How has 6 days Passed!

Hello blog readers.

I can't believe it's been 6 days since I last blogged! How quick is time going?  Days are merging into one, I have to keep looking at my Garmin to check what day it is.  I am sure when I had my kids all at home and was looking after others kids the days were long!  The six weeks holidays seem to stretch into an eternity!  But now, with nothing to do, it's same ole, same ole!  It won't be for much longer, well not in the gist of things.  I think I would rather be stuck at home keeping safe, being safe and helping to protect the NHS by staying safe.  It's not an awful lot to ask of us really.  These days there are so many ways to stay in touch with everyone. I know that for some the break from the house is there only freedom from 'in doors', from 'him in doors' or even 'her in doors'  Some of the kids being at school could quite possible be the only time they feel safe. So if you are stuck in doors, keep an eye on 'her next door' or 'them next door', don't be afraid to speak out if you are worried about your neighbours.  I must say, my son made me laugh when he saw 'a stranger' hanging around our green looking over to our neighbours house, he had a big dog too.  The 'stranger' went into my next door neighbours house so my son decided to confront him, bless him,  It was my neighbours son in law, he had brought them shopping!  But I think they all saw the funny side and really appreciated that my son was helping to keep an eye on things! I really wanted to say that though, people was dealing with shit before Covid-19, this could and is putting extra on people!

Anyway, talk about digressing!  My way of dealing with my lockdown life at the mo is to do my exercises with my friends.  Now I could go on houseparty, but not everyone has that, I could do the zoom thing and we could all exercise together, but then who to invite, what if they don't want to, what if we run out of time on zoom setting up meetings, what if.......what if.  The only other way is Facebook live.  people have a choice then!  I usually have at least one person that is actually joining in and doing the exercises with me, I have family members giving me encouragement during my exercises, it's like we are all in the park having a boot camp style session!

During the week I am exercising, doing all sorts of classes that I find on youtube, or ones that my family and friends have suggested. With a dog walk about an hour later I am at least staying active!  On Saturday and Sunday I let people have a break from my blobby body huffing and puffing into all sorts of shapes and angles on the laptops!  My Friday sessions on 'Live' Facebook is fun and flirty as I do a dancey style one, the Peloton app has a couple of dance cardio sessions to choose from, but I have fell in love with Cody and his 'gay run', his 'wig snatch' and his 'bees bees bees.'  It makes me smile!  It totally shows me how uncoordinated I am too!

So let me list.

Friday was Cody and Hannah from Peloton.  It's the body rolls and the wig snatch that gets me!  I am determined to get those two moves down to an art by the time lock down is lifted!  Saturday, well Saturdays I seemed to have around the wrong way.  My week should be, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday then Saturday.  Because on Saturdays I seemed to be getting out of bed late, enjoying a rather large cooked breakfast and then veg for the rest of the day doing sweet sod all!  Sundays I am running though, I need it!  Just three miles each time.  Last Sunday though was particularly hard, mentally that is. Running is aways fecking hard!  But I was really telling myself off, the negative thoughts of "You can't do it, just stop" was particularly loud in my head. The feeling of "You are no longer a runner Old girl" was unsuccessfully being repressed from my mind, and tears rolled down my face.  Even a few sobs escaped from my lips.  I was in my local park and just about pulled myself together to finish of my run.  "It's not a bad run, no run is a bad run" I was chanting to myself, hoping that would help suppress the feeling of disappointment of that particular run. At least I ran.  I think that is where I ended up at!

I also, I know it was cheeky, but I also went for a nice walk on this day too, with the Old boy, another 3 miles or so!  Crazy eh.  I know it was 2 bits of exercise that day, but it was with the Old Boy and just walked around our own area, all the way around the woods, where 'Fever Hospital' was.  Its hard to see in the minds eye a huge building being in those woods.  If it were not for the evidence of a couple of brick pillars where huge black gates used to hang and the footings of a huge wall that used to encase the grounds of the hospital.  My husband said he used to play in the derelict buildings that were there!  It's amazing just how nature reclaims back the land.  The buildings are no more, the autopsy tables are no more, the road and the roundabout no more.  It's all woods with just a scattering of bricks.  even the tarmac road is under the mud and dirt from the woods.

