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

13th January 2011

13th January 2011

Woo hoo. New trainers are here. I ordered some Brooks radius in the sales. I saved a wonderful £45. Its great having a birthday in January as you get so much more for your money. I’ll try them out at the gym tomorrow and hopefully they will be fine and I can use them for the fun run in just over a week’s time. Never fear I never chuck the old ones out. They become my kicking around trainers so they are there should the new ones not do.  

I have had a busy schedule today so far and it doesn’t look like it will be getting any less as the day progresses, although most is due to house work. I know sad, but I always dedicate Thursdays to house work when ever possible. Normally I have the gym in the morning and the house work gets done in the afternoon however, I had some removal guys here this morning taking away my old sofa. Two men arrived at the door to take the sofa away. It was a 3 seater recliner so did have a bit of weight in it. Oh how I had to laugh (quietly and to myself of course) as one bloke managed no bother to lift the sofa. The second 'new' guy just couldn't grip and lift the sofa and had to keep putting the sofa down. Once he did manage to lift his end of the sofa, he tripped, about 3 times, dropping his end of the sofa. It was like my personal Laurel and Hardy act. I kept thinking of all those times I moved the sofa myself and even moved the sofa from the sitting room to the spare bedroom by myself before Christmas. Also, just last night Stevie and I lifted the sofa between us no bother (no stevie did not lift it on his own!) to leave the sofa next to the door ready for the removal boys. I wonder if a career in removals was a wise move for the guy. Either that or I'm wasted on paper work lol. Not a good image of me really is it. The female ‘Sofa Lifter’. Who needs weights and the gym? Lets bench press a sofa…..okay enough…….

As I was saying today, for me, is a busy one. Once the sofa was removed and I could move inside my home once again, the fish needed cleaning. Well not the fish themselves, but the tank. I’ve never come across such grubby fish. I need to clean the tank weekly. Maybe it’s the whole tropical fish thingy with the brackish water that’s the issue as I never remember having to clean the gold fish I had when I was young as often as these fish. Maybe I feed them too much? They are quite chubby…. Must be a family trait. That took well over an hour and lots of walks back and forth from the tank to the sink. (Hope that counts as exercise). After that was completed, time to fetch the wee monster from nursery. Once I had her home I had to make a few phone calls to the insurers for the car and the gas folk to get some gas delivered. Why do sales folk make my life so hard! Some straight forward tasks are always complicated by the sales folk refusing to be of any assistance what so ever. It does make me wonder some times if companies want people’s trade or not! Anyway, that’s done for today thank goodness and I can now get to the house work. Just the normal washing clothes, dusting, clearing away, hovering, bed changing etc. I do have an additional chore of the spare bedroom to sort however. All Christmas and New Year I was unable to access the room other than to get to the cross trainer, which was next to the door, as the old sofa had been dumped in there. As a result everything from Christmas that didn’t have a place to live got chucked, literally, into the spare bedroom. Now that the sofa has gone….oh my….what a mess…..I can see it now…..

As for exercise, on top of the chores for the day and playing with Catriona, I did manage to squeeze in the 100 x 10m hall dash. I waited until Catriona was happy in the sitting room with some ice cream and then got started. 7 minutes and 4 seconds today. Not bad. On top of that I managed 10 full press ups and 3 minutes of the ab circle. Think I’ll sleep well tonight. Just as well so that I’m ready for Martin again tomorrow. OO er misses. Well a really long blog makes up for a really short dedicated run. Bye for now peps.

12th January 2011

12^th January 2011

After spending the evening having an annoying twitch in one of my hamstrings as the lactic acid tried desperately to escape from the cellulitic tissue that it is encased in, I woke up this morning still sore but not as bad as yesterday. The gluts still had blunt daggers in them but the hams felt not too bad and the daggers in the quads had localised to just above the knees.  The triceps were a bit sore from all the tricep dips I did yesterday trying to get into a sitting position but at least they got a good work out.

