Results up, Photos to follow

Eastleigh 10K on Sunday & as I know I'm slower than I was last year, I aimed for sub 1 hour - and did 58:49 which I'm happy with. 1314th place - so a little off the pace of the winners. Weather was lovely - not hot, not raining & not windy. 2 other members of my team at work did well - G did 55mins, B 47mins. M was under 46mins - impressive as his target was 47mins. Very impressed that S finished in 58:58 - his first ever 10K! And despite walking the final 4K with her achilles injury playing up big time, X finished in 1:08:50.

There are photos due but will be on a separate posting as Husband will want to QC them first - make do with the official ones first (note to self - must re-start Big D immeadliately!).
In addition to Husband, C and Kitty both came out to support us - really appreciated Kitty at 7K and it was great to see C.

Very impressed with WRN members tonight. I took the standard group for a challenging route up into the woods and back - our first foray off road. The Beginners had their "30 minutes without a walking break" session - and all completed it! N from beginners wants to try a 10K in Sept/Oct so i need to do a little research. My legs are now complaining - it was pointed out to me that I've run over 19K since Sunday morning so I guess that's not unexpected.

I was aiming to go cycling with G on Saturday on the sea front- but weather wasn't really up to it so we walked between shops instead - very pleasant! Cycled to work Friday & today. Jaw much less painful today.

Bored of jaw hurting now

Lots of digging on Saturday - turned over & weeded a couple of beds at the allotment whilst Husband carried out remedial action on the broad beans and Kitty declared war on the raspberry canes. It's great to see the soil in reasonable condition. Decorating on Sunday - dining room is gradually progressing.
Running on Monday went better than I expected. Lots of texts & emails from people unable to make it (there's colds going around atm) but still had 3 standard and 5 beginners. B was the first beginner to switch to the standard group - and did so with aplomb. My mouth was very painful that day - kind of day where I was trying to work out the max number of paracetamol/ibuprofen I could take - and I was wiped out later on.
Nothing bar cycling until today as I spent last night very pleasantly making jewellery with Kitty and Tuesday evening in Basingstoke for work. No bad thing as today, I'm still on painkillers. However, I did manage the gym tonight.
Back to dentist tomorrow. Joy!

Queen of the Sofa

Apologies for plagiarising this blog's title - and I'm not disclosing my source - but it feels appropriate! I'm banned from cycling until Monday and I'm off work today as I had a wisdom tooth yanked out yesterday. I look like a hamster that's decided to store it's food in its right cheek only!

I'm hoping that X is resting up as well - her achilles has been playing up which is really frustrating her. I can understand that - her running is so good - she looked really comfortable on Monday evening going up Burrow Hill. I went out to do the 10K route with S & X on Wed - X dropped out after 6K. S & I did the route in 63mins - he's speeding up!

The weather is stunning this week - I got too hot cycling home yesterday, the magnolia in the front garden is in full bloom and Husband has been using a few days off very virtuously smartening up the front of the house. I'm impressed because if it had been me on hols, I think I'd have been syving off on my bike!

Early night required

Can't motivate myself to get off the sofa & into the shower - which is bad coz I was running tonight! I've been feeling washed out - so an early night is required. I'm just hoping I'll be able to sleep - not always the way when I'm tired out.
Another beautiful spring like day and my ride to work was great. Husband has chosen a great week to take off! Our star magnolia is in full gorgeous bloom.
As it wasn't completely dark, I was able to take the standard runners up the river rather than along the busy yuckiness of Bishopstoke road. We then went up & over what I now know is Burrow Hill - both V and X acquitted themselves well.
The beginners also did very well with just 2 walk breaks over the run. L was determined to try 15mins as prep for next week, and that's how she completed tonight's session - she has so much drive!

Spring is sprung - great ride & some history

35km ride today with Husband, C and Goldfish and it feels like spring now. Glorious sunshine, blossom, lambs, new shoots.... C made a great suggestion to base the ride around the Test Way - one of my favourite spots in Hampshire. Most of the ride was easy going apart from a slog up Broughton Down followed by the scary descent down Whiteshute Hill which I'm now convinced I will never accomplish. C is so much faster - her cycling to work has paid dividends. Husband managed a somersault towards the end when his front wheel found a hidden tree stump - he was OK as was bike. And I was impressed with Goldfish navigating!

I spent yesterday at Baby Sister's, fulfilling a promise to give her a hand sorting out her back garden. It's a lovely spot in the Chilterns with views of woodland and pasture - and I'm hoping that a turfed back garden will be fun for my niece and nephew this summer.

Gym on Friday and I did the Eastleigh 10K route with X and S on Wed - both of them did brilliantly.

Great blog post from Kitty - I'm impressed with the trampolining in particular! My list of sporting awards from school is very short - non existent in fact. I was the girl who was last to be picked for all team games - although I loathed individual activities more as I couldn't meld into the background! Tennis and dancing were my least favourite. Hockey was kind of OK. Like most of my friends, my bike was my ticket to freedom - my first holiday sans parents was at 15 youth hostelling with a friend in the Cotswolds. I loved walking though - and when my folks moved to the North West, access to Snowdonia and the Lakes made this a regular thing. At Uni, Boyfriend (now Husband) introduced me to swimming and this opened my eyes to the fact that I might not be utterly incapable of physical exercise. We continued regular walking up until his ankles gave out and we swam regularly. I tried aerobics for the first time in the canteen at work in 1999. I started jogging in 2000 (I think!). Mountain biking - 2004. So quite a late starter - and it's made me quite passionate about convincing kids and adults that yes, we can do stuff. It's not the winning that matters - or even the competence. What does matter is squeezing more out of life through pushing ourselves to either enjoy physical activity for its own sake (e.g. mountain biking) or by getting our bodies into a state where we can do more stuff. Rant over.

