Damp shoes

There are days when I shouldn't cycle to work - and today was one of them. I was hoping that the heavy rain would stop before I left this morning - it didn't & several huge puddles meant I arrived at work resembling a drowned cat*. My tights almost dried out during the day, shoes didn't & I didn't even attempt to dry off my socks - so journey home was not exactly comfortable. More postively, my work clothes remained almost completely dry thanks to ace bike bag. I used my mountain biking shoes today as my normal road ones were still damp from yesterday - really hoping that at least one pair is dry by tomorrow!

Body Combat tonight. I arrived late so had to squeeze into the crowded back of the class. Normally, I head for the front. Reasons include:

• It's normally the area with most space.
• Specs mean I have limited peripheral vision. And having naff all grace/co-ordination/balance, I need all the help I can to folow the routines.
• I don't have to look at somebody else's perfect figure doing everything perfectly in front of me!

* = chose the cat reference as they look way more pathetic when wet through than any other animal.

Boo Boop Be Doo

I went to a burlesque taster session tonight in Southampton - which was more of a workout than I was expecting. No removal of clothing was required, but lots of getting the movements, attitude & face right. Interesting - but I'm not tempted to sign up for the full class - I don't think my wiggle & ability to walk in high heels are strong enough. Weirdly, it's making me think I'd like to try street dancing again - must try & find a class.

Got very wet cycling home today - rain was easing off, but there was loads of surface water.

Rats are back

Ran 10K on Saturday - not fast (60:47) - and that was excluding a walking break due to boisterous dogs. I am sporting a lovely blister on my right sole which should serve as a reminder to wear the right socks in future (bought some new ones on Sunday). It was a beautiful day though - good to be out in it.

Little bit of gardening on Saturday at the allotment - planting out sweetcorn. My tedonitis meant I got out of planting - so I did the watering instead. More gardening yesterday - Husband & I attempted to get the back garden into some semblance of order - I enjoyed blasting the patio with a jet washer to give it its first clean in umpteen years. Husband found new rat runs - not good. He has baited but we think we may have to give up on our compost bin - combined with next door's aviary, woodland behind the garden and our pond, we seem to have a lovely ratty habitat!

Cycled to work and gym tonight so feeling quite virtuous atm. Arm is still not great so I skipped the weights machines.

Tennis Elbow in my Wrist

Wounded! I have tennis elbow in my wrist - arm hurts whenever I move my hand & makes a lovely creaking noise/sensation (as the swollen tendon moves through its sheath). Most painful things are writing and cooking. Husband has decreed (autocratically) that I'm not mountain biking tomorrow.... lots of ibuprofen & back to doc in 10 days if no improvement. I was told that I should use it as usual - and as mountain biking is usual for me, I should be allowed to go. Never mind.

Road biking is kind of OK though so I cycled to work today & Wednesday. Gym last night - interval & x trainer.

The People of Kitzbuhel must be Relieved...

... to hear that Husband and I will now be gracing them with our presences in mid June. Replacement holiday is all booked and sorted - and is roughly the same price as the Crystal Active version. Good thing too as my new body armour arrived today - knee/shin pads. Seems to fit OK, but I won't know for sure until I start pedalling in it.




Cycled today (and yesterday) but I am injured. My lower arm started aching at the allotment on Monday evening (planting out tomatoes - could be rash given that we're not necessarily frost free yet). Pedalling up the final hill today, it hurt even more. It's not a big deal, I just need to adopt the "sit down, change down and pedal like a hamster on a wheel" approach to hills as opposed to my standing on the pedals & pushing down hard technique.

I'm also sporting some lovely bites on my face - something was trying to eat us when we went to sow carrots and beetroot on Sunday. I don't think the allotment is good for me - it was responsible for hurting my back a couple of months ago too.

My bike is injured too! Goldfish & Husband finally ascertained what was really happening when I whined about it not engaging after freewheeling, stopping or changing gear - a thing called a freewheel hub is bust. So bike is currently being pampered at the bike shop - it's also getting its bottom bracket replaced (I now know what that is), brakes tweaked & something with the gears too (I lost concentration at this point in Husband's explaination & nodded alot).

The problems with the bike didn't help on the really muddy bit of Sunday's ride - 32K from the house. I did whine and sulk quite a bit. However, it was a gorgeous day and bluebells are out. The photo is of our Wedding Wood (one of our wedding gifts was sponsorship of a patch of Crowd Hill Copse).

It was also good weather today so Husband & I went for a run after work - I was slow (5K in 30:30, 5.5K in total) but I was nattering a lot. Good to be out - more biophilia!