Monday it was Ralphs friends fitness.  She has her videos on her facebook page, JoJo fitness,  I did her 35 min HIIT class!  Oh my goodness, that was a hard one!  Mental note, big thanks to Ralph when I see him. 

Yesterday it was Bims friend who she works with, Steph. sweat with Steph it said on her youtube film at the end.  Another bouncy very fit young lady!  I think my sister then realised that when I say "I can't do that"  she really believes me, also when Bims realised that I realised that yesterday was the first time she actually joined in with me!  I also did abou 50 odd takes of a routine for Kev, he's doing another PWR compilation of us all dancing!  Soon to be on youtube!  I have literally just looked at what I sent him, totally uncoordinated, even looking a little 'drunk' on one occasion, I think I should have been doing a 'grapevine', probably looked like I was coming out of winery instead!

Bims joined in with today as well as we did the Hip Hop Tabata one.  I enjoyed doing this one last week, but boy did my legs kill me after.  So I knew what to expect today!  A good work out on my legs, try and get these blimmin hams of mine looking like hooman legs again.  Bims enjoyed this one too!  I knew she would.  I tried to get her to guest appear on my live feed but Facebook has taken the 'button' away again!  Maybe it was a 24 hour thing, to see if people would like it!  Well, Facebook, if you are by some miracle reading this, I really like this button, can I have it back please"  Oh 

So all up to date again, I shall scourer the internet for a workout for tomorrow, or I might go back to one that I have already done.

Wednesday and Thursday!

Hello Blog readers

Two days to write about!  Such an exciting life we have! But at least we are safe guys!  We are safe at home, for those of us who don't have to go out, we are the lucky ones!  It may not feel like it, it may feel like 'they' are keeping you from you loved ones.  But we need to stay at home!  We need to not going mingling with our own loved ones let alone all those strangers!  Covid-19 is real, just as some of m friends!  The some Americans are thinking it's all a hoax and a conspiracy!  What the heck are they having with their wine!?  Who would lockdown an entire planet if we don't need it!  Really, sometimes the news makes me so annoyed that sometimes I just want to not look at it and then be totally surprised when we can go out again!

Anyway, to help with m headspace, and fitness regime, my youtube video of chose was from Joanne Soh, a very skinny fit looking young lady!  The video says on the credits that it burns up to 300 calories, at the end of the video.....the workout.......Joanna says 'you hae burnt 200 calories"!  Now which one is it, I think I prefer what it says in the credits!

Oh my goodness, it was a totally hard one!  But it makes you sweat, it raises your heart level and I am sure it must be doing something to my fitness level.....!  Those knell to squats were a killer!  Anyway, I did that, whiles going live on Facebook, I really do feel like I am working out with my mates, I know they all just drop in and out, there are a couple of my pals that are doing it with me which is really nice to know! And some still, do it later on in the day!  I am so glad that I chose to keep and share the videos!

Today, hmmm, today I did a workout that was recommend to me from ZippySherry.  It's the fit family, there's mum and two kids, a boy and a girl.. The mum went on to explain that the kids will be doing the 'harder' version and she would be doing the easier, modified version, scaled back a bit, low impact!  You just know kids all over will be looking smugly at this one!  Now this mum had this one particular move in her routine, it is a  plank, twisting slowly upwards, raising one hand up, into a side plank then going right over into a bridge type thing! And then going back they other way!  Wow!  I don't know who thought of that move but it was pretty blimmin hard!  I don't think I made it look very elegant or indeed possible!

But I got through it, got a bit of a sweat on and then more or less went on to do two more shorter classes with my Peloton app.  The arms and another class my daughter suggested, the Crush your Core!  Oh my goodness!  I think I crushed something, ego maybe, sanity even, but my core.....well I can't even feel it under all the wobbly bits!  Still, I tried to keep up on both of those, the cans of beans came back out for the arm workout!  I am going to try and see if I can 'fashion' a stretching band next, I saw some exercises on there using those!

So, until next time blog readers, toodle pips

Into Week 5 Of Lockdown

Hello readers.

