Decent Threshold Session

I made it to the gym tonight - I am determined to try & get my cost per visit down, but it seems tricky to fit in any more than 1 visit per week in summer.

And I actually managed a decent threshold session on the treadmill - a rarity as I really don't love speedwork. Threshold is all about pushing my body's aerobic/anaerobic border so I ran at a gentle pace for a few minutes before switching to an uncomfortable pace for 4 mins, 1 min recovery pace, back up to the faster pace for another 4 minutes. The idea is that by not letting myself fully recover and then going up to the faster pace again, my body develops the aerobic threshold.

Anyway, I did this for 30 minutes - and almost enjoyed it. I need to learn not to beat myself up about being slower than I was a couple of years ago - it doesn't help! A Pollyanna attitude works much better for my motivation.

Bit of spinning, bit of stepping, rower weights machine & lats pulldown.

The Big D - again

Apparently, 21% of UK adults smoke and that number is declining. 40% of UK adults are overweight - 20% are obese - and this number is increasing. So is it easier to give up nicotine or chocolate??

I'm embarking on the Big D - yet again - and I am trying to remember how I succeeded in 2006. Hence a photo of me in beautiful NZ in Jan 2005 as my stick - and prove to myself that I can lose fat - after all, I have done it! Carrot is the sailing holiday in May - I'd like to be more toned & look cool in the photos (yes, I am that shallow!). I do need to drink more liquid - I often eat when I'm probably thirsty. I've also re-done my WLR account - clean start!

New beginners on Tuesday - not many so I need to work on getting a few more & retaining all. Very pleased to have a few more in the 7pm Tuesday group now that it's relaunched as the "easier" regular run.

Gym last night - deliberately didn't run & did 35mins spinning and 20 x trainer. I've been walking a little more than usual as I've been on a course in Ealing this week & getting there on the train. But only 1 day of cycling to work.

Sports bras wear out

Let's just say that I bear the scars of a worn sports bra after running on Monday. Tuesday's choice of undergarment was a very different design - so nothing was exacerbated! Shock Absorber (which the offending bra was not) suggest replacement every 6 months - and other sites suggest 3-12 months.

You may note that Husband is on foot in this week's photo. My parents stayed for the day on Sunday unexpectedly - so we decided against cycling. Mum was too wiped out from a stomach bug for them to visit friends as they'd originally planned - so they watched the rugby whilst Husband & I went for a gentle walk in the woods. We also hit the gym where I tried a spinning bike for the first time - so much better than a "normal" exercise bike - felt much more realistic and great to focus on cadence. I think I can make more use of this as part of prep for South Downs Way. I also linked iPhone to the machines - exercise geek happiness!

Another 10K on Monday with WRN - and again, it went well. All other groups were fine - except 7pm Tuesday which didn't happen for the 3rd week. Cycled on Mon & Tue, but not today as I was walking around Earls Court all day.

And I'm back

I went skating today with G. We'd done lessons together about 2 years ago for a while, but quit when my progress plateaued and G finally acknowledged that it was a heck of a drive for her every Monday evening. Today, we went up to Basingstoke for a great hour plus scooting around. I can't remember many of the fancy-ish moves we learned - but was chuffed that I could still get around without sliding on my backside! I was also relieved that my skate blades hadn't rusted away. And G looked as cool as ever on the ice. Lunch afterwards at a cafe on the way home - lovely day and much needed fun.

Even learning about the £340 worth of repairs required to my mountain bike when I got home didn't dent my improved mood.

Ran well at the gym on Friday - 10km in 57:10. I think my lack of exercise this week may have contributed to being able to run well. And it was fantastic to be able to work off some pent up frustration on the treadmill. I'm hoping I can get back to WRN next week with a positive attitude - WIP.

Off to surf for avid juicy 3 brakes for my poorly bike now....

Objective revision time!

I'm changing a few of my top 40 goals - some circumstances have changed and I'm having to apply a little realism!

31. Level 2 coaching - UK Athletics have revised their coaching qualifications and the new next level for me to do isn't available until September. And I'm 41 in August! If I did do the existing level 2, it would train me in coaching all types of athletics. Katharine from RiE apparently had to coach someone to do triple jump - having never done triple jump before. The big change with the new qualification is that it specialises in "Off track endurance" and specifically mentions mass participation running in the description. I think this will be more useful for me so I'm holding off. So I'm swapping objective 32 for "Swim in the sea on New Years Day" - which I did in Wales. So that's another done - yay me (with some fudging!).

32. Eastleigh 10K in sub 55 minutes - I'm changing this to sub 57 minutes - and that will still require some hard work between now and 28th March. I've found that coaching running 2 nights a week has done wonders for my endurance - but has not directly helped with speed!

