Our first off road bike ride for a while on Saturday. Husband's cold & accompanying chest infection had prevented us from getting out much at all - we've been shut up inside with paint brushes.C came with us & we did the route I call the Portuguese Fireplace loop - easy going 22K with very little road. It was the slightly shorter version of the route that excludes a ford at Rhinefield - it's been raining alot. No punctures, no tumbles and Husband's lungs were kind of OK - although most uphills were accompanied by the sound of his coughing as his 1.5 lungs struggled a bit! Enjoyable ride - and it was great to catch up with C.I really fancied a cuppa when we got back the carpark - but I need to invest in a new thermos as ours has stopped keeping water hot. Incentive to take out my credit card!The bikes are now back in our shed - they had a holiday in Goldfish & Kitty's garage for a few weeks whilst our shed was full of builders & associated stuff. It's good that next time we fancy a bike ride we won't have to disturb GF & K. Very much appreciate them housing our bikes for us.Monday's running club session went well. Beginners can now run for 3 minutes at a time - brilliant achievement, but I think I need to slow progress a little on Monday as I think 4 mins may be a little too soon. We focused on posture - used crisps held between thumb & forefinger to ensure that we weren't clenching fists - loose hands = relaxed arms = relaxed shoulders = better posture!Body Combat tonight - no Sassy as she was ill, but her sub gave a different kind of class - it felt less choreographed - but very engaging.
Despite radio silence in the blog-sphere (is that a word?), I am still alive & kind of active! My freetime seems to be absorbed by the Women's Running Network, decorating and housework atm. And work's been a bit all consuming too.Anyway, I've been mostly cycling to/from work for my exercise of late. Missing mountain biking - partially coz Husband has been getting over a-near-fatal-illness-that-would-have-slayed-lesser-mortals-not-blessed-with-his-legendary-constitution-and-tremendous-bravery (i.e. a cold). Missed Body Combat last week as I was working to midnight and tonight as we had to visit a well known DIY store for supplies. And missing gym due to lack of motivation & a sense of sluggishness.I have been running though. The 6:30pm group seems to be the more difficult group to get established. Beginners at 7:35pm is going great - very enthusiastic women who are really throwing themselves into the programme! I'm finding the beginners coaching really rewarding - it's taking lots of time fine tuning the programme & typing up the weekly handouts, but I'm enjoying the sessions at least as much as I expected to. I need to remember that I only have to write the materials once - they'll be useful for future programmes.
Husband isn't very well - nasty cold that's got to his chest. He was off work on Wed but made the mistake of dragging himself in on Thurs, wiped himself out so that had to take Friday off - and he's still suffering today. As many are aware, I'm really not great at sympathy - but I have endeavoured to be a good wifey - making all meals, buying him cough mixture, back rubs etc - can you see the light from my halo?Which is good because the halo isn't so pristine ref exercise! Cycled to work on Thursday & Friday - my hands were at painful level of frozen on Friday evening! No exercise at all yesterday - but did at least get a little DIY done and sorted out some running group stuff. Wasn't feeling remotely like exercise today but went to Body Attack at Esporta - the fabulous Body Combat instructor Sassy's other class. She wasn't her normal tigger like self as she was getting over a migraine and hadn't been able to get any cover. Fair play to her for still coming in - and managing to lead the class. She kept her shades on & had to resort to demo-ing the move then talking us through the routine. But it was still a good workout - it's simple choreography but with a really high energy to it. Love the running bit the most - but cornering in a sports hall is a bit tight! Dragged Husband into the fresh air as I wanted to pull up some leeks. Glad we went as pigeons have decimated the PSB - so we were able to get some netting over to try & mitigate further damage. Pulling the leeks was trickier than expected - although it's milder today, the ground is well & truly frozen & extracting veg from soil was a challenge!Just done some sums and if all who have expressed an intention to do so come along tomorrow night, I'll be kicking off Eastleigh Women's Running Network with 10 women - 6 beginners, 4 regular runners - that is a big "if" though! Roll on Monday....
It's been a tad chilly pedalling this week - 2 pairs of gloves required and lots of cautious rolls over pavements and roads glistening with black ice. I even had a little snow to contend with on Monday! It's become a matter of pride - those of us who consider ourselves "proper" everyday cyclists discussing with unjustified smugness who's weakened & been rumbled driving in!Walked on Tuesday as I had a meeting in London - not an unattractive wander ona crisp freezing day to & from the station.Body Combat tonight and a new routine for the new year. This release starts with dancified abomination covers of 80s power ballads - St Elmo's Fire and Because the Night - which kind of work - worryingly well! I really did not enjoy the toning track and not only because it's the Pussycat Dolls' When I Grow Up (Husband appreciates the video though) - I still can't do push ups whether tricep or classic versions. Lots of legwork in this release - no bad thing given the flabbiness of my thighs atm!
Eastleigh Women's Running Network group launched today with an open evening. I need to work on how to explain how the group operates without it sounding like a nervous 20 minute download! Still, it went well & next week, we're up & running - literally. For more details, check out the WRN website or the Eastleigh Women's Running Network Facebook group (marketing, marketing...).My other first was less stressful - transported work laptop home on my bicycle as I'm off to London tomorrow. It fits OK in my commuter bag - not hugely comfortable though so if I need to do this more than once a month or so, I'll rethink my baggage strategy!
Our first ride of 09 - we had been thinking about doing a proper race today - but their online entries closed a week before the deadline - which would have meant driving up to Wiltshire for 8am on a Sunday to feel reassured that we'd get places - and so we made other plans....
27.3km route from South Wonston, followed by a quiz and "gala" dinner with awards ceremony at Pizza Express. S & X are still enjoying their Christmas colds and Kitty had other plans - so it was Husband, Goldfish, C, M & me. We scooted around in just over 2 hours. Progress was speeded by lack of mushy mud - freezing temperatures (-1oC at the start) have transformed tracks into weirdly freeze dried bumpy routes with the occaisional mud puddle. See the pic of iced up duck pond at Crawley. I think I should have planned in some more extreme hills as my legs were freezing up towards the end. I enjoyed listening to the others specualting about what the quiz questions might be - I think M was trying to count the sheep at one point!Awards for Mountain Biking in 2008 :Whippet Award for being first up the hills - MLemming Award for being first down the hills - HusbandVirgin Trains award for punctuality - SGuinea Pig Award for best en route squealing - CDomestic Goddess award for the best biking accessory crafting - KittyHippo Award for mud appreciation - GoldfishCanadian Mountie Award for always carrying on, whatever the pain - XAnd Husband won the quiz. Kitty and X both scored more than Goldfish - even though neither of them came on the ride the questions were based on!
Our first off road bike ride for a while on Saturday. Husband's cold & accompanying chest infection had prevented us from getting out much at all - we've been shut up inside with paint brushes.
