Race For Life Target looks achievable...

Body Combat on Wed
4 tracks from the new routine, all the rest from the old. There’s a tricky bit that includes a jump sidekick and a flying forwards kick….

Gym Friday
Very pleased with myself as I did 5.01km in 30 minutes – phase 2 of achieving the 5K Race for Life in sub 30 minutes. Phase 3 will be to work further on speed and to add some incline into my treadmill work. I also need to ensure that I do at least 1 full speed 5K run per week – hoping that with the clocks going forward, I may be able to start doing more off road routes… Thanks to some very generous sponsors, my fundraising target is also looking achievable - as you can see from the ad on the right.

Swim Saturday
It’s a bit cheeky including this here as it was only 11 lengths – and that was only because our shower was out of action and we felt weird about going to the gym just to use theirs!

Bike Ride Sunday
Route from the house with Husband, C, M&A, S&X and J. C has her own SNB (shiny new bike) although it looked even better christened with a little mud!

14.3 mile route I cobbled together from Tracklog OS maps, going up through Owslebury and then over to Twyford Down. Water Lane is normally an entertaining climb – lots of tree roots – but will be avoiding it for a while as horse hooves have made it an un-rideable quagmire in places.

J headed back earlier – she was on Husband’s old bike and the seatpost was too high for off road for her. Loved it over Twyford Down – interesting tracks and good views. Good to see Husband back up to speed – and very good to see A up front! M did help with back markering – but I’ve warned Husband that he needs to take more turns with me when it’s a large-ish group.

In Laws do Cycling

Went cycling on Saturday with Husband & his parents in the Forest – very very impressed with them both!

Mum-ish hadn’t been on a bike for approx 16 years and Dad-ish hadn’t done much more than that. We hired bikes for them both from Burley & found an empty coach park for them to practise before heading off. We’d chosen a route with loads of options to cut short or to take an easier route, but all not necessary. We did over 15 miles – mostly off road – including a ford and some changing of gears. Both said they were saddle sore afterwards. Even more impressive is that on Sunday, both of them were fine – no aches/pains/strains – which indicates that they are fit!


On Sunday, did some walking coz we went to London for Mum-ish’s Mothering Sunday day out – very pleasant wander across Hyde Park as we made our way from the Serpentine Gallery to the National Gallery.

Went to gym later on – 10mins X trainer, 26mins interval work on treadmill. Think I’m ready to push it up to 28mins next time.

Camouflage shorts and pink wellies

I was rubbish at skating on Monday - for some reason I just didn't feel very stable - ah well! Didn't help that Husband & I made big decisions about mortgages, homes & the future direction of our lives in about 15 mins before I left the house...

Tuesday - gym - 26mins of interval training on the treadmill with no ill effects - it's going well! Snuck in a very brief session on the rower weights machine and 1o mins on the x trainer too.

Body Combat on Wed - the most intense it's going to be for a while as Juliana starts to phase in the new routine next week. So I don't feel too guilty about arranging to go out with a former work buddy next Wed. Some new clothes arrived in the post - very pleased with some long-ish camouflage shorts that are going to look great with my pink wellies at the allotment this summer.

Tonight - proper rest day unless traipsing around the supermarket counts!

Black Eye and Raspberry Pink Insoles

Thursday – went to gym but only did a little CV work as I wanted to focus on weights. Used 4 machines (more than my usual 1) but I struggled to fill an hour. If I do this again, will ask Husband if he doesn’t mind a shorter swim.

Friday – gym again as Husband was feeling guilty about the bacon cheeseburger and chips he’d had for lunch! 20 mins Xtrainer, 22 mins interval jogging. It was a great opportunity to try out my beautiful new trainers – Brooks Addiction again with even more technical features in the spec of the 2007 version to deal with my extreme over pronation (I run like a penguin – but without the iceberg belly slides!). Sadly, I’m equally impressed with the raspberry pink insoles…

Saturday – shovelling s**t! Moved a heap of manure from a field in the Meon Valley to the allotment with Husband, M&A (with cars – that’d be a long long walk with a wheelbarrow!). Managed to get bitten by something just under my left eye – and thanks to my immune system’s over reaction, I now have a puffy black eye…
Great lunch afterwards courtesy of A.

Sunday – should have been cycling but cried off after looking at the forecast of heavy rain & wind. M&A still went – but for a shorter, less exposed route than the one we’d planned. Went to the gym instead. Very pleased as I was able to up my interval training session on the treadmill up to 24 mins at an average of 10kph! So long as I keep pushing up the times, 5K in 30 minutes by July looks eminently achievable.

