In love with the ESNB

New bike! Specialized Rockhopper with avid juicy brakes & flashier forks than my old bike. As I don't want to cause confusion with Husband's SNB, I have chrristened it ESNB - even shinier new bike. It's a bigger frame which is more comfortable - illogical as I'm sure I'm not tall enough for a 17" mountain bike but Husband & bloke in shop agreed I looked more comfortable on it than on my current 15" frame.

It's great up hills - and even better down 'em. OK so I'm still a wimp, but the ESNB handles beautifully - tree roots are a breeze! We went out briefly on Saturday - just 5km to & from pub to check it was all OK. On Sunday, we did a 31km route from the house with Husband, M & C that I was really pleased with - 700m of ascent with some fab downhills in the second half. A horsey woman seemed dischuffed that we were cycling on a bridleway - sad that she didn't know her rights of way.... No punctures!

Other than that little lot, not much to report. We went for a late night beach wander on Wednesday evening as I needed to relax. Gym on Thursday - introduced some incline to my treadmill 5k as well as using the lat pull machine and doing 15 mins on the x trainer. Watering at the allotment on Friday.

Skating tonight was mixed - I'm struggling with crossovers down to having rubbish balance. G has beeen a complete star & taken both our skates away to be sharpened - much, much appreciated!

Happy Birthday Middle Sister!

I am a rubbish big sister - sorted out J's pressie 2 weeks ago but failed miserably to post her card. J is ace at squeezing stuff into her schedule - she has a my gorgeous 2 year old nephew D and works part time as a teacher - not an undemanding combination! She finds running works well for her - she's notched up more than respectable times at the Manchester 10K over the last few years and has been great at encouraging others to do more - me included. Her husband & her are both keen walkers - but are switching their allegiance to cycling & kayaking as D's at the age where he's too big to stick in a baby rucksack thing but too small to walk far!

Skating yesterday went quite well - I got a rare "well done" from the instructor for my reverse snow plough stop. The more tricky moves are feeling more within reach now.

Running from work was a success in terms of numbers but not in terms of route. We have great new offices in a location that's easy to drive to but not easy to run from! So next week, we are considering driving into the Forest & doing some trails.

The first cuckoo of spring

Why do I get overexcited about nature stuff? Or why doesn't everybody? Which statement should I think about??

Anyhow, exciting things I experienced today:

• Heard my first cuckoo of the year


• Saw my first ever hare - live & bounding around a field. I now know why everytime I've claimed to see one in the past, Husband has dismissed my claim as being a large bunny instead. A bit like experiencing flu for the first time & suddenly realising all the times you've claimed "I've got flu" - it was really a bad cold. But flu is very bad & hares are very good.


• Bluebell hazes in woodland - many of! Even M noticed how pretty they were.

It was a superb 16 mile ride - starting from Dummer near Basingstoke. Tracks were really enjoyable to ride, fab weather. Had a puncture - but that really was the only negative. The specs in the pic of Husband are deer - I'm not a contender for "wildlife photographer of the year".

More nature at home - large slow worm in the back garden.

Apart from biking, did about half an hour's digging at allotment - PSB for tea tonight with rhubarb crumble as a special "I've been cycling today" treat!

Gym on Friday - treadmill, x trainer & weights. Boogying on Friday night (but not much - dire music apart from scissor sisters), ambling around shops with a killer hangover on Saturday. Husband also had a hangover - but his was obtained in York at a conference that kept him away from me for 2 nights.

Pining for Juliana...

… but the instructor for body combat last night was pretty good! With the choreography all being set be the Les Mills corporate machine, you’d think that the routines would be consistent between instructors – but there were many minor differences. Kept me on my toes. Not literally though as my toes were in the air aiming for part of an imaginary person’s anatomy.

Good Run

4.55km in 29:35 - route from the offic with C. Pleased with our average time of 9.2kph. We didn't resort to walking. Lots of people have been commenting at work about spotting us last week - relieved that we happened to be running when they saw us!

I need to dig out some new routes for next week as we are moving office....

Moment of panic earlier - my La Redoute order has arrived & all looks great except I couldn't get into 1 pair of jeans - ready to panic over my recent neglect of the Big D (food intake control project) - and then checked the label. Despite ordering size 14 - and the delivery note claiming they were size 14 - the jeans were actually a 12. And relax! So I will be discovering their returns system tomorrow. My new acquisitions include a kind of manga-ish top, coffee coloured linen shirt dress, a couple of vest tops & a pair of straight leg jeans.

Sk8r grrls rule!

Our skates need sharpening now though! G mentioned how she's starting to feel lopsided in her balance as one blade is so much blunter than the other - and I know how she feels!

Still struggling with 1 foot lifts when going backwards - but very pleased with my backwards snow ploughs - love it when I get a new move straight off (a very rare occurrence!). Also felt I'm getting better at the 2 foot spins. Crossovers are still unmastered though....

Very weird going into an ice rink in warm weather!

April or August?

Lovely run with A on Saturday - 44 mins to do just over 5K off road. A cycled up - her halo was bright and shiny! It was a beautiful morning, the woods were beautiful - thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Followed this with a couple of hours digging - prep for planting seedlings - including tomatoes [v. brave - or v.foolish - for April].

10 mile ride this morning at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park - some very steep bits including one downhill bit that I wussed out of. A had problems with her gears - I think a wiggle order will be happening chez M&A this evening.

Fabulous weather - can't believe that it's only April!

Lots of bluebells flowering now - even honesty has started now!

We had a picnic afterwards close to the visitor centre.