I've been feeling a bit under the weather this week which may have resulted in me feeling like I was about to die at 6.5km at 10.5kph in the gym on Friday - or I might just be rubbish! Pedalled on Thursday & Friday - and I'm proud of pedalling to the pharmacy & paper shop this morning.

Haggis and a Hangover

Good party on Wednesday night hosted by Futerra, but I'm not sure that I danced enough to justify alcohol & haggis calories. Damage was made even worse by not having pedalled that day (overslept).

I had the opportunity to walk off my hangover on Thursday, making my way to the Eco Home exhibition at the Geffrye Museum somewhere near Hackney - some great items and well put together if not exactly huge or surprising! It's interesting that even when using the tube, just how much walking I do when I'm in London compared to home.

Just a bit of wii last night & lazed on sofa, crocheting.

Pedalled today & hit the treadmill. I decided to just run - no x trainer, no step machine, just running. And I really enjoyed it - did just over 9K at 10.5kph, so used it as my "long easy run" of the week. I was helped by the TV - when it was just 4 screens, it seemed to be Question of Sport & soaps on a Friday evening, neither of which float my boat (honourable exception to the gloriously trashy Hollyoaks), but I got to see the 1950s with Andrew Marr which most definitely does!

Lots of gym - but I need sunshine

Gym tonight - x trainer, 16 mins of intervals followed by 20min at 10.5kph. I really need to get to 11kph to stand a hope of reaching my Eastleigh 10K goal of 55 mins - still, baby steps.
I should have been running but the pavements are still too ice bound - and failed my risk assessment. What makes it even worse is that my next Beginners programme should have started tonight.
Gym on Friday and Sunday too - so I am getting some exercise. I'm also getting used to the new treadmills which have fabulous personal TVs and fans, but do take longer to set up.
I did cycle to work yesterday. It wasn't much fun as I was restricted to the busy roads I normally try to avoid.
Lots of wii fit - I'm on a mission to accomplish skateboarding atm.
Not feeling very good about life at the moment - I think it's lack of daylight, attempting to drag my eating under control and acclimatising to normal life post holiday. It's normally Husband who has a sad January - maybe it's transferred!
I have some new running kit about to arrive - maybe they will cheer me up.

Ice and mood enhancement

I haven't been feeling too good this week - been getting very anxious about a kazillion things that don't merit a high level of anxiousness. So it was great to get out for a pedal today in the Forest - and what a day. Blue skies, sunshine, little wind - crisp and icy. We were joined by Goldfish and did the route I think of as Kitty's route from Milkham. Lots of frozen puddles to crunch through. I'm not very brave with ice (or many other things) but managed to do a few - loved the sound of the ice breaking like glass. And as you can see in the photo, some of the ice wasn't crunchable! The boys whizzed past 3 deer really close to the trail - but at my sedate pace, I spotted them & we stared at each other for a bit before my camera scared them off. The ice meant that I didn't get as wet as last time - so although it was very cold, I stayed quite cozy in my layers. I am really appreciating my merino wool base layer and I put a pair of thermal leggings under therma cycling tights.

The ride did the trick with my mood and I feel much more relaxed now. I had been hoping that the treadmill last night would work - but no. It was a short but quite satisfying session with a nice solid 20mins of intervals. Husband should have been swimming but the pool was shut due to having been vomited in!

Just cycle commuting on Thursday, made a little more challenging by lugging 2 bottles of liqueur in my panniers.

Not to plan

I haven't exercised quite as much as I hoped this evening. Body Combat didn't happen - the services of the previous instructor were discontinued last week and a very apologetic gym manager explained that he'd messed up with sorting out a replacement for tonight. Irritating, but these things happen. I've got mixed feelings about the change - liked the instructor, but also love her replacement. So by the time I got to exercise, I just had 25 mins - 20 on the cross trianer and 6 on the stepper.

And no pedalling today as I had to go to Portsmouth for work. None yesterday as I went to London. I did walk to & from the station in freezing weather.

Very proud of the Beginners - they completed their 30 minutes last night with aplomb. More important than my pride, I hope that they are all feeling suitably proud of themselves.
Running was good on Monday too - with one of the Beginners doing her first WRN 5K.
All good!

Sunshine in Noss Mayo

I'm starting to feel Christmassy - despite the sunshine. We enjoyed this weird sun thing this weekend in Devon with the Fabulous In Laws.

Husband's legs withstood a 5ish mile walk near the intriguing named village of Noss Mayo on Saturday - loved the coast views from NT stretch called The Warren. Woodland with creek views through the trees, then up & over a hill back to the car. He was suffering afterwards though - shuffling when we popped into Dartmouth to see the Candlelit Christmas thing (great Irish band).