Crystal Active Holidays are very not good

Time for a rant! Back in November, Husband & I booked 2 holidays with Crystal Active following an excellent visit to their resort in Lefkas. We booked Kitzbuhel for some mountain biking and Croatia for some sailing.

Back in Jan, they cancelled Croatia. Bit annoying but not a huge problem as the holiday wasn't until September.

Today, they cancelled Kitzbuhel with just 8 weeks before we were due to go.

Even better, Husband phoned yesterday (18th) to pay the balance for this holiday - which they accepted even though they knew by then about the cancellation (letter dated 17th). No mention on the phone about the cancellation. Letter offered to switch us to an alternative holiday in Kaprun, but on phoning today, 1 of the 2 hotels mentioned was already full and there was only 1 room left at the other. And we'd chosen Kitzbuhel, not Kaprun for our holiday.

So Husband & I have been looking to see if we can find another holiday for our June dates. It will be more pricey - not least because we only have 8 weeks to go, limiting options.

Annoyed too becasue I nearly missed the cancellation letter as Crystal Active packaged it as if it was a cover letter for a brochure & just put it in their brochure's poly bag - an envelope woud have been a nice touch to help differentiate it from junk mail. Or a phone call. Or actually mentioning the cancellation on the phone on Friday.

Given that Crystal Active only operate out of 10 or so resorts, it seems really rubbish that they've pulled out of 2 of these 10. They shouldn't be advertising what they cannot deliver. Not sure I'll be using them again!

I timed the mtb skills course in March so that it would be before Kitzbuhel. I ordered knee/shin pads yesterday for Austria. Not a happy bunny!

Anyway, gym today for 15mins on the cross trainer and 30mins intervals on the treadmill. Then I met Husband in the spa bath where he failed to convince that I should be swimming outside (it's a grey, dank and cold day).

So Lazy

No exercise to report apart from pedalling to work today & yesterday. Currently struggling to muster the energy to get off the sofa - it's a sad state of affairs.

My shopping ability has been unaffected by this malaise - just ordered some new cycling shoes (no laces & lots of mesh) and some knee/shin pads ready for Austria.

Catch up blog

Catch up time as I’ve been a remiss blogger of late. Cycled to work on Tuesday and Wednesday last week – and everyday this week so far.

Body Combat was cancelled last week as the instructor was stuck in traffic. It took place today but she was late – again due to traffic. Apparently, she’s decided to quit the class she does in Romsey on Wednesdays so that she can get to our class on time in the future – it seems rough that she’s had to change her work schedule due to roadworks! We made it to the gym on Thursday – normal routine.

Husband’s brother came over for the weekend with his family. Bit of walking on Saturday as we went to the zoo – the boys were very taken with the tigers eating their dinner. On Sunday, we rented bikes in Burley for them & did the ride along the disused railway towards Brockenhurst. B’s only 3 and wasn’t taken with the tag-along concept so he had a buggy trailer – which he seemed to enjoy – kind of surprising as he’s an independent minded boy! J had a bike similar to the one he has at home – and was brilliant! We covered about 18km – flat but off road – and he was up front most of the way – very impressive for a 7 year old. So I’m hoping we may be able to go cycling again with him in the future – and with B when he’s big enough to ride his own bike.

Digging on Monday evening – planting potatoes at the allotment.

Went running with Husband cycling alongside on Tuesday – my normal 5km route but starting at the farm as opposed to the woods – it means a steeper, shorter climb than going the other way. We bumped into M doing a similar route, but going the other way. He looks like a proper runner. It was a beautiful evening – love the later sunsets!

Biophilia

I’ve been reading about the Biophilia Hypothesis – which is that nature makes humans feel good. There’s an article on the Guardian website comparing trail running to road running which cites this idea. I haven't a clue if it’s got legs (no pun intended), but I do feel more motivated to get out & do exercise if it involves being in the Great Outdoors and being able to see it (i.e. during daylight hours).
Sunlight is a big thing in itself. So much easier to get myself on my bike now I’m leaving in daylight – although seeing the sun rise was pretty impressive for a few weeks.

One thing I love is seeing seasonal change. There’s a really small patch of bluebells on my commute route and every day I’ve cycled past them, I’ve felt something lift inside me. Primroses, snowdrops and violets all have the same effect. Edible factors – wild garlic was interesting in Wales & picking sloes was great last autumn (although drinking the sloe gin was even better).
Wildlife spotted on bike rides has included my first hare, many deer (including a white stag in the forest) and buzzards.

