30th June... the last day

Wow, what an experience today. After getting all the house work done and all other little jobs that were needed I headed off for my first reiki massage. I had no idea what to expect. It wasn't something I would have gone for but it was a gift so thought I'd give it a try. I knew it wouldn't be a massage as such but I wasn't expecting to be so chilled I fell asleep three times in 40 minutes! Lots of tension around the right knee which was interesting and relieved by the reiki (nearly fell over when I stood up!). I knew about the tension in the shoulders but now I feel like a rubber band. Amazing really.

After that I took Catriona to her swimming lesson. Amongst screams and turmoil I was that chilled I really didn't mind. Lovely feeling and very calming.

Right exercise. I knew it would be pants today. Another 1km carpet trec. Took a whole 7 mins and 32 seconds. Told you I was chilled. I will make up for it tommorrow as I'm going to try out the new Adrenaline Junckie 2 by Audiofuel. I feel honoured to test run the music tracks so I'll need to do my best but listen to the tracks too. Zone in .....

On a great note, the fact that my gym buddy and I did the weight challenge last week at the gym has caused some what of a stir. Most of the folk that entered pump weights....lots.... but the fact that Helen and I didn't just showed that 'Joe Blog' could enter these comps and apparently there has been a lot of talk in the gym and more folk interested. Done a good turn. Apparently next months challenge is a cardio one. Looking forward to it.... bring it on! Well done to all who entered Juneathon. Everyone did amazing how ever much you achieved.

Wednesday 29th June....one to go

Today was a more relaxing day than those of previous though time to exercise was still in minutes rather than hours. Some house work was needed first thing today so the ironing and shop ordering was done before Catriona was awake. Once the usual routine of the morning was complete I read some books to Catriona before heading out to collect some supplies for work. Once back Catriona and I headed to Catriona's best friends house for lunch and play where I would then be taking everyone for their pony riding lesson afterwards. Arrived home at 5.40pm in time to do the tea time routine. Again managed the hall dash as that's all I had time for (1km 7minutes, 15 seconds). This was followed up with the bath and bedtime routine and as Catriona has a 10 minute power nap in the car this took longer than usual. 9pm here already! Its verging on impossible to do anything other than the 1km in the house (jog wise) when you have a small child. I do have a cross trainer but this isn't jogging and it is currently buried in the spare room as the entrire contents of the Garage are also in there at the moment. Walking is done daily and will be done again tommorrow but I don't see this as exercise, just a means to get from A to B. Roll on School in August......

28th June…Feel like a fraud

Well my ideas….as usual….have not gone to plan today. Husband was due home early so I thought he could have kept an eye on Catriona for half an hour whilst I went for a jog. The weather was glorious for the first time in ages and I thought here is my chance to finish Juneathon in style. Well it wasn’t to be as usual. At the mere suggestion of baby sitting the excuses started flowing. After that I was instructed to go and get more roofing supplies. By the time I had returned, off loaded etc then it was time to put the tea on and alas no time for a jog! I was left to do my 1km hall dash yet again. This isn’t exercise to me; it’s just an excuse to say I’ve done something and frankly quite pants. Hence I feel like a fraud. Today’s time was 7 minutes and 8 seconds. I did go for a walk after tea with Catriona before the bed time routine started and we had lots of small races, so managed to knock 5 minutes of yesterdays walk time. So 1.5km walk in 15 minutes. Alas I don’t think tomorrow looks any better L

27th June.... finally the pace slows

Nursery is on holiday, gala has passed, no VAT returns due....bliss. The pace has slowed a bit and life is good. However, this does not mean exercising is any easier as I now have Catriona 24 7.

Today I needed to get some roofing supplies then pick up one of Catriona's friends and head to the soft play where we met more friends. Children needed to be supervised at all times so nipping out to exercise was not an option (shame, I just needed to sit talk and have a coffee instead).

My hubby told me he would be home early today so I thought maybe I'd get out for a quick jog before starting tea. I know it was still heavy rain but it was warm so I didn't mind. At 5.30pm, hubby phones to say he'll be home just in time for tea. Thanks! Back to trotting up and down the hall for 1km yet again. (Time taken 6 mins 59 seconds....speedy today). I did go for a walk with Catriona after tea so that's another 1.5km in 20 minutes. Hubby hopefully home early tommorrow so fingers crossed I get to jog outside for a change instead of wearing out the carpet.

June 26th – Royal Highland Show day

After yesterday I’m still shattered, but today we are all off to the Royal Highland Show. It is dry (wippy) and muggy, but not sunny. As long as it’s dry….

We arrive at the show field at about 9.45am and get back into the car at about 5.00pm. In between we sat down for ½ hour to have lunch. I’m not saying that we didn’t stand still to watch things but most of the time we were walking and some of the time it was with a 3 ½ stone child sat bouncing on my shoulders! That has to count as some serious exercise (I hope).

Anyway, just in case not, I did the hall dash (1km) whilst I cooked tea. Today it took 7 minutes 34 seconds. Come on….I’ve had a tiring weekend!

June 25th……Gala day is here at last

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I have a wonderful feeling we’ll win some prizes today…

Well to start with it’s chucking it down… as usual. My castle is made from cardboard and there are 9 children and 10 adults waiting to pile into the float for the gala day. Not a good start. The castle wasn’t even attached to the car (well it was nearly 6 feet tall and wouldn’t go into the garage already attached to the top of the car).

First job of the day was to finish the float. I did the walk around to re-stick everything that had come unstuck due to the damp then got everything out onto the drive. After spending most of the night and the morning praying that it would be dry, the rain finally stopped at 9.30am. The castle was flung on top of the car and the husband left to secure it whilst I (the evil step mother queen to snow white who was Catriona got into character…that is put the fancy dress on).

We drove in convoy to Carnwath receiving many strange looks from motorists on the way. Once there everyone piled into the Castle gardens (the trailer) ready for judging followed by the parade. It was wonderful. First we won best turned out vehicle. This was not as easy this year as there was more competition than usual and the standards were really high this year. The main thing was it stayed dry and the kids had a ball (so did the adults).

After this everyone got out of costume then came back to mine for lunch (aaaahhhh). Everything was flung out of packets. No home baking I’m afraid. No time for that. Everyone seemed to have a good feed though and the kids a good play. After this the castle needed taking apart again. We then went back to Carnwath to join in the afternoon entertainment, back home for a small tea and then back to Carnwath for the evening ceremony of prize giving. This is when we found out we had won the best over all entry for the day. I was really chuffed with this, as was Catriona who hugged the cup for the rest of the evening.

Jogging….well yes….I don’t think I stopped all day so alas it was down to the hall dash….again. I know I dashed up and down the hall many times today but not recorded so I did do another 100 times at tea time just to stay on top of things. Today the 1km  took 7 minutes and 15 seconds. I’m shattered so bed time. Night night.

24th June .... ouch... oo....ouch....oo

Yeap, those weights from yesterday are paying their toll. Typing will be kept breif as the wrists are some what sore today. Maybe that bar is heavier than I thought! Backs a bit on the stiff side too. Thighs are okay though so that's a bonus.

Its a glorious day outside today. Makes a pleasant change. Unfortunately I won't have time to jog around Lanark Loch today though as I'll be cleaning a car and trailer and starting to dress them up ready for the gala parade tommorrow, so whilst I had the opportunity I dodged outside this morning to do a relaxing (ish) 3km from home. I completed the shuffle in 18 minutes and 45 seconds. Not too bad and that's today done. The next six days are going to be difficult as Nursery finishes for the summer today so no free time without Catriona. Never mind there is always the hall dash? Could cycle with Catriona and do the hall jog to complete the jog. I'll figure something out.

Must go now. Wrists now agony xxx

23rd June 2011 and I didn't make the 5 tonne....or did I?

