Whales & Running

Not sure that even I can claim that today's 5 hour whale watching trip was exercise! Maybe a little - keeping upright as the boat rocked gently - but not much. So I have no excuse to report spotting 4 minke whales, porpoises, grey seals, red deer, wild goats and a sea eagle (v.impressed as there are only 42 breeding pairs in the UK - and they are big enought to be known as Barn Doors!), do I? The boat spent lots of time over the Coryvreckan whirpool - 3rd largest in the world. With the engines off, we span gently around...

Instead, I should be confining my blurb to the v.enjoyable run I did with my Fabulous Mother-In-law on our return - 5K, including a stretch of the pretty Appin-North Shian road. And we got back just as the rain came down.

Sutherland's Grove

It had to happen - the weather broke today. One benefit of the rain is fewer midges - my arms are looking decidedly pox ridden atm, despite regular doses of antihistamines.
We rode over to Sutherland's Grove - a Forestry Commission site on Loch Crearn where we did a blue fire road route. Very up & down - but easy terrain. I had a puncture and on fixing it, husband noticed that my tyres are wearing out to a "replace now" level.
Went to the seal sanctuary afterwards - very cute.

3 Islands

Husband went fishing today with his folks and I decided to join Mum & Dad on a tour they'd found taking in Mull, Staffa and Iona.

• Ferry Oban-Mull
• Coach across Mull
• Boat Mull-Staffa
• Walking on Staffa
• Boat Staffa-Iona
• Walking on Iona
• Ferry Iona-Mull
• Coach across Mull
• Ferry Mull-Oban

Quite a long day! Loved Staffa - very reminiscent of Giants Causeway with organ pipe style basalt columns. Iona was beautiful - I wasn't sure if I'd "get it" as I'm not a Christian, but I enjoyed the views and the feel of the Island. Saw my first ever Corncrake after much listening & staring at a heather hummock. Coach trip across Mull took over an hour - remote landscape - entertained by the Coach Driver who kept up a constant burble of facts & stories. And it was great to spend a bit of time with my parents.

Pipeline

Another sunny day & it was time to do some mountain biking. I'd downloaded a route near Glen Coe starting from Kinlochleven. Killer climb up to Loch Eilde Mor - on tarmac initially but then on rough track - we walked many sections where it was too steep & too loose to get grip. Single track just before the Loch which continued after the bridge - very challenging & we were not able to ride many sections. The route then took us along the route of the concrete pipeline that connects the Loch with the Blackwater Reservoir. And the track kind of vanished - route was now literally on top of the pipe (and not really ride-able!). With about 2 miles of walking to do before reaching the reservoir dam, Husband's ankles gave way - one of the reasons we cycle is that his legs are not up to hiking anymore.

We had to make a decision - turn back or carry on. Looking at the OS map, it looked like the track would re-appear (and perhaps be ride-able) but we couldn't guarantee that so we took the decision to turn back. As we were roughly half way, it's not as if we short changed ourselves on the exercise front. I was really chuffed with my decent of the rough track - got my lines right, control-roll-control sorted.

We certainly felt worked afterwards - carb loaded on cookies!

Blow Up Boat

Our inflatable kayak had its maiden voyage today! Decided that the upper reaches of Loch Crearn looked sheltered enough to try it out & we were with Middle Sister, Brother-In-Law & Nephew 3 who have a big traditional style canoe. The kayak was easy to inflate & handled pretty well - much more exposed to wind than the trad canoe, but we got a little more speed up thanks to kayak style paddles.

Felt quite exciting going into slightly choppy waves on the way back - it kind of bounces over them.

Today's pic is of the house - we played a very chaotic rounders game after tea - included Husband rugby tackling Mum! Beautiful sunny day with daylight beyond half 9.

Getting to Scotland

Husband & I took 2 days to get from the deep south to the West Coast of Scotland - Middle Sister kindly put us up near Kendal on Friday evening. Lousy traffic meant we didn't have time to cycle on arrival, but we went out with Nephew 3 and Brother In Law for a brief walk before tea. Nephew 3 is amazingly quick on his balance bike - a pedal-less starter bike.

