Get Fit Feel Epic Week 3: #GFFE

Well I was really hoping that this week my weight would continue to drop after the previous 2 weeks but I always dread stepping on to Caytie's scales! Somehow I start to feel really flabby the nearer it gets to my turn... So it was really nice to see that another 1.5 pounds have come off. I am nearly back to the lightest I got last year and sneaking up on that all too elusive 2 stone award...

So what did I do to achieve this? Firstly on most days I kept my calorie intake below 1,500 calories. Some days I went over but it obviously balanced out. Investing in a 3rd hot food thermos has helped as having a hot picnic is much more filling. On days when I know its a manic evening I'm eating my main meal for lunch. Yes I am still eating junk sometimes but on the whole my diet must be going right.

As for exercise I threw a couple of new things to increase the number of days I am being energetic and also added to the variety. I am now the proud owner of a grown up scooter:

I have had a couple of trips on it from my maiden voyage on Saturday to a full trip to church and town on Sunday. I may have got some funny looks and been laughed at by teenagers but its a super fun way to whizz around! I just need to force my right leg to scoot as well as the left.

Then yesterday I took up running and I have challenged myself to work up to a 10 k run on May 18th! I've already signed up and paid so not backing out now... Just need to keep on working my way through the podcasts to build up my stamina and speed... Watch out in the local area for a red faced, panting, plump woman pounding the pavements! Apparently I need to run 3 times a week so I should be able to squeeze that in around my other commitments.

Let's hope I can keep up the momentum into week 4..

First Run of 2013

Not only was this my first run of 2013 in fact it was the first run outdoors for a considerable time! Quite possibly I haven't been for jog in the fresh air since I retired from rugby in the late 1990s...

Undaunted by the fact it started snowing again and the roads looked slippery and it was rather cold I donned my running gear and took to the road:

You can just about see the polystyrene looking snow at my feet. My neighbour was quite concerned about me but I promised to take good care of myself. I switched on the NHS Couch to 5K podcast, activated Endomondo on my phone and set off at a brisk walk round the estate. 

Just towards the end of my warm up walk I realised Endomondo had been paused so I managed to get it going. The podcasts are designed for real novices so week 1 had me doing 60 second runs interlaced with 90 second brisk walks. There was music to help you keep up the pace and a lady telling you when to change from one speed to the other.

After a while I found the estate too slippery so headed down the hill towards town as the pavement was clearer. On the way I met our local postman and he suggested heading round the back of Kentrigg so I turned round and ran back up the hill.... It was interesting going down little roads and paths I'd never discovered before.

Then I ran out of route so went back on to my estate and tried a few of the little streets and pathways out of the way. They turned out to be a little too slippery still so I returned to the main road through the estate which had mostly cleared due to traffic. For my cool down 5 minute brisk walk I had to wander up and down my own road (hope not too many people were watching!). 

When I got home after 30 minutes outside I had a nice rosy glow to my face and felt like I'd tried hard but wasn't too shattered. I was disappointed that the Endomondo app hadn't plotted at least half of my route as it must have lost the GPS round the back of Kentrigg. 

I have been warned that even though I found this first run pretty straightforward I may not be feeling that way tomorrow when my body complains about running on roads... If it aches a lot then I will repeat this level of workout just maybe on a better stretch of path/road. If I don't feel too bad then I will try the week 2 podcast which has longer running intervals on it. 

Wait and see how long it takes me to get up to running 5k...

A step in the right direction..

Here is my latest piece of equipment in my battle to get fit:

I have decided its time to stop talking about starting to run and I've invested in some entry level running shoes, I've dug out my iPod headphones and I will be challenging myself to get up to being able to run 10 km.. This may kill me off but watch this space for updates... Just hoping I can remember to use the app more than I have done in the past:

#SilentSunday

A Snowy Scoot-Walk Round Staveley

No more snow here so a chance for my son and I to have some fun outdoors in Staveley whilst his sister went to a party with her friends. Nice to be able to have time just the two of us. First of all we went to the Recreation Ground where we were almost on our own except for one other brave foolish mum and her pre-schooler. At this point my son gave me a brief lesson in how to use my new scooter:

The whole park had a coating of snow on it:

but it was still possible to have a lot of fun as long as we kept moving around! My son enjoyed having virtually everything all to himself and even told me what to take photographs of him doing like these ones:

After a while even he got cold so he gave me another scooting lesson to get us to Wilf's cafe. There we tucked into fresh soup and sausages on toast respectively:

Yummy! To keep us going for the next stage of our expedition we also had some cakes whilst reading several picture books between us:

Suitably fortified we went out to look at the weir and the river though good old health and safety kept us further back than normal:

Then it was time to head down to the Miles without Stiles path on the far bank of the Kent:

There was time to have a quick game of Troll bridge:

After further scooting practice we headed up the river path to check out the weir:

The path was a real bonus to people with buggies or wheelchairs after it was completed in 2011. So many people were involved in making it look so fabulous:

It was a tad icy for scooting but it didn't stop us from stopping to take photographs as we wandered along. My son took some nice ones himself:

We then headed back through the village and as we still had a while to wait before my daughter was returned to us we spent our last bit of time together in the Duke William pub for a coffee and a juice. It was nice to warm up by their stove: