#CountryKids Triple Parkrun

It was a beautiful clear morning up in Cumbria today:

My son and I were intending to do our first Parkrun of the year and I was surprised but pleased when my daughter said she wanted to run too! So a bit of a frantic panic to get her barcode and find all three of our kit to get out the door. Turned out my son's running trousers were at the grandparents' so he had to make do with shorts... When we reached Fell Foot it was just above freezing and the ground was frosty and the lake like a mirror:

My daughter was advised not to go off too fast but of course she didn't listen! I couldn't keep up with either of my two or my son's friend for the first 1.5 km. I did pass my daughter when her energy ran out but she did eventually cross the finish line.  She managed a sprint finish:

As for her little brother he smashed his course PB by 4 minutes and was waiting with his friend when I finished in my own new PB of 31:37 which was 40 seconds faster than in 2014. We were all very happy to head to the cafe for refreshments:

#CountryKids An active outdoor Sunday

On Sunday my daughter was invited to go on a bike ride with Gramps from Kendal to Staveley. The longest and toughest ride she has done since she got her grown up bike for Christmas. Whilst they were gone my son and I headed out for run together:

It was a freezing cold day but the sky was pretty blue. My son set a good pace but he needed some well earned walking breaks as we went round. There was even time for a family selfie whilst he got his breath back:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Feeling Fab #R2BC

So glad to have handed the hop over to the safe hands of Jo at Ojo's World for the month! Like me she understands the value of focussing on the little things that have made us happy in the week. Any way here are my reasons to be cheerful this week:

1) Operation House

I put in a lot of time to sorting out my kitchen on Saturday. This included sorting out some of the storage which has meant for clearer worktops. Still some way to go but even my daughter was impressed with the way it looked:

2) New vacuum

As part of Operation House I was pleased to receive the prize Miele at the weekend. My daughter has claimed it for her own and was the first to try it out. She loved the quietness and was able to easily clean the stairs:

Muffin Top Monday: End of Week 1

I am joining with Kate on Thin Ice for Muffin Top Monday this week. For most of January I have been trying to lose weight but only moving very slowly with about 0.5 pound a week. Not very impressive after giving up booze for the month in aid of charity. So last week I started listening to a Thinking Slimmer slimpod again. As the programme is all about your body shape and not your weight I bravely took a photo of myself which I posted earlier this week.

After a week of listening to the slimpods and noticing that:

a) I was making healthier eating choices
b) feeling more energised
c) my clothes felt looser

I stood on the scales and found out I had lost 3lbs! At last a proper weight loss after all the efforts. To show how it looks on me I created a side by side montage. The photo on the left was this week:

The muffin top is noticeably slimmer! I have also run a fair distance this week with all that extra energy. I have been chipping away at my personal bests of various sections and notched up a few:

So onwards and slimmer wards I hope!

#SilentSunday