Took 3 binbags full of my recently too big clothes to the clothing bank today - I don't think I can afford to put the weight back on now! The wardrobe is looking half full as opposed to its normal overflowing state - but I'm sure that that's temporary....

Counting my blessings

No exercise tonight as I’m being good & resting my knee. Thought provoking evening – I’ve decided that I should recognise that I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.

• I can fit lots of exercise into my daily routine fairly easily – which means that I can get away without completely controlling what I eat.
  
• I actively enjoy exercise and have a wide range to choose from - I'm not restricted by poor health or disability.
  
• My family are wonderful – Monday was a good reminder of that.
  
• My friends are brilliant – entertaining & supportive – even when I inconvenience them by changing email/mobile/blog.
  
• Supportive colleagues – makes all the difference to getting through the day.
  
• Husband is great – and I should be more appreciative of how I can talk about my worries & concerns with him. But he is slower than me up hills……

Hurty Knee

My leg hurt a bit last night whilst using the leg press - the bit to the left of my left knee. It twinged a bit today but I made the stupid decision to go running anyway - and now it really hurts! Good thing it's a rest day tomorrow.
I went with V & C from work - part of our Race for Life training. C has to achieve a time of under 30 mins for her husband to hand over any sponsorship money! We did 5k in just under 38mins - pretty good for a first run-walk outing. V is definitely the speediest which we attributed to all the dancing she does.
We scrounged a loop route from a colleague - very pretty bit through a nature reserve (and a real life bog!) and lots of cute little lambs. Too much traffic exposure though to be a perfect route. We'll need new routes in a couple of weeks when the office moves. I'm really hoping we can time it so that A can join us too for a few runs at Southampton Common so she can meet some others from Team Garmin beforehand.

Easter weekend

Very busy weekend in a "nothing much planned" kind of way - let me explain....


Friday - Bike Ride
Excellent 26 miler from Farley Mount with Husband, M&A. A showed us the spot she got to know very very well the week before due to being stranded following innertube blow outs - hour and a half by the side of the road! Bluebells are starting to come into bloom - ludicrously early even for the deep south.

We then spent the afternoon mending fences and gardening, rewarded by a few beers later on.


Saturday - another bike ride!
Little one - with G in Bournemouth, from her newly redecorated pad to the beach & back. I hadn't been to Southbourne before - gorgeous stretch of beach with an excellent tea kiosk! G is so much quicker now - it's good to see my hybrid getting used. G also fed us with her garden's inaugural BBQ.


Sunday - more gardening
Quick visit to the allotment to pick veg (purple sprouting season is here!) & grab some rubble sacks, then back to working on our garden. I weeded and scarified the lawn - which didn't leave very much green stuff! Friends came over for a cream tea in the garden - really pleasant way to spend an afternoon.


Monday - Football
Well, Dad & I kicked balls at each other & my nephews for a bit - so sort of football. Lots of lifting & catching my nephew J who doesn't seem to have any concept of climbing frames/slides etc being a bit big for a 2 year old! My niece A is making real progress with her walking - she has a new gadget frame that seems to be making a difference.


Tonight - Gym
I was planning on running with A - but she developed a migraine this afternoon so I changed my plans. 20 mins on the X trainer then 30 mins on the treadmill - did 5.05km. Then used the leg press but no other weights as my shoulder's been playing up.

Fat Bird is No More - Long Live Fat Bird!

Due to a deeply annoying issue with my gmail account, Fat Bird has moved to a new website. Same tmi blogs about my endeavours to be active and not become-as-one with the sofa....

Body Combat

Last body combat session with Juliana leading - end of an era!

Do the Right Thing?

Skating on Monday - started the level 5 moves which include our first spin and cross overs. It's seeming scary but I think achievable atm.

Good run with A yesterday - 45:34 to do the 5.68km which compares to 46:19 on the 20th - definitely progress.

I'm struggling today - I was given a cadburys flake easter egg by a printer and I'm failing to do the right thing - which is to give it away! It has 2 flakes - which are 178.5 cals each....... and I should be saving my cals as it's Husband's turn to cook tonight and I hate saying "please can you make this low cal?"..... but I am planning on going to Body Combat later.......conscience, arrrrrggghhhhhh...

Not a lazy weekend

Jogging with A on Friday evening – we didn’t get anything like as wet as I thought we would, given that it was raining en route to A’s. I’m now in non-thermal tights as the weather is gradually improving. A’s waterproof is looking huge on her now – she’s definitely starting to look more svelte and trim.

Digging on Saturday – planting potatoes at the allotment. We’re doing charlotte for the 3rd year, but are experimenting with pink fir apple as a maincrop. None of us eat masses of spuds and M has an aversion to floury potatoes – so having 2 lots of salad varieties will probably suit us better. Good to see D down there – who was the beneficiary of all the spare chitted seed potatoes.And boogying too on

Sat – saw a Guns’n’Roses tribute band at the Brook then went to the Dungeon. I danced lots (well, bounced around lots) and was sporadically joined by J, S&X. Very grateful to S for the lift home.

31.7 km mountain biking route from the house on Sunday morning. A wasn’t feeling good so M&A headed back around the halfway point – which was a shame as the 2nd half was so much easier than the first. I’m starting to think that getting all who set out to complete the route is turning into a new major objective! I’m enjoying the routes from the house – so good not to have to mess about with roofracks & to spend time driving to the start. It’s a good reminder about how much countryside we have on our doorstep.Sunscreen – must start using it again! Didn’t this weekend but looking at the area on my face that was most mushed in my accident, it’s now discolouring, giving me white patches. Discounting leprosy, I figure that it’s worth re-discovering my factor 40 as something I don’t leave the house without applying…..