Saturday 6 June 2015

Juneathon - Day 2

Today I mostly spent recovering from the day before.

My old knees tend to be quite stiff after BoxFit, and it has been known for me to take a couple of attempts to heave myself up off the sofa, but today the problem was higher up!

The ache was at the top back of my thighs just below my gluteus maximus. It didn't feel like there was anything wrong with my hamstrings but I certainly felt the aches when attempting to sit down!  I don't remember we did a lot of squats - and usually even if we do it's my knees that ache then.

Miss H has developed a liking for playing cricket lately - much to Mr D's pleasure - so after we rescued the ball from over the back fence, we took the bat and said ball to an area of grass in front of the house to play there.  A bit of batting, bowling and running about after the ball seemed to loosen my muscles up - but that was all the exercise I managed today.  :(


Thursday 4 June 2015

Juneathon 2015 - Day 1



I can't quite believe that it's been a year since I last tried to combine a month of blogging with a month of exercise - time flies when you are having fun - but once again I have signed up to give Juneathon a go!

Not much has changed over the last 12 months. I may be a few pounds lighter and a bit fitter, but these are both areas that are "works in progress" and will remain so for a few years yet - if not indefinitely!

Within the next month or so I will be taking part in 2 events. The first - in just over a fortnight - will be my first Triathlon, and the second is a 10k run that my youngest sister is joining me for. But more on them later!

I will fill my posts this month with a mixture of what I've been up to daily and a review of events/highlights that have happened since Juneathon 2014 finished.

As Day 1 was a Monday, this means BoxFit!

Many moons ago I was a kickboxer - and although hard to believe - reached the rank of a Brown Belt. So when I saw this exercise class advertised last September, which involves a mixture of circuits and punching drills - I knew straightaway that at least for part of the time I would know what it do!

The class coach Dawn changes things up every week - be that with different drills or a new mix of circuit exercises (which focus on arms, legs and abs). The (mostly) ladies are a mix of ages, sizes and fitness abilities, but we are all encouraged to work at our own level and push ourselves within our own capabilities. I must admit that my abs are in a slightly better state now than when I started and I can now achieve 25 sit ups before crumpling into a quivering mass of flab!

I always finish the hour dripping with sweat, and with the knowledge that once I get home and sit down my old knees and legs will stiffen up, but I force myself to believe in the adage - No Pain, No Gain! - and it will be worth it in the end!

Tuesday 2 September 2014

Day 1 - 30 Day Blogging Challenge - Change is in the Air

After burning out just at the end of Juneathon, the remainder of the school summer term and the summer holidays have kept me up to my eyeballs busy, but signing up for the 30 Day Blogging Challenge will - hopefully - give me the impetus to kick start blogging regularly once it's over.

And it's not just my blog that needs a kick up the backside!

At the start of the year I made a promise to my daughter that I would lose weight and get fit in an effort to prevent my early death. Quite dramatic a statement I hear you say, but my father died of a heart attack at 51 - and that age is only 4 years away.

I made a good start and lost 1 stone fairly easily - I gave up late night snacking! - but have not lost any more since so I know I need to concentrate on adjusting what I eat so that I can lose more weight.

We also started the Couch 2 5k running programme. I have completed it and now can run continuously for 30 minutes (covering @3k)! I run slower than a snail-with-a-zimmer-frame so now need to focus on increasing both my speed and distance covered, especially as I plan to enter the 5k Muddy Welly Run in December!

Another aspect of my life that I need to concentrate on is my sewing. My little hobby tends to get sadly neglected when life gets busy, but as I have a few quilts that need finishing, plus a couple of commissions that are required to be completed in the next couple of months, I need to timetable in time at my sewing machine.

Phew! That's quite a lot to be concentrating on!

Monday 30 June 2014

Juneathon Day 26

Today Miss H was part of the school team taking part in the Didcot & District Junior School Swimming Gala. It is mostly for Year 5 and Year 6 children, but some of the smaller schools have to add to their numbers with Year 4's!

We headed off in plenty of time but whilst queuing in a line of traffic at a notorious junction, there was a collision between 2 cars as one was trying to nip across the road. Not the best start to the day!  As we were far enough back to not be direct witnesses, it was with pounding hearts that we turned around and retraced out steps taking the longer way to the pool.  We weren't the only ones that had been caught up in the incident and luckily nobody was badly hurt apart from being shaken up.

Miss H and the rest of the team competed admirably against larger teams from bigger schools but we got 4 swimmers into 5 finals. The highest placing we got was a second - Miss H was 4th in the Breaststroke - and we finished 8th overall.

I had gone along as a helper, but as our school was required to provide a timekeeper, I found myself on poolside with a clipboard and stopwatch in hand. I gave me a taster of things to come!

Apart from walking up and down the length of the pool a couple of times, no further exercise was undertaken today. Oops!

Juneathon Running Total = (still) 77.8k

Thursday 26 June 2014

Juneathon Day 25

Today I spent the morning cleaning out my car as I will be transporting some of Miss H's school friends tomorrow. It now sparkles inside and out but I wonder how soon it will be full of crumbs etc. again! 

Mr D went to watch his cricket team play this evening - even though his sore leg still stops him keeping wicket - as the venue was on his way home from work, so it was getting rather late before I was able nip out for a quick cycle ride.

Juneathon Running Total = 77.8k

  

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Juneathon Day 24

I always seem to be a day behind writing up my blog entries - so I must make a greater effort to write them up in the evening after I put Miss H to bed.

The Housework Fairy was a bit more productive today - but not much! I do like the warmer days as it allows me to hang the washing out on the line to dry.

I needed to send of a birthday card today. but despite there being a post box about 300m from the house, I decided to wait until Miss H came home from school and we cycled along the road to mail it at the local Post Office. So that added 3.7km to the total.

After Miss H got back from Brownies, Mr D proposed an evening walk. The location chosen to go to was the park. I wonder who's idea that was??


Unsurprisingly we had the place to ourselves and I think a couple of us enjoyed themselves!

Juneathon Running Total = 74.1k

Juneathon Day 23

Monday is normally the day that I "blitz" the house after the ravages that it gets put through over the weekend, but apart from washing a load of towels, I must confess the Housework Fairy was rather lazy today!

As Miss H does Pottery Club after school, I am able to go for a swim in a quieter session than the lunchtime one. I was lucky enough to get a lane to myself, and had planned on just re-swim the 60 lengths I did a couple of weeks ago, but I swam them quite easily, so decided to keep going and completed 80.

Miss H's swim coach was there and she commented that maybe she should join me in the pool next week. I hope she was joking as I only swim 1 stroke at 1 pace and that's not very fast!

Juneathon Running Total = 68.8k