Drove up to Appin where we'd booked a holiday house for us, Mum & Dad, fabulous Mother-In-Law & Father-In-Law, Middle Sister, Brother In Law and Nephew 3. Loved the house! 6 bedrooms, views of Castle Stalker, hills & countryside, pool table, 2 big well equipped kitchens and a ha ha in the garden.

Husband & I went for a quick bike ride after tea - just over to Port Appin - stunning sunset. A few hills on the way back as I was convinced that an alternative route would be shorter (it wasn't!).

Domestic Goddess Ambitions on Hold

Attempted to make raspberry icecream tonight - not entirely convinced it was successful - may be I should have followed a recipe before improvising with shortcuts (M&S ready made custard)....

Anyway, cycling to/from work was a pleasure in the sunshine. Spent a couple of hours at the allotment with Husband watering & nattering about possible house move.

Unjinxed??

My running was kind of OK at the gym tonight. It's been so bad recently that I've been finding all sorts of excuses not to run (e.g. Friday night = housework), so actually manage 30mins of interval work on the treadmill was a novelty - back down to 10kph/12kph 2min intervals. My new theory is that I've not been drinking enough now that it's summer & cycling more - I drink plenty whilst exercising (e.g. whilst mountain biking, running or gym) but I don't seem to bother after cycling to work//home. So tonight I drank about 3 pints of blueberry ribena when I got in from work & set off to the gym about 45mins later.

I'm not a big fan of "everyone needs to drink 8 pints of undulterated water a day" - although it's not quite in the same category as homeopathy, God, TAPL and electricity in terms of things I don't believe in - but I'm going to concede that many cups of expresso plus 4-5 mugs of coffee at work doesn't really equal effective hydration. So more liquid for me.....

Saw Baby Sister's fab new house on Saturday - and have rashly committed to devoting a weekend to rotovating & lawnifying her back garden this summer so that it's a good play surface for my niece and nephew. We did intend to go to gym as well - but refer to feeble excuses above - Satuday evening's was that husband needed to sort out making sausages.

Good ride on Sunday from Crab Wood with Husband, Kitty and Goldfish. Kitty's demonstrating huge improvements in fitness already compared to last week. I enjoyed the route as it's one I tackled early on in my mountain biking life & it's a good benchmark to remind myself I have improved.

Goldfish and Husband may be renamed in blog terms as Bodger & Badger having seen the net curtain PSB marquee they created on Sunday afternoon. On an exercise front, I dug up potatoes & picked stuff. Before hitting the allotment, Husband & I bought new hydratoin packs ready for the South Downs Way Adventure - will blog about that later I think....

Other stuff - lots of cycling to work except on Wed when I had another Masterclass in London. So lots of walking that day instead - down hill to station, from Waterloo to Westminster, panic when I realised I'd got venue wrong, dash across to Barbican, only 30mins late.... I wasn't the only person to get it wrong!

Coffee Bar Obstacle Course part 2

Just spotted this in the Guardian - I guess I'm not alone in finding snacks at work tricky to ignore!

Yellow helmet full of raspberries

Big D is kind of back on track - I had a team awayday yeserday so focussed on damage limitation, choosing fruit over cakes/biscuits/sweets. Today - no problems as it was a busy day at work so less time to snack.

Little bit of exercise yesterday playing energiser games & walking to the rides at Paultons Park - it's a great venue as presentations are much more palatable when interspersed with roller coaster rides! Activities included 3 legged races, gold panning and bashing a pinata.

Cycled today, coming home via the allotment where I met Husband. Having fed tomatoes, realised
that neither of us had brought any plastic bags. Not really a problem for most stuff - I used my bike bag for tomatoes & beans. Big problem for raspberries. We improvised a punnet from Husband's yellow safety helmet - which he then managed to leave behind! Resorted to calling Goldfish (ah, the irony of admitting forgetting something to the man with a 3 second memory) who was kind enough to retrieve it - and to eat the raspberries (our co-allotmenteers are definitely behind on eating them atm). I made risotto tonight with allotment beetroot and beans, serving it with allotment lettuce and tomatoes.

If at first you don't succeed...

.... change the rules! I'm revising Big D plan following my complete failure this weekend to adhere to it. My weekends are about going out & about, spending time with Husband family & friends - and trying to shoehorn 1652 calories into that doesn't seem to work. And if I do take exercise calories into account, I'm not eating enough (usually!). So revised Big D is:

• Mon-Fri - stick to the script, don't eat exercise calories


• Sat & Sun - eat exercise calories, but not those banked from the week.