Well today was what you could call interesting! I went along to the gym with my girlie friends after dropping Catriona off at nursery. Today was the day that we were going to see how much we could lift in 10 minutes and this would be noted on the gym board. First of all I did a 1 km warm up jog (6 minutes and 36 seconds). I didn't want to wear the legs out too much. Next to the weights. There are two weight bars. One is free standing and one is attached to a 'rack'. I preferred the rack as changing from squat to dead lift and back again would be easier. I had been told that the rack bar weighed 7kg on its own but that the weight of the bar would be included in the total lifted. So off I set with 15kg extra on the bar. I managed a total of 215 reps in the 10 minutes. At this point I was told the total was just the added weight. Now I wasn't too happy at this as I could have used the other lighter bar and put a lot more weight on it. In the end the instructor agreed to but both weights up (without and with bar). Its not as if I was challenging all those body builders, I was the first female to have a go. Anyway, without the bar I managed 3225kg total, with the bar this was 4730kg, not quite the 5 tonne I was hoping but not far off, I just needed another 13 reps to top the 5 tonne. However, and this is where it gets interesting, I was then informed that the bar actually weighs 15kg and not 7. This would mean I lifted a total of 6450kg. Wow.....megga....beat a couple of guys. However, I am dubious. I think it is 7 kg and 15lb. I am saying I did 4730kg and that is for definate. I could lift 30kg each time but maybe not for 10 minutes and it didn't feel like 30kg. I think I need to go into the gym and stand on the scales with the bar. It is the only way to know for certain what I actually lifted. I'll report back as I'm back in the gym tonight (Catriona has a swimming lesson). 6450kg would be awesome but I can't see it. Sweated enough but I'm dubious.

Later all xxx

22nd June 2011 - disapointing on the exercise front

Well as usual I had absolutely no time to exercise today. First of all it was paper work first thing followed by getting Catrion up, dressed, washed, fed and off to Nursery. Once back I had some phone ordering to do. My parents were then coming over as Catriona was 'graduating from nursery'. The nursery held a lovely 'ceremony' for the graduation with songs followed by each child being awarded with a certificate whilst wearing a cardboard morter board. Very sweet. This was followed by a buffet lunch. Home for a chat to the parents then off to horse riding lessons with Catriona and her best friend. Home at 5.40pm, tea on, eaten and cleared away. Next it will be the bath and bedtime routine for Catriona followed by me collapsing in a heap next to the castle which is nearly finished. I just need the draw bridge. Alas I only managed the 100 x 10m dash up and down the hall. Pathetic I know but at least I did something. So today time taken was 7 minutes and 4 seconds.

Tommorrow is Gym session. I'm booked in at tenish to be measured to see how much I lift 'officially' in ten minutes. I'll try to do a couple of km before hand to warm up and then do some more km after to cool down (if I haven't died by that point under an over weighted bar). Wish me luck.
 xxx

June 21st…… nearly at 5 tonne!

No that’s not my body weight though I could do with loosing a few pounds, that’s how much I lifted in 10 minutes using a dead lift and squat. 4725kg to be exact. I would like to reach 5000kg by Thursday but only time will tell.

Well I was going to have a lovely long jog outside this morning but it is absolutely throwing it down. The rain is bouncing off the road. I opted for a warm up on the cross trainer of 15 minutes (km) followed by the weights followed by 1km up and down the hall (7 minutes and 18 seconds) to cool down. At least I’ve exercised and managed to jog, even if it is in the hall!

Right now I need to get the paper work done and then back to laminating ready for the gala day on Saturday. Better check my costume fits!

June 20th….only 10 days left.

It’s the day I help with the nursery kids taking them along to the near by forest. Last day that I need to do this and the sun is out (ish). The kids are well behaved and the teachers lit a fire and provided coffee and toast today. Bliss. Again time and distance is a bit on the vague side but using the car to measure the distance its about 1.5km in total and we took roughly 20 minutes both ways. Good start to the day.

Once home the fish tank is cleaned. This is so much easier to do since I purchased a couple of algae eaters. They are doing a wonderful job. Next lunch. This afternoon as it is dry I really need to work on the gala float for the weekend. There will be many disappointed children if I don’t get it finished. Today I need to work out how to make the car look like a hill with a moat around it for the castle to go one top (I’ll post pictures after the event for those who cannot visualise the car). Mind you sometimes I struggle!

As I know time is a issue (again) I fitted the 1km hall dash in before I ate my lunch. Today as I’m really in a hurry I completed the 1km in 6 minutes and 58 seconds.

If I have time I’ll do some weights later.

10 days left folks. Keep up the good work xxx

June 19th….They didn’t tell me there was an obstacle course!

It’s another busy day in the house. First of all I was on rubble duty. There was a large trailer full of rubble that needed taking to the rubbish tip and emptying. Nice great big slabs of concrete. That’s the weight lifting done for the day. Back home to laminate some more Disney characters ready for the gala next week, lunch and then off into Carnwath for what I was told was ‘Kids Games’. As it was tipping it down as usual, not many kids turned up. Think there were about 30 in total. Lots of sporting events had been laid out including an obstacle course. Well as there weren’t many kids, the sports games were done in teams over the obstacle course. I have to add at this point the course would generally suit age 9-11 year olds? I have a 4 year old who insisted in joining in. Not going to complain if she wants to join in. First was the wall that I had to chuck her over (weight lifting session number 2) then a sprint to the ‘A’ frame with the cargo net over it. I needed to stand underneath to make sure her feet didn’t fall through (stretching), another sprint and a dive under the cargo net for a crawl followed by yet another sprint to the rope bridge.  Over the rope bridge and sprint to the next crawl under a cargo net, then up onto a block, do a rope swing, climb through a tyre (I did not do this….I would not fit!) and then the final bit was running through the tyres on the ground. Fastest time completed with a Catriona in tow was 2 minutes 11 seconds. This was then repeated a total of 8 times! I said that the average time was 3 minutes to do the course as I don’t want to cheat, so that’s roughly 800m in 24 minutes. (Probably further than 100m a time too but I’m not going to be picky about that).

When I finally got home….drenched….the rain was still coming down and it was tea time. So alas, yet again, I resorted to the hall dash whilst tea was cooking. Today I managed 1 km in 7 minutes and 8 seconds. I know its not much jogging but all in all I did do quite a bit today which I’m happy with.

Saturday 18th June.....rain race

No pain today. Wippy! Just wait until later if I have another shot at them weights. I must be insane!

Catriona has dance class this morning again so after dropping my friends off in Lanark I drove Catriona to her dance class. On the way the sky was getting darker and darker and then down the rain came...again!

I took my time talking to the dance instructor before leaving Catriona in her lesson. Luckly during that time the rain stopped. I could see the sky was really heavy all around so it wouldn't be long until it poured again so I didn't have long. It was the race against the rain. Not wanting to get soaked and have to sit in the car wet for an hour I set off....quickly.

To the round about and back, 3 km, 16 minutes and 25 seconds. No record but I did beat the rain. Mind you I was still soaked. Not from rain this time but from sweat! Can't win really but at least that's another day completed.

Friday 17th June....pain has kicked in

It has now been two days since I did the weight lifting and my back and thighs are now protesting. My back doesn't want me to stand up and my thighs don't want me to sit down. Movement however is essential to stop me ceasing up altogether. So after having a meeting about the school summer fair (like I haven’t enough to do), picking up Catriona from the nursery, getting and putting away the groceries, making lunch, breaking the laminator (I didn’t know that so much could fit into a laminator without coming out of the other side…oops) and then taking Catriona to her Grans, I headed to Lanark Loch. Today, unlike last Friday, it was chucking it down. Do I jog or swim? Being a fair weather jogger I decided just to do two laps of the Loch rather than three. So soaked, but happy that I was no longer as stiff and sore, I completed two laps (3km) in 18 minutes and 27 seconds.