I can't believe this lockdown is already in the 5th week!  What on earth have I been doing!  Bloody nothing!  Oh I did some exercises of course, but not much!  I feel I really have been extremely busy doing nothing! How else can I explain just how on earth we have reached week 5 of lockdown!  I know one thing, I have been at least trying to keep myself fit! How successfully will only tell in time!  If I can keep up with group 1 by the time lockdown is lifted then I will think it's all been worth it!......Actually, it's been worth it anyway.  The amount of smiles that my shenanigans have created is deffo worth it, probably a few cringes as well! 

So on Friday, I  did a Peloton dance cardio class.  Well, it's not as if any of us can go out on Friday nights to dance, so we may as well just dance in our own homes, and if it can get our heart rate up then all well and good.  I am just so totally uncoordinated trying to do what they were doing on the app but I was having fun!  And it was just what I needed after Thursdays 'leg day'  boy did my thighs hurt.

On what was formally know as parkrun day, which was formally known as Saturday and is now known as nonparkrun day, I did.....not run!  In fact I got up late, ate a cooked breakfast and then sat on my chair for the rest of the day! Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Oliver and some other films which I can't recall now, but those two I did!  So when it came to Sunday I just had to get out and do something!  After my church meeting, done on Zoom, I got myself ready to go for a run.  I knew if I just sat back in my chair I would stay there.  I think the day before must have been my 'feeling sorry' for myself day!  What the feck I have to feel sorry for is beyond me, but I guess it gets to people in the end!  So I knew that I needed to get up and go for a run, a bit of fresh air, work my muscles again and try to just enjoy running outside.

Monday, now what did I do!  Oh yes, something I found on Youtube, it was the next video after the one 'Doop Doop' song that Kev had made which starred around 50 of us PWR's!  So I can thank Kev for the Hip Hop Tabata workout that I did then.  Oh my goodness, did that work the legs or what!  It was good fun though, I don't think I have ever done 'twerk legs' and I think that is one that I will probably go back and do again before we leave lockdown!

Today, Tuesday, I did my friends workout......again.....I realised sometime through the session that she had answered a query of mine!  It is Adele, she is a personal trainer and has her own business, Adele Murrell Personal Training and Boxercise!  So you can imagine she is fairly fit!  Her  session is not on Youtube, I went to her Facebook page to find a video to follow (do we call them videos, now, I am such a dinosaur). Mind you Adele said she was a bit of a technophobe just because she hasn't downloaded anything on Youtube!  Of course I asked permision if I could use it and broadcast it to all my viewers (I think I had about 5 today!) 

I so need to see my hairdresser!  I might
just have to use the spray!

Anyway, this workout was up and down, up and down!  A right good session, consisting of lunges and spotty dogs, planks and cycle legs, or whatever she called them, plus a few more on top of that!  I was truly sweating! I also noticed that my knee didn't hurt this time either!  I think maybe the tablets are working......or not running as much.... ..but anyway no aches!  I think a couple of the viewers were also doing this, not just sitting there, dipping in out watching me.  I know LouLou and Jan did because they both tagged me in strava, yes, at least it showed I did something!  Yup I forgot to start the blimming Garmin again!

You would have thought that I had done enough for today, but I decided to do a couple of short sessions on Peloton, an arm strengthening and body weight thing, each about 10 minutes long!  When I was doing Adele's class I noticed just how weak I am in the upper body!  And just how flabby my arms are!  The only thing with the upper body session was that it required weights, so, two cans of beans with sausages no less, just had to do!  Working the amrs with my beans, it was pretty hard work, I am sure it's gonna do some good. In fact I need to stay on top of it even after lockdown!

So that was that, oh, apart from a walk with the dog in the evening, just a short one, so that he could cock his leg!  Fairly busy doing nothing today! Looking forward to tomorrow!

Thursday Already!

Hello blog readers.

I can't believe how quick the week has gone!  I guess keeping active is helpful!  I am busy keeping the troops amused, those out in facebook land that is, some are even joining in with me!  So what have I been up to since Tuesday!  Well I found this great workout on youtube of course, it said it was for beginners, not only that, but it also featured 'normal' people!  I thought this was totally up my street and for some of my friends!  Real people, people who are not impossible beautiful, who don't have that perfect per butts, tiny waist that you wonder where they keep all their internal organs, who are not inanely smiley or perfectly made up to walk down the catwalk!  This guy chose two members from the Body Project team to come along and work out on his video on youtube.  A girl, who has more curves than than a curly wurly but she really is fit! And a guy, a big guy, who has decided to change his ways and he was smashing it!