Cross Training Sunday

I was so rubbish at biking yesterday! We (Husband, M&A) went to Bracknell Forest where I discovered that my confidence on single track has declined over winter to an even lower level. Gave up & joined A on forest tracks instead - she is still getting over a cold so her lungs weren't delivering enough for lengthy riding.

After lunch, headed home & went to the gym in the evening. I was feeling upset that I was so rubbish in the morning but attempted to turn this into energy on the treadmill! Sadly, the new Take That track seemed to help me to achieve this! 15 mins on the X trainer, 22 mins interval work on the treadmill.
Then joined Husband in the spa pool for a bit.

I saw my sister D on Saturday night - very enjoyable evening even though we lost the rugby. She put things in perspective for me - I'm very privileged to be able to devote as much time as I do to exercise. My niece can't be transported in the double buggy with her little brother anymore - which seriously curtails D's mobility and options - wheelchairs with buggy attachments for siblings don't seem to exist! She's trying to work out how to fit 1 session of exercise into her schedule atm though - hope she can!

31:50 to run 5K

I'm getting there!

Went to the gym on Tuesday with Husband - he couldn't swim as the pool was closed but suggested that I stay & exercise whilst he went shopping. Pushed up my 10kph treadmill stint to 22 mins successfully.

No Body Combat on Wed as I was driving back from Rickmansworth - really don't miss the joys of the M25 in rush hour.

Really good jog from the house tonight - 31:50 - which is excellent! I think the interval training is paying off and it was a good idea to do a timed jog the day after a rest day.

The Chain

Body Combat on Wed - acquitted myself better than usual on the push ups - but they are still hard work!

Then went to the gym on Thursday whilst husband swam. Did my usual CV - with the 20 mins on the treadmill at target average of 10kph - but had enough time to hit 3 weights machines.



Saturday - I had a lovely day at Nirvana Spa which I kicked off with my first visit to their gym - enjoyed listening to my newly purchased Mika album.



15 mile bike ride today with Husband and M - M's fave New Forest route which starts from (but doesn't actually go into) Markham Woods. I walked down 1 scary slope - but that's 2 less than last time! No falls, no punctures, but Husband managed to destroy his chain - already placed the order for new one from Wiggle. He did consider stainless steel to enhance the SNB's shininess but has gone for the 9 gear equiv of mine.
Overcast day, not too cold. Saw a herd of deer hurtling towards the track. They did an impressive switchback when they realised that there was a small child on a bike on the track (v.scary, obviously!).

I enjoyed the ride particularly as we went in the morning for a change - definitely quieter & it makes better use of the day as when we go in the afternoon, we tend to have a lazy morning. I missed A - especially at the end as she is the only one of us organised enough to bring a flask of coffee!

Another Muddy Sunday

Very pleased with myself on Friday at the gym - I averaged 10kph for 20 minutes. This is a significant step towards achieving my goal of doing the 5K Race for life in 30 minutes (I hope!). Just need to work up the time now to 30 mins - which is definitely achievable as I didn't feel too tired after this session.


Just as important, Husband swam - his knee is still not 100% perfect, but it was brilliant that he managed to swim his 50 lengths.


On Sunday, did the HCC Farley Mount route with Husband and M. It's normally a reasonable ride - not too difficult - but not today! Ended up carrying my bike down the Clarendon Way section - the mud was clagging up the wheels so much that they wouldn't turn. And just 10 feet after scraping the mud off to free the wheel, it clagged up again! Deep joy. I had a bramble scratch my forehead so had an arty trickle of blood down my face towards the end! Husband's knee was playing up - he is loads faster than he was.


Gorgeous snowdrops on banks everywhere. And I can't beleive that it didn't rain on us given that it had been raining on and off all weekend.

On a completely unrelated topic, I was really chuffed when one of Husband's work acquaintances who we bumped into at the gym on Friday told me how impressed with his apparent loss of weight. He's actually lost fat though rather than weight - and is gaining loads of muscle - definitely a good thing!

Ireland, Skating, Gym

Jogging on Friday - which demonstrated that rest days are important as I took about 1 minute longer to complete the route than last time!

Fabulous weekend in Northern Ireland - courtesy of C & R's engagement party. Spent Saturday walking around the 60 acres that comprise the Ulster Folk Museum - lots of buildings form all over Ireland from churches to teeny tiny cottages that apparently accomodated families with 7 kids.

