Eleni

Training for my first marathon in the Cyprus heat

There’s a lot I could be writing about since my last post, which was months ago. Life can get so hectic. Today, though, I want to talk about what I’ve been focusing on for the last few months: how it feels to train for my first marathon, in Cyprus’ scorching summer, and what I’ve learned so far.

Karim and I decided to sign up for a marathon together, as we love a running challenge, and it would make it even more special if we did it abroad. After some research on dates and possible destinations, we landed on the Budapest Marathon, on the 12th of October. It will be my first full marathon and Karim’s second after Athens (he’s run two ultramarathons since then). His aim is to do a personal best, and mine is to finish in good health. So, after a cardio test and getting a coach (everyone’s favourite, George Loukaides), I’ve embarked on this 4-month journey, and 2.5 months in, here’s what I’ve learned so far.

Vaseline is my new best friend! If you have been running for a while and you’ve trained for a half or a full marathon, you know what I’m talking about. The ever-so-painful chafing that comes with long runs, especially in the summer heat. For weeks on end, after my long runs, new red ‘soft spots’ appear: under the armpits, under my boobs, my nipples, random spots on my back, between my thighs, and the list goes on. I’ve tried an anti-chafing stick, but it didn’t work out, so I resorted to the most common remedy that most runners turn to: Vaseline. I spend a good 5–10 minutes before every long run methodically applying Vaseline to all the ‘soft spots’ I’ve discovered so far. I suppose, as my husband suggested, my skin will probably become thicker, and not get chafed as much. Not sure when that will happen, but until then, I’m used to people staring, wondering what happened to me when they come across the scars I cannot hide in the summer.
Cruel, early mornings. When long runs reach above 21k (which, based on my average pace, is about 2 hours long), in order to avoid the heat, I have to leave the house by 5 a.m. at the latest. Last week, due to another extreme heatwave where the temperature reached 45 °C, I went running at 4:30 a.m., which meant waking up at 3:45 a.m. Having to wake up this early messes up my sleep, my stomach, everything, but it has to be done. The feeling of achievement in the end more than makes up for it.
Early nights. Getting up at 4 a.m. means going to bed by 9 p.m. at the latest, which doesn’t leave much time for socialising or anything else. Preparing for a marathon takes its toll on your social life, that’s for sure.
Track days are now a thing. Some of the training involves speed workouts (intervals and tempo runs), and on those days, I have to get up early to go to the nearest track. I find it a bit boring running around a track, but there’s no other alternative, and you do meet other runners who suffer as much as you because they happen to like running and all the good and the bad that come with it. It’s quite comforting and gives a sense of community to be running together with strangers at 5 in the morning.
Humidity, oh, the humidity. There are some rare mornings when the air is crispy fresh at 5:30–6 a.m., but most of the time, you can barely breathe because of the intense humidity in the summer months. On those days, you just have to accept your fate. You will have to push harder, you’ll be slower, and it will be more tiring, but what can you do?
Electrolytes and gels are my second-best friends. I can’t survive without electrolytes and gels, especially during long runs. Though carrying everything on me is not the most convenient, it helps me stay hydrated and avoid severe headaches.
Kefir and chocolate milk are now my favourite treats. Both drinks help in recovery after a long run, and they are delicious!
Long run days are a write-off. After running for 3 hours or longer, both the body and the brain are so incredibly tired that, physically and mentally, all I want to do for the rest of the day is sleep and rest. Sometimes it can take 2 days to fully recover.
It’s all in the mind. When the going gets tough and legs want to give up, either during speed workouts or particularly during long runs, what keeps me (and most people) going is self-talk, motivating myself to keep going (and some music!). It has worked every time so far. Oh, the irony, how running can be a mental health remedy, but also a challenge at times.
Training with my hubby makes a world of difference. Despite all the soreness, sleep deprivation and pain that come with preparing for my first marathon, doing this with my best friend has made it really special, since we go through all of this together, supporting each other. I can’t wait to see him at the finish line on the 12th of October!

New Year, New habits

It’s been six months since I last managed to write down a somewhat comprehensible, coherent text that I felt I wished to share. However, there have been numerous times over these last 200 days when I had an epiphany, a lightbulb moment or a couple of thoughts I wanted to let out in the world, lessons I’ve learned, new experiences, pleasant and horrific, that taught me something new or reminded me of what I already knew. Sadly, I didn’t have the time, or rather, I didn’t make the time for it. Why? I used to write and post once a week or at least once a month for years. What changed? And why do I feel guilty about this?

