All Go

It’s been a busy couple of days for me. I worked at home yesterday due to flooding and poor weather and managed to get lots done, followed by an hour on the badminton court!

Today I’ve worked at home again, and then we went out for a walk/run by moonlight!

I jiggled my way around the block again! Yeah! Go me!

It’s not quite as good as it sounds – it’s over a week since I last went through the pain – not quite enough me thinks! Yesterday the roads were under water, so I have half an excuse.

Today was hard – I sound like the 17:48 from Exeter St.David’s and huff and puff my way around the block. I’m hoping that the old saying ‘things can only get better’ applies to my feeble attempts at running. I managed 2.06 miles at just under 17 minute miles – mmm – room for improvement there then!

My goal now is to get out at least three times a week and to continue to run ‘properly’ in between the walking. Plodding is no more – it’s either run or walk. No waddling allowed!

I will be back – hopefully with better stats that won’t make you laugh quite as much!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

 

It’s Started!

I worked from home today and was very grateful for an extra hour and a half in bed! I made up for the lazy start by working hard all morning and then stopping only briefly for lunch. I’m really enjoying the New Covent Garden soups – broccoli and Stilton today. It was very tasty and very filling – I didn’t think about food all afternoon.

I stopped work just after 4pm and donned Ron Hill running trousers, a long sleeved top and dayglow yellow thin jacket. I dug out my favourite Nike Pegasus shoes and off we went.

Quite dusky, but we made the most of the last light and ran/walked the lanes.

We did 2.26 miles at an average of 16 minute miles. Not bad for a beginner! So – the training has started. It hurts.

So, you know I’m not a quick runner – even at my best, I plod. I hate being reminded how slow I am and constantly worry about it. Today we were maybe half a mile from home, so in the groove of ‘running’ but getting tired. From behind I heard footsteps, heavy running footsteps, then this lady flies by me and hubby shouting hello (she had headphones in). Now, I wouldn’t mind how quick she was – except she was dressed for the office! Seriously – she had a duffle coat on, a knee length woollen skirt, tights and black leather shoes – and she is running maybe twice as fast as us! Quite bizarre!

Tomorrow I’m back in the office for more meetings. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

 

Back to Training

Well, I knew I was tired – which may explain why it was gone 10am when I woke this morning. Happily we were not in any rush!

I faffed about for a while soaking up coffee and checking emails. There was one from BUPA telling me I had preferential entry to the London 10k next May. Mmmm. That’s six months away. Time enough to train?!

I had a word with hubby and he agreed – plenty of time to train and a great incentive to get off our butts over the Winter. So we did it – we entered! Eeeek! So – we should have done some exercise today, instead we went into town shopping and drank this –

And even worse – ate this!

In my defence it was breakfast and lunch! That was all I ate today until dinner tonight of Thai Prawn Curry. So in total calories, I don’t think that is too bad overall.

So, now I need to lose a stone and learn to run again. Ho hum.

Have a super Sunday!

 

Ouch! Ooch! Argh!

Those were the noises I made as I tried to run tonight! 🙂

I worked at home today, so had a good productive morning before a lovely big bowl of soup for lunch. More work this afternoon and then out between the showers.

It was wet – and muddy!

I hurt – I hurt even before we set off! Our first attempt at running since February was on Sunday. I had hoped to be over it by now – but noooo! My legs are so sore and my (lack of) core hurt too. I muttered my way around at a gentle plod/walk combo.

Nice out though – if a bit chilly. I ache even more now, but it has to be good for you doesn’t it? I really hope it gets easier! Losing weight would help and that is a kind of chicken and egg situation – the running should help me lose weight and therefore find running a little bit easier. Please!

Dinner has been a Cypriot dish – Slow cooked lamb wrapped in herbs and then in foil, served with salad. Very yummy!

Tomorrow I am home again – but being Thursday it is Badminton night. OMG – I may never walk again!

Have a terrific Thursday.

 

Reading

Friday! 🙂

I have worked at home today, so lots done – mainly research and reading – but that’s okay.

I spent last night reading my new Paleo books, all very interesting and if I can get my head around the do’s and the don’ts I will make a start tomorrow. It seems that there are some disagreements over what is and isn’t allowed – even amongst the experts!