This still means that I blew it on Saturday, but tomorrow is another day....



Much more interesting - had a lovely afternoon with G on Saturday. I've really missed seeing her every week - which I did when we were skating - and I am the world's worst distance correspondent - mostly as I've never really got my head around phoning people for a chat (called Mum tonight for the first time in 2 months - how bad is that??). Anyway, we had lunch at lovely mexican cafe, found brilliant new cookware store & finished the afternoon with a stroll along the beach. Lots of activity going on - gay pride event in the town and O2 rugby event on the beach. And it didn't rain! Looking forward to seeing G's photos.

G suggested we have a go at the London-Brighton bike ride next year which would be amazing! Her cycling is coming on wonderfully - she did 22 miles on Sunday.

Slow, slow run Saturday evening - my 5k circuit through the woods.

Lovely dinner with Kitty & Goldfish last night where we talked through our planned adventure for September - South Downs Way over 3 days on the bikes. Really good meal - especially the tzatziki and tabbouleh. I think we have a plan now!

First bike ride with Kitty on Sunday for ages. C, Goldfish and Husband came too. We did the route that she devised a while starting at Milkham Woods. There's an underpass under the dual carriageway at one point which was full of New Forest ponies! Kitty & I were discussing turning and finding an alternative - but meanwhile, C & Husband were herding the horses out - they seem to have hitherto unknown cowboy skills! I was also impressed with Husband's manual over a log - I think he's got the best technique of all of us atm. I think my USP is endurance - I don't normally tire during a ride. Still no rain - remarkable!

Walking in Westminster

I went to London today for a course - checked up on the location - in between Westminster and St James' tube - and decided to walk from Waterloo as well as to the station from home this morning. I think I've walked for about 90mins today as I paid a brief visit to Cos on Regent St after the course finished! Not unpleasant at all and I didn't need my brolly.

Went to the allotment with Husband though & a heavy shower drenched us - just after we'd finished raspberry/beetroot/pea/bean picking!

Husband's fast swim & my rubbish run

Another reasonably rubbish gym session! 10 mins on the stepper & then attempted to run. Because I've found it tricky recently, I knocked down my speeds to 10kph/12kph & the first 12mins were OK. But at 20mins, I felt really hot, tired and I'd had enough - dragged myself to just over 21mins & gave up! Made up the missing 10mins on the x trainer & then used the leg press. As I was stretching, looked at my face in the mirror - very red, very sweaty, complete with v.attractive throbbing vein - nice.

Husband reckons that it might be down to weather (close today) or just my body adjusting to Big D. No idea, but it's very frustrating to feel that I'm going backwards. Never mind - I'm sure it's just a phase & I'll get better again!

Conversely, Husband did his 50 length swim in 23:20 - he's really chuffed as it's his 2nd fastest time since joining the gym.

Loving Body Combat 36!

I've been getting a bit lazy at Body Combat recently - it's a class where you can put in loads of effort - but I've been coasting along. It's not due to the instructor - Sassy is superb - enthusiastic, funny and always shows you how to push things further & refine your technique. The new routine has provided a much needed shove - it's definitely harder than 35 and I'm finding it challenging! Music is as cheesey as ever - danced up versions of Born to Be Wild and Zombie as well as the Bond and Rocky themes.

I wimped out of cycling today - very heavy rain that didn't seem to ease off.

Had a lot of compliments today about my newly blonder hair - and whilst being vain, please note how gorgeous my toenails are in their new subtle polish....

Coffee Bar Obstacle Course

Went home via the allotment to pick rhubarb to bulk up the desultory blackcurrant/redcurrant/gooseberry harvest up enough to make compote stuff for us - and a jar for our fellow allotmenteers. So a little more pedalling than usual.

