Counting my blessings

No exercise tonight as I’m being good & resting my knee. Thought provoking evening – I’ve decided that I should recognise that I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.

• I can fit lots of exercise into my daily routine fairly easily – which means that I can get away without completely controlling what I eat.
  
• I actively enjoy exercise and have a wide range to choose from - I'm not restricted by poor health or disability.
  
• My family are wonderful – Monday was a good reminder of that.
  
• My friends are brilliant – entertaining & supportive – even when I inconvenience them by changing email/mobile/blog.
  
• Supportive colleagues – makes all the difference to getting through the day.
  
• Husband is great – and I should be more appreciative of how I can talk about my worries & concerns with him. But he is slower than me up hills……

Hurty Knee

My leg hurt a bit last night whilst using the leg press - the bit to the left of my left knee. It twinged a bit today but I made the stupid decision to go running anyway - and now it really hurts! Good thing it's a rest day tomorrow.
I went with V & C from work - part of our Race for Life training. C has to achieve a time of under 30 mins for her husband to hand over any sponsorship money! We did 5k in just under 38mins - pretty good for a first run-walk outing. V is definitely the speediest which we attributed to all the dancing she does.
We scrounged a loop route from a colleague - very pretty bit through a nature reserve (and a real life bog!) and lots of cute little lambs. Too much traffic exposure though to be a perfect route. We'll need new routes in a couple of weeks when the office moves. I'm really hoping we can time it so that A can join us too for a few runs at Southampton Common so she can meet some others from Team Garmin beforehand.

Easter weekend

Very busy weekend in a "nothing much planned" kind of way - let me explain....


Friday - Bike Ride
Excellent 26 miler from Farley Mount with Husband, M&A. A showed us the spot she got to know very very well the week before due to being stranded following innertube blow outs - hour and a half by the side of the road! Bluebells are starting to come into bloom - ludicrously early even for the deep south.

We then spent the afternoon mending fences and gardening, rewarded by a few beers later on.


Saturday - another bike ride!
Little one - with G in Bournemouth, from her newly redecorated pad to the beach & back. I hadn't been to Southbourne before - gorgeous stretch of beach with an excellent tea kiosk! G is so much quicker now - it's good to see my hybrid getting used. G also fed us with her garden's inaugural BBQ.


Sunday - more gardening
Quick visit to the allotment to pick veg (purple sprouting season is here!) & grab some rubble sacks, then back to working on our garden. I weeded and scarified the lawn - which didn't leave very much green stuff! Friends came over for a cream tea in the garden - really pleasant way to spend an afternoon.


Monday - Football
Well, Dad & I kicked balls at each other & my nephews for a bit - so sort of football. Lots of lifting & catching my nephew J who doesn't seem to have any concept of climbing frames/slides etc being a bit big for a 2 year old! My niece A is making real progress with her walking - she has a new gadget frame that seems to be making a difference.


Tonight - Gym
I was planning on running with A - but she developed a migraine this afternoon so I changed my plans. 20 mins on the X trainer then 30 mins on the treadmill - did 5.05km. Then used the leg press but no other weights as my shoulder's been playing up.

Fat Bird is No More - Long Live Fat Bird!

Due to a deeply annoying issue with my gmail account, Fat Bird has moved to a new website. Same tmi blogs about my endeavours to be active and not become-as-one with the sofa....

Body Combat

Last body combat session with Juliana leading - end of an era!

Do the Right Thing?

Skating on Monday - started the level 5 moves which include our first spin and cross overs. It's seeming scary but I think achievable atm.

Good run with A yesterday - 45:34 to do the 5.68km which compares to 46:19 on the 20th - definitely progress.

I'm struggling today - I was given a cadburys flake easter egg by a printer and I'm failing to do the right thing - which is to give it away! It has 2 flakes - which are 178.5 cals each....... and I should be saving my cals as it's Husband's turn to cook tonight and I hate saying "please can you make this low cal?"..... but I am planning on going to Body Combat later.......conscience, arrrrrggghhhhhh...

Not a lazy weekend

Jogging with A on Friday evening – we didn’t get anything like as wet as I thought we would, given that it was raining en route to A’s. I’m now in non-thermal tights as the weather is gradually improving. A’s waterproof is looking huge on her now – she’s definitely starting to look more svelte and trim.

Digging on Saturday – planting potatoes at the allotment. We’re doing charlotte for the 3rd year, but are experimenting with pink fir apple as a maincrop. None of us eat masses of spuds and M has an aversion to floury potatoes – so having 2 lots of salad varieties will probably suit us better. Good to see D down there – who was the beneficiary of all the spare chitted seed potatoes.And boogying too on

Sat – saw a Guns’n’Roses tribute band at the Brook then went to the Dungeon. I danced lots (well, bounced around lots) and was sporadically joined by J, S&X. Very grateful to S for the lift home.

31.7 km mountain biking route from the house on Sunday morning. A wasn’t feeling good so M&A headed back around the halfway point – which was a shame as the 2nd half was so much easier than the first. I’m starting to think that getting all who set out to complete the route is turning into a new major objective! I’m enjoying the routes from the house – so good not to have to mess about with roofracks & to spend time driving to the start. It’s a good reminder about how much countryside we have on our doorstep.Sunscreen – must start using it again! Didn’t this weekend but looking at the area on my face that was most mushed in my accident, it’s now discolouring, giving me white patches. Discounting leprosy, I figure that it’s worth re-discovering my factor 40 as something I don’t leave the house without applying…..