The boringly unoriginal 'March Exercise Blog'

It felt like I spent less time in the gym in March than I have in the last couple of months. Part of that will be because I've switched some of my exercise time to the pool to make sure I can complete Swimathon (which is now only four weeks away). sponsorship here
: http://my.artezglobal.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=428918> But I've also stopped using the gym whilst the kids are playing tennis.

DS was being a little disruptive during a couple of sessions, to the extent that the instructor needed to come and get us out of the gym to have a word! He seems a lot calmer with me watching him and Stellian gets to do her workout. Fortunately, I've got into the routine of heading out to the Walsall Arboretum Park Run every Saturday morning, which is over and done with by the time tennis starts, so I'm still getting some exercise done.

So far, my times have been pretty consistent (apart from last week's when I was 5 minutes slower, although this might have something to do with the heavy snow, having to dig the car out before I left home and getting to the start line a good minute after everyone else had started - still I managed to break into the top 20 finishers... even if the field did only consist of 23!)

Action shot! (Taken by Mudrunner Photography).

This month, I also moved my rest day from Wednesday to Friday. It made sense to have the break after I'd weighed in and also made sure I was rested before heading out to Park Run on Saturday. Working a long day on a Friday always meant I didn't have a strong desire to fit any exercise in and doing some kind of workout on a Wednesday should help me on the scales as well. Speaking of which, my weight loss for the month is 3lbs (although having just consumed one of Stellian's gorgeous roast dinners, I think I may have put it all back on again!) This weight loss has scraped me under 14 stone by the smallest of margins (4oz!), but has also enabled me to fit into a slimmer waistline pair of trousers as well, so it's going quite well.

As far as 2013 miles in 2013 is concerned, I'm still on target, doing 7 miles more in the month above the average. At this stage, it still feels like an unachievable target, but as long as I take it one month at a time and keep an eye on my daily average, I might stand a chance.

Finally, after 80 years serving the community, our local swimming pool closed for the final time on Maundy Thursday. It was a lovely pool and I have fond memories of going with my family when I was small (although I never have managed to go when the slide was open!) I had a Tipton Swimming Pool sweatshirt that had "Costa Del Tipton 'Por Favor Aer Kid'" on it, which I used to wear all the time.

It's not all bad news, it has been replaced by a new swimming pool that's closer to our house and it is a wonderful facility. It's just a shame that a little piece of local history has been lost.

March Breakdown:

Walking: 5.64 miles in 1h 30m 04
Running: 23.45 miles in 3h 49m 28
Cycling: 123.24 miles in 6h 05m12
Cross Trainer (Elliptical): 2.52 miles in 25m 07

Swimming: 19.94 miles in 12h 15m25

Total: 174.79 miles in 24h 05m 16

Year to Date
Distance: 525.7 miles
Remaining: 1,487.3 miles

February Fitness

So, with Janathon over and done I expected to drift back into a pattern of spending time with a nice comfy sofa. Whilst it was going to be optimistic to think I could continue the pattern of exercising every day (particulary since Stellian had a girly long weekend booked in), I didn't revert to the sloth I have been in the past.

On Runningfreeonline, I joined the 2013 miles in 2013 group. I realise this might be a bridge to far, but it might be doable. 2013/12 months = 167.75 miles per month and I had already done 236 in January and so was nearly 69 miles in credit. Unfortunately, despite doing some degree of exercise most days, this surplus had been severely reduced by the end of the month, so I might need to work a little harder in the future. On the bright side, the weather has to start getting warmer soon and February has fewer days than January, so less time to be able to exercise.

How am I going to achieve this? Well first of all, Stellian drew my attention to parkrun.org.uk which organises a 5k run in parks all around the country on a Saturday morning. I signed up to this almost as soon as she sent me the link, with Walsall Arboretum set as my home run. The good thing about ParkRun is that there's no fee or obligation and you can attend any run at any scheduled meeting around the country. All you need is your personalised bar code so they can record your time. This is just as well as the first weekend after I registered, we were visiting my in-laws in Liverpool.

Suprisingly, I dragged myself out of the house around 8:15am to drive the other side of the city to take part in my first race. When I arrived, it didn't look like there were going to be that many people there, but as the start time drew close, all of a sudden there were more and more runners there so I didn't feel out of place. My official time for the 5k was 27 minutes 32. Which I thought was quite good bearing in mind my sole aim was to keep it under the half hour mark. OK so it placed me 93rd out of 138 runners and it gives me something to improve upon as well. Despite it trying to snow during the run, it did remind me that it's nicer to get somewhere rather than stare at a wall on a treadmill (even if the gym is warmer).

The other challenge I've set myself (and so has Stellian) is to Swim 5km. This is a part of the Swimathon event in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. The last month has really reminded me how much I love swimming, although the furthest I've gone recently is a little over 3km. I would like to try and complete the distance in under 2 hours, so we'll see how close I get. If you feel inclined to sponsor me, you can do so here.