There are minuses – seeing a rat causes my stomach to churn – but does make me run/pedal faster (away from it). Hawthorn penetrates tyres really well and briars shred my limbs (worse than brambles). And there are dogs. My biggest gripe there though is owners who use the nearly invisible extending leads & are so busy chatting on their mobiles that they don’t realise they’ve created a great trip hazard!

Anyway, cycled to work today (said "hi" to my bluebells) and went to the gym tonight (30mins interval work on treadmill, 10mins x trainer & a brief stint on the incline press).

First exposure of legs in 2008

The weather's undecided this weekend - woke up to see the garden covered in snow & kids snowballing each other out front. 2 hours later & it's a beautiful spring day. And now it's sporadically snowing again...

We were lucky with the weather yesterday - esp as I decided to unveil my legs for the first time this year. Blue-white, very much in need of waxing. And as you'll see in the photo here, soon to be covered in mud! Went to the Forest with Husband, the Captain of Faff & X for a 33km route from Fritham - and the rain only came in after we'd finished. X discovered that gorse smells of coconut - she's not sure that there is any gorse in Austria. One puncture - mine.

Another hour of sunshine would have been good as we were sat in the garden of the Royal Oak & had to decamp to the less pretty covered area. I really enjoyed my cheese ploughmans - oodles of locally produced Lyburn cheese, yummy bread & I even liked the chutney, washed down with a half of Summer Lightning. X wasn't sure what one of her cheeses was & I've just found out that it was flavoured with garlic & nettle!

Went to a bike bits sale in Eastleigh this morning where Goldfish & Husband went straight to the bike bits and Kitty & I went straight to the clothes - how stereotypical.

Just gardening this afternoon - I declared war on the dead bamboo in the back garden, stopping when my back had had enough of being bent over.

Wales killed Husband's tyres

"Spring is here, a-suh-puh-ring is here
Life is skittles and life is beer
I think the loveliest time of the year is the spring
I do, don't you? 'Course you do." from Tom Lehrer's "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

Went for a run this evening with Husband cycling alongside - hopefully the first of many! 5K in 29:04 - not fast, but off road with hills. Husband had to use my commuter bike as he discovered his tyres were flat on his bike. On further inspection, they were more shredded than flat - he's upset as he can't get exact replacements. Cost of new ones should be considered as an addition to the costs of our Welsh break as that's where he reckons he did the damage.

Body Combat on Wednesday - came close to hurting my leg by being in a rubbish position for a roundhouse kick - note to self to be more careful next time...

I've had a titchy amount of walking over the last few days as the course I was on took place in a local theme park - dashed out at lunch breaks to ride rollercoaster, log flume, big slide & to view penguins - kind of surreal!

Experimenting with new additions to the blog - new BBC weather forecast box may be the first tweek of many...

Active Reading

I'm behind on my kit write ups - so here's some of the reading material I've been finding useful.

Found a great blog yesterday - www.dietgirl.org - via the WLR site. It's written by Shauna Reid, an Australian living in Scotland who's literally half the size she used to be through a philosophy of "do the healthy more often than you don't do the healthy thing" which I can appreciate. The blog's an easy, entertaining read - not surprising it's now a book - "The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl".

I've already mentioned my fave running book this week - "Running Made Easy" by Susie Whalley & Lisa Jackson. It's perfect for dipping in & out of when I feel in need of motivation.

The other book I've used is Joanna Hall's "The Exercise Bible" - photocopies of the hotel room workout accompanied me when I seemed to spend most of my time travelling.

2 cookery books are worth a mention - Ruth Watson's "Fat Girl Slim" and Anjum Anand's "Indian Every Day: Light , Healthy Indian Food". I'm not big on diet food - both of these books deliver terrific tasting meals that don't seem to compromise on taste but don't cause the Big D to collapse!

2 magazines get read - Mountain Bike Rider (although I leave the bike maintenance & "why 100mm forks are great" dull bits alone) and more recently, Runners World. Inexplicably, Husband pushed for me to switch from Zest to RW - inexplicable as he can't run but does seem to enjoy reading my other magazines (or at least looking at the pretty pictures) - esp Marie Claire. But he objects to Zest & realised persuading me to switch to a less irritating (in his view) mag would be easier than persuading me to cut back on magazines!

2 commutes

2 bicycle commutes this week only as I'm on a 3 day off site course from tomorrow. If I was an IBM-er, I'd call this "education", but as I work for an anglo-french company, it's a training course. I'm assuaging environmental guilt though by car sharing with my colleague E.

Gym last night - normal stuff - 10 mins x trainer, 30 mins interval work on treadmill & 2 weights machines (rower & leg press).