Time for some accountability

Some of my recent escapades...

Where did my stamina go? I thought I was staying fairly fit and active, what with the skating and skiing and ocassional gym trips. But then last week I did a relatively strenuous gym session followed by some serious ski practise the next day (by serious I mean continuously up the lift, down the slope with little pause for breath or chat). It totally wore me out! I was soooooo tired afterwards - I practically collapsed into bed that night. And even after taking it gently for the next few days (just some light swimming), my muscles didn't recover forat least three days.

It's time I took my fitness a bit more seriously. How am I ever going to survive a long weekend hiking in the Peak District, a couple of days' worth of surfing lessons in Devon or a winter skiing holiday if I'm this out of shape?*

So I'm going to workout every weekday in June, and post my progress here on the blog. It might not make for very exciting reading, but it's my way of being accountable and committing to improving my fitness. 

For the purpose of this challenge that I've set myself, the bear minimum daily workout will be my favourite core workout session from the wonderful Jess at Blonde Ponytail, which only takes 10 mins so should fit easily into the busiest day. I also plan to get to ballet classes (did you wonder what had happened to the ballet? I've been averaging one class every three weeks recently), definitely get to my gym (it's so close that there's no excuse) and also maybe swim occasionally.

Wish me luck!


What are your top tips for getting fitter and staying motivated? Do you have a short workout routine that you'd recommend?

In other news - I plan to do some more posts about all of the amazing Alan Turing events that are happening at the moment. My twitter feed is full of exciting news from Alan Turing Years, The Imitation game and Bletchley Park Podcast...

* Currently none of these exciting sounding trips are booked, but you never know what's round the corner!

Nothing like being busy

What an active weekend - I'm certainly starting to work my muscles and build a bit of stamina; my legs are a teensy bit sore today!

On Saturday there was more skiing. I'm trying to get lots of practise in so that I don't lose the skills my instructor taught me and continue to grow in confidence. I did lots and lots of runs. In fact, barring the short break for a cup of tea in the middle, I pretty much skied for two hours straight. And I got to wear my new ski jacket which I treated myself to after being signed off by my coach (up until now I've been skiing in my sailing jacket, which worked just fine but won't cut the mustard on a proper skiing trip).

At the top!

Sunday turned into skating day. We didn't join the London Friday Night Skate crew for their Sunday stroll because we wanted to take it gently, so instead we pottered up down and around Hyde Park for a couple if hours. The place was packed (well it was 27degC) so we had fun dodging pedestrians, cyclists, other skaters, skateboarders, scooters and other associated Sunday park goers. Sunshine, ice cream and selfies on-the-move. Glorious.

We topped off the weekend with homemade seafood paella (very loosely based on Jamie Oliver's recipe here), dining al fresco :) Long may the warm weather continue!

Summer round-up

Back at the beginning of the summer, before the sun even bothered to come out, I wrote this year's Summer Ambitions list:

It turns out that organising a wedding, moving to a different city and starting a new job for the first time in seven years takes quite a bit of time and effort! However, all things considered, I don't think I did too badly:

try stand up paddle boarding - I did this one! If you have't already guessed, this fun day out was my hen do (the British equivalent of a Bachelorette party). It was fantastic fun and I definitely plan on going again.

four ballet classes in a week - this one really has fallen by the wayside. Last summer I had plenty of times on my hands and achieved this aim quite easily. This year I think my "record" is a paltry two. But never fear my ballet-loving friends - I will be back and I will be dancing more.

get a facial and massage - half achieved. I had a wonderful, relaxing massage a couple of days before the wedding, which was perfect in every way. I'm sure I'll get round to treating myself to a facial at some point, and in the meantime I continue to enjoy my indulgent face mask every now and again.

clear out more clutter - this is turning into an annual event! I got rid of a whole load of stuff before the move, but I still feel like I have a lot of stuff. I am now the proud "owner" of a shed-sized storage locker which is quite well packed.

drink a fancy cocktail - managed this one a couple of times which is good. I mostly find myself gravitating towards the traditional mojito though - not very fancy but reliable and tasty.

get my skates on  - I know I did this at some point, but I'm failing to remember exactly when. Sometime this summer I was on my skates.

go running - nope. I have finally realised that running is really not my thing. I was listening to MarathonTalk (still one of my favourite podcasts) and they were talking about how they love running. One of the presenters made the point that, even though you don't always enjoy runs, you should still have a positive attitude towards it if it's something you do regularly. It hit a nerve with me: I don't enjoy running and I almost never have. So, running is off the agenda, to be replaced with all sorts of other exercise activities.

sit in the sun with a good book - this one has happened a few times :) Somehow I've actually read quite a few books. I might even manage a blog post about them at some point. To be honest, I haven't enjoyed them all and I'm currently hunting for great books.

make cookies - not quite, but I did make scones one morning.

get my nails done nicely - I got a pretty manicure before the wedding (nothing wild), and I've been painting my nails quite regularly over the summer. Colours have included: electric blue, pinky-beige, pale pink, purple, bluey-turquoise and purpley-grey (the current colour). It's surprising how much painting my nails lifts my mood.

wear a dress "just because" - this is something I'm definitely getting better at. I admit that jeans are still my first point of call, but there have been several weekends or evenings when I've thrown on a dress without an occassion to go to.

go swimming - I don't know how I haven't managed this one. Unless swimming in a lake after falling off a paddle board counts?!