You may (or may not) therefore be wondering how I've done at losing weight this month. Well, on 31/1/13, my weight was 201.25 lbs and now, the Biggest Loser scales say...

It may not seem much, but it puts my BMI at 26.2 and ever closer to a healthy weight.


February Breakdown:

Walking: 8.88 miles in 2h 23m 42
Running: 20.15 miles in 3h 40m 36
Cycling: 65.61 miles in 3h 21m 57
Cross Trainer (Elliptical): 8.82 in 1h 26m 58
Rowing: 1.24 miles in 0h 9m 23
Swimming: 10.13 miles in 6h 45m 54

Total: 114.91 miles in 17h 51m 30

Year to Date
Distance: 350.91 miles
Remaining: 1,662.09 miles

Half Term Happenings

Half term has come round surprisingly quickly this year. What with the disrupted routine at school due to the snow and ice, it's probably come at the right time for them to have a week off to try and reset themselves next week.

With their balloons.

The only problem with half term is trying to find something to entertain the kids without spending a small fortune. I started off by thinking that I could take them to see Wreck It Ralph at the cinema, but closer investgation revealed that it was going to cost the best part of £20 for the three of us and that's before you start including drinks and food.

Fortunately, I then had a facebook update from the council telling me what they had going on, so I think I've found some activities that will keep them happy for a bit. However, this was about 9.15am and only two of us were dressed, so a quick hurry-up later and we were out the door and looking for Hamstead Library in Great Barr, where the kids went to Ron Popple's Magic and Balloon show.


I had two activities planned for Tuesday, but despite being fine when she woke up, around 9am, G declared that her neck was aching and this pretty much ruled out the activity I had planned for her. By lunchtime she was feeling better, so in the afternoon, we headed out to the Oak House in West Bromwich, where they were having a Pirate Day.

The kids managed to pick up some more balloons, this time in the form of pirate swords and we completed a treasure hunt around the building before heading out to the pirate ship play area at the back. It was the first time I'd been to Oak House and there really wasn't a lot to occupy us for any more than an hour, but it seemed an interesting place. All S wanted to do was run around and fiddle with everything, which meant that I couldn't investigate anything in detail. Still, the kids had fun and came away with a chocolate coin and a finger puppet as their reward for completing the treasure hunt.

Climbing the rigging

Ideal for "Titanic" fans

In the crow's nest

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the small pool at Smethwick is huge!

The plan for Wednesday morning was the rescheduled plan for Tuesday morning. This was only an activity that G could do, but I knew it was one she'd enjoy and so for the first time, she played Water Polo. There were only five children either side and it looked like she was the only one playing for the first time, but she had a huge grin on her face all the way through, which was fantastic to see.

In the afternoon, I had another surprise in store for the children as I had found that one of the local libraries was running a Moshi Monsters Quiz. The kids have been obsessed with these things for ages and I still have no real idea what they are, but they seem to know enough for them both to come third in the quiz! G managed to win the resulting tie-breaker to win a small prize, which she was chuffed about.


The following day was quiet day for Daddy whilst the kids used their energy at the local soft play area and in the afternoon it was movie time courtesy of BT Vision, which included Madagascar 3 (Circus... Afro...) and when Friday came, it was time to decamp to Liverpool to see the Grandparents. For the first time, the trainset came out and the children loved playing with that after the adults had spent some time playing with it setting it up (cough).

All in all, it was an enjoyable half-term, which went past far too quickly!

... and relax (#Janathon Day 31)

And so it's all over.

I'd like to say that I always knew I could do it, but when it's something you decide to do on a whim, something you've never done before and involves more exercise than you've ever done on consecutive days, there was always going to be the possibility you'd get to a day and go "stuff this, it's not worth the hassle".

Unfortunately, today was again going to be an unexciting day on the exercise bike. Stellian was at work until 4:00pm (quite impressive since she only rolled in from her Christmas night out at 3:15am!) and I had a meeting to go to in the evening. This only left a small window for me to fit some exercise in.

I'm definitely going to give my body a break over this weekend. (There isn't a great deal of choice in this regard as Stellian's off on a girly 80s weekend tomorrow and won't be back until Monday - Bognor, you have been warned!). I guess it might give me the opportunity to locate my padded cycling shorts, which are still AWOL so that if I do feel like using the exercise bike, I'll still be able to sit down afterwards!

Being a Thursday, it was also weigh in day. I was hopeful that I would have lost some weight this week, although I had treated myself to lunch at Baguette Du Monde today, which is certainly a higher calorie intake than I'd usually have at a lunchtime. OK, so they're not Biggest Loser scales, but they show I've lost 2lbs this week. I'm now less than 1.5lbs away from breaking the 200lbs mark - I'd love it to be next week, but any loss will do.