I’ve been reflecting on this a lot lately, how our habits change over the years and learning to accept that and let it go.

I still love writing and sharing my worries, opinions, and inner thoughts, though to a lesser degree compared to almost 10 years ago, when I first started this blog. I still do yoga (Yoga with Adriene is a firm favourite) and read for leisure.

But, I rarely play the guitar nowadays, as I often find myself worrying about ‘something’, and not in the mood for it. The same goes for taking photos and making videos. Running has now become part of my daily ritual, a form of therapy I can’t live without, and I discovered a newfound joy in listening to podcasts.

At first, I felt bad about letting go some of my old habits, but now I’ve accepted the fact that I’m not the same person I was a few years ago and my habits and preferences changed. That’s OK. It’s part of growing old.

The WordPress AI assistant suggests sharing more, which I don’t feel like right now (and I’m also starving and my husband keeps asking me to join him for dinner), as well as ending my post with a thought-provoking statement, which I deem unnecessary, so I’ll leave you with this: we humans, have enough to stress about in this complex, crazy world we live in, so letting go of any self-inflicted pressure and guilt can only be a good thing!

The power of childhood memories and why you shouldn’t make assumptions

Sunday afternoon,

My sister, my hubby, and I are returning from our Sunday excursion when my husband suddenly reminds me, “Didn’t you say you wanted to buy a lottery ticket?”.

Of course, I did. Who doesn’t dream of winning just enough money to go on a month-long trip to South America, buy a house so they never have to pay rent, and swap their 9-5 office job with charity work, volunteering, a little farm in the suburbs, and a cottage by the sea? Well, that’s my dream.

So, we made a stop at the nearest bet shop (in Cyprus, you can’t buy a lottery ticket online, you can only get it from bet shops, which are mostly frequented by old men who stare at any woman walking through the door) and we got our tickets. Bet shops also sell scratch cards, which for Cypriot millennials hold a special place in our hearts.

Our parents used to buy us one from a street seller at the beach, at christenings, weddings, or pretty much any celebration, or on a Sunday afternoon, from a local kiosk, as a treat (as well as ice cream, of course, an Agrino cone most of the time). Beautiful, happy memories that evoked almost a melancholic nostalgia for my childhood innocence and carefreeness. So, we decided to get a couple of scratch cards as well.

My sweet husband, who didn’t grow up in Cyprus, had no idea what a scratch card was and what to do with it.

“You really don’t know how it works?” I exclaimed.

“No, we didn’t have this in Egypt!” he answered.

“YOU DIDN’T??” I replied.

I immediately assumed that everyone knows what a scratch card is, and it reminded me not only how powerful childhood memories are but also not to assume that just because I know or understand something well, everyone else does. That’s how misunderstandings happen, quite often, due to wrong assumptions.

That’s a useful reminder for everyone, particularly for trainers, teachers, managers, and anyone who imparts skills or knowledge to others. Don’t assume your students/trainees understand something just because you do. Always check their level of knowledge and ask questions so you can design your session based on their level, not yours.

Eleni

The power of letting go what no longer serves you

It’s only been a couple of months since my last post, but it feels like a lifetime ago. These first few months of 2024 I’ve been reminding myself one of life’s most important lessons: to focus on what really matters and if something isn’t working out or doesn’t meet my needs or wants, to just let it go.

The power of letting go what no longer serves you. A phrase I can’t remember when and where I first came across, but one that often crosses my mind.

And that’s what I did. Having spent most of my Christmas holidays working on my MBA assignments, feeling burnt out from driving to lessons three times a week, and a constant worry to make enough time to focus on what I truly wanted to, as I’d been preparing a report on mental health best practices in other countries, for a non-profit organisation I volunteer for, as well as some training workshops I offered to run at my workplace, that I was really chuffed about and couldn’t wait to do, drained me physically and emotionally. On top of that, I felt guilty and deeply missed my friends and family as I had limited amount of time to see them and I barely spent any quality time with my husband, which was taking a toll on both of us.

I felt completely and utterly overwhelmed. I was irritated for the best part of the day, as my anxiety levels reached dangerous heights and I was always tired.

Something had to give. It was obvious what that should be, but it was tough making a decision, mostly because I didn’t want to disappoint the people who offered me the opportunity. I just hoped they’d understand.

