3 Little Ducks - Park Run

"222; Three little ducks!" said the man giving me my time tag at the finish line this morning. It doesn't sound an impressive placement in a race, and indeed, I was 3rd from last in the Park Run at Wimbledon Common.  But I was so proud to have finished my first 5 km run since my cancer diagnosis, and I didn't walk any of it. Or crawl. I was even faster than my only other "official" 5 km timed run which was a Race For Life in Battersea Park almost 20 years ago. On that day, I remember a supporter yelling helpfully "come on, you walkers!" and I had to point out to him I was actually a runner.

Today's run was in a snowstorm and piles of mud, which, although it made things very difficult, means that hopefully in drier weather my time will improve. One unavoidable puddle reaching the top of my trainers brought to mind the old English nursery rhyme Dr. Foster:  Dr. Foster Went to Gloucester, in a shower of rain; he stepped in a puddle right up to his middle.....

One thing I do like - on the web page for the results, you are classed as an athlete.  At the end of the run, your time tag is matched to your unique barcode which you print out in advance by registering on the website.  In this way, you can be tracked at any run you do anywhere and watch your progress.

My friend, Miranda, has various strategies to help her to get round the course, mostly involving distracting herself with poem or song lyrics.  Luckily for her, she is good at remembering them; I suggested a poem (Ozymandius) then couldn't even remember who wrote it, let alone any of the words! Must try harder. Most of my distractions involved being lapped by the runners at the front who finished just as I reached the half-way mark. At one stage, I could have slipped in front and "won".  But of course that sort of thing didn't cross my mind.

Capital C

I attended a "Capital C" event today run by SWARM and Macmillan, an experimental project designed to ask cancer patients and carers about how they cope long term with the effects of a cancer diagnosis and treatment in London and how their experience could be improved.  Everyone came up with loads of ideas relating to physical and mental health, finance, work, community support, etc. which will be taken and discussed by Macmillan to be collated into a London-wide strategy to be written this year.

It was great to be part of such a useful project and to meet some new faces.

The above is a photo taken from the Swarm website of the last meeting at Impact Hub, York Way, Kings Cross, London.

The day focused on understanding how the existing assets, communities and spirit of London can be utilized to bring about changes for the better and maybe a more cohesive approach in providing support for those who need it.  Let's hope to see some positive progress later in the year.  Watch this space.

I took the opportunity while I was in the area to enjoy the beautiful day and check out Granary Square by Regents Canal. London continues to surprise.

Unfinished Business - A Light Bulb Moment and the Zeigarnik Effect

At the start of the New Year we are surrounded by media stories of resolutions, diets, get fit regimes, etc. I like to have these all in hand before January so tend to ignore them, but being stuck indoors feeling ill this Christmas and New Year made me realise I am surrounded by a lot of small jobs and projects to be finished later. When, exactly, is later though? 
A quick look round and I came up with the following:
An anglepoise lamp inherited from my nan (ages ago), has never had a light bulb and has never been used;
A wall-hanging I was making while learning to weave; almost finished but abandoned;
A large hall cupboard full of stuff needing to go to the tip/charity shop;
A half-sewn tablecloth I was going to have ready for the Summer to use in the garden;
A pile of filing;
A pile of stamps I've been collecting to send to a charity;
A pile of ink cartridges to recycle that have been sitting there for weeks;
A T-shirt I am designing and printing for my dad - all ready to go but not printed.

I can't decide if this is a psychological blockage, plain laziness, loss of interest or reaching a difficult point in all the projects - e.g I couldn't find a light bulb due to the full cupboard,

wasn't sure how to finish the hanging, the tablecloth was a tricky shape due to a patchwork of odd material scraps I chose, etc.   They all seem like small tasks, but I see most of them every day and thus have brief thoughts about them too.  

There is actually a psychological effect on the mind called the Zeigarnik effect, a phenomenon named after Russian (Lithuanian-born) psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, who discovered in 1927 (never let it be said my blog is out-of-date!) that the mind tends to remember and fixate on unfinished tasks rather than ones that have been completed.  In this way, the mind tends to fill itself up with lots of to-do lists, making us feel overwhelmed at times.  It can lead to a loss of focus and a feeling of not being in control or particularly productive or having time (breathing/thinking space) to be creative. Basically, your mind has a limited capacity for attention - you can only fit so much into your active memory at a time (I knew it! Well, I did once but then forgot I knew it...).

After my illness, I have had a very poor memory which has been affecting my work life quite seriously.  I have had to set up new methods of working, writing EVERY LITTLE THING down and training my colleagues to remind me of the most mundane things (e.g. to check my to-do list!).  Other friends tell me of their experiences of "chemo-brain" (mild cognitive impairment) which can be a side-effect of chemotherapy or having cancer; the exact cause is not known but can have symptoms such as being unusually disorganised, trouble remembering facts, confusion and difficulty doing simple tasks.

Anyway, having had an unusual fit of activity and emptied the hall cupboard, I came across exactly the required light bulb for my nan's lamp and have been able to see the sewing machine better which has meant I sat down today in the grey of the afternoon to think about the next step for the tablecloth. The Zeigarnik Effect tells me that once I have started my task I am more likely to finish it.
Maybe it'll be ready for next Summer, thus freeing my brain for another task....
The Zeigarnik Effect is used often in our daily lives and in business; think of the TV Series with the cliffhanger ending....you automatically tend to want to tune in next time to know the ending.  Newspapers continue stories on another page, causing you to want to turn through the rest of the paper to find the ending.  Charles Dickens employed the technique of maximum suspense in his serialized tales.  A good public speaker will start an engaging story, which is interrupted part-way through, and then return to it at the end of the talk, thus keeping the audience alert and wanting to know, how did it end? Our brains do not like unfinished business.  On that note, I'd just like to add.................to be continued.