Boogying on Saturday night at the party - the highlight was Husband whisking me around to Mack the Knife.

More walking on Sunday - we went up to see Giant's Causeway. The coast was beautiful and it stayed dry! Also went to Bushmills (discovered that I do like whiskey despite hating scotch) and to Dunluce castle. Husband was suffering though - he had pain in his ankles and knees by the end of the afternoon.

Flew back on Monday. Skating with G - our last session before next week's test. A couldn't make jogging last night so I spent the evening cooking soup. Missed Body Combat tonight as I had a dentist appointment - dragged myself down the gym (seriously lacking motivation!).

Gym & Food

Gym tonight - Husband was to swim but Esporta decided to shut the pool - as he didn't have his gym kit, he heroically hit the supermarket whilst I exercised. We are getting less and less impressed as time goes on - for example, it's over a month since they promised to contact us to discuss our membership fees (we are being overcharged atm). The only thing keeping us from changing to David Lloyd is the Body Combat instructor and unpredictable congestion...
10 mins on X Trainer, 20 mins interval jogging and then some weights - lat pulldown and the leg press.

Watched Truth about Food on BBC2 tonight which was all about dieting. Some interesting stuff about soup and dairy. Soup fills you up for longer (apparently) than if you were to eat its ingredients in soid form washed down with water - all down to how your stomach processes water. Dairy - there's some indication that calcium may cause more fat to be egested. Rest of the programme covered food diary (tick), portion control (tick) and protein filling you up (tick).

Gym on Friday

20 mins on the X trainer & 20 mins interval jogging:

0-2 8.5kph
2-4 10kph
4-6 8.5kph
6-8 10kph
8-10 8.5kph
10-12 10.5kph
12-14 9.0kph
14-16 11kph
16-18 9.0kph
18-19 11kph
19-20 12kph

Did 3 weights machines – hampered a little on the shoulder press by my hand hurting (still!).
I’m conscious that as I’ve temporarily swapped 1 gym session per week for skating, I’m only doing 1 stint of weights which is a bit low. I think I need to make more of an effort when I do go to gym to do weights properly – and perhaps to build in a second visit that’s virtually no CV but more about weights….

3 days, 3 different activities

Cycling on Sunday - 15 miles in the Forest with SF and M. I was pleased with my speed - kept up with the boys OK - but I was a real chicken with some steepish downhill bits. Both SF and M fell of - SF heroically following a v.impressive run down a slope & M because he was attempting to unwrap a chocolate bar without stopping! Both OK. Puncture again - grateful to M for sorting it out for me so slickly.
No beautiful sunset to show here though coz my camera's battery was flat & my mobile phone's camera button has stopped working. Not sure I can be bothered to sort that out as I intend to change provider in April. It was a gorgeous day and a fab sunset - take my word for it!

Skating yesterday - G was really good at sculling & was invaluable in helping me to get the hang of it. She looks so cool when skating around - makes it look easy. Sculling was hard work for my inner thighs - no bad thing. I'm fighting the urge to buy skates as my hire pair were truly rubbish... we both ditched jeans in favour of leggings (I wore thermal running tights) which made it more comfortable.

Gym tonight - just some X trainer & interval running:
0-2 mins 8kph, 2-4 mins 10kph, 4-6 8.5kph, 6-8 10kph, 8-10 8.5kph, 10-12 10kph, 12-14 8.5kph, 14-16 10.5kph, 16-18 8.5kph, 18-19 10.5kph, 19-20 12kph.
Fascinating huh?

Gym

Nope, can't make this sound interesting! Same routine as Monday with the addition of leg press & rowing weights machines. Even TV was dull!
At least I made it off the sofa.....

Cliche - New Year = Back on the Big D

After a couple of weeks of (most enjoyable) over indulgence, back on the Big D today. Logging all food & booze onto WLR again along with my exercise calories.

Went for a very wet walk with Husband yesterday at Mudeford - lots of Ringed Plovers, Oystercatchers - and very dedicated windsurfers. After a drunken New Year's party at B&J's, walked up the hill rather than waiting for a taxi. About 90 mins walking in total.

Gym today - still feel that my cold is holding me back. 20 mins x trainer, 20 mins interval jogging (8 & 10 kph, 2 min intervals, pushed up to 8.5 & 11 for the last 4 mins). Husband swam - really chuffed as his cold has been so nasty & long lasting - said he found it hard, but I think he's pleased that he managed it.

So, the new year resolutions are to keep up the big D, run 5k in 30 mins and to ensure that I have fun achieving my objectives through doing loads of what I know I enjoy (e.g. mountain biking) and through trying new stuff like skating.