16th June 2011 - Its stayed dry wippy

Well I wouldn't exactly say the sun has got its hat on but the rain clouds have not burst as yet so after dropping Catriona off at nursery and then dropping the car off at the garage for a new water pump I sneaked in a cheeky wee 3km. Just along the road and back but at least I did it before returning home, doing a whirlwind impression to get the house work completed before having to go back for Catriona at 11.30am.
Phew! Time taken 18 minutes and 37 seconds.

Washing, drying and book keeping to do this afternoon and if time a wee tinker on the castle before heading to the swimming pool for Catriona's lesson. Think after a few lengths I might pop into the sauna. My lower back is a tad sore after lifting 4300kg yesterday (sounds good that....don't need to mention it wasn't all lifted in one go ;-)),

TTFN peeps xxx

15th June – I should be a body builder me (not)

Well today is gym day. 4 girlies all drop their daughters off at the nursery and we pile into one car and make our way to the gym. Good gossip session!

Anyway, the gym’s challenge this month is to see how much weight (total weight over ten minutes) you can lift using a  squat, dead lift and a bench press.

Not wanting to attempt this cold I did a warm up by jogging 4 km. When I actually started the 10 minutes with weights I realised maybe 4km may have been too far for me. I thought 20kg would be fine and started with the dead lift. 50 reps of this then onto the squats. 50 reps of them and onto the bench press. 25 reps of them which were more than enough for me with 20kg on the bar, back to squats and dead lifts, repeating 25 of each before changing over. In the 10 minutes allowed I managed 215 reps. 215 x 20 gives me an over all lift of 4300kg. I can do better than that…. surely….here come the excuses….

1)      Ran too far too fast before doing squats

2)      Hands were sweaty and I had to keep stopping to wipe the bar

3)      Bar not wide enough and bent!

Okay, I’m pants but the top score (big muscly male) only sits at 6000kg (aaaaahhhhhh). I recon I can get to at least 5000kg (yeah right but hey it’s a goal). So the official measure/ count happens next Thursday morning.  Better get some more practice in. Maybe listening to some Audiofuel will up the pace and get some more reps in.

To finish off and loosen off I did another 3km (it was too early to go for a shower and leave as I wasn’t driving so just kept going…..gonna feel that tomorrow!) Total run 8km in 35 minutes and 36 seconds.

Half way through wippy!

14th June 2011 - busy busy busy

I love being busy but this is having detrimental effects on my Juneathon entry. So today, Catriona was dropped off at nursery and I then needed to get back to place some orders and then get a clients VAT return done. This completed I then needed to pop out to pick up some products and get back to the nursery at 11.30am to pick up Catriona. I also had two of her pals today as I was coaxing their mothers over to help make castle walls for the trailer for the local gala. Lunch made for the kids and mums, castle walls were cut. Everyone disappeared at 3ish to retrieve the rest of their offspring and I set off painting. Few more orders were also placed and paid for and then it was tea time. The time needs to go slower! After tea was another order and then the bath and bedtime routine for Catriona which takes me to 9pm. Not much time for anything else. Alas this means that whilst making the tea I needed to apply the hall dash again. Getting quite repetitive now So 1km completed in 7 minutes and 6 seconds. At least I can log something. Gym tomorrow so dedicated time to exercise. Bliss!

13th June 2011 - Another run around day with little running

13th unlucky for some. Well my plans went right out the window. I discovered that my water pump was leaking in my car so instead of my planned 3km jog I ended up having to take the car to the garage to get a new water pump ordered up. Oh bother. Never mind.

Once back home I had just enough time to get the Parent Council newsletter put together before having to go and get Madam from nursery. Catriona home, lunch was then made and then the pile of ironing tackled. That is exercise in itself. Especially if you saw my pile! Anyway as soon as that was finished I had to get to an appointment with the accountant to go over the end of year books. I'm happy to say my book keeping skills seem okay. I passed for this year. Phew!! Home... Tea....and paint. Yeap, more work on the Castle. I'm glad Gala days are only once a year! Only the roof now needs a second coat now and it should be finished. I have friends coming for lunch tommorrow to help cut out castle walls for the trailer. They'll need painting too but at least they are flat. During the painting session I managed to fit in a bath and bed routine for Catriona and the next time I looked at the clock is was 10pm. Where had the day gone!

Luckly I knew I wouldn't have time to go out and jog today so whilst tea was cooking I did my 100 x 10m dash up and down the corridor. I know its nothing much but better than nothing and it means I've still managed to jog every day. Time taken 7 minutes and 12 seconds. I know not really that fast but come on...there are lots of turns involved (and by the way no way of cheating the distance as the hall is actually about 11m long so the distance takes into account turns and not putting the foot right to the door ;-) - don't want any cheating now!)

June 12th….Blue bottom fly syndrome…..

Today I feel that I was running around this way and that but haven’t actually got much done. Last night I had a ‘take away night’ with a close friend. Both families got together and order tonnes and we eat probably 99% of it and wash down with wine (except the kids of course). Red wine of course for medicinal purposes only….. Honest. So today I couldn’t really be bothered to do much at all.

Anyway, I have finally finished the castle construction. All that is now required is to finish painting the castle and to figure out how to attach it to the top of the car (Local gala day).

Catriona had her swimming lesson this afternoon so I went along with Catriona’s best pal and her mum (my pal) for the lesson. This was a great time for me to do some exercise. So in the ears went Martin Yelling’s 180 max interval training and on went the tread mill.

Still love doing this training. Today completed 3km in 17 minutes. I’m happy with this.

After such a stressful day ;-) went home and made a steak and had another SMALL glass of rose wine. Well…. What can I say xxx

June 11th….The Sun has got his hat on…..

Saturday is here again. The sun is shining which makes a pleasant change. There is a gentle breeze and the Velvet Power is doing its magic. No sore hips, knees or ankles. Bliss.

So once I have dropped Catriona off at her dance class, instead of watching the world go by in the car I decided to jog the same route as last week. A 3km rolly polly jog. Gentle inclines except for one right at the end but I cannot complain as I went down the incline to start.

I just took my time today and admired the very well manicured gardens that I was passing. Unfortunately at one garden I had to stop! The colour and volume of the flowers were amazing. I had to stop and take a picture. I’ll try and upload a picture later.

Just goes to show that jogging is not all sweat and hard work. It can be enjoyable too. Time taken today (including photo taking) 16 minutes and 39 seconds.

ps Its now raining so the sun didn't last long but at least I got out in it :-)

June 10th….Thank crunchie it’s Friday!

Well…doesn’t actually make much difference if it’s Friday or not really. When you work from home and both you and your husband are self employed, then the weekends only mean that you have your child with you for 24 hours a day rather than 21.5 hours. Still loads to do.

Anyway, I am not complaining. The wind has calmed down and rain is currently holding off so as I’ve had my groceries delivered, the hour that I have to do my shopping whilst Catriona is with her Gran can be put to a different use….yeap you’ve got it ….jogging. (Don’t tell Granny lol).

My lower back and thighs are mildly sore from the weight lifting yesterday so I thought a nice gentle jog on the FLAT was called for. Plenty of time for the hills another day as the hills aren’t going anywhere…..neither are my thighs.

So off I toddled to Lanark Loch. A lovely FLAT path 1.5km long around a loch full of swans. Absolutely wonderful. Thoroughly enjoyed it and got sweaty at the same time. Completed the run in 27 minutes and 18 seconds. Plenty of time to get my breath back, stop sweating and get changed before having to collect the monster….