How was your summer? What did you get up to?
Any good reads that you can recommend?

The return of the quad

Things have been crazy busy again this week, both work stuff and life stuff, but it's all turned out well so we finally have a more chilled and relaxed RainStorm back! (I plan to enjoy it because never lasts for long!)

For the first time in ages, we were able to head out to join the London Friday Night Skate crew for their Sunday Stroll. Out of all the weekly events that that run (Wed evening, Fri evening and Sun afternoon), the Sunday is the slowest and most relaxed. Once a month, they do a "snail stroll" which is even slower. Perfect for new skaters or those who haven't been out much.

It was a jam-packed with tourist sights route too: Buckingham Palace...

Horse guards parade (towards Westminster)...

Big Ben,Westminster, a traditional red double-decker and a boombox carrying photobomber!

Trafalgar Square...

The Strand...

Dury Lane (near Covent Garden)...

Then Regents Street and back to Hyde Park... :)

A very cheery marshall (standing in the road to keep it clear whilst we pass).

The marshals were amazing (as always) and I completely enjoyed how relaxed it was. Normally I struggle to keep up because I skate in quads rather than inlines: my wheels have a much higher surface area which means I'm fighting friction much more than my all-in-line companions. The slower speed suited me perfectly!

And, shockingly, there were quite a few other sets of quads out. Usually I'm one if about three quad skaters (in a field of 100-200), but last week I was one if at least ten! It's time for the quad to make a comeback!

My lovely skates :)

Questionnaire-y type post

Whilst I was off on my jaunts (which I will be blogging about over the next few days), two of my blogging friends (Elle at eat run sail and Mrs DiscoBows at Disco & Bows) nominated me for a Liebster Award. It's not my normal type of post, but here goes...

Liebster is a German word that means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

Rules for receiving this award:
1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Then answer the questions the tagger sent for them, plus create 11 questions for the people they’ve tagged to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Notify the people you have tagged.
5. No tag backs.

Things about me:
1) I love the sea.
2) I love flying.
3) I'm very good at starting projects and not very good at finishing them. Hopefully, as I age I'm starting to buck this trend.
4) Gardening is a particular example of the above - I love gardening and always start with lots of good intentions and end up not giving the plants enough care and attention.
5) I'm much too worried about what other people think of me and I hate thinking that someone might be laughing at me.
6) If I could do everything I want to, I would need to be a superhero! My ideal weekly activities would be: 2-3 ballet lessons, karate lesson, homegroup, swimming, 1-2 runs, Spanish and/or French lessons, meeting with friends and one quiet night in.
7) I roller skated a LOT as a child (think artistic skating, like ice dancing). I was never great at it but got to the point of landing the odd double jump, which is pretty cool. I am, consequently, quite at home on eight wheels.
8) I have big feet (due to being tall). The other day, a shop assistant in a Spanish department store almost laughed when I asked for a shoe in my size (and it wasn't because of my awful Spanish pronunciation!).
9) I do both ends of the spectrum - tomboy-one-of-the-lads rigging (e.g. for fireworks) and lady-what-lunches (dressing up and enjoying dining out).
10) The fact that I've worked on about 30 fireworks shows does not dull my excitement when I see a show. Sometimes I even jump up and down when watching.
11) Pandas :)

Sightseeing the fun way

If you're ever visiting London (and you like skating) I seriously recommend joining the lfns (London Friday Night Skaters) on one of their jaunts around the city. Contrary to their name, they actually run up to three organised and marshalled skates a week, with varied routes. I've been about four times now and have skated over to the new Olympic Stadium, past the corner of Leicester Square and all sorts of other exciting places.

This Sunday was brilliant - it's the first time I've been in a while and the sun was shining for the first time in about a month!

Sunny days

Will be out on these later. It's been aaaaaages since the weather was this good :)

Not a great start

I signed up to the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge organised by Amanda at RunToTheFinish blog:

The basic gist is that you earn points for exercise, along with bonus points for eating healthily, and as a result hopefully survive the holiday season in a fit and healthy state. Sound like a good idea?! I thought so.

So, the challenge started on Saturday, where I visited a friend in the afternoon and had a lazy afternoon. Then there was Sunday, which we mostly spent running errands and trying to sort out the clutter in our not-exactly-tidy house. So two days in and I've not earned any points at all! Rubbish.

The plan is to continue in the same pattern that I've been in for the last few weeks:
Tuesday - run
Thursday - karate
weekend - one of the following: parkrun, rollerskating in London, hiking or something else active!

So I plan to start accruing points soon!

London on 8 wheels

Sunday is stroll night for the London Friday Night Skaters (who also skate on Friday evenings, as the name might suggest). We met them in Hyde Park on one of the hottest October days ever (almost 30 deg C!), and joined the hoards on a skate around London.

It was a massive event: there must have been at least 150 people there! Most were on in-lines but a few quads like myself - the old skool club :)

What I've been up to...

It's been a lovely weekend. Amazing weather for October - almost 30degC both days! So we made sure we made the most of it:

Saturday - a day at the races (Ascot Beer Festival)

Sunday - an 8 mile roller skate through London (otherwise known as the Sunday Stroll)

Am suitably exhausted and ready for an early night!