Might have a beer now

Feeling a bit pooped tonight - I ran 10K with X and S as well as pedalling home from work. X and I knocked 3 mins off last week's time so we're down to 65mins. I was impressed with S - steady pace & he used his heart rate monitor to ensure he could carry on OK. So I'm now enjoying a Badger Brewery Golden Glory.
WRN on Monday - we had our first "interactions" with the yoof of Eastleigh - not too traumatic & we out ran them!

Must Remember to Keep My Mouth Shut

Not out of politeness, but out of a desire not to swallow half the swimming pool every stroke as I come out of the water! It's a simple trick, but it makes a big difference. I did 40 lengths tonight - the first time I've counted since trying this breathing underwater fad (it'll never catch on!). I now need to work on recovering from mini problems without panicking about drowning - for example, mistiming a stroke or forgetting to breathe. My neck aches less than usual so I guess it'll be worth the effort.

Lots of painting today but according to WLR, 2 hours equals only 130 calories expended more than normal.

Good chat with G this morning about what we're doing to control eating atm - I'm glad that she had as good a week as I did from that perspective.

Cheesefoot Head again

This weekend's bike ride was from the house with Husband - 28km circuit going up to Cheesefoot Head - which we approached from the north last weekend. Mud made it heavy going in places & I got very stuck near Owslebury - managed to pull my armpit as I toppled off! I wasn't aware that I could pull my armpit until now - new learnings every day... Very quiet - we only saw one other bike & that was from a distance. We had to pedal faster coming home as it was starting to get dark. Feeling the ride in my legs now - esp in thighs & bum! Husband's back was aching towards the end, not helped by an old sea kayaking injury to his side playing up today. The side thing must be bad as he's talking about going to the doctor to discuss.

I walked to the paper shop this morning rather than drive - so that's 20mins to add to exercise log and my halo is slightly greener.

I did manage to pedal to work yesterday - and to get home in the light. Only other exercise was heaving an old belfast sink around today - it's going to live outside so we can wash off dirty boots and veg with less mud coming into the house!

Yay - it's nearly Friday and Big D is still intact!

The new Big D strategy seems to be working so far - G's advice was wise! Especially pleased I didn't mess up yesterday as my exercise was limited to a walk to the station - although I was on my feet all day at an exhibition. Will have to see if I can make the approach work over the weekend.

No cycling to work today either - it was just starting to snow at 8am and I was listening to "South West grinds to a halt" stories on the radio - so made a last minute switch to the car. Must pedal tomorrow to bring my cycle commute days this week up to 3.

We went to the gym this evening - I'm proud to confirm that I still can't name more than about 20% of the characters in Eastenders. We also went to the gym in a mad dash on Tuesday - swimming times mean that we need to get there by 6:25pm if Husband is to get a swim.

Now, do I have a mango & passionfruit ice cream stick or not?

New day - new approach to Big D

Apologies to those who've read many of my entries outlining great intentions with ref to the Big D (normally on a Monday) - followed by ominous silence as I sabotage myself with beer, pizza, cake, chips etc by Wednesday. Had a really good chat about it with G on Saturday & decided to put her wisdom into practice today. So, the new Big D plan! I've reduced my daily calorie allowance to 1400, but will eat all exercise calories - so that'll be around 400 extra on a cycle to work day. I'm not going to do weekly balances as that seems to be the root of my "been bad on a Wednesday so write off the week" madness. Will see if this works any better!

Husband drove past me tonight when I was out with the Beginners - and was complimentary about how good at running they seemed. I'm pleased as he's quite good at spotting good technique when we pass runners in the car or cycling. Had 1 new standard and 2 new beginners tonight - all did brilliantly.

Good Weekend - Virtuous and Fun

First, virtuous. No decorating, but we braved Ikea on Saturday night to get a mattress for spare bed and have just moved mattresses and bedding around - so tonight will be our first night in the new bedroom! Installed a new fence panel and moved tumble dryer and freezer outside.

Fun bits now - pub on Friday night and walked down to Eastleigh the morning after to retrieve the car. I seemed to talk running alot with M and I'm now contemplating circuits - some time!

Then I headed off to Holmsley Station tea rooms to meet up with G. We went for a 7k wander in a vaguely Burley direction - lots of ponies and a huge area of burned heather and 2 big ponds I'd never spotted before - which you can see in the photo - courtesy of G. Came back along the disused railway line. It was a beautiful day & it was fabulous to catch up properly with G - great chat. We then had lunch in the tea rooms - welsh rarebit followed by the most gorgeous merigue shells filled with cream & some fruit - so I think I compensated well for the walk! The weather was very non February - sunny and close to being warm. And I loved the opportunity to walk as I don't get many.

Cycling today. As it was just Husband, Goldfish and me, we opted for a long-ish route new to me & Husband - an HCC route but it was tweaked both before and during the ride. Tweak one was to start from South Wonston instead of Cheesefoot Head so we would tackle the more challenging bit earlier in the ride. Tweak 2 was at Cheesefoot Head - where Husband talked us into a change that was then scuppered by the army having red flags up. Tweak 3 was in Winchester where the boys decided on the climb up Stanmore Lane - long long hill - but did avoid some nastier roads. Tweak 4 was brought on by us missing a turning - quite pleased with the resulting change in route though as it meant less road. No punctures, my lovely new windstopper jacket performed well as did our new thermos flask - so we were able to have a cup of tea at the end. Tired now - my legs aren't aching but do feel worked.