Australian Prime Minister changing, we all change. This brings me to the biggest update, I’m changing jobs. I resigned in February, and the 24th of April will be my last day.

I’ve been there for nine years, and in the field for 16 years, but I’m going to be working for myself. I’ll be in the same industry, just adjacent to what I had been doing, which is equally exciting and horrifying, given how New Zealand and the world are currently.

Over the last few weeks, my emotions have felt like they are on a rollercoaster, and with my last day arriving soon, I’m sorry to report those emotions will probably just intensify. No doubt I’ll shame Chuck Norris by shedding a tear by the end.

I have no idea if this will work out, or even if it’s a good idea, but if the world’s most famous 78-year-old convicted felon has taught me anything, it’s that you can’t take anything or anyone for granted. I’m trying to look at the world differently, but also to try and do things differently.

I’ll let you know how things went on for the last day, but also how the new job is working out. Oh, look at me being all hopeful and positive!

Ok, that’s it for today. I promise I’ll get back to writing pointless posts like doing a Thunderbolts* Movie Preview next week.

Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, go fly a paper airplane, and I’ll see you next week.

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