I’ll need to find some sort of padding for my weights bar to stop it hurting the top of my back….even with it sitting on the ‘padded’ bit at the base of the neck. The towel kept moving so not practical. I’ll be against the clock so no time to sit and fiddle with getting a towel positioned just right. Hhhmmm need to think about this until the callous forms.

June 9th….Wet, Cold AND Windy!

Lovely weather today for a jog NOT! It is dark and cold and there’s drizzle and wind. Not a gently breeze that just brushes the grass, No, its wind that causes trees to wave. If ever there was a day I needed a giant kick up the behind to get out and jog its today.

Lucky for me I entered Juneathon. I still think that I must be slightly out of my mind. Juneathon is a good boot for the behind though as I definitely would not be going out otherwise, so off I toddled for a short run (with resistance training also know and the weather). I don’t want to burn myself out to early in the month (like the distances will increase at the end of the month…. Not).

Today I did 3km in 18 minutes and 56 seconds. That’s enough for me. But I did do some more training. As the gym has a monthly challenge, I went home and tried some dead lifts and squats both with a 20kg bar to see how many reps I could do in 5 minutes. Between the two I managed 134 reps so that would be a total lift of 2680kg in 5 minutes. The thighs are sore from yesterday so I know the reps can be better than this. Over the next two weeks I need to build this up to 10 minutes and either increase the reps or the weight or both. Why oh why…….

Answers on a postcard please. ;-)

June 8th….It’s gym day

I seem to have problems responding to comments so here they are:

Abradypus: Yes I’m mad

Shazruns: toilets can be just as tricky….not much space and yes a goods night sleep was needed; however, apparently walking in trees is calming….some report in some magazine so bring it on….(don’t believe it for a second. How can 19 kids be calming!)

Runorgocrazy: Wasn’t planning on having a pink, yellow and purple dining room but could get used to it. LOTS of newspaper put down. Didn’t get much painting done so lots more to go aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

Today is the day the 3 girlies, including me of course, hit the gym once dropping the wee ones into nursery. Not much time to do a lot but its amazing what we manage to squeeze in. It takes 25 minutes to get to the gym, so once there it’s a dash to the treadmill. Today I attempted Martin Yellings 43 minute 3 step interval training. 6 km completed in 38 minutes (skipped the cool down). Next I went onto the weights and also did some floor exercises. The gym has a new monthly challenge which I cannot miss up on. You have to lift as much as you can over a period of 10 minutes using either a dead lift, bench press or squat. The weight lifted at each rep gets totalled up for the ten minutes to give you an over all sum. You can mix and match what techniques you use. Next Wednesday my gym buddy and I will have a trial run then we’ll have a shot the week after. There is no way we’ll be near the top of the gym challenge as its men against women, no preference given for sex, size or age but it’s a challenge and something different to aim for.

After the gym, the nursery were providing a buffet lunch for all children (and their parents) who are moving onto school this year. How bliss is that. Hard workout followed by a healthy free lunch. Couldn’t be better. Feel spoilt today.

June 7th….It’s windy!

No I am not referring to personal wind I mean outside. Okay so it’s not really windy but I have enough trouble jogging with out any additional resistance (excuse number 1).

First job of the day was to drop Catriona off at school. She is having the morning in Primary School as a trial ready for when she starts school in August. I think it’s a great idea for the nursery children to have a try in Primary School before starting for real as when the big day comes its not so daunting for the children. No problems with Catriona what so ever so next job is off to the rubbish tip with the trailer as I have lots of rubble to get rid of. Once back home I have one hour to jog, shower and get back to the school.

As I’m jogging from the house I leave the drive and I am immediately faced with the monster hill (excuse number 2 for slow time….hills). Nothing like a ‘fast’ warm up. I made it to the top with out walking though so that’s an achievement in itself. Only 2.5 miles to go….against the wind….all the way…..never behind me…..Nasty wind!

Completed 5km in 32 minutes and 5 seconds. Not bad. Not great but that’s day 7 completed.

I’m now off to finish construction of a castle which is to go on top of my car for gala day in just over 2 weeks. Once construction is complete….paint…..with a 4 year old….messy!

6th June ..... I survived the child onslaught

9.15am and 19 3-5 year olds are waiting patiently (give them their due) to be walked to the local forrest for their forrest lesson. Muggins here volunteered to help. What on earth possessed me! So off we trot. I lost count of how many times I said "please hold my hand", or, "don't walk in the dog pooh" and its only 750m to the forrest from the nursery! I survived though and so did the kids (most importantly of course). The kids all seemed to have a really good time having a snack in the tee-pee tent (which I had to help take down) and making tree faces from clay (lovely jubly mess) and that's the main thing. After all the excitment we had to all walk back again though this time at a very slow pace. Same comments were made all the way back. So thats the first lot of exercise for the day. 1.5km walked (even if slowly) over about 40 minutes or so.

This afternoon I have the joy of taking my mother-in-law to the garden centre. Bring back the kids.....all is forgiven.....

No....shouldn't be that bad. She has one of her hearing aids now so I shouldn't have to yell at her. I seemed really rude shouting at her when we're out but she really is deaf. Not long before she has the second hearing aid and then I'll have no secrets.

As I have no idea what time I'll be home, and I do have a castle to paint for the local gala day when I get back, I thought I had better do my 100 x 10m hall dash. I've ran everyday so far so can't stop now. Time taken was 7 minutes and 4 seconds. Bit slower than last time but all that fresh air has made me tired.

Will aim for 5km tommorrow morning. Hope eveyone else is having a great time and doing well xxx

5th June..... if the blog is short there won't be more blog than jog ;-)

Oh what a day. I think I must be going through a mid life crisis early. False nails applied, make up dug out (all 4 items of it) and then decided to dye the hair to cover the one white hair that keeps saying hello rather than plucking it out. Well all was going well until I dyed my hair dark brown. Thats nearly its natural colour except the hair came out black. Now I look like I should be goth. Everyone else goes lighter in the summer but oh not not me. Too late now and to top it off I don't like it. Tough comes to mind. Nothing I can do about it now. Anyway. More importantly...jogging.

I didn't have much time today and worried that if I sweated too much I'd have black streaks of hair dye running down my face. Catriona had a party 1km up the road so I got out her bike and I jogged to and from the party whilst Catriona cycled. Not as easy as it sounds as there are hills and Catriona is still learning the rules of the bike such as don't look behind you and yank the handle bars to do so as you'll fall off, so a lot of the jog was in a bent over position holding handle bars. I have no real idea of the time. I know we got to the party roughly 6 mins after setting off and the same on the way home so to save any cheating I'm saying a conservative 14 minutes jogging total. Think thats fair. I've not included cutting the grass as soon as I got home or diving into hedges with the bike when cars came along the single track road. Oh the joys. Nursery trip to the forrest tommorrow which means I'm helping to walk 20 odd 4 and 5 years olds 1km down the road to the forrest. looking forward to it......honest xxx

4th June - loving it

Glad to say the hips were not as sore this morning so I was pleased that I had forced myself to do the 3km shuffle yesterday.

Catriona had dance class this morning so instead of sitting in the car waiting for her I went for a wee jog. Not too far incase Catriona needed me, and not too far to agrivate the hips and not too far as I didn't really know the area and didn't want to get lost (is that enough excuses for a short run?) so did 3km. Woo hoo thats 4 days of running on the trot (sorry for the pun). Astounding, never heard of by me...Time taken 16 minutes and 17 seconds. really happy with the time as the run was slighlty hilly. Oh to run on the flat....

Anyway, that was all grand. The tricky part was trying to get changed in the car in the middle of a built up housing estate after the run. Now that was a challenge!