I got to do my favourite beach hut run this morning with my Fabulous Mother In Law. Nearly couldn't as I'd managed to leave my running tights at home - but despite being a svelte size 8, FMIL managed to find a pair of shorts my bum would squeeze into. I'm hoping that I haven't stretched them too much! We tried a variation that avoided the worst hill and involved some downwards steps - interesting, but I prefer the original.

Gym on Friday - new machines! All very impressive - individual TV screens and ipod docks - but its going to take me a while to adjust - wasted about 10mins faffing about.

Christmas party on Wed did involve a little dancing, but offset any benefit by feeling too delicate on Thursday to do anything except wii. Pedalled 3 days this week as I had 2 trips to Portsmouth. Running was fine on Mon & Tue - but low numbers which I'm attributing to Christmas!

Back on the bicycle

Two wheels better - even if I did get a little soggy pedalling home today. Traffic has been dreadful over the last few days- which is good for cycling motivation. Lowlight was an hour sat on Oxford southern bypass - lorry overturned on other carriageway causing gridlock. It's been the first proper soaking for my panniers - they passed the test.

No pedalling at the weekend as my folks were here en route to a stint working on a cruise ship - have convinced Dad that they are really galley slaves. The ship will slow down when he's teaching bridge as there will be one less rower...

Anyway, enough of the excuses. Gym on Sunday and tonight - overheated big time tonight as the ventilation is up the spout, probably due to the gym renovation.

Running was calorie-anorak-interesting on Mon & Tue as I took all groups bar the beginners on the same route. The one we looped back to do a little speed used 451 calories. The gentlest one used 331 calories. So that's 120 extra down to higher intensity and 0.21km more distance.

I am a slug

No exercise whatsoever today - absolutely diddly squat (is that how diddly is spelt)? I attempted to collect my Panda from the garage & got stuck in traffic everywhere - the highlight was 10 minutes underneath the M27 at J8. So as the chap I spoke to had to collect his child from nursery rather than keep the place open just for me (he was apologetic - bless), I gave up & collected car today - so a third non-pedal day. The traffic was a useful reminder of just how much more I benefit from pedalling to work.
Gym last night - I hadn't been for so long that I didn't realise that it's getting a spruce up. This includes some "floor classes" - so my new mission is to persuade Husband to give a Spinning class a go with me sometime.

Bloke Flu

It's probably a good thing that I didn't blog much last week as I was in hypochondriac mode - I had the world's mildest cold & whinged & whined like a bloke about it!

Very grateful that I didn't pass the virus over to Eastleigh WRN's Z who completed the Great North Run on Sunday in a very creditable 2 hours 33mins - impressive stuff, especially as she ran it all and raised over £500 for the Alzheimers Society.

Due to my life threatening illness, I didn't do much apart from cycle to work on Wed & Friday and some wii-ing. Gym on Friday was kept gentle - 5 mins running on the treadmill and I was dead, so switched to x trainer!

Lots of walking at the weekend at the Boat Show and at the Goodwood Revival - I especially enjoyed the latter & plan to go in costume next year. The pic is of Rowan Atkinson going around the circuit on top of a mini...

Like Richard Hammond's hair....

... my performance is wildly inconsistent and not as good as it used to be! I was watching Total Wipeout at the gym whilst dripping with sweat running slowly.
Lots of exercise today - 30mins wii-ing plus after which I discovered that Husband likes the wii sport tennis game. And spent the afternoon carefully exposing pak choi, beetroot and leeks by removing a jungle of weeds.

Ellisfield plus a bit more

Husband & I have done the HCC Ellisfield route a kazillion times - so much so that I was getting bored of it last year - but we realised today that X & S have never done it. Less surprising, D hadn't either but he is new to the muddy, nettly world of Hampshire mountain biking! He'd never met S & X before either - they live about 50 yards away from his house!

We needed a shortish ride and I was being very sniffy about some of the rides Husband was digging out (too long, too short, too dull, too much road - I was being pernickety) - so we opted for Ellisfield.

We started part way up hill one at Cliddesden Primary School as there weren't enough parking spaces in the village.

It is a good ride - plenty of off road & the variety of tracks means that the little grey cells get a bit of a work out too. Before the last section, Husband proposed an extension over to Preston Candover and Dummer so we ended up with a little deja vu on tracks we'd ridden last week! Unlike last week, it stayed dry. Heavy rain yesterday meant that my legs were very mud marbled by the end. With the extension, it was 27.42km with an ascent of 567m.

The rain meant that we didn't go out yesterday - opted for a session at the gym where I ran a little better than last time - 15 mins within the 30 minute run.

Bad news on Friday - whilst we were chatting to friends in the back garden, a rat made an appearance - more pest control required!