I set up my iPad to the t.v. and set up my phone already to 'go live' on Facebook!  I know it's nuts, but it feels like I am doing stuff with my friends,  I am working out with my friends!  And I have found out, they are actually doing it with me!  It's brilliant, some friends just watch and smile, even that feels good, knowing that I have put a smile on peoples faces! And if I have inspired others to do some exercises at home, quietly, unlike me and blast it all over Facebook, then that's brilliant too!
I can't remember the guys name, but he was quite fit himself, although he  didn't use weights, the little dumb bells, the girl did!

He put me, and his members through our paces, a nice warm up to start with though. Always important to warm up and cool down!  His session was all standing exercises, you could actually do these in a shoe cupboard, also no equipment necessary, not even those weights that the girl was using. All that I needed was ....me!

I worked as hard as I can, working my legs, I just knew that I was going to hurt the next morning!  It had to be done though, sitting around for a majority of the day is not good for the mind or body!  If I feel a little achey I shall feel grateful, things could be worse!  I kept up with this guy watching him with his two buddies.  The girl did not put those blimmin weights down, not once!  The guy, he took a breather, just a second or two, grabbed a sip of water, you know like normal people like me!  Yeah, I enjoyed this one, I may just have to go search the web for another of his ones!

Lou took a picture for me, so this is me, on her computer/phone/tablet or whatever she uses to look at Facebook!

Today I went back to Peloton app.  I really was feeling my legs this morning!  I thought maybe going back to do the dance cardio one, but I think I'm leaving that for Friday!  Friday dance off, it has a ring to it. So I scrolled through the 'strength' sections on my app and saw Oliver Lee doing a beginners class and it was only 20 minutes long!  Perfect, just what I need.  So, I prepared my self mentally, basically I sad "Get outta bed, you lazy mare", then got my gym stuff off......basically I got my running pants and parkrun top on, and then went down stairs to get everything set up.    I put a message up saying I was going to go live shortly and then just relaxed a bit! 

I never know who will be watching, I mean, when you think about it, it's a middle aged (fecking 'ell did I actually say that?) woman, prancing about her living room, trying to get fit during lockdown!  Riveting! But viewers I do get, some of them even join in!  It's all good fun, and if I can get fit while doing it, it's  win win situation!

Oliver Lee was all cued up, live Facebook happening, a couple of views already and then I start my exercises.  Just nice and gently at first, again I looked through to see if there was any specialist equipment that I would need and thankfully there wasn't!  No dumb bells, elastic bands or kettle balls!  He did have a mat down, but I thought my blanket would do.  I started with butt kicks, just nice and gentle, I could really feel my legs complaining, but I am sure a nice gentle start will soon loosen them up.  Some knee hugging and then we were good to go! 

He had to reps of exercises planned, lunges to strengthen legs and core and glutes, it had it all there!  It meant going down on the floor!  Lucky I had my blanket though!  He showed us how to to the easy pushups, you know the ones on you knees, but he also said to make sure to go right down on the floor!  I think that is probably where I have always gone wrong, I sort of just slightly bend my elbows and call it a push up!   There was also some 'superman' poses, Oliver called it something else, but I was way to busy and grunting loudly to hear what he called them.  Some 'table top' core thingy with some leg raises and some other stuff!  And that was it......except we had to do it all again.  Anyway, it was pretty blimmin tough but good fun.  I am sure it must be doing me some good!

This is me in my superman pose! 

Oh my goodness, look at those roots!

 So until next time! Keep on keeping on, stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives!  We can do this guys and get fit while we're doing it!

 

Start of Week 4 Lockdown

Hello all

It's Tuesday now, and we have just had the Easter Weekend 'off'.  Well, it's the same as last weekend for me, by for my husband it's a welcomed 4 day break.  I have been doing stuff though.  A couple of runs during the weekend and as I have been walking Naggys dog, I have been doing exercises in my house instead of going 'out' again for my one piece of exercises.  I don't know why, I just feel as I had to walk the dog then I class that as my going out for my 1 piece of exercise.  It is not absolutely necessary for me to to go out running as well.