After ice skating to the nursery and believe me, everywhere is covered in solid inches of ice, even ice road truckers could drive their lorries over it without worrying about falling through, I made it home to begin day 12’s exercise. My core muscles have already had a good workout today trying to stay in an upright position on the ice. I therefore jumped on the cross trainer. Oh my hams woke up now. OO, OW, OO, OW, OO, OW with every step. I didn’t load the resistance on to start with or I wouldn’t have got past 5 minutes. I left the resistance to the last 5 minutes. In total I managed 20 minutes on the cross trainer and 3 minutes on the ab circle. I was listening to my new CD ‘floor fillers 2011’, so much bopping took place at the same time. Great fun. Distance covered today 8.22km (average speed 24.63km/hr average cadence 66rpm). I’m currently sweating like a very sweaty thing (I have a very efficient cooling system or so I convince myself) so time for a shower and more paper work. See if I cease in the seat this morning. I’m going to need a crane by the end of January. Bye for now peeps.

11th January 2011

11^th January 2011

Woo Hoo. My new

Ab Circle

has arrived. Apparently 3 mins every day on this should help firm up the lovely wobbly love handles. It worked for my hairdresser big style so going to give it a try. The love handles are an area that isn’t really pushed on me and even in my lighter days the love handles were still ‘hanging around’ so it won’t do any harm doing some exercise based on this region. I spent yesterday afternoon setting the ab circle up and having a quick go. Definitely felt the sides working so fingers crossed after a good few weeks I might start seeing and feeling the benefits. From now on every work out will include 3 minutes on the ab circle.

Anyway, woke up this morning, stretched and suddenly realised that was a bad idea. OOOWWWW! Someone inserted daggers into my buttocks and thighs during the night. My gluteal, quad and hamstring muscles where all harping NNNNNNNOOOOOOOO together in perfect harmony. My calves, back and hips were okay thank goodness! I managed to get out of bed, resembling a 90 year old and walked (if you can call it that) to the bathroom! To use the toilet I had to semi-squat with arms behind me until I found the toilet seat so that I was able to use my arms to lower myself to a sitting position (sorry for being so descriptive). Very attractive I can tell you. At times like this, men you don’t know how lucky you are. Well the day progressed in this manner resulting in my arms having a fantastic work out. I was doing paper work all morning whilst Catriona was at Nursery so the lack of movement was a great help (not). Moving around and stretching in the afternoon definitely did help some though the daggers of pain were still there but a little blunt from all the stabbing.

So did I have an ‘off’ day…..oh no.  Can’t do that as it is Janathon. Catriona had her swimming lesson which lasts 40 minutes. We were running a tad late but once she was safely deposited into the pool for her lesson I waddled around to the gym for a wee jog. Jogging felt good. I managed to complete 3km in 18 mins and 5 secs. Not too bad for me. Stretching the legs and taking good long strides felt wonderful (though I did hold onto the front of the treadmill to prevent myself being spat off the back whilst stretching and running at the same time). I didn’t have time for anything else as I had to waddle back to the changing rooms to get changed and into the pool before Catriona’s lesson finished. After Catriona’s lesson I have my compulsory weight lift session of swinging and throwing children around the pool and speed running in water with at least 2 children hanging from my back as I pretend I’m a horse.  How do I log this into the training application? Being in the water and hence removing the weight burden from my legs felt wonderful. However, then I had to get back out of the pool. Not so wonderful and definitely not graceful I can assure you. Anyway, that was today and I managed to exercise. Only knows what tomorrow holds xxx.

10th January 2011

10^th January 2011-01-10

Well a new week and a new start yet again. Catriona at nursery every morning this week so no excuses. I woke up this morning and though my hips were still sore, they were no where near as bad as yesterday. I decided that despite the tropical weather outside of 3 above 0oC (believe me this is warm) and the melting ice and snow (melting not melted), I would give pounding the road a miss hopefully preventing a re-occurrence of the agony hips. Instead I did some circuit training in my living room. The circuit went as follows (over a 30 minute period):

Jog on the spot for a few minutes to raise the body temperature and increase the heart rate. This would have been roughly 0.5km.

