A gentle stroll

In a bid to stave off a horrible headache and to try to be a bit more active in my day to day life, I went for a bit of a walk this afternoon...

I explored some footpaths in my neighbourhood that I hadn't previously discovered - hurrah for lighter evenings and temperatures above 10degC! It wasn't exactly a cardio workout either; I probably did close to two miles in 40mins.

Was rather surprised to see a deer, blue tit, chaffinch and Canada geese...

And the headache? It eased on the walk but unfortunately didn't disappear completely :(

Next idea: some gentle crochet.

Autumnal walkies

In my imagination, I'm a dog owner. In fact, inside my own mind lives at least five dogs - they are all relatively large working dogs: Buzz (a dalmatian), Roary (a rhodesian ridgeback), Rocky (a rottweiler), etc...

Back in the real world, however, dog owning is a long way off. I work pretty long hours and am often away at weekends - my current life does not fit with dogs.

Whilst browsing the internet on a lazy day, I discovered that there is a dog rescue shelter very close to me, and they encourage volunteers to turn up and walk the dogs!  So today I did just that.

Seeing as it was my first visit, I was assigned one of their smaller, easier dogs. Meet Buffy the terrier:

He was adorable! We mostly went walking along a bridle path (where we saw a field full of alpacas):

And we also met a few other dogs on our troubles who Buffy behaved really well with. The same could not be said for cars - whenever a car went past, he would try to jump into the road to chase it. It was a lesson in keeping him on a very short lead!

Fresh air and exercise for both of us, a great way to spend part of a lazy weekend :)

"But why do you keep stopping?"

EDITED: I quite often have to edit grammar or spelling mistakes, but am quite embarrassed by this one - writing "bridal path" instead of "bridle path"! Oops...

Lots of leaves but no fitter

We went walking again, this time in the Cotswolds. Which is much hillier than the New Forest. Much hillier.

And leafy - almost knee-deep!

A bit of grit

I am not one of those determined, motivated, fit and healthy people that seem to be everywhere. And I rarely push myself to work really hard. In fact, I would describe myself as pretty rubbish at self-motivation. Quite often, I would rather be sat on the sofa than out being active and pushing myself.

However, somehow (and almost without me noticing) I seem to have developed a little bit of grit. That part of me that got round an entire marathon even though I hadn't trained enough, had been passed by the hurry up van (and half the entrants to the half-marathon) and eventually crawlled in as the last official finisher. It doesn't surface very often, but it is there.

I think it all started with karate...

Early days (circa 2002)

What I like about karate is learning to do particular movements, control your body, etc. What I end up doing in karate is standing in front of a person, staring into their eyes and thinking: "I've got to move fast enough, or I'm going to get punched!" It's an odd thought for a rather non-violent and definitely non-confrontational person, and a rather frightening one sometimes :)

Grading for my brown belt, 2005

Unintentionally, karate has given me something that I didn't use to have and for that I am very grateful. Hopefully my little bit of grit and determination will keep me running and keep me pushing myself further and faster...

 

Pictures from a trip to the Lake District a few years ago.

Muddy muddy...

It's been a busy ol' weekend, although in a nice and kind-of relaxing way.

I started with my third ever appearance at parkrun, and I took a new risk - running without my ipod! I'm pleased to report that I survived the experience, although I did miss the music a bit. It wasn't a PB this time, but I'm blaming the extreme muddiness of parts of the course! (Have to have something to blame  ) At a few points it was more like iceskating than running! 

Then, after a good shower, I headed off for my treat: 24 hours in the New Forest - a beautiful part of the UK. I drove down through lanes of yellow and orange leaves, occasionally meeting a cow, pony or donkey on the verge or ambling across the road. I quickly checked into my hotel and headed out for an afternoon stroll.