3rd June...the pain has kicked in already...help

Well when I got up this morning I could only manage to shuffle around. Hips were pure agony. So…. Today….. first of all, Velvet Power ordered (natural anti-inflammatory which usually works wonders for me). Hope it doesn’t take too long to arrive and that it works as well this time as it has in the past.

I was going to run my 5km (quite hilly) run this morning but I feel I would need all day to do that the way the hips are at the moment and I have a four year old to run after from 11.30am onwards. So I went for a nice gentle 3km flat shuffle instead followed by lots of deep freeze! Time to shuffle :18 minutes and 49 seconds. Listened to a bit of Salsa music whilst shuffling along, it seemed to make the shuffling less like a shuffle and more like I was trying to dance down the road (I'm my dreams anyway...I've a very good imagination).

Onwards and upwards as they say. I'm proud I got out there on this glorious day and did something. Its not often that the weather is this brilliant. Keep it coming.

June 2nd….. more jogging than blogging (makes a change).

Day two is Thursday and that means Gym day this week. The day that my jogging partner and I try and come up with different training ideas to make each other sweat! Today we are going for 7km. The first km is on the flat (warm up). Next we do 500m flat at increased pace then 500m at 1% incline as slower pace. Then 500m flat again increased pace, 500m 2% incline then 500m flat increased pace and 500m 3% incline then the same in reverse followed up with 500m flat. Finished it in 40 minutes so was chuffed with that and oh yes…. We did sweat…. Lots!       

Still had to take the wee one swimming in the afternoon and for a wee walk after tea. This was rounded up with an hour in the garden so all in all quite an active day.

1st June - More blogging than jogging:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh………………..its hhhhheeeeerrrrreeeee!!!!!!

I’m falling apart, everything hurts and I’ve not even started yet. Oh dear. Right lets get started on the excuses. June 1^st unfortunately is a disaster on the exercise front. Oh I’ll be on my feet all day but walking….with kids…..

So, paper work was done before Catriona (my daughter) woke up. After that was the normal routine of trying to get her wash, dresses and fed for nursery. Added bonus on this dark wet day is that it is the nursery trip, and I’m helping on it. Oh the joys.  That’s me ties up until 3pm. However, I did spend half an hour chasing the kids around the outdoor soft play whilst we played chase and tickle. Distance covered: haven’t a Scooby but it was running…..Next the mad dash home to get Catriona changed and off to her pony riding lesson. Okay, that’s me tied up until 5.45pm. Mad dash then to get the tea made and consumed, so tied up until 6.45pm. Bath run for Catriona, supper, stories read and songs sung…..8.45pm. I’m buggered if I’m going out in the dark wet evening now. I’m shattered.

However…. As with Janathon….the 10m corridor beckons so that I managed to get a short run completed. Need to do something every day and I cannot flunk on the very first day. So while tea is cooking (as this is the only time I have) I managed 100 laps of the corridor (1km) in 6 mins 50 seconds. This is a new record. Wonder if it will be beaten at all over the next month.

I really hope the month (which I know is heaving with activities already) improves with regards being able to get out and actually pound the ground! Tommorrow is kill myself at the gym day so that day is sorted. Phew……

Good luck all you fellow Juneathoners.

31st January 2011

January 31^st 2011

Yeah, woo hoo, yippy, the 31^st is here.

I woke up this morning when my husband left for work at 4.30am. I hadn’t slept well due to the cold my daughter had so kindly shared with me. I had ‘purred’ all night, that is every time I’d breathed in I could hear the mucus in my lung gurgle and the bubbles pop resulting in a sound not too dissimilar to a cat purring; and was now unfortunately wide awake due to a coughing fit trying to dislodge this chesty mucus! I had so wanted to do a jog this morning to get my running distance over the 50km but I felt that the nearly freezing temperatures would not have mixed well with the extra fluid in the lungs. Lung freeze would surely have occurred. I knew I was not in any running for distance covered during the Janathon though I have managed to exercise every day and log and blog daily (still in shock that I have managed this) so decided though I was up, I’d try and be among the first to complete Janathon. So I donned my shorts and t-shirt and headphones and hit the cross trainer for the last time during Janathon whilst Catriona slept. Today between the coughs, clutching the chest from pain and sneezes I still completed my 20 minutes and did 7.94km (average cadence 63.45, average speed 23.83km/hr). No illness is going to stop me completing Janathon after getting this far!

So stats for January:

Days exercised:                     31

Total Distance:                      152.2km

Running distance:                      46.7km

Swim distance:                         400m

Bike:                                        19km

Walk:                                       2km

Cross Training:                         84.2km

Chances to advertise:            1

Races:                                    1

Wins:                                      1 (though not the race but the fancy dress at the race)

PB:                                          1 (by 19 minutes over 6km)

Days logged:                          31

Days blogged:                        31

Weight lost:                           3lb

Weight gained:                      2lb (don't go there!)

A huge well done for everyone who took part in Janathon. It was fabulous and I really enjoyed myself and the challenge. Everyone was great and the encouragement was superb, very motivational. That’s to the organisers of the event as without you this would never have occurred. I think Janathon helped lift the moods of many that during January would usually have been low. Roll on Juneathon when there hopefully won’t be the snow and ice to hamper outside activity. Mind you this is Scotland so you never know there could be snow in June and if it isn’t snow and ice it will most definitely be rain and wind (getting excuses in early).

What to do now?

I have a 10k to train for but it doesn’t seem the same. Oh dear the loose ends.

30th January 2011

January 30th 2011

Well the beautiful mornings didn't last long. The sky is grey and there is a sprinkling of snow on the ground....AGAIN! Also my lovely daughter has shared her cold with me. Don't you just love children!
However, nothing is going to stop me exercising, logging and blogging each day when we are so close to the end. I made it this far....I'm gonna finish this!

I was going to attempt to cycle to the village with Catriona on the bike this morning but it is far to cold to expect Catriona to sit on the bike in these temperatures and with snow on the ground, so between sneezes I headed back to my faithful cross trainer. Twice Catriona decided to join me on the cross trainer which was highly amusing. During the first attempt Catriona has one foot on each of the steps. The second time she decided to have both feet on one side. Made the work out interesting to say the least!

So, in 20 minutes I covered 7.68km (average cadence 61.5 and average speed 23km/h).

One day to go. Come on gang. You can do it. xxx

29th January 2011

January 29^th 2011

The exercise and the blog will be short and sweet today. Another busy Saturday. Dance classes for Catriona in the morning. She hasn’t been going to this one for long so I can’t leave her. I’m not close to home or a gym that I know so it doesn’t help me on the exercise front anyway.

Home for lunch then off out again for a birthday party. It is at a local gym and I thought great I can use the gym whilst Catriona is at the party, but unfortunately Catriona had other ideas. I had to stay in the hall with her even though I was practically ignored by her for 2 hours. All I can do is a quick 15 minutes on the cross trainer before I need to cook tea. Oh the joys of motherhood.

So today: 15 minutes cross trainer, distance 6.5km average cadence 61 and average speed 22.9km/h

(one minute completed with child stood on my feet – extra resistance training)

28th January 2011

January 28^th 2011

Catriona was up through the night a lot with a cough, poor thing. We are all totally shattered now. Never mind, this morning is a beautiful morning. I think it’s the first beautiful morning here this year. Still sub zero but the sun is shining, the sky is clear, the birds are singling and there is no snow or ice on the ground. Well maybe just a little ice.

