I have to start by saying I was completely overwhelmed by the response to my first blog. So many people shared it and there were so many lovely and supportive comments. It really means a lot and I do hope people continue to gain something positive from my posts.

Back to the present day and it has been a busy weekend, a good one but a busy one. When I was ill with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) busy weekends would fill me with dread, I enjoyed being social but the thought of leaving the safety of my own home and the privacy of my own toilet would just send me into panic mode. It didn’t stop me having a social life, I wouldn’t let it, but secretly I would much rather have been curled up in bed, near my toilet and with a concoction of pain killers than out. Fast forward to the present day and having a social life is what it should be, fun, something to look forward to and one of life’s pleasures.

Friday night we were round some friends to plan a future Come Dine With Me style competition, which also involves my sister and her boyfriend (plenty of room for some healthy sibling rivalry!).  Saturday we were round some other friends for what was a very sophisticated dinner party. I may, however, have made it somewhat less sophisticated by consuming far too much champers! I have been wondering at what point, I grew up enough to take part in such civilized evenings – I don’t feel like I’m ‘there’ yet. Still it’s better than a couple of weeks ago when I was on a girl’s night out, and I left at 10pm because I was too drunk – we had only just got to the bar!

So although I have a stoma, I am still able to drink and eat and go to dinner parties. In fact, all of that is easier now. We are told when we first get our Stomas to be careful about what we eat and drink and fizzy drinks in particular aren’t great because they can cause the bag to blow up because of excess gas (who said champagne was glamorous?!). However, I will not stop drinking my bubbles and actually find them no problem. I generally eat what I like too, but more of that in future posts. Socialising is much easier now too, as I don’t have to leave halfway through a conversation to spend 30 minutes in the toilet!

So, I mentioned running in my title, now I am not a natural runner, I don’t even like it that much, it’s hard! But, I decided that I needed to challenge myself, you see I have never been able to do this, so I have no idea just what my body can achieve. I have always been too unwell or recovering from operations. As I work for a charity it seemed an ideal time to do something to raise money for them. So Mike and I have entered into the Bupa 10K for Beating Bowel Cancer. It is not until May 25, so I have plenty of training time. So I had a little lunchtime run today of 5K. I am managing 7 minutes per km, so I am quite pleased with that for now. But I often feel like a slow runner, and by slow I mean, I am sure the person walking behind me will soon overtake me! I went for a run with Mike last year, it was just 2 miles, but we got back to the house, I was red, sweaty and puffed out, and Mike announced that he was “going for a run now”. Yep, definitely not a natural runner, but I am determined to give it a go.

If you feel like sponsoring me then you can http://www.justgiving.com/Sherrill-Hawker or just keep following my blog and see me as I struggle to get up to 10K!