Today I had soup and a roll for lunch (no bread allowed in Paleo-land!) and then lamb curry for dinner – that would be okay if there were no peas in it! There were!

This afternoon I finished work early and we went for a short run/walk. Boy did that hurt! My ankle hurt like crazy, mainly at the back of the leg, but then it moved to the front. Weird stuff. I managed a fair bit of jogging, but no real running – still – early days.

Later I had to drive out to the next village and saw this chap:

Rubbish photo taken from the car – but isn’t he lovely? Soon bored with me looking at him though!

I love the fact that there are loads of buzzards around here – it shows how healthy the wildlife population is.

I’m back to my books now, so I will wish you a happy Friday night and hope you have a great weekend.

 

Starting Over

Running that is. I need to get back running and stop this wimping out and just “going for a walk” rubbish. Today is day one. Gently does it!

Running shoes on, capris on, t shirt and I’m ready to go. Unfortunately it has been so long my Nike+ wristband had lost all it’s charge, so I had to take my phone and use the Nike+ App. We did our usual 2 mile circuit but as a run/walk combo. It took me a good mile to get into it, and by a mile and a bit I’d had enough!

Hubby pushed me along and we made fair progress despite the leg grumbling all the way round. The most pain was in my ankle – I’m guessing because that’s where the swelling is and all the rubbish has collected. You will be happy to learn I made it home and managed an average pace of 15 minute miles. WooHoo!

The other good news is that I got a letter this morning from the Physio department of the hospital. Strangely it just asked me to call them to make an appointment – makes you wonder why they wrote – why not just ring me? Anyway, I rang as instructed but just got an ansaphone – I left a message but I haven’t had a call back! Ho hum.

Food today has been okay, lunch was soup and a ciabatta roll and dinner gammon steak and salad.

Talking of food, I have ordered two Paleo books to further my research, and have a million podcasts on my phone to listen to. I’ll let you know how I get on!

Oh – I did lots of work too!

Wednesday tomorrow – half way! Have a good day!

 

Running!

I did some – honest! Real running! Not for long, but I did it!

Before that – I worked at home today, so lots done and lots achieved. I have renewed my diet effort (again!) and had some salad for lunch with Jarlesberg cheese and then got back to work before I ate any more! I have kept myself busy all afternoon, and apart from a few cups of coffee, nothing else has passed my lips.

The sun has shone all day – which makes a wonderful change – and not only was the sun out, but it was warm too! Lovely. On the stoke of finishing work it was time to change and make the most of the day. Having walked for the last 3 months post my compartment syndrome operation, today was the day I started to run again. We started slowly and then ran/walked. How hard is that? Blimey! I didn’t think I’d even get through the 2.25 miles we had planned it was so hard. My leg complained, but then it is still swollen and sore, and numb in places which makes running interesting, but I am sure it will get used to it. I am amazed how quickly I have unlearned how to run – it was tough going I can tell you, but I made it! The run/walk worked all the way and I managed just under 15 minute miles – 2.25 miles in 33.17. It’s a start, and now I have a time to beat!

The flies were out again! That made it even more interesting as I was panting away desperately trying not to swallow a fly! Funny! I was also over dressed – I could have done with shorts and a t-shirt instead of the Ron Hill’s and long-sleeved top plus jacket! Way too many clothes.

It is very very good to be back plodding though – summer here we come!

Dinner was great (made better by the exercise I am sure) – I made Toad in the Hole with Sainsbury’s Cumberland chipolatas, and had that with peas, carrots and home-made onion gravy. It did not last long on my plate!

Tomorrow it is back to the office, so lunch already packed and I’m ready to go.

Have a great Thursday – soon be the weekend!

 

Work!

My first official day back at work today after 6 weeks of sick leave recovering from my operation for Compartment Syndrome. It was a tough and long day despite working from home.

Most of the morning I spent catching up, so lunch was a welcome break and a plate full of deli chicken slices and salad, with a good dollop of the mayonnaise I made yesterday.

After lunch I did more work, fuelled by many cups of coffee! I finally gave up just after 4pm to go try and run. I haven’t really tried to run since the operation, I have done a bit of jiggling and a lot of walking, but it is about time I upped the mental attitude and started to run.