48x lunges (front side and rear)

18x tricep lifts (behind head standing up with 10lb weight total)

24x lunges (front side and rear)

Now that I have cramp in my inner thigh as well as feeling sore at the front and back of the thighs, time to raise the heart rate again:

jogx 1 min

12x squat with shoulder press 10lb weight total

12x squat with double shoulder row 10lb weight total

12x squat with side arm lift 10lb weight total

16x double squat with side leg raise

16x double squat with front kick

16x rear lunge with front kick

Thighs not feeling any better (OOOWWW) so back to raising the heart rate again. You can tell I’ve not done this is a while.

65x star jumps

Child birth reminders hit again. I think I held my breath for the entire set of star jumps in a bid to be able to clench the pelvic floor muscle hard enough to prevent having to repeatedly stop to sprint to the toilet. I’m really chuffed. I managed the whole set without stopping once or peeing myself. This is a vast improvement on last year. Pelvic floor exercises really do work.

12x full sit ups pausing half way

12x double crunches

16x elbow to knee crunches

12x back raised

16x straight leg raises (on all 4's)

32x bend leg raised (on all 4's)

If this doesn’t help by bottom nothing will. I’m not having my butt cheeks waving to everyone who might be behind me whilst I jog. Note that I am taking for granted that there will be people behind me. This is the optimist in me speaking here. Thinking positively.

60x star jumps

Again holding the breath as the pelic floor muscles start to get tired.

32x ballet squats with single shoulder row 10lb weight total

16x ballet squats with single shoulder press 10lb weight total

8x ballet squats with double shoulder row 10lb weight total

8x ballet squats with double shoulder press 10lb weight total

Inner thigh no longer exists and walking resembles a baby giraffe.

Cool down

Well that’s that for today. Maybe jog or cross trainer tomorrow. See what the weather and hips have in store. I’m still chuffed that I have done something every day so far. This is quite unbelievable really. It is a shame that the weight loss is back to 0lb though. I’m going to concentrate harder on this and will report back with the weight loss progress in one week. Right off to shower and get some work done before I need to pick the wee monster up from nursery in 1 hour (aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh).

9th January 2011

Not a good day today. Woke up early as my hips were screaming PAIN at me. This happens once in a while but knew I wouldn't get much done in the way of exercise today. Nothing can stop the hips screaming...standing, sitting, lying down, moving.....nothing. Pain killers never really work so don't bother taking them and I've run out of Deer Velvet (a natural anti-inflammatory) which work wonders but does give me heart palpatations. Maybe a blessing then. So what to do. I was off to my parents to be ran after and for Grandpa to entertain Catriona so most of today would be an easy day other than the drive. I decided that once home I would walk my 1km up and down the corridor. This would allow me to clock something on the 'I've moved my bottom off the sofa and done something' scale but shouldn't make the hips worse. So today a pitiful 1km in 10 1/2 mins. Tommorrow should be back on track and maybe some Zumba. Haven't tried that yet. Will decide once I wake up tommorrow (hopefully of my own accord or that of the alarm clock and not the hip scream clock).

Weight loss this month 0lb. (hopefully a blip before the fall if you know what I mean)

8th January 2011

8^th January 2011

Well as I wake up this morning the Quads are nippy….just a bit….love it. Backs a bit sore though so need to work on the core muscle some more. They obviously could do with being a bit stronger. My hips are sore too but that is normal, especially in the cold weather. Physiotherapist suggested putting a baggage strap around the hips to keep them in place. Great a baggage strap to hold the old bag together. Wouldn’t that look good on the treadmill. 4 butt cheeks waving hello instead of 2 and can you imaging the chaffing. Not a chance, hence sore hips. Don’t you just love child birth! Any way… one the subject of lovely children my daughter came up to me this morning, pinched my love handle and said ‘Don’t worry mummy, I’ll help you run up and down the corridor today’. Oh how good I feel now. My own personal trainer who has just turned 4 years old! Well there is 8 inches of fresh snow on the ground outside. No jogging outside for me today! Also, this means I can’t get Catriona to her dance class. So exercise plan:

1 – Build snowman

2 – Jog 100x 10m up and down corridor

3 – Take Catriona through dance exercises.

Progress report:

1 – Build snowman: Well the snow didn’t bind very well so rolling the balls of snow for the body and head were impossible. Therefore we resorted to piling the snow up into a huge compact heap and using a bucket (sand castle style) to make the head. We succeeded and in the process I covered (roughly using number of steps x average stride length) 1014m. This also included a sledge pull, so some resistance training tied in. Yes I know I’m milking it but come on….really….I’m not in any running for maximum mileage in one month. Some of them fit bunnies out there will cover more distance in one day than I’ll do in a week. I’m in it to take part, do something daily (get this wobble bottom off the sofa) and to have a laugh about it.

2 – Jog 100x 10m up and down corridor. Here I’ve waited till Catriona is peacefully watching a cartoon and got started. I thought I’d get the jog done before she noticed. WRONG! Think I did 15m and that was it. After that she wanted to join in. Not a bad think I suppose. It gets her exercising and warmed up for her practising her dance. Bad for my timing thought. This time the 1km took 7 mins 25 secs. Towards the end Catriona brought out her toy keyboard so did the last section hurdling Catriona and a keyboard whilst the demo played jingle bells. Oh what fun…..he he he.

3 – Take Catriona through dance exercises. How to record this in the training log….hhhmmm….ah yes there we are: Cross Training/ Dancing. Tell you its hard work. The warm up involved jogging around the table, jumping up and down, burpies and star jumps followed by some really needed stretches. After that is the actual dance steps. First tap, then jazz and to finish off some disco. I’m pooped! Total steps taken were 656 over 20 mins. Its difficult to measure as some of the dance moves don't involve actually moving your feet. It really is basic level dance moves at the moment. The warm up is the hardest bit. But hey...its moving.

Weight Loss from 1^st January 2011 – 2lb (staying constant, at least not going up. If I could keep at 1-2lb a week I would be ecstatic). Okay gassed enough for today. Bye bye till tomorrow.

7th January 2011

January 7^th 2011

Dinner Thursday night was delicious. Sorry to any vegetarians reading this but I had venison, medium rare, on a bed of spinach and mushrooms, washed down with a couple of glasses of Shiraz, followed by sticky toffee pudding and ice cream. Yum Yum. It was wonderful. Anyway…. If your mouth isn’t watering and I haven’t ruined anyone else’s diet plans I will now go on to describe Friday morning’s activities at the Gym.