I decided that after dropping Catriona off at nursery I would attempt my first ever outdoor jog this year. I needed to exercise where I couldn’t just stop when tired and so thought a jog outside would be great now that it was possible to stay upright on the roads. If I got so far then I still had to get back home so no skiving. So on went the new trainers that have yet to see the light of day rather than the artificial light of a gym, in when the ear phones and off I trotted still with the imprint of the spinning bike felt on my back side from yesterday! (They really need to do something about them saddles). At first it didn’t seem too cold, however, after a couple of minutes I could feel my ears starting to nip. I wasn’t turning back though just because of that. The vapour in my lungs hadn’t frozen so there were no real excuses. I past a neighbouring farmer and waved hello to him I could see the look on his face which said…..why?......Stupid? On I plodded. The sun was shining brightly so I couldn’t see a thing but I knew I was getting a good Vitamin D fix. Bliss. By the time I was jogging back down the road, I began to notice how undulating the road was (getting knackered on slight inclines in other words). You don’t get that problem on a treadmill. I passed the farmer again (who I’m sure nearly laughed out loud this time) and made it home. I didn’t feel particularly sweaty, well it was only 3km, however, after 10 minutes inside, decided the sweat must just have frozen as I’m now drenched! Off for a shower before doing some more paper work I think.

So that was 3km in 18 minutes and 11 seconds and now feeling fantastic (despite still being able to feel that saddle!).

Come one peeps. Only 3 days left. Nearly there xxx.

27th January 2011

January 27^th 2011

Gym day today. Oh the fun. But wait….the gym is packed…busiest I’ve seem it in ages. Oh no…that mean your limited to 15 minutes on the machines. Nothing for it but to do 15 minutes on the spinning bike, 15 minutes on the treadmill and 15 minutes on the cross trainer….

Stats for today:

Spinning bike:   15 minutes        9km

Treadmill:         16 minutes        3km

Cross trainer:    15 minutes        3.15km

Not a bad distance over all and a good work out. I did discover that cross trainers are not all the same, or in fact similar. The gym cross trainer has your legs slightly more apart so that you feel that you are straddling some what. Also due to this the movement seems somewhat un-natural. Mine at home is more like standing on a bike. Your legs are in a more natural position and biggish circles. As a result the speed and cadence are completely different as is the distance travelled as a result. It doesn’t make any real difference to anyone. I still sweated….lots….and had a good workout which is the key element. I have taken a liking to the spinning bike though, apart for the saddle which still feels like it has been embedded into my backside. I knew I bought a wider padded saddle for my bike for a reason. Maybe after a number of goes my backside will callous somewhat making the saddle a bit more bearable.

Anyway, 27 days done. Still can’t believe it. 4 to go.

Keep going everyone, not long now. Final stretch. xxx

26th January 2011

January 26^th 2011.

 I have friends coming over for lunch today so after doing a quick dust and hoover I jumped on my faithfully old friend the cross trainer to bop to a few tunes for 20 minutes. I didn’t want to miss a day when I am so close to managing exercise every day this year so far. Still can’t quite believe I’ve managed it. I won’t say how far behind in the paperwork I am, that will get sorted next week ;-)

So today I managed 8.3km in 20 minutes (average cadence 67, average speed 27.1kph).

Will need to start doing some stretching exercises soon. I was given a side saddle riding lesson for my birthday. This will take place in February but I’ve not been on a horse for 5 years and never side saddle. My instructor just laughed saying ‘You know how you hurt after one of my lessons’, I reply ‘Oh yes’, she then said ‘After side saddle… double it!’ Oh joy. I am looking forward to it but booked it in February as there is no way I could exercise the day after and I didn’t want to miss a day in Janathon.

Only 5 days left folks. Keep up the hard work.

25th January 2011

January 25^th 2011.

That’s Catriona off to nursery in her kilt to celebrate Robbie Burns day. Her idea…bless.

I now get to sit down and calculate my average steps taken per day over the last week. I did say last week that I would do this as a little experiment for myself. I was curious how many steps an active parent doing I’d say an average 20-30 minutes a day exercise (thanks to Janathon) would take. So here it is: 10560 step per day on average. Not bad at all. However, it does show that even if you think you are active and run around a lot you still need to do a little extra, even if it is 20-30 minutes exercise each day to reach the 10,000 steps a day recommended to keep fit. So there you have it. I’m quite chuffed but now realise that Janathon may need to be Yearathon to keep fit. Aahhhhhh! I also discovered that you can cover quite a lot of ground doing house work! My housework day clocked up the most steps by far.

Right for today! Whilst my darling little whirlwind was having her weekly swimming lesson, I ran to the gym again. I had a maximum on 25 minutes. I completed 2km on the treadmill in 12 minutes and 6 seconds, but after the run on Sunday I fancied a change so stepped tentatively over to the bike! Oh no not the bike. I did fancy trying spinning but the spinning bike was in use. I had 12-13 minutes left so jumped on the normal bike and started peddling. I managed 5km in 11.5 minutes before needing to head back to the pool for my weight lifting session. That is throwing and twirling kids around above my head. Some work out I can tell you.

24th January 2011

January 24th 2011

Well I'm still on a high from yesterday. It was a great day. A PB and a first prize for fancy dress. Fantastic.
To top it off I have not pain anywhere. Unbelievable. All races should be on astroturf! (See yesterdays blog for further info and pictures).

Plans have already started for the next event to keep my running buddy and I out of mischief. We hope to do a local 10k at the end of May. No time to get bored!

I had to do something today though so back onto the cross trainer for 20 minutes. 8.28km covered (average cadence 66 and average speed 24.59km/h). Lots of bopping too. Good moods tend to do that to me. I can't walk in a straight line. I need to bop!

Right I'd better get some paper wrok done or the hubby will be onto me.

Bye bye peeps. Only 7 days left. xxx

23rd January 2011

January 23^rd 2011

Today is the day….ahhhhh

I was feeling nervous from pretty much as soon as I got up. Why…. The ‘fun run’ wasn’t until 3pm! It’s not as if I’m in it to win it. I’m taking part as a challenge to myself and to have fun!

I spend the morning pootaling around, visiting a friend’s farm, taking Catriona to see the animals and then getting back home to get lunch. On no…what to eat. I always get a stitch. Okay it was a banana sandwich. At least they tend to stay down.

Now it was time to get ready as I was picking my running buddy up to get to the fun run. Nessie was inflated, Audiofuel t-shirt at the ready (do I get extra points for advertising?), trainers clean, socks darned. Time to go.

We arrived at Ravenscraig indoor sports facility in plenty of time. Registered and did the usual visit to the loo (already been before I left but needed to go again). The 6km run was to be around the outside of the indoor Astroturf football pitch. The kids were still playing matches on it so it was obvious that the start was going to be delayed. My running buddy and I did a bit of a warm up in the adjacent hall that had sprint lanes. (Very fancy place by the way). We needn’t have bothered. The race organisers had lined up a bit of Zumba for us for get warmed up. Have you every tried Zumba with an inflatable around your middle. Not easy I can tell you. At this point I’m worried that I’m already knackered! Few minutes of running and 10 minutes of zumba were enough.

 

The organisers got us ready. There were two ‘areas’ one for walkers and one for ‘runners;. Well I wasn’t walking but I wouldn’t class myself as a runner. But runners group is was. There weren’t many of us at the event and the other ‘idiots’ in fancy dress all seemed to be in the walking section. My buddy and I appeared to be the only ones in the running section clad in anything other than running gear. We obviously must be loony.

And we’re off. We were told to do 17 laps. Can you imagine, not only did we have to run, we had to count at the same time. I think I chanted the lap number all the way around each lap. I didn’t want to cheat; I’d only be cheating myself. I was actually very surprised. Running on Astroturf is great. It’s soft on the joints and very springy. We were flying. Maybe my inflatable Nessie had a lifting factor as well as I didn’t feel knackered at this point. At the half way mark I nearly chocked at our time. We were doing amazingly. We even managed some skipping and some side steps down one side to give us a change.....why not!