The MBA was not how I expected it to be, I felt I hadn’t learned that much at that point and it was just exhausting, having to go to lessons three times a week, and working on assignments as well, whilst other, more interesting opportunities came up.

So, on one of our winter walks around the neighbourhood with the hubby, discussing this, he helped me figure it out.

I decided to defer for a year, and when September comes, I’ll reconsider my options. Do I really need an MBA, having a masters and a postgraduate diploma equivalent to a masters, plus a bunch of other qualifications? Should I go for a PhD instead? Should I focus on preparing and delivering training?

I don’t have the answer to any of these questions, but I’m happy with my choices so far, and giving myself time to think, recuperate and reassess. As a dear friend of mine reminded me last week, we’re wise and mature enough to not waste time on what doesn’t fulfil us. And I’m doing just that.

My journey to making a true impact and finding meaning and purpose continues, with a boosted confidence, more wisdom and knowledge, and also less stress, which is a true blessing.

Last week, on Green Monday, while watching our colourful kite fly up proudly next to the enormous, grey clouds I couldn’t but just smile.

Namaste

Eleni

The Blue Monday hoax

Did you know that Blue Monday is really a hoax?

It’s based on a non-sensical equation developed by psychologist Cliff Arnall in 2004, which includes factors that can’t really be measured such as weather conditions, debt level (the difference between debt accumulated and ability to pay), time since Christmas, time since new year’s resolutions have been broken, low motivational levels, and the feeling of a need to take action.

A year later in 2005, a UK travel company, Sky travel, began calling the third Monday of January each year as “Blue Monday”, the most depressing day of the year.

That’s simply not true. Nonetheless, January is a tough month to navigate for many of us so the Samaritans came up with something better: Brew Monday.

A reminder to have a cuppa with people you care about.

https://www.samaritans.org/support-us/campaign/brew-monday/

So let’s all use today to check in on our loved ones and our own mental health, like we should do every day!

#mentahhealth #bluemonday

It’s been a while…

I’m not quite sure where to start from. I haven’t written in months, I almost forgot how it feels like to have the luxury of sitting down, and writing about my mostly tormenting but occasionally comforting thoughts and feelings.

I haven’t had much time to reflect back on the year just gone, but I do know that with the exception of the horrific murder of our family friend Doros, things are, on the whole, miles better than a year ago.

Thanks to a rare stroke of luck, the Ministry of Interior decided to finally do something about the state of the blocks of council flats my parents and other Greek-Cypriot refugees live in, and after years of protesting, complaining and praying, my parents have now moved out!!! That was the best news not only of the year, but I’d say the decade, for us as a family and for me personally!Thank God, a huge burden and a constant worry off our back.

Also, I never thought a year ago that I’d be married to my boo! I’m now a married woman, though I’m still yet to figure out what the difference is from living together, other than we hopefully never have to worry about visa issues, immigration, getting ‘permission’ from my husband’s employer to go on holiday (!) and other ridiculous Cyprus immigration processes that we had to follow in the last two years.

After an eventful few months including changing jobs (which I often thank my lucky stars for), winning an MBA scholarship, a few other incidents and a brief summer break, I spent the last couple of months of the year studying part-time for the MBA, signing up to a local mental health NGO, volunteering to help them as much as I can with whatever I can, a short trip and a beautiful few days to Athens for boo’s first full marathon, training for and running my first half-marathon.

I also finally started Mind Matters, for now just a platform to raise awareness about mental health (Facebook, Instagram, X). I haven’t posted much on it yet, but I’ll definitely make some time to develop it and keep it going.

The year concluded with a nasty stomach bug that kept me bed-bound for the better part of my short Christmas break. I didn’t go to the Christmas villages I wanted to, I didn’t see my friends, and took me longer to finish my dreaded assignments. I didn’t do anything I usually do, even small Christmas traditions I started a few years ago. To begin with, I felt bad thinking about what I missed out on, but then I realised, it doesn’t really matter and I suddenly felt at peace.

I feel like, for the last few years, I lost my confidence, my courage, my spark, well, my self, and now I’m the busiest I’ve ever been, and stressed most of the time, I finally started to reconnect to myself. I need to, if I’m to manage not to be anxious worrying about everything I commited to do for the new few months or depressed and sad with everything else going on in the world (I only read the news once a day lately, I can’t handle more than that).