It’s the first time I’ve been at the Gym since 24^th December. It’s going to hurt (and it does by the way). What to do….. so much to choose from. I’ve the 6k run (in fancy dress) in 2 weeks so really need to hit the treadmill. Cycling (gently as that’s all I do) or swimming is not really going to help me in the run when it is so close. So off I toddle to the treadmill. No lovely little jog for me though, oh no, I have Martin Yelling’s performance 180Max interval training from Audiofuel (http://www.audiofuel.co.uk) with me to help pound out the 6k and hopefully get me back to some sort of fitness a bit quicker than just a gentle jog. Okay you can all stop giggling now. I start at 150bpm which was a really slow 8km/hr. I can do this easily I thought. Not out of breath at all (this is just the warm up by the way). Next comes the first interval at 160bpm, my usual running beat but a shameful 9km/h on the treadmill. I didn’t want to push too hard and not reach the end (excuses). Okay starting to sweat a bit now and the breathing….still okay, but getting a little harder. It is only for 3 minutes after all then back to 150bpm at the pitiful 8km/hr. I could probably speed walk here but keep a bounce going that resembles a jog. Next is the 170bpm. ‘This should feel a little harder’ says Martin. OH YEAH! I’m still going and still happy I’ve not fallen off the end of the treadmill though. I am now doing a slightly more respectable speed of 9.5 km/hr. Still going okay. I have the music pumping quite load so cannot hear how loud I am breathing. I nearly giggle when Martin says run light. I can imagine the receptionist can hear the pounding on the treadmill never mind my fellow gym goers. Phew…. Back to 150bpm and still going. Right, now the 180 bpm for 3 mins at a staggering (not) 10km/hr, my usual treadmill speed for jogging.   Shouldn’t be a problem. Ha ha ha. ‘Legs strong (not sure about that), run strong (I’m trying), head strong (I want to get off….really)’. I kept wondering what the giggling feeling behind me was when I upped the pace. At the 180bpm I realised it was my bottom. Oh the shame of it. Glad the gym was quiet. Its just the muscle in my bottom staying relaxed I convince myself, Martin keeps saying stay relaxed during the voice over so at least one section of the body is obeying his commands. (I have an excuse for every occasion). Anyway, that’s the first set of intervals finished. I’m not feeling too bad and I’m still going. Face like a beetroot but nothing new there. Now I have to do it all again!!! This time around I even up the pace of each interval by 0.5km/hr and the final interval by a whole km/hr. Staggering. I was half expecting the treadmill to spit me off the back during the 180bpm track. I did it. I have a great feeling of achievement. Distance covered in 43.08 mins was 6.2km. Not a great distance, however, this does include the warm up and cool down so not too disappointed. I feel it’s a good start to completing the 6km in under 40 mins (last year 46 mins), that the aim anyway.

However, was I happy going to the shower after that. Oh no…. I decided to do some weights too. I had 10 minutes to kill what a better way to do it (not). Started with the shoulder press. 20x7.5kg, 10x10kg and 10x15kg. Yeow! Finally some leg abduction and adduction. That was fine.

Weight loss from 1^st Jan 2011 – 2lb

6th January 2011

Woo hoo I'm 21 years young again today. Yeah I wish.
Yes its that time of year when you gain a digit to you age.
To celebrate I completed the housework in record time. I managed to do this whilst Catriona was at Nursery. This is usually a gym day today but my gym buddy wants to go tommorrow. I'm not complaining about that. By the time I've had a meal out this evening and a couple of glasses of wine, I'll be needing the gym tommorrow. So despite running around getting all the house work done in record time I completed the 1km hall dash again. Today I completed the hall dash in 7 mins and 9 seconds. Record breaking stuff but not having the obstacles and hurdles really does help. Stomach muscles and shoulders are a bit sore today after yesterdays work out but I actually like that feeling. Makes me feel like I actually have worked. Right off to get Catriona her lunch.

Weight loss as of 1st January = 2lb.
Yeap that pound came back off. Wippy.

5th January 2011

January 5^th 2011

Yet more snow outside. I’m glad to say yesterday’s rain in the afternoon got rid of yesterday mornings snow but there is yet more snow outside this morning. Hey ho can’t change the weather. Don’t want to venture outside today to jog. The walk to nursery was more ice skating than walking so not only too cold outside but also to life threatening to go faster than a steady (or unsteady on ice) walk. Also if I were to jog outside I would most definitely suffer from blue face. This has nothing to do with the cold turning your face blue but rather from frozen lungs resulting in lack of oxygen. A very painful condition when old clapped out steam trains like me, wheeze and huff and puff noisily resulting in inhaling ice cold air, through the mouth, and hence freezing the lungs resulting in being unable to take any further breath – blue face.

So the cross trainer it is. Catriona is at nursery so I can bop away to my hearts content (or I fall off with exhaustion).

Stats for today’s cross trainer bop:

Time: 20 mins

Distance: 8.45 km

Average cadence: 67 rpm

Average speed: 25.2 km/h

Number of tunes bopped to: 6

Additional exercise done straight after cross trainer:

10 press ups (full ones not girlie ones)

50 sit ups

1 min plank no breaks

Need to work on the core as this is the bit that wobbles the most after Christmas.

I had a look at my phone yesterday with regards GPS and pedometer. The GPS was not sensitive enough to record my movements about the house so recording how far I travelled doing house work and running after Catriona (and my husband I must add) couldn’t be measured. I’m sure its miles. It feels like it anyway. However, I had slightly more success with the pedometer. Or so I thought. Stuck it on and off I went. By mid afternoon I had clocked up 4606 steps. I was actually a bit surprised at this was lower than I imagined. However, as I was reading the results I was walking up and down the corridor (the 10m one which takes 11 steps to complete…I know sad) and the total number of steps taken on my phone didn’t change. So over 33 steps my count stayed at 4606. Therefore, who knows how many steps I actually did take yesterday? 1, 2 miss a few, 3, 4 miss a few more. The 4606 could easily have been well over 10000. I do have another pedometer but the battery is flat. Typical! I’ll buy an new one at the weekend and repeat the exercise out of pure interest. However, I think it does show that running after a small child (and your partner) can keep you fit.

Weight loss from 1^st January 2011: 1lb

(yes gained one back… it was the home made Christmas Cake shouting eat me)

4th January 2011

Well it has been snowing again so I don’t think trying to venture outside to exercise is wise. I know it was cold on the 2^nd and I dragged my poor daughter out through the ice on my bike but to do this today would be rather too dangerous I think. Looks like its back to the carpet trail. Tell you what though, the calves are flippin sore from doing the hall jogs yesterday! The short bursts of running and turning have really taken their toll. I tell you, I’ll be looking forward to a normal jog…. When ever this might happen. I should have worn a pedometer yesterday as the only time I actually sat down was at meal times. However, taking down decorations, housework and running after a child cannot easily be transferred to Runningfreeonline.com. Wonder if I could use the pedometer and put all this physical activity in the walk section….. To all those hard working parents out there…..it is actually amazing how much physical exercise you do at home. I never really thought about it until today when I’ve been having to log daily exercise. I know I’m usually tired by the end of the day but I suppose it could well be due to running about all day. I have a pedometer on my phone and I think this also has a GPS function though I’ve never really investigated this. Think I might take a look. Would be interesting to see how far I actually travel in a day on foot. Right…. Anyway….after all that contemplation (wow that’s a big word for me)……The hall dash. If I’m not too sore might try it twice today. Catriona was tired last night from joining in and I think it will actually do her a lot of good whilst cooped up in the house.

Stats for  4^th January:

Hall dash 1: Distance – 1km Time – 7mins 31secs

Hall dash 2: Distance – 1km Time – 7mins 25 secs

(Catriona starting to stay out of the way so times getting quicker….less obstacles)

Weight loss from of 1^st January 2011 – 2lb (woohoo)

I’ll log what the phone says about distance travelled/ steps taken in 24hr tomorrow.

TTFN all you lovely folk. Have fun and keep smiling. 4 days done, 27 to go, 2lb lost 8 to go.

3rd January 2011

What to do…..what to do. My 4 year old daughter is at home and my husband is at work (left at 6am and won’t be back till late), no baby sitter so exercise options very limited. Any exercise DVDs are out the window as my daughter complains that she cannot see the TV and that I am ignoring her! Can’t use the cross trainer as my daughter tries to climb onto it with me (which can be quite dangerous based on how I dance at the same time as using the cross trainer – can’t help it when the music is so good). Mt daughter is far to big for a buggy and far to small for a jog! AAAAAAhhhhhhhh. Okay. Looks like I’m going to have to attempt jogs up and down my 10m corridor. If I do 100 of these that’s 1km (and no carpet left). Better than nothing. So here goes…..

What a giggle. Completed 100 reps of 10m sprints in 8 mins and 4 secs.

This also included numerous hurdles. At first my daughter thought this was hilarious and joined in. Therefore every time I completed one length and turned around I had to hurdle over my daughter to start the next length. Great fun considering she is 3 ft 8 inches tall and mobile! I should add that the terrain was soft and squiggy (newish carpet - hence I know the length of the corridor, with extra thick underlay). This puts added pressure on the calves prior to doing hurdles. Before I even reached half distance boredom for my daughter set in. As a consequence toys started to appear along the length of the corridor. So I went from a jog to a hurdle session and then onto an obstacle course. Quite glad I finished without breaking something whether it is a bone of mine or a toy of my daughters!!