In the end we completed the 6km in 27 minutes and 14 seconds. I couldn’t believe it. That was a staggering 19 minutes off last year’s time. I actually went up to the organisers and double checked that race had been measured out properly. He said that was what he had been told. Who am I to argue? Even if it was only 5km I’d have been chuffed with the time. But if the organiser said it was 6km then 6km it must have been. (Don’t expect me to do that time in a road race!)  All I can say is thanks to me running buddy for keeping it going and a huge thanks to Janathon, Martin Yelling and Sean Audiofuel for all the training tips and encouragement. Thank you also to St. Andrews hospice who organised the event, especially on astroturf.... where PB's can be made.

6km race…. 27 minutes and 14 seconds oh and I’m a winner…..no not of the race but of the fancy dress. Yes I won the best turned out female. What can I say? I won something after all xxx.

22nd January 2011

Yeah ha another busy day so just a quicky so that I don't break the habbit of exercise, log and blog on a daily basis.

This morning it was Catriona's dance class. So its a sprint to get her ready and out the door in time. As Cationa is only young, after her lesson she can join the 'big girls' whilst they do their warm up. These moves are a bit advanced for Catriona so I have to show her and take her throught the exercises. Exercise session 1 for me - jogging, burpies star jumps, high knees, kick bottom and stretches. Distance and duration I haven't the foggiest but I've done something.

When I got home I knew I'd be strapped for time this afternoon as well and as I didn't want to miss a day I did my 100 x 10m hall dash. This was done in 7 minutes and 3 seconds. Not bad. Catriona was entertained trying on a new swimsuit so the hall way was all mine. I'm not too bothered that I won't get much exercise in today (mind you the wii might be out later) as I have my 6km fun run tommorrow. Need to get my gear all ready for that.

So till the next time....keep jogging, logging and blogging folks. Not long to go now. xxx

21st January 2011

January 21^st 2011

Wow, loving this. I’m feeling fitter and more awake each day. Maybe it was the good nights sleep, maybe it’s the Janathon, who knows bit I’m feeling good!

21^st day today and it’s a Friday. Weight loss today from 1^st Jan is 3lb. I don’t know why but this put me in a good mood this morning. 3lb seemed like a good step to me. 1lb a week which I’m more than happy with.

Well, it’s frosty and cold this morning, it’s like that every morning here, but today there was freezing fog too. It doesn’t take much to persuade me to stay in to exercise. I don’t want to go out and pull a muscle when I’ve my fun run on Sunday. I know excuses. I did exercise though. I‘m not skipping the exercise, I’m just not doing it outside. 20 minutes on the cross trainer (distance covered 9.04km, average cadence 63.2 average speed 23.6km/hr) followed by 35 sit ups, 15 leg raises, 10 full push ups and 3 minutes on the Ab circle.

The last sound track I listened to was ‘On a Mission’ by Gabriella Cilmi. It is really motivating.

I am a woman on a mission,
Nothing can stop me, I’m stronger than ever
I wanna see this through
I am a woman on a mission,
Whatever it takes I will do what I gotta do

I thought this perfect for the Janathon.

Only 10 more days folks. Keep up all the hard work.

20th January 2011

January 20^th 2011

Wow, I can’t believe its day 20 already. Only 11 days left. Well its Thursday and that for me means gym day, so whilst Catriona was eating her breakfast I got my bag packed with everything I might need….. trainers, t-shirt, oxygen tank…..

Once Catriona was dropped off at Nursery, my gym buddies and I headed into the Gym. I had to laugh as we walked, very slowly, into the gym. My gym buddy said if we walk any slower we’ll meet ourselves on the way out. Really did laugh.

Anyway, armed with Martin Yellings 180 max interval training again I headed for the treadmill. No elderly group walks today; just young fit things and me so there was a treadmill free. Heck I don’t care who else is running. I can’t hear a thing when I have my earphone is anyway and it’s not as if we all face each other whilst clocking up the km. I managed an extra 50 meters in 40 minutes today. Woo hoo. So that’s a total of 6.25km in the 40 minutes. I didn’t feel the burning desire to jump off the treadmill at 180bpm today so there is some improvement.  

As the time is restricted due to having to get back to pick the miniature whirlwind up from nursery again (she’s only there till half eleven and it’s over 20 minutes drive to and from the gym), I decided to skip Martins cool down and dashed to the pool to do a cool down swim instead and clock up some more distance. Okay I only had 10 minutes but I still managed 16 lengths (25m pool not 50m by the way), so I was quite pleased with that. I’d love to try a triathlon someday but it would need to be done in reverse….run, bike then swim. I can’t run after being on a bike as the legs want to do circle movements…very odd….and there is no way I am cycling or running in a swim suit. There is definitely not sufficient upper decker flopper stopping material in a swim suit to allow me to run and you can’t really swim then jog in a sports bra as it would seriously chaff! I’m not that keen! No intention of spending hundreds on fancy outfits either so it’s a no go really. Maybe a gym one in reverse someday for my own entertainment.

Now I’m back home ready to get lunch made followed by the enthralling tasks of housework! At least it’s more of a work out. The average steps per day of a busy parent doing Janathon are stacking up. My weekly average will be available on Tuesday but today, already I’m at 9391 steps! Bring it on.

Right lunch and to retrieve my inflatable dino from Catriona who finds it hilarious to run up and down the corridor with it around her waist. Maybe she should do the 6k on Sunday!

Stats today: 6.25km jog in 40 minutes and 400m swim in 10 minutes.

Lots of steps and hopefully a clean house again.

19th January 2011

January 19^th 2011

I’m feeling floppy, a really good floppy. I bought a beginners guide to Tai Chi for my birthday. I’ve not done Tai Chi in over ten years when I used to go to a class. Well the DVD was just warm up exercises but after starting with a headache….50 minutes later….. no headache and feeling energised and well…..floppy, really relaxed. It feels wonderful. I think at least one day a month if not more will be dedicated to doing these exercises from now on and I’ll look into getting the next DVD with the movement sequences in them.  Once this is mastered I can do some each day. In fact some of the exercises can be done each day. The exercises really loosen off those tense areas. I think next I should spend a few minutes on the husbands back massager seeing he is away for the night with work. Perfect.

Only none perfect thing today was the blow up dinosaur that I plan to use for my run on Sunday. I thought it was a rubber ring….. oh no…..its a boat! I’m glad I blew it up today and didn’t leave it until Sunday as I would be running 6k with a boat on my head! Can you imagine? Well half an hour after opening the nessie boat….I now have a nessie ring. Yes I’m sorry to say I cut the bottom out of it much to my daughter’s disgust. She didn’t have to run with it! It has now been tried on for size. Nice a snug width ways around the good old hips so it shouldn’t need to be hold whilst I’m jogging and there is plenty of room front and back for leg (and belly and bottom) movement. I’m quite chuffed all in all. Roll on Sunday.

18th January 2011

January 18^th 2011

Well Blue Monday has past. Things can only get better. I woke up refreshed and actually felt good. The day was a busy one (as usual) trying to get all the paper work done before whirlwind Catriona comes home from Nursery. I did a few goods pick ups for the husband then took the whirlwind and her best friend to their swimming lesson. This gives me 30 minutes flat to hit the gym. As usual the fitness instructor just laughs at me as I speed past him to the treadmill. But oh no…hang on….none are free….aaahhhh….I don’t have long and every treadmill is taken by the lovely older folk having a group walk…..aaahhhh…..surely they won’t be there long. What to do. Right nothing else for it but to get on a bike (unfamiliar territory here). Okay its switched on and I’m pedalling. I up the resistance (a bit) and start clocking up the minutes. Three minutes and 1.5km in total. Finally a treadmill becomes available. That’s the warm up on the bike done and me off to the treadmill.   