So I have been doing some youtube classes, keep fit classes.  Not only that, but to amuse my friends or maybe even inspire them, I have been 'going live' on Facebook.  I know right! A complete nutnut!  I can only imagine what it's like to watch, (thankfully I don't have to watch).  I am sure if you turn the sound down then the rolls of 'me' will be mesmerising as I throw myself into all the moves the instructors on the web tell me to do. Body rolls, that will keep on going even on through the next moves, hip thrusts that will defy natural forces and physics!  But I need to do it, a nice walk with the dog is not enough to keep this finely tuned body of sheer blubber and muscle (somewhere it's there) in check, I need to sweat, I need to raise my heartbeat further than that of the sloth I know I could become!

So I scroll through youtube, see what is there, see what is going to be fun today, but still get a good sweat on.  CarolWithAnE's son's Jordan Burns, has his online classes for the older people! Fit for Good, it think it's called. I did that one on Thursday 9th! It may be for the older folk but it sill got me in a sweat!

By the lovely comments and messages I received it seemed that a few people liked it, put a smile on their faces!  Well, if I can do nothing more then putting a smile on faces, then I will feel like I've done something....and hopefully kept the chocolate from congregating around my middle....even more that it already has!

I went running on Saturday and Monday, just my usual 3 miles or so!  Naggy was my 'virtual' pacer as we did a social distancing run.  In fact it was more distance than social that was for sure!  She even did a few extra turns and longer routes but she still managed to stay well a head of me!  At one point she was totally out of my view!  But it felt good to think about trying to catch her, I am sure I was running a bit faster than I have been, but I am also sure I walked probably a bit too often!

Today I did a 'class' again.  I forgot to set it up on my Garmin! It was a Zumba class.  I have heard people talk about it, how it's very good and really does get you in a sweat.  So I search it out on youtube and blow me down, there was a zumba class.  A 20 minute session.  How hard can this be, eh!  I got everything sorted, went live on Facebook, not sure who would be watching and taking part with me, but I was hoping that a few smiles would be made again.  It was a good session, obviously it didn't go on Strava so doesn't count, but then I was thinking, it's on Facebook for all to see so it does count!   I also took the dog out for a walk, now that did go on Strava.

So. up today date now, until next time, stay safe, stay at home, keep washing your hands!

Week 3 Of Lockdown

Hello blog readers.

Can you believe that I haven't writen up a blog for each exercise (.........Yay...I can hear all screaming) But don't worry, I won't tell you about each one, this blog is a bit different.  It's just by feelings about it all.  It's about how I am handling stuff, and how I must stop feeling bloody sorry for myself that "I can't run, I can't do it"  Because the fact is, I can do it, I do, do it!  Right now I am one of the lucky ones that don't have Covid-19 and I don't have to go out to work 'in the field'.  I have been furloughed!  I a safe at home!

It's blimmin hard hard though, getting out there are running. Mentally hard, I don't know why either. Why? What is my problem? My friends are all struggling too, we are not used to self isolation, we are social people, we love to talk and chat over a coffee.  Even when we've taken a week off from work, yes, we enjoyed our solitude, but we still had coffee, we still went shopping, we still stopped and chatted to neighbours, friends even strangers on the street!  Now we are scared to pass by anyone, we make at least twelve foot gaps as people avoid contact.  It's most disturbing.  People are suspicious of runners as they run up towards them or behind them.  The banter that has been going around about how runners shouldn't be doing it any more, 'they will spoil it for everyone else', 'they will make it be total lock down.'  The thing is, yes, there are people that are disobeying the guidelines but not just runners, not just cyclists, but everybody.  Dear Boris said that we can go for a run, walk or cycle, in our local area.  But because nearly everyone is off, furloughed, working from home etc, everybody is taking Boris at his word.  Families are going out for a walk....together....not one parent with one child then other parent with another child,  the whole family are going, taking up all the path, the children on their scooters or bikes dogs on leads!  Normally it's fine, of course it's fine, it's fine for everyone to get out for their one piece of daily exercise per day, it's beautiful to see families enjoying their time together.  But we all need to be mindful of the guidelines! We all need to abide by them. Listening to people on the news about 'those runners running up behind you, breathing all over you, passing with just inches to spare', where are they,...where are we meant to go?  Someone described going out of the house as a 'mission to get food during a zombie apocolypse'.  It really feels like it, it really does.  The suspicion you feel when you step outside your door is quite heavy on people, on me!