Day 3 jogged (if you can call it that), logged and blogged. Oh and weight loss for 2011 so far -1lb. The weight loss should start progressing now that all the large gatherings have finished and all the left over food and open bottles of wine have gone. My daughter is going back to nursery a couple of hours a day on Wednesday which will also help as I will actually have some time to exercise. 3 days done 28 to go.

2nd January 2011

January 2^nd 2011

I can still move. Glad I didn’t try anything more than the cross trainer yesterday. Ate too much again as usual though! So much for the weight loss….or so I thought…..1lb lost. I’m dancing. The cooking was healthy after all and, well, it was only one glass of wine I had, all be it a large one. Anyway, back to the really reason I’m blogging. Exercise. What did I do today? Well. I managed a 4km bike ride with a time of 24 mins 39 seconds. Okay, I know, I’m not going to beat any records but I did have a few excuses for the slow time. First excuse was the terrain. Yes the route was on the road; however, I might as well have been off road with the amount of pot holes. Second, the hills, there are lots of them. For the whole 4km I was never once on flat ground. Thirdly was the extra 3 stone I was carrying. No not mine, mine was the semi-inflated beach ball half filled with lard around the front of me known as my stomach. No the 3 extra stone was my daughter. I have one of those attachments that allow your child to sit just in front of you on the bike. This is great for the balance. However, my daughter thinks it is funny to help with the steering….I didn’t laugh…..secondly you have to cycle with your thighs sticking out at a 45 degree angle. Maybe that’s okay for the blokes, but not for me. Really hard to pedal especially up hills and to finish it all off you cannot stand up to pedal as you would end up head butting the back of your child whilst trying to maintain some sort of straight line! Forth was the fact my chain fell off twice whilst trying to change down gears when I hit the hills and to top it all off it was COLD! Zero in fact! I got home just before some flakes of snow started to fall. Thank goodness it didn’t come to much today (yet). Phew! Exercise done for today. Next time I think about cycling with a hyper child on the bike, someone hit me hard with a brick! Got home though so that’s 2 days down, 29 to go………….and only 9lb!

1st January 2011

Happy New Year everyone.

Okay, so it’s the first day of January 2011 and Janathon has officially started. Aaahhh. What on earth have I agreed to? Exercising every day throughout January. Once or twice a week yes but everyday! No, must think positively. I need to loose this Christmas excess I’m carrying around, so combined with a health eating plan I aim to also loose 10lb, whether or not that can be completed in January alone I don’t know but surely exercising every day should put a dent in them there 10lb of lard! Right onto the exercise. Its bloomin cold, slippy and wet outside so have been restricted to inside activity and as I have a 4 year old daughter, can’t venture to the gym....not that one is open today anyway…. Hhhhmmmm…… what to do……..something not too strenuous…not done anything at all other than house work, shopping and running around after folk for nearly 2 weeks now. Cross trainer I think, with very load music to keep a good rhythm going. Bit of Audiofuel I think. Right off I go. Will report back once completed………..

…………..OMG! Gonna die. I think I have sweated pure alcohol from the wine last night! Well I suppose that’s an instant detox! 15 mins at 80 rpm thats 30km/hr so a distance of 7.5km. No resistence, the speed was fast enough. Need to keep a close track here as haven't figured out how to add sport to the training log as yet. Will add once I have figured this out. Did some 10x15kg shoulder presses too just for variety. Enough for day one or won’t be able to move tomorrow never mind do more exercise. Need to go and prepare lunch for the few guests coming. Hope I can provide edible food today. I am doing the good old steak and sausage pie. I may need wine to wash the food down….oops did I say that out loud. Cup for the pie, cup for me……..Will keep you posted…