With Audio fuel’s 160bpm beating in my ears I start pounding away. I haven’t long as getting to the gym, standing in horror looking at all the full treadmills and spending a staggering 3 minutes on the bike has eaten into my half hour. I do manage 3km in 18.05 minutes. Getting a bit better. To think I need to do twice that distance Sunday and with an inflatable rubber ring around my waist (if I can get it up that far…..if not it will be a big hat!). I’m scared…..I’ll admit it.

Right run and long distance cycle (ha) done, I had to get back, changed and into the pool for my weight lifting session. Only three children today to lift and spin and throw. Two four year olds and one 6 year old. I tell you it’s a good work out! Come 8 o’clock I was pooped again, but at least its evening. I’m allowed to be pooped. Time to put the whirlwind to bed I think.

17th January 2011

17th January 2011
Feeling really pooped today. No excuse for it either! I've not done any long runs or races over the weekend. Maybe that is why I'm pooped. Need to do more? Who knows. That won't be the case next weekend so I'll know next Monday if more intense exercise at the weekend helps.

I forgot to put on my pedometer this morning so the recording of my daily average steps taken will need to start tommorrow. At least I remembered to take Catriona to nursery this morning. Always a good start.

Weight loss this month as of 16th was 2lb. This morning was back to 0lb. I can understand why people get disheartened and give up trying. Not me though. I'm going to keep at it! Those scales are not going to get the better of me. Looks like a food diary is needed. It is the best method for me although it is tedious. However, if that is what it takes then that is what will be done!

Right! Once back from nursery I donned the clothes that never get seem in public, only in the house when nobody else is in and got to the beat on the cross trainer again. In the 20 minutes of bopping and using the cross trainer I completed a distance of 8.3km with an average cadence of 67 and average speed of 24.9km/hr. Not too bad. I will need to start uping the time spent on the cross trainer but as I am already pooped and I have a race (well fun run) on Sunday, such increases are not going to happen this week. I'm just sticking to my normal routine and then I'll go a bit crazy next week (maybe.....if I can walk after running 6 km with an inflatable dinarour rubber ring around my waist). Don't worry I'll include pictures so you can have a good laugh. xxx

16th January 2011

16th January 2011

Well its Sunday and instead of a quite family day.... its full of things to do as usual. Between all the mad dashing and trying to get all the morning tasks completed I managed to jump on the ab circle for 4 minutes only to pull a muscle at the side of my upper arm (don't ask.... I've not figured this one out myself yet....must have been a bit over zellous using the arm to hold position whilst sliding up to the right on the ab circle). Its actually really sore, but as I don't use my arm, other than as pendulum, to jog this shouldn't be an issue.

After lunch Catriona had a 5th birthday party to attend. 32 lovely children and one entertainer. How he does it I never know. Brave man. The kids seemed to have a wonderful time. I was really good and only tasted one bit of a coconut ball.

Once home, there wasn't much time to actually exercise so back to the hall dash. 100 x 10m up and down the hall with Catriona in tow. Amazingly with Catriona present I did the dash in 7 mins and 8 seconds. No toys to jump over or side step this time. Result.

After tea Catriona had an energy burst. Must have been the party food! So out came the ballet on the Wii followed by the Wii fit. I tell you that ballet is hard. Stand with leg sticking over this way and do movements this way and that with the arms and the Wii remote. Suppose in a way its a bit like Yoga, though I've never done Yoga. Anyway, as the movements are slow, it really works the muscles trying to hold your position and to stop yourself falling off the Wii board, which I did....a lot. As for the Wii fit.... well its a giggle. I do my stint then finish off Catriona's stint as she gets bored half way through. Quite happy that I did some exercise though so don't feel too bad that I didn't have much dedicated Janathon time (yet again).

15th January 2011

15th January 2011

Well todays blog may be a tad shorter than my usual long winded waffle due to time constraints. This morning I took Catriona along to her dance class. It was her first class of this year (other than practising at home) and she did brilliantly. She wasn't keen to join in the warm up after her class with the 'big girls' so we came home and practised some of their warm up moves in the privacy of our home (exercise session 1).

After lunch it was off to the mother-in-laws to try and drag her into the 21st century. I had bought her a digital phone so that she could carry it around with her rather than having to dash from where ever to the sitting room to answer her current phone. She has really bad osteoporosis and I was worried that one of these days she'll fall legging it to the phone. Anyway, that needed setting up and instructions of use written down in easy form for her to use the phone.

Once home again and tea consumed (and only 1 glass of red wine), out came the Wii. I had purchased Diva Ballerina for Catriona but found it a bit advanced for her. I had a shot though as its good for the core muscles and balance. Quite enjoyed it but had Catriona hanging off me saying she was bored. So exercise session 2 - 20 minutes on Diva Ballerina. Catriona can use certain games on the Wii fit so that went on next. We took it in turns to jog and hoola hoop and do some toning moves. So for a further hour (say 40 mins of me exercising) exercise session 3 - Wii fit.

Not too bad all in all for a day where no dedicated time was set aside to exercise. Just shows that you can fit bits in if you want to.

I have finally got a battery for my pedometer. So for a laugh, well not really a laugh, but out of shear interest, I'm going to measure my steps for the next week and I will report back with the average daily steps taken at the end of next week. Should be interesting as they say 10000 a day I think for weight loss and fitness increase (or something like that). We'll see.

14th January 2011

January 14^th 2011-01-14

Oh I’m pooped!

Well after a few hours of cleaning the spare bedroom yesterday I finally found the spare bed. Woo hoo. I was beginning to doubt that there was still a bed in the spare room. I don’t think I have seen in since…. Oo… October? Well I have still got one and you can actually use it again now so I’m very proud of myself. To celebrate I thought I’d have a glass of Guinness with my tea. Yes, I know, very lady like but I’m giving blood in a few weeks so the Guinness was purely for medicinal purpose you understand. Anyway, no body told me that the iron in the Guinness would turn to solid lumps of iron in your lower legs so that jogging was like you were waist deep in mud!

I went happily along to the gym this morning for my weekly torture session. I started with the treat mill and Martin Yelling’s 180 Max interval Training playing in the ears and my spanky new trainers on my feet. 150bpm……this actually was hard work today. Oh no….I’ve 160pm, 170bpm and 180bpm still to go….twice! I tell you, iron weights in your legs is not funny! Next time I’m mixing the Guinness with red bull. Maybe the wings will lift the iron. I did however, keep going. Gritting teeth and breathing heavy I completed the whole work out.  Sweat, oh my, did I sweat. My ever efficient cooling system has broken and I have a severe water leak…..everywhere (no I didn’t pee myself I just sweated….lots). I couldn’t finished the whole 43 minutes as my MP3 player died after 40 minutes but that was during the cool down anyway. I did manage a grand (to me) 6.2km in the 40 minutes. Last week it took all 43 minutes to do this distance, so despite iron leg weights I completed the distance 3 minutes quicker. Must mean something….

The new trainers seem to be doing well. No funny pain anywhere or nasty rubbings. I did feel that my gait had changed a bit so might need to build up the arch inside a smidgen and keep my feet in the agreeable position. I seem to need to do this with all trainers anyway so nothing new. All in all I’m quite happy with my trainers.   

Next I thought I would tire out the arms with some shoulder presses. I was planning to do 20x7.5kg, 10x10kg and 10x15kg. However, dummy me set the machine wrong. After the first 20 I thought I’m really struggling today only to realise I had done 20x12.5kg. No words for me really is there other than stupid. I finished with another 20x7.5kg and that was enough. Funny how the last 20 were really easy!

Once home and feeling like I’d been run over with a road roller, I fell onto the ab circle and finished with 3 minutes on this contraption. Sides ache a bit so must be doing something.

Right off to feed the wee monster and then do the food shopping. Bye bye. Till tomorrow. x