One of my club runner pals wrote up his own running code of conduct, our club wrote up the same thing too, this is it,

• I will only run a maximum of once a day, preferably for no more than an hour.

• I will stay local to my home and take my phone and ICE details with me.

• I will run on my own, as much as possible. I may run with other members of my co-habiting family, to assist them with their exercise needs.

• I will try and run at times and in places where there are as few other people as possible.

• If I need to pass you when approaching from behind, I will politely call out to give you time to move to one side. I will, however, ensure that I do not make you move off a path or pavement. I will do that, if necessary, and safe to do so.

• If you move for me whether coming from behind or the front, I will thank you.

• I will run in the road if safe and possible, to give you greater space.

• I will run at a comfortable pace or slower, if needed. Please be aware my comfortable pace may be faster than some (and slower than others!), but I will attempt not to run in an aggressive manner at all times.

• I will not, under any circumstances, spit.

• I consider that, at all times, the pedestrian should be treated as having right of way on a path or pavement. I will, at all times, try to be the one who moves away from you, where safe and possible.

• If I do pass at all close to you, I will hold my breath or cover my mouth with my running buff, to add protection to you.

Stay safe everyone

It is a very good code, and one that I have been practising my self, even though I didn't realise it, I don't wear my buff though, but I do hold my breath.  I thought I was weird doing that!  What do the 'walkers do' the ones that usually at work during the day, the ones that have been complaining on the telly, do they see the runners and step aside? By what they have been saying on the tv, no. Fortunately I have not experienced anything like those on the news!  The area I live, people are friendly, they are polite, they move out of the way as well as me! There is always a thank you. I hope and pray that it will continue this way.  But it is still so very scary out there.

I have been exercising, either running, on my friends bike in doors or with an app on my gadgets.  I have also been walking Naggy's dog, she is one of them on the front line, in Lewisham Hospital, we have quite a few PWR NHS workers actually, all getting on with their jobs, urging us to do what we have been told! With all the exercise I've been doing something in my head has just stopped me from writing it all down, procrastinating? Hmmm, maybe.  But I have not been 'motivated' to blog my thoughts and feelings, I felt it would have all been negative, just like this blog actually, and just like it was again today when I was out running, like all the other exercises I've been doing, there's been tears!  I am really struggling to keep on running.  I am not going to stop that's for sure, well not until our government say so, but I am finding myself taking more walks, beating myself up, wanting the exercise to finish!  I feel good once it's all done, don't get me wrong, but also I feel emotionally drained. and even writing that bit, 'I feel emotionally drained' I feel like such a fraud!  How can I feel drained, when our key workers are out there dealing with Covid head on!  All I have to do is to sit on my arse and do nothing, save lives by doing nothing!  It's definitely not the short straw! Don't meet up with others from other households, definitely not the short straw!  Shop only when I need things, well, my husband and son have been doing the shopping, so again, no short straw!  All this is just a blip in our life time, a blink and it will be all over, IT WILL BE OVER. I can't wait for us human beings to kick Corona Virus ass, we will do it, we will survive. We will be able to pop around for coffee again, hug our families, have those BBQ's, only we will appreciate it so much more, we will make an extra special effort to stay in contact with our friends and loved ones, I know I have done that now, you know who your friends are.  I don't know about you, but during these couple of weeks I have spoken to my family and friends more often during the week than before this.  My family and my friends are just that little bit more important these days.  And as our Queen said in her speech on Sunday, ''We will meet again!" and boy when we do......

For today, I am just going to list my exercise, not my walking, that was just Garmin turning on automatically, and just leave it at that!

30th March 4th solo run Peloton
31st March Class on Peloton
1st  April 5th Solo run using Peloton
2nd April Cycling (indoor)  Trip around Vicar Of Dibley country(FulGaz)
3rd  April 6th Solo run using Peloton
4th  April 7th Solo run (parkrun day) with Spotify
6th  April Cycling (indoor) Trip around Windsor park (FulGaz)
7th  April 8th Solo run using Peloton

Stay safe everyone, keep to the government guidelines, be kind, stay kind, we will get through all this shit!  I shall be saying prayers for all of us.