Bunnies, Blisters and the Wrong Bike

I got a few yards down the road this morning before realising I was riding the wrong bike and figured I couldn't be bothered to go back & change it - so I had knobbly tyres and a comfier saddle than usual.

Running this evening - 10K from the house in a not-very-impressive 60:50 - Husband kindly pointed out that it's a tougher route than the Eastleigh 10K with hills and a variety of uneven surfaces, but I'm still aiming to get a more reasonable time for my next challenge (Beaulieu Cancer Research 10K in September). I can no longer get away with any socks - currently sporting beautiful blisters on both feet. I think this is indicative of my trainers being at the end of their running life, which means I need to consider promoting my gym trainers to outside & try & get a bargain on a new pair for the gym by shopping around online.

It was a beautiful evening and I saw many bunnies and one big glossy looking fox (behind the Fox & Hounds pub - v.appropriate). Had a spaniel bounce up on me - one day, I'll do this route without physical contact with a dog - maybe!

To wii or not to wii......

Tried out X's wii fit last night - very good of her to let me try it out. And she & Captain Faff fed us - really enjoyed the evening. I am sorely tempted - loved the yoga (of which I'm not normally a fan) and the strength stuff. Husband loved the slalom skiing game. Running was very odd though - on the spot but trying to keep up with somebody! It does have potential to help me - you can just do a few moves here & there - great when I don't have 2 hours to drive to gym, work out, drive home, shower.

Minuses - S & X have a huge screen and I'm not sure we have any wall space in which to install one! More to the point, I have to consider if I'd use it. My only other living room exercises have never taken off - yoga mat hasn't been touched for at least a year, and I still haven't tried out my pilates dvd. I think it would suit people who find time &/or leaving the house is a major issue - Baby Sister for example.

Still - good to try new things!

Gym on Monday - 10 mins x training, 30 mins interval work, shoulder press. Body combat tonight.

Pepperpot revisited

In April 2006, I started to blog exercise & activity so that I could feel I was achieving something. The first thing I blogged was a ride from Pepperpot Hill south of Salisbury - which we did today. I'm sorry to report that the ploughed up section of path is still ploughed up - I guess the farmer hasn't had a change of heart ref rights of way on his land!

We went with Goldfish, Captain Faff (half an hour late - true to his name!) and X. Perfect biking weather - bright and sunny but cool and gentle wind.

Good things about the route include variety of countryside. It starts on top of a chalk ridge, dropping through rolling hills to estate type woodland (rhodedendrons in full magenta bloom - they are evil though), climbing up to New Forest moorland, through cute villages & woodland up onto the chalk again. The bad things are that of the 32K, 18K are on tarmac and the carpark has a height restrictor (tricky when bikes are carried ontop of cars). Captain Faff bent his gears by picking up a tree just a few yards from the carpark - Goldfish carried out some crude repairs, but his bike wasn't right the rest of the route.

Lots of gardening this weekend - clearing one little area between the greenhouse & fence took most of Saturday & 4 carloads to the tip - sorry - household recycling facility... Garden is starting to look much better now - Husband also spent some time tidying it on Wednesday which helped.

On Saturday, I also cycled about 7k - to the bakery, coming back through the woods.

And completely non-exercise related news, I'm now blonde!

Sporty Gym Bunny??????

Bumped into Kitty on my way home - she was out for a run so I diverted & cycled alongside her - very good to catch up! She's on an 8 week programme atm - interested in the resistance work she's doing as that's also cv - which is appealing.

Just got back from a run of my own with Husband - 29:45 to do 5K - he's been reminding me that it's a tough route though - off road with lots of hills.

I've been feeling weirldly embarassed about people describing me as "sporty" and a "gym bunny" over the last 2 days - it feels unjustified - I guess I should just stop over analysing & appreciate the compliments! Maybe it's a bit because I was so awful at sport & exercise at school - and a bit because it's only been the last couple of years that I look even vaguely sporty...

I was also accused of being very eco - which I disillusioned myself over by doing a quiz that told me I use 3.1 planets worth of resources!

Shorts are not completely useless

I only have one free hand with which to type as Husband has purloined the other - he's very clingy tonight......
Body combat tonight - pleased to find that a pair shorts I bought at M&S were fine as they've been rubbish for running & gym - nasty habit of riding up, showing bits of my thighs I'd rather not exhibit. They have a reprieve from the charity shop bag.
Watering at the allotment on Mon and Tue - planted out beans.
Cycling to work's been fab this week. I'm driving tomorrow as I have an off site meeting.