Obsessing a little about food today - but it's been easier than yesterday to stay from the following evil temptations that I have to negotiate to get my umpteen cups of coffee to get through the working day as I've been busy (and have been supplied caffeine by colleagues):

• Big batch of "not too bad occasionally" treats - Maltesers, caramel snack-a-jacks.
• Recently expanded range of home cooked cookies, shortbread, coffee cake and flapjacks now placed in view of the coffee queue every afternoon.
• Inviting cookie jar of Freddos right by the till - probably the most evil temptaion as they are only 15p and not too bad for calories - but every little doesn't help - willpower sapping having got past the previous evils.

My sweet tooth is very much my downfall. Can't really whinge as coffee bar also sells fruit - including nice little pots of strawberries and watermelon. And I really should be taking the opportunity for 10 minutes of walking to the hypermarket over the road at lunchtime where I can indulge my cherry tomato fixation....

Desperate Measures

It's finally happening – my jeans don't feel as loose as they should & I struggled on the treadmill last night. So it's (yet another) attempt to get the Big D underway again. As continuing the momentum beyond 2 days seems to have been my issue recently, I need to address motivation – in particular, making the connection in my head between fat on me and fat on my fork.

I also need to think about some carrot style motivation to accompany that stick! So here's my contract with myself for this week – if I stick to my calorie allowances up to next Monday, I will treat myself to something (no idea what yet!). Sticking = 1652 calories a day, not eating my exercise calories, but allowing myself to "bank" calories for later in the week. Next Monday, I'll report on my success (+ve thinking!).

With regards to exercise, I need to ensure I'm not over reliant on cycling to work & that I do at least something else about 5 times a week in addition to commuting. And that if I don't cycle, I sub with another activity that day.

Anyway, went for a 45 minute walk in Stoke Woods with Husband on Sunday in a gap between showers to prevent cabin fever setting in. We went to the gym later on where I switched from treadmill to x trainer after 10 minutes – I felt very dehydrated. Boredom was alleviated by catching the end of the amazing Federer/Nadal match on the gym's TV screens. I joined Husband in the spa pool afterwards for a spot of relaxation.

Cycled in today – got moderately drenched so my concerns moved from cabin fever to trench foot! Feet were then treated to a pedicure & some fab neon orange nail polish (Jessica Day Tripper fyi).

It's Too Late Baby...

How I should have listened last night when Husband queried whetehr I really wanted more chocolate cake instead of responding by really really wanting the second slice! I managed to sleep, but woke up still feeling over full at 6:15am - not right on a Sunday! B, J & Kitty came over for food - it was great to be able to eat so much allotment produce! Aformentioned chocolate cake had raspberries, Kitty brought some fab blackcurrant ripple ice cream, green beans, new potatoes, beetroot..... not quite enough tomatoes ripe yet though (I keep eating as I pick 'em!).

Anyway, momentous news - Kitty has completed her level 3 C&G Embroidery course! 3 years of intensive work with really impressive output. She's used the course as an opportunity to learn how to make corsets and shoes and I really admire how she treats embroidery as a media for her art as opposed to making pieces to simply show off her stitching.

Her impressive "no short cuts" work ethic has meant that we haven't seen much of her recently - apart to emerge occaisionally from her studio (aka craft cave) looking a tad preoccupied - Goldfish is looking forward to having his wife back! From a very selfish perspective, I'm hoping for lots of high quality chats-while-mountain-biking with Kitty as well as with C & X. She's also mentioned she might be up for some gentle jogging. Yay!

Back to exercise - another train trip on Friday meant an extra 20mins cycling and a very little walking. I went to Bedzed to "supervise" some filming for a DVD (i.e. I did the irritating client bit). Very interesting place - especially as people are able to live & work there sustainably. Interesting to compare/contrast with CAT - same principles, but Bioregional's output works in London commuter belt successfully as opposed to living in an eco rural idyll.....

Overheating & smugness

I overheated yesterday - cycled to station, had meeting in London in a very warm office, had lunch in a very warm pub, very warm taxi ride, train back, cycled to office where I arrived just in time for the air con being switched off @ 5. Cycled home, drove to gym & decided I was way too hot & bothered to do intervals. So I did a little x trainer, 30 mins @ 11kph on the treadmill, a bit more x trainer & called it a day.

No body combat today as I had meetings all day & a pile of work accrued from yesterday.

I do have an extra incentive to cycle atm as one of the major roads in Eastleigh is shut until end November & it's causing extra traffic jams. It's a good feeling scooting past static cars!