So, although I’ll probably spend most of 2024 constantly feeling tired, I wish to myself and everyone else first and foremost good health, and then calmness, peace of mind, staying true to yourself and enjoying the little things.

Namaste

Eleni

Mental Health Mondays – 18. The end of an eventful summer

When I first started writing this post I gave it a different title.

‘The end of a stressful summer’. Then I decided, although these last three months have truly tested my patience and my mental health, I won’t let stress define the whole summer. I guess that’s what my pre-wired brain remembers more vividly. The same brain that kept me from writing for a few months, as I was mentally exhausted.

❌ New job challenges

There was a lot to learn at my new job, whilst dealing with a number of personal issues (which I didn’t let it affect the quality of my work), but I managed to go through everything and I’m doing really well now. I enjoy working at a much better environment than any of my previous jobs in Cyprus and I truly believe in the amazing contribution to science and research of the Centre I work for and the whole of Cyprus Institute. My passion is still focusing on promoting and offering training on mental health at the workplace, and that’s what I ultimately want to solely focus on, but for now I’m really happy with what I do.

❌ Bureaucracy

The level of bureaucracy, and incompetence of public services, as well as pure mind-f**k as to the process and documentation they require for no reason in Cyprus are astonishingly high.

Let me give you an example.

My husband is a third-country national, which is the term used in Cyprus for non-Europeans. Now that we are married, he is legally allowed to work at any company in Cyprus, BUT every time he changes an employer he needs to RE-APPLY in order to inform Immigration that he changed jobs, and his employer’s name to be updated on his residence card. WHY? Why doesn’t state on his residence card only the fact that he is married to a Cyprus resident? Why does his employer have to be on this? They bear no responsibility or relevance. Why does he need a new residence card every time he changes employers??

Why does he have to pay 80 euros plus another 100 euro agency fees (because if you go on your own, who knows if they’ll deal with your application any time soon), and gather ALL this unnecessary paperwork again and again and again (e.g. marriage licence, social insurance statements, bank statements, rental agreement statement, a signature from a mukhtar/ municipality certified employee to on the application form to confirm that we live harmoniously, although he has no idea who we are and where we live in the area etc and the one in our area is a grumpy old fart), and for both of us to waste even more time off work to go in person at Immigration with our IDs and passports, to submit the paperwork, and for his biometrics to be taken AGAIN (probably 3rd time in one year)?

We had to follow this process twice this year, which completely drained us. It’s soul-destroying.

❌ No holiday abroad

As a consequence of this utterly stupified, mind-numbing process, our mini-break to Thessaloniki we both really looked forward to had to be postponed, as, listen to this, it takes 3-4 MONTHS for Immigration to issue a new residence card, although they require for you to notify them within 30 days if you changed a job. And what they don’t tell you is that, if you are unlucky not to be Cypriot or EU national in Cyprus, you need that card to travel.

❌Accidents, and more accidents

Just before our annual summer family holiday, my dad got 2nd and 3rd degree burns because of an accident at work (which worried us all to death, getting that phone call at 10pm and hearing my dad in pain was horrific), my sister hurt her foot again, and my mum’s chalazion flared up because of dust in the air. Accidents are no fun.

❌ Money worries

With everything going on,and all these transitional periods for myself and the hubby, money has been really tight in the last couple of months, which also took its toll on my mental health.

❌ Very little time for friends

All these events, severely restricted the time I could utilise to catch up with friends and other loved ones I haven’t seen in a while, which worsened my anxiety as I often feel guilty for not being a great friend.

But not all summer was bad.

✅ My parents finally moved out!

After years of official complaints to the Urban planning department, talking to journalists about it, endless family meetings, discussions, and plenty of worry and stress, my parents finally moved out of the almost derelict building they lived in. Thankfully, the new minister of Interior came up with a plan on how to resolve this decades-long deeply rooted and complicated issue for all Greek-Cypriot refugees who moved into the houses and block of flats the government built in a haste about 40 years ago. They now live in a rented flat until new blocks of flats are built and offered to them at lower price.

It’s not the ideal solution but we’ll work something out. At least they are now safe and sound.

✅Weekends at the beach and the pool

Although I didn’t manage to go abroad, I had a great bank holiday weekend in Larnaca with boo, followed by many weekends at Protaras beaches and our local pool with friends and family.