Struggle tonight

I can't decide whether it was my hangover, feeling sniffy or having driven over 300 miles today making me less than stunning in the gym tonight - or maybe it was just an off day. Still did everything - same treadmill routine as last time - but it was much more tiring. Ah well! At least I went...

My mammoth drive did enable me to buy some goodies from Decathlon - another pair of warm cycling tights and a couple of t-shirts. Also bought some dinky little lights for my bike & the SNB so that if we ever find ourselves in low light like on Sunday, we'll be a bit more prepared.

Gym

Gym tonight after a couple of nights off. Same as Monday but used different weight machines - all good.

A change will do me good

I've been feeling a bit achey today - at the gym last night, I tried new approach to weights (3 sets of 10 reps, aiming to fail the 3rd set) and my arms & back are feeling a bit tired as a result. On the treadmill, I did my first 10 mins at the same rate as last time (2 min intervals, slow at 8kph, fast at 10kph) but bumped up the speeds for the second 10 mins ( 8.5 & 10.5), finishing up at 11 for the final 2 mins - so an average of over 9kph. Very pleased I did this - I'm more convinced that 5k in 30mins could be possible by next summer - but it's made my legs ache today.

No walk/jog with A as she has a migraine - poor thing. However, tried something new tonight - a Cardio Kickboxing class with my colleague V at a gym near Southampton. Didn't enjoy it as much as Body Combat - shouty instructor & very uninspiring choreography. But a change is good!

Sunday was different too - no bike ride as it was too windy so we had a lie in & pootled over to the gym for a swim instead. Disturbed to realise that there were many un & under supervised young kids in the pool and no lifeguard. Esporta couldn't even find a leisure assistant to put the lane ropes across for the session - but still found time to spend with potential new suckers - sorry members - touring the club. Prioritising drumming up new business over safety of children - hmmmmm.

Husband had his gym induction on Sunday evening - he seemed to enjoy it. Due to his rubbish ankles, it's exercise bike, rowing machine & freee weights for him.

Champagne & dented cars

Saturday did incorporate walking - probably around 45 mins - making our way from Waterloo to Chelsea for a wedding, walking to a venue off Sloane St for the reception, to the pub & then back to Waterloo. The other major exercise was lifting champagne glass. Lots. Repeatedly! Anyhow, congrats to P & A - hope you enjoy marriage at least as much as I seem to be doing - sad, but I can still gush about liking being married to Husband. Especially as martian death flu seemed to have abated by the time I got home on Friday!

15 mile bike ride in the forest yesterday from Fritham with Husband & C. The SNB (Husband's bike) fell off bike rack, bashing the car on the way down - car was dented, not a mark on the SNB. We think that the clamp wasn't done up properly & not locked - the mitigating factor was that we were putting the bikes on the car on torrential rain. Good ride though - very entertaining cycling up paths that had turned into streams & through fords that wouldn't have been there before. Cute pigs at the end, rootling in the forest for acorns.

Luck wasn't on our side on Sunday - we then went to the gym for Husband's induciton - but it was postponed due to double booking - Esporta, I like your club but your admin is not great! 20 mins of interval training and 20 on the X trainer.

Jog today - 36:59 to do exactly 5km. I was faster than last time - went past home on lap 3 at 34:30 compared to 35:00 last week. Forerunner was working well - fo a change! I had my ipod for company which made a difference to my boredom level. Nice blister on my instep - never mind.

Feeling pleagh

I don't think I do this very often (at least I hope I don't!) but I'm feeling decidedly pleagh. Might be going down with a cold, the squash I had for tea tonight is sitting in my stomach like its morphed back into a whole butternut squash & is going to remain there forever, I was rubbish at the gym tonight, my head hurts & I keep on sneezing.
Pleagh pleagh pleagh pleagh pleagh pleagh pleagh pleagh pleagh.

Injury Prevention

Gym last night - I focussed on low impact (40 mins on the X trainer) & the leg press machine as I was concerned that I'd jogged on Sunday & was planning on walk/jogging tonight - 3 nights of torturing my knee wold have been cruel!

However, A called tonight's activity off as she isn't feeling well - I'm hoping her eyestrain doesn't develop into a full blown migraine - very glad I don't get 'em. I umm-ed & ah-ed about going to the gym but as I've got Body Combat booked for tomorrow, went shopping instead. I now have a gorgeous lbd (more of a long bd than a little!) for the Christmas party next month.