Socially Distant Exercise - Day 17

My son wanted to exercise with me today so we needed to choose a local location that had plenty of space. We opted for the old canal trail which borders our street. At first there were quite a few family groups heading in the same direction, but luckily they deviated to a different footpath. This meant we had time to be careful about crossing stiles without using our hands:

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We alternated between walking and running along the old canal and managed to maintain a safe distance from other walkers. It was only after we got back to Hawes Bridge that the number of other people increased:

It was a beautiful spring day and it was such a pleasure to see all the lambs gambolling around the fields:

Today should have been the Manchester Marathon I've been training for since before Christmas. As that is on hold until October I'm just trying to maintain my base fitness. My son is also trying to not lose his race fitness whilst all his clubs and races are suspended:

As we came back into our street I noticed that our community flower bed is looking amazing with all its tulips in full glory:

As I was only going to be getting the laundry in I decided to have a go at emulating Lauren Bacall in a little black dress and pearls:

The Mazzle is starting to come together. I am learning more about the location of the fells in the Central Lake District:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Miles of smiles #R2BC

 
Welcome to reasons to be cheerful this week! It was very quiet on the linky last week so I hope more of the regulars are back this week... Reasons don't have to be massive to join in as its the little things that have made you smile that can shine out when the world seems a bad place. Any how here are my reasons to be cheerful this week:
1) Doggy haircut
Sherlock had his first trip to the dog groomers so we can see his lovely big eyes again:

2) Chilling in the garden

After a car boot sale and mowing the lawn I enjoyed sitting in the sun in the garden enjoying an ice cold G&T:

3) Balloon surprise

At athletics training we had a bonus of a very low flying hot air balloon as they made the most of a stunning evening to fly over Kendal and the surrounding area:

#CountryKids A walk on the Lancaster Canal and River Kent

On a cool and wet day over the holidays I persuaded my son to take a walk along the Lancaster Canal Trail which follows the old Lancaster Canal:

For much of the route to Sedgwick from Kendal there are only relics of the old canal alongside the path:

However most of the bridges are still in place which looks a bit odd in an otherwise ordinary field:

At some of the bridges the remnants of the canal are a lot more obvious:

#CountryKids Out and About in Kendal

My son and I took the long slow route into town today starting with a trip up and down the canal bridge:

Following the route of the old Lancaster Canal makes for a safe and peaceful route. It is popular with walkers, runners and cyclists although today it was pretty quiet:

#CountryKids on the Lancaster Canal

 

We were very lucky to be taken for 5 nights on a narrowboat on the Lancaster Canal by my parents. A very much needed break away from it all. We boarded Bluebell at Tewitfield Marina which is currently the most northerly part of the Lancaster Canal that is fully navigable:

After being shown the ropes and having our steering observed we headed south along the canal under one of the many beautiful bridges:

They are all numbered (the numbers start in Preston) so you know where you are: 

The canal is a haven for wildlife and this was just one of the many herons we saw:

This canal was built along the contours of the land (makes it intriguingly wiggly) so it has no locks but does have a swing bridge that the children helped to shift:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Back to health and canal boating #R2BC

Updated post!
Here are my reasons to be cheerful this week:
1) Feeling better
After over a week of being almost confined to bed and maxing on pain killers I am finally back on my feet and active again. I may not be 100% but its so much better than being in agony and horizontal!
2) Time away
My parents took us on a narrowboat break on the Lancaster Canal on the Bluebell. It was just what I needed to recover from being under the weather. The majority of the trip was in glorious sunshine which really made me smile. I will write a bigger post about this at some point:

3) Winning things

I was lucky and got pulled out of a hat to win this Phoenix goodie bag from a Facebook competition:

So please grab the badge and join in and share your happy posts!

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Workout Wednesday - Building My Stamina Back

One thing that the Langdale race showed me was how bad my stamina had become with a lack of training! So I have been working back at the 10 km runner programme to work on my intervals. These are currently sets of 10 minutes of running with an increasing amount of walking between each run. I have now done 2 of these and yesterday it was so much better when I went out:

I added some bits on to my route to make the 70 minutes not end up with a boring loop! Some of it was so peaceful and picturesque:

Old canal route near Natland Rd, Kendal

Easter Family Fun and Fitness

Like many parents I a) have less time to exercise in school holidays and b) worry that my children don't get enough exercise when not in school. So over the start of the holidays I've tried to combine getting/staying fit with some family fun.

First up now I'm running for around 30 minutes non-stop its actually easier to go out with the children. I just need to workout a route that is feasible on their scooters (i.e. not too many road crossings or steep hills) and that has a bribe at the end of it. Luckily Kendal is fairly good for this as we have routes along the river and old canal bed. The bribe at the end was a trip to Abbot Hall park playground. This was the resulting mapped route from MapMyRun:

Yes it was a little bit extra jiggly as I had to retrace my steps a few times to chivvy along a reluctant 6 year old! I also had to run round the park several times at the end to finish the run as my children were about to go on strike so I called a halt to the proceedings for them and sent them to the play area. The run was anything but a steady pace with having to look after the children but my split times weren't bad:

The children enjoyed a good play in the park with a quick picnic whilst I recovered (amazingly its getting easier much quicker!). Then we all needed to warm up so nipped into the cafe at the Abbot Hall Art Gallery (see yesterday's post!). It was then a team decision to cross the courtyard and visit the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry as we had never been. It cost £5 for me but the children were free so an inexpensive visit. We all enjoyed looking at the recreations of historic shops, industries and homes:

Shoe samples

Victorian Chemists

Bobbin Making from Staveley

16th Century bed

Arthur Ransome's sketches and notebooks

I will have to back sometime on my own as the children didn't let me read a lot of the information as they kept rushing on to the next exciting display!

Afterwards we did some shopping in Kendal (have you ever tried buying gloves in March - apparently its the wrong time of year!). The children had their last Christmas book tokens to spend so we spent forever in Waterstones. A minor miracle occurred as I came out without buying a new book for myself!! I did attempt to run part of the 3 kilometers home but the 6 year old went on strike so I had to content myself with walking.

Today we met up with the extended family and with 3 children and a dog needing some exercise we again mounted up on the scooters (this time I took mine) and headed to the park from my parents' side of town. Once again the old canal path is perfect for this kind of expedition:

It was a bit chilly at the park but the children still had plenty of fun on all the equipment:

We could also just see the Kendal kite festival up at the castle:

And there were plenty of birds enjoying the River Kent:

The scooting looked so much fun that we even persuaded granny to have a go on my scooter:

Then it was a return leg along the canal path and my son spotted this cheeky little thing in the tree:

Later we rewarded ourselves with a yummy Easter tea:

Next challenge is the annual Easter egg hunt at Sizergh but I'll have to get the children to scoot across town first so that I can get in a run!