First part of the battle was appropriate clothing – running kit – but with a rain jacket for warmth as I knew there would be walking involved! I ran a bit, walked a bit for the whole 2.25 mile circuit and by the end was very tired but feeling good. The leg felt just weird, a bit wobbly to start and then really sore whenever my right foot struck the ground. I guess that’s acceptable, but I did feel that I was being very heavy-footed, I’ll have to work on that, but for my first serious run out, it was pretty good.

Nice day for it too! Clear air means you can see Dartmoor on the horizon.

The road home.

So despite the walking and the photo taking, I still managed an average 15 minute mile, which is fine.

Home, shower, food! I made burgers for dinner with some extra lean minced steak, grated onion and a good tablespoon of tandoori powder. We ate them with a pile of salad and some new potatoes. Mmm!

Tomorrow I have meetings, so need to go into the office. That means a silly early start and a very long day.

I may need chocolate!

 

Over Eating

Mmm – I have been doing it for a few weeks now, and it needs to stop! I am fine during the day – I make good choices and balance carbs, proteins and fats during the day. I make sure we get our 5 a day, and generally all is well until about 7pm!

At 7pm I turn into a sugar/snack monster. Some nights are worse than others. Last night was as bad as it gets.

What is bad? A bag of jelly snakes (yup – a whole bag), a £1 bag of Cadbury Giant Chocolate Buttons, a small bag of BBQ Mini Cheddars and a small bowl of salted peanuts. I worked that out to be around 1,000 calories if not a bit more. That is on top of the 1,200 calories (my daily limit) I had already eaten during the day. Is there any wonder my weight is creeping up at the rate of maybe 3/4 pound each week? Nope! I just need to stop this.

Meanwhile, we had a lie in this morning! Yeah! Finally, a day when people weren’t here early, or we had to be somewhere early. We weren’t late, but it was so nice to have a choice! I worked all morning and then munched a plate of salad left over from dinner the other night, with a slice of Leerdammer Light cheese. Not bad at all! This afternoon was a mix of some work and some reading, which was nice, and I did a bit of cooking making Spring Chicken for dinner half way through the afternoon so it could cook nice and slowly.

It has been dull and cold here today, but we ventured out before dinner for our daily walk/jiggle. It will be so nice to get back to running, but I am just not fit enough yet. I can jiggle along, but I get stabbing pains with each step, so I am cutting back a bit and hoping the healing is going alright. Not sure if I am just being a wimp, but there you go – I have no-one to ask, and the consultant said walk not run until I see him again in two weeks, so I guess that’s alright.

So, dinner was that Spring Chicken with some rice, and now I have 3 – 4 hours in which I need to make sure I don’t eat another day’s worth of food. I am not kidding myself, I will never get through the evening with no nibbles at all – I just need to choose one of them! 🙂

Good Friday tomorrow – I hope it is!

 

Hilly Walk

Another lovely day, colder, but sunny and ideal walk/jog weather.

First, to last night when I ate the remaining half of the bag of chocolate buttons, no surprise then that this morning I weighed myself and have put on another three quarters of a pound this week. Post dinner snacking has to go!

A rare occurrence occurred this morning – I had some breakfast! When shopping yesterday, I bought some Warburton’s Raisin Bread with cinnamon – a hot cross bun in a slice! Today I had a slice toasted with some butter for breakfast – very nice.

After breakfast I did some office stuff and them some cleaning before lunch. Lunch was the usual soup with a slice of whole wheat bread. Then I did the vegetables and made the Yorkshire Pudding mix all ready for dinner. Work done we set off for a nice walk/jog.

Today we went down the hill and along by the river.

Such a lovely day for it – we did just short of 6 miles in just over an hour and a half – which is fine considering the climb back up the hill is long and steep! The leg held out quite well, but it really complains doing anything other than walking when going up hill. It is now swollen around the ankle, which is exactly where it hurt the most whist plodding along. I think this is where the fluid and rubbish is collecting, so I guess it’s good to give it a good shake up!

I love it down by the river, so well worth the climb home! After all, the beef was slow roasting all the time we were out, so by the time we got home, showered and had a nice cup of tea, it was done. We had roast beef, cabbage, carrots and sprouts and hubby had Yorkshire Pudding too.

Tonight I have my leg up and I am resting again. Hopefully the leg is draining and recovering as I type.

A whole new week starts tomorrow, I hope it is a good one for you.