Hurdled the rubbish excuses

Friday:
Big D: Good!
Exercise: Cycle commute & gym
Saturday:
Big D: Not bad but have eaten all my exercise calories
Exercise: Walk & gym

There is a universally acknowledged truth that when faced with "there's no need to drive on trips of less than a mile or so" in theory, most of us would agree. However, when faced with the "do I drive to the paper shop/friend's house/post office?" conundrum, I almost always find a great reason to take the Panda. So although a 15 minute walk to the beautician this morning doesn't sound like much, I need to feel smug & celebratory that I got over the rubbish excuses (might rain, want to pick up a paper and they are so heavy on Saturdays...). And the 15 minute return journey was uphill!

I am now working on preparing my 40th birthday project. I've drawn on a number of sources including My Name is Earl and "Sleeping Naked is Green" by Vanessa Farquharson. Before I reach 41, I will work through a list of 40 things covering big goals like the Great South Run, stuff I should be able to do but never have like fixing a puncture and a few green enhancements to my life - a Top 40. Ideas welcome!

Twice bitten

Trying not to scratch my leg - I got bitten twice by some wee critter(s) at the allotment last night whilst futily attacking the bindweed that's trying to throttle the currants. Should have taken a second antihistamine this morning - and will not wear shorts next time I'm there in the evening! I did a good hour's digging last night whilst Husband weeded onions, watered and examined damage to french beans.

I spent lots of time in the car this week - by current standards. Nottingham & back on Tuesday (snuck in a brief visit to Decathlon where I bought new walking sandals ready for Canada), New Malden on Wednesday. Cycled to work on Wed, Thu & Fri - managed to cycle into another cyclist on Thursday on a blind corner - but it was literally just a tapping of front wheels.

Gym on Wed (treadmill, x trainer) where I watched half of a programme on losing weight - then picked up fish & chips on the way home!

Cycling home's going to be great tonight - hot & sunny day.

Ready meals required

No cycling yesterday as I had to squeeze a London meeting before a 2pm meeting at the office. We considered the gym on Wed evening but decided to pay the allotment a visit instead. Husband had to spend longer than he expected prepping stuff in the greenhouse, leaving us with just 45 mins of light to plant tomatoes, autumn psb & dig over bed ready to plant carrots.

So much easier cycling today compared to Mon/Tue as the wind's died down. We managed to get to the gym with just enough time to make it worth Husband's while - aquacise curtails swimming at 8pm on Thursdays. Rare exposure to Eastenders whilst I did 10mins X trainer & then 35 mins on the treadmill. Then discovered that aquacise hadn't happened, so Husband was still able to have his swim. And due to lack of veg in the house (we have some, but not in combinations that are winning - celeriac & red cabbage surprise anyone?) paid an unjustified visit to chip shop on the way home!

We do scoot around a lot in the evenings - leaving not much time to cook - I really should plan for this & put some quck & slutty options in the freezer! Yes, I could cook more at weekends - but to be honest, time doesn't seem to be available then in abundance either. I'll stop whinging now.

Midweek Mud

I thought Husband should find out if his new saddle is comfy before going out with the boys on Saturday to play so we went for an evening pedal from the house on Wednesday. We risked the often-ultra-muddy bridle path that goes east from the Fox & Hounds pub - and as you can see from the pic, it didn't disappoint! It's so good being able to do outdoor things in the evening. No punctures but a bramble cut my finger in a painful yet very minor paper cut kind of way.

I explored on my way home from work tonight. Fleming Park Golf Course is no more - but it makes a very pleasant outdoor space, even with background noise of the M3. Resolved to return with knobbly tyres before rules start materialising about where we can cycle!

Gym too but not very exciting. X trainer, fairly rubbish treadmill session, 6 mins on the stepper then a couple of weights machines.

Thoughts on shampoo - I should get out more

Bike shop have not disappointed - I'll be picking up my repaired wheel tomorrow morning. Not that I'll be able to do much riding - we're having a barbecue on Sunday & I suspect that Sat & Sun will be spent frantically tidying house & garden!
Gym tonight - I had my ipod with me for once so tried the nautilus weird incline treadmill thing that is one of the few CV machines not to be linked to the TV screens.

I'm not sold on my current shampoo. I chose it as it's made without petrochemicals - not for any health motivation ("natural" does not equate to "better" in my mind - asbestos occurs naturally....) but at work, I've been looking at cleaning agents that purport to be less environmentally dodgy than others, so figured I'd try some different toiletries at home. The shampoo I'm trying seems to struggle to lather & it's difficult to work into my scalp. Not sure I'm brave enough to try an equiv conditioner - ever since I went blondish, getting a comb through my hair post washing is near impossible without industrial strength conditioner!