My Fabulous Mother In Law

Torquay this weekend - my Fabulous Mother In Law had signed up to do the Race for Life on Sunday & I'd offered to join her.

Very relaxed day on Saturday - just a bit of gentle walking in glorious sunshine at Cockington. I skipped my beach hut jog as we would be running the next day.

My Fabulous Mother In Law was very nervous pre race - as was her buddy L with whom she'd trained. Photo was taken during the warm up.

Having established that I'm a (comparatively!) seasoned Race-4-Lifer and that I could talk whilst running, both of them said they'd rather I ran with them to help them complete the 5K. This mostly consisted of checking our pace frequently, attempting to get them to slow down a tad & using the simple technique of "if you can't tell me that you are OK, we are slowing down until you can tell me you are OK"! They both looked really comfortable & strong throughout. I was nervous that I was irritating them both so shut up - only to be told "start talking - you're helping us keep going" - I quite liked playing coach.

Right at the end, R was flagging a tad so L & I grabbed her hands & we went over the finish line together - brilliant moment.

And the time was 34:28. R has never run before - she is fit thanks to yoga & lots of walking, but runnng is a little different (she did train!). Her motivation was to raise money for Cancer Research as her friend is undergoing chemo atm.

Husband acted as our photographer and my Fabulous Father In Law came to support - as did many of R's buddies.

I'm so impressed with R! To finish the race was an achievement - to finish in under 35 mins was incredible. I enjoyed running with her & I'm really looking forward to jogging with her in the future.

Watering tomatoes

Diverted via the allotment tonight to do the watering - this seems to add about 30-40 mins to my ride home (including the watering) - not too bad, but I'm a bit nervous that I'll end up as the main waterer this summer. Tomatoes are all doing OK but we've lost a few sweetcorn.

Weird discovery of the day was a bloke who rides into work wearing a suit - which is weird as we have a casual dress policy....

Gym tonight - probably my last run before the Race for Life which I'm doing on Sunday with my fabulous mother-in-law in Torbay - her first ever race! Husband will be charged with taking good photos of us all. Anyway, 10mins x trainer, 30mins intervals on treadmill and then used the rowing weights machine.

Summertime

...and the living is easy (I wish!).

Loving cycling to work atm - today's the day I switched from thermal cycling tights to wrap skirt & lycra shorts, my waterproof consigned to the bag. Pity my poor colleagues, subjected to my legs.
The shower at work's now de-sweating me. Just a couple of weeks ago, it's major benefit was to warm me up.

Loving the blue sky, loving the ultra fresh green tree leaves, still looking more spring than dark
mature green of summer. Lime fresh vs John Lewis (I do write some twaddle!).
29:30 yesterday to run 5K in Husband's company - jogging through the woods was more enticing than the gym.

My thighs were a bit achey yesterday as we spent most of bank holiday Monday gardening - it took my the afternoon to sort out an are less than 5' by 5' (Husband's dumping area next to the greenhouse - buddleia & bamboo trimmings plus oodles of discarded pots complete with dead plants and compost).

Just the bike ride today - both of us had lousy days at work (noise nuisance complaints shoot up for Husband as soon as the sun comes out) so we charred pork steaks in the garden, consumed rose & I'm now on beer - v.decadent for a school night for us.

South Wonston loop

We did a loop from South Wonston that I devised from staring at digital OS maps. It should have been 36K, but it came in at over 40K as we started from a proper car park as opposed to on the streets of suburbia, had to divert at one stage to avoid being shot at and got lost.

I was quite pleased with the route - not difficult, but some nice tracks & some areas of Hampshire I hadn't been to before. However, I hadn't realised that the point at which the route goes across the A34, there was no bridge/underpass so we had to make mad dashes - OK with Husband & Goldfish, but I wouldn't repeat that bit with a larger group. Not too bad on the mud front - but the photo shows a very marshy bit along the Test - it's concerning when the plants in a field are all marginal water lovers - kingcups and irises!

25 minute walk yesterday too as we had a BBQ at B & J's, walking home afterwards. Their puppy seems to be developing less antisocial behaviour (it had a penchant for chewing door frames). It was great to catch up with them.

Lots of digging today at the allotment - we sorted out 2 beds with Goldfish, mowed the paths and edges, created a new compost heap, planted more carrots, beetroot, peas, mizuna and lettuce. Very satisfying.

Only other exercise to report was cycling to work on Thursday. Quite a bit of walking on Friday, getting to a meeting close to Oxford St - couldn't resist a quick visit to Uniqlo and American Apparel afterwards....