So I guess that brings me on to next targets... I'm not prepared to commit myself at the moment as the 'change taking place in the office' referred to in one of my earlier blogs will be happening in two stages over the next two weeks and I need to try and get my head around it all. The events that have provisionally caught my eye are:

•  Liverpool Spring 10k - Sunday 5 May 2013.
•  Birmingham Black Country Half Maraton - Sunday 6 July 2013
•  BUPA Great Birmingham Run - Sunday 20 October 2013.
•  Cover 2013 miles in 2013.

... and there's also the possibility of a Super Sprint Triathlon, but I'd need my front crawl to get stronger and have a bike to do that.

 I suspect that these are all actually pipe-dreams that will stay in my head as opposed to coming to fruition, but you never know. Right - I'm going for a shower...

Total today (Exercise Bike):
Distance - 11.5 miles
Time - 32m 30

Janathon:
Total Distance - 236.18 miles
Total Time - 34h 02m 49
Average Distance/day - 7.62 miles

At the time of writing, that puts me 10th in the Janathon list in terms of distance although that may change if people haven't logged all their exercise. http://www.runningfreeonline.com/Groups/Totals/GroupName/Janathon 

Janathon Breakdown:

Walking: 31.88 miles in 9 hours 27:48
Running: 43.22 miles in 8 hours 25:03
Cycling: 136.19 miles in 7 hours20:58
Cross Trainer (Elliptical): 11.88 miles in 2 hours 02:03
Rowing: 6.2 miles in 47 minutes 32
Swimming: 6.81 miles in 5 hours 03:25
Other (Wii): 56 minutes.

Created by MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

 

Short & Sweet (#Janathon Day 30)

Stellian = Work's Christmas Party (don't ask!)
Kids = Bed
Tea = In Oven
Padded Cycling Shorts = Who knows - not seen this month!

Total today (Exercise Bike):
Distance - 10.6 miles
Time - 30m 00

Numb Bum - 1

Janathon:
Total Distance - 224.68 miles
Total Time - 33h 30m 19

#Janathon Day 29

Today probably saw my last trip to the gym this January. G had Brownies tonight, so it made sense to head off to the gym whilst she was there and pick her up afterwards.

I started by warming up on the treadmill, however it was clear that my legs were tired. Whether it's just a symptom of 29 consecutive days exercise or fatigue from work and another rubbish night's sleep I wasn't sure, so I decided that a little bit of time on several apparatus would be better than testing my muscles and my inclination on one for a longer period.

After the treadmill, I moved onto the rowing machine, where I took just over 10 second off my best time for 2,000 metres. Finally, I moved onto the exercise bike for 15 minutes.

I feel quite tired after all that lot, so an early night may be in order.


Running:
Distance - 2.03 miles
Time - 23m 26

Exercise Bike:
Distance - 4.42 miles
Time - 15m 00

Rowing Machine:
Distance - 1.24 miles
Time - 9m 11

Total today:
Distance - 7.69 miles
Time - 47m 37

Janathon:
Total Distance - 214.08 miles
Total Time - 33h 00m 19

Getting back on the horse (#Janathon day 28)

... well kind of!

A bit of a switcheroo this week saw my long day at work moving to a Monday (short days until the weekend - woo hoo!) I hadn't slept too well, so completely bottled the public transport and walking option in favour of the foot-connected-to-the-accelerator choice. I did, however, put some running kit in a bag and took it with me. At 7.30am on a Monday morning, running is the generally the last thing on my mind, however now the snow had gone, I decided that I'd be more miffed if I didn't take anything and got to lunchtime to find I was really in the mood to get some miles done.

To be honest, I'm not sure I was in the mood for a run when lunchtime arrived, but somehow I clicked into autopilot, got changed and headed out. It felt good... somehow easier than I expected for the first mile and a half or so. Small puddles were easily avoided and larger puddles didn't get my feet too wet, which was a bit of a result.

The canal looked odd today. The top of the water had ripples, but underneath, it was clear that the ice hadn't quite melted. Certainly the ducks weren't impressed as the did their 'walking on the water' trick and one poor bird came into land and skidded right into the small branch under which it had made its nest (fortunately it was unhurt, but it was on the side of the canal with no towpath so there wouldn't have been a lot I could have done about it anyway.)

The first problem arose when I rounded a corner and saw barriers and fencing. This was well over 2 miles into my run and having to choose another route could have seen me be seriously late back after lunch. Luckily, they were just guarding a hole that the gas board had dug. The second problem explained why I'd thought my run was going so well to start with. As I came around the corner from the sheltered canal spur, the wind hit me. I'd obviously had the wind at my back pushing me on and now it was right in my face. Although the temperature had risen to around 8 or 9 degrees today the wind made it feel a lot colder and I was quite rosy cheeked by the time I got back to the office.

The combination of getting home after 6.30pm and having to write my annual review tonight (compounded by the 'not being allowed to e-mail it home' policy), will pretty much ensure I won't get anymore exercise done today. Still - 4 weeks down. Only three days left to go!

Total today (runing):
Distance - 3.91 miles
Time - 44m 31

Janathon:
Total Distance - 206.39 miles
Total Time - 32h 12m 42