✅Family holiday

I genuinely thought we wouldn’t make it this year with everything else happening, but I’m so happy we did. Swimming, playing, laughing, eating out, precious time with family and family friends. Running by the beach, whilst others were fishing or swimming with friends, in the morning was one of my favourite highlights.Two days after we came back from Protaras, our family holiday continued with a lovely excursion to Pedoulas village, spending time with extended family and walking around, enjoying nature.

✅Running and yoga

The constant heatwaves in the last two months were insufferable at times, which made going running difficult, and I had to get up at 5am most of the days I went, but it was totally worth it. It helped me keep my mind clear and maintaing my sanity, as well as my yoga and journaling.

✅ Kept learning

When I first started at my new job and whilst dealing with that life kept throwing at me and my loved ones, I came home and had no energy to do much. I kept learning French on DuoLingo though, and I slowly started a brilliant short course on Mental Health at the workplace on Futurelearn (I’m halfway through and I definitely recommend it, you can find more details here) and signed up to the MBA I won the scholarship for, starting in October. Also I loved my weekend long runs listening to psychology podcasts. My two favourites so far are Speaking of Psychology by the American Psychological Association (APA) and PsychCrunch by the British Psychological Society (BPS).

All in all, a pretty eventful summer, quite stressful at times but still full of cherished memories and experiences.

Eleni

Mental Health Mondays – 17. Private and Work Selves

A few days ago, during a meeting, I came across a man who spoke and smiled eerily similarly to Doros, a dear family friend who was brutally beaten to death last January, in his attempt to defend a friend, who was bullied by her neighbours. The cruel way he died traumatised all of us and we still to this day find it hard to process.

Though I didn’t let it affect my work, I felt a bit sad and unease for the rest of the day.

I’m sharing this because it’s important to remember that no matter what we do, our personal lives affect our working ones (and vice versa of course) and that’s OK, as long as we recognise when that happens and why (self awareness is paramount) and we don’t take it out on others!

There might be days that we struggle and we take things easy, and others we push through to make it through the day, so always remind yourself that your employees, colleagues or boss quite often face the same emotional turmoil at any given day.

#work #mentalhealth #worklife #personallife

Mind Matters- How we experience anxiety

We all experience anxiety differently. Some get nauseous and have panic attacks. Others can’t stay still.

For me it’s that constant worry and churning feeling in my stomach, my heart beating faster, grinding my teeth at night and feeling drained.

But it’s not always obvious. Some of us hide the symptoms, some can’t. It doesn’t really matter. What is important is to be able to recognise the symptoms, our own and in others, so we can help them, but to also be aware that just because someone doesn’t show any signs, that doesn’t mean they don’t suffer!

I’ve created a simple factsheet about anxiety in Greek and in English, for anyone to use to raise awareness. Feel free to share it with friends and colleagues.

How do you experience anxiety?

Namaste

Eleni

Mental Health Mondays – 16. What you resist persists.

Ever since my ex-employer called me in their office and announced to me, with no previous warning, that he wouldn’t require my services anymore for now (the unfairness of this still frustrates me, after everything I put up with, but I’m proud I stood up for myself and I didn’t compromise my quality of work and reputation, and that became blindingly obvious after the lovely feedback I got from people I worked with in the last six months), I’ve been ruminating not only on how and why I was fired and on what to do next, and most days I feel overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed with anxiety, frustration, and worry about my finances, on what the best step to move towards what I really want to do as a career and make mental health and wellbeing an essential element of every workplace (Work as a freelance, do another masters, go for a PhD, focus more on research or training? The options are endless.) whilst also trying to navigate the ever so slow and bureaucreatic (and racist) Cyprus system on everything. It takes ages for anything to get done or to find any specific laws or legislations ( the majority of Cypriot government pages include the least amount of information necessary, mainly in Greek!!), from unemployment allowance request to be processed, to finding out how to set up a business, being a freelancer, getting a tax number, sorting out anything legal related to my husband who doesn’t happen to be Cypriot or European. It’s a minefield!

But neither the unfairness of the way I was let go from my job, nor complaining about everything will get me far. What you resist, persists. I can’t win every little battle, so I need to let some things go.

Sometimes we have to be like the water, go around those boulders in the river instead of pushing against them, as a wise woman once advised me and some of my powerhouse of friends.

So I focus on taking it a day at a time and believe that things will just work out. In the meantime I try to enjoy the here and now, my morning runs, my morning yoga, my time with friends, family and loved ones, and be as productive as I can be.

Namaste

Eleni