Sunday Update: Reading, Sports Sleep

That was another... week.  Or was it a month? A year?  Last week included two days with our new nanny, lilah's last two days at nursery, Lilah's fourth birthday party, TWO trips to the same castle, a family play date AND a trip to a city over an hour away.  I knew summer would ramp up but it has certainly ramped. 

Reading

I am super glad I got a copy of the Rom-Commers instead of  the Friend Zone.  NGS wrote a (Spoiler filled) review of The Friend Zone and reading this review is far better than reading the book.  I'm almost done with Rom-Commers and have super enjoyed.  I have read so many great books back to back now.  This definitely feels like summer reading (a lot of these are from the MMD Summer Reading Guide).  

I added/kept a few books to my hold list to try and get a few more summer titles done before the end of "summer":

• The Blue Bistro by Elin Hildebrand
• This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune
• The Stand-In by Lily Chu
• Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

I know I won't read all of these so some may be pushed into next years summer reading.  I also know that I like reading more non-fiction & self improvement stuff in Fall, so I've already put the following on hold

• Uptime by Laura Mae Martin
• You Only Die Once by Jodi Wellman
• Spoon Fed by Tim Spector

I'm also excited for Oliver Burkeman's new book Meditations for Mortals and Kendra Adachi's new book The Plan (BECAUSE OMG DOES THAT TIME/PRODUCTIVITY SPACE NEED MORE FEMALE WRITERS!)

I also want to Re-read Invisible Women soon.  

I'll likely finish the Rom-Commers today and fortuitously ended up first in line for Olga Dies Dreaming.  Excited to read this one nexgt.

Sports

Monday: 1 hour gym session with Gym Buddy (at new gym).  20 minute run (Peloton Mental Health Awareness Run).  10 minute Peloton Yoga Healthy Back focus flow

Wednesday: 20 minute run in pouring rain.  Came home for 20 minute Peloton Barre class instead.

Without consistant childcare for all children, that is my schedule. Three times a week may be a habit, but two times a week is just what it is for me right now.  School starts on Wednesday, and the week of the 9th is workout-polooza for me (because I love sports) and I can't wait.  I'm even going back to Reformer Pilates for one last session with my pilates buddy before I start work. YAY.

I know you're all waiting for my gym saga update, but gym buddy and I agreed we are not going to old gym.  The timing worked well as there was no contract and both of our monthly payments were almost due, so that has been cancelled and done.  Next week we are joining a new (even cheaper gym) and I am super excited for this fresh start.  Also the new gym offers guest passes AND my writing buddy goes there so maybe I can have some writing buddy crossover!

Also, gym buddy and I took a new gym selfie, because since we became gym buddies we have not taken many selfies.  

We did take lots of selfies when we were going out buddies back in the 2010s.  

Basically no change right?

Life pro-tip.  Highly recommend you find yourself a life buddy who becomes your gym buddy and your life buddy.  Makes life and gym way more fun.  Also when you get married and have kids with your life and mountain biking buddy you still have someone to do other sports with.

Sleep

This is just not good.  The babies are sleeping fine, 7-5:30 or 6am.  The kids are generally asleep by 7.  But I have so much I want to do, and so little time for myself in the day, that evenings are just full.  We are in the process of moving kids bedrooms around so I worked on clearing out my office.  I am listing and selling on Vinted again (yay!) to declutter our house.  I have appointments to book (of my own fun, like getting my hair done, and finding a time to do Pilates with my Pilates buddy).  One night I spent 30 minutes replying to texts because I don't really use my phone in the day for texting and it had just built and built.  Our weekly FLOM (Family Logistics Meeting) took almost 2 hours this week with all the transitions and school and birthday logistics.

Here is how I sum up my sleep

Did the 1:28am sleep meditation work?  I mean, I eventually fell asleep, so yes?  It would have been better if I hadn't woken up at midnight and then stayed awake untill nearly 3am for no discernable reason.

Last night I collapsed into bed at 7:30pm and woke up at 5:30 so with that 10 hour night I have crept back up to a 7.25 average across this week.  

How is your week? Is summer "over" for you?  Are you back to school now, have you been back to school for ages, or do you have ages left? Or that not play a role in your life at all?

Sunday Update: Reading, Sports, Sleep

It's a Sunday again!  This week had some definite highs and some lows.  Let's dive right in, shall we?

Reading:

I finished The Wedding People by Alison Espach and I LOVED it.  It was a book that was so good I wanted to read it slowly.  I want to hang out with the characters longer.  I want to go to a fancy hotel.  It was such a dark premise and then... joy.  MMD review here for more info.

I have so many holds for which I am first in line for BUT I didn't time it right because I wanted to read The Rom-Commers by Catherine Center and I had pushed that hold forward too much.  I would also read The Blue Bistro by Elin Hildebrand or The Stand In by Lily Chu, both of which I am first in line for.  But when I finished The Wedding People I was still first in line for all!  Then a copy of The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez came through, which I started, but it feels too late summer for "he loves/she loves".  When I checked Libby today my copy of The Rom-Commers was ready and so I will hopefully finish both books in the next 21 days since they both have a lot of holds.  Libby hold balancing/planning is hard!

Sports

This week was not a sports week.  

Monday: 20 minutes yoga

Wednesday: Totally awful trip to the gym.  

Thursday: 20 minute run

I don't have enough childcare to do sports right now.  Our nanny started this week for two days, but it's primarily for settling in.  And the babies are... unsettled.  I am unsettled.  Lilah is still in nursery some days, but Isaac is home all days, and it is all unsettling.  Also it was a full moon last week! And I felt terrible. Wednesday was the most unsettling.  Thursday and friday were entirely childcare days.  I don't even have baby naps now to do sport because I have Isaac on Thursday and all kids on Friday.  

Also the gym confrontation has really knocked me back.  I haven't decided what to do about it.  But some other pieces that have bothered me since the event (where a trainer at the gym accused my friend of training me - blog here) have registered as follows:

• Why did the trainer not ask my gym buddy if he was training me?
• Why did he wait to catch me alone (while my friend was getting his weights)?
• Why did he assume I wanted a trainer or to be trained at all? 
• Why did he feel it was OK to be aggressive to me but not to my (male) friend?
• Why did he do this in front of everyone at the gym, such that so many people saw the interaction and strangers even asked me what happened?  Was it to make me extra uncomfortable?

I also realized that for the last month I always felt like people were watching me, but I always told myself I was being silly.... that I deserved to be in the free weights space as much as anyone else.  That even though I was doing "dude" exercises it was OK and I was allowed.  And that people were probably just minding their own business and it was all in my head.  Apparently... I was being watched.  It wasn't in my head.  And I just feel... embarrassed.  

Mostly I feel profoundly uncomfortable about ever going back there.  My friend says we should go as we haven't done anything wrong.  He thinks that by *not* going they will think they "caught" us or that we were doing something wrong.  But I don't think I have the resilience for this right now.

Also, my friend feels very complimented (as he should be!) that gym workers think he is a trainer, since he is actually a small business owner.  I think I feel equally crappy that gym workers look at me and think "she looks like she wants a trainer".  

Anyways, I want to do more Peloton workouts and running.  I need to get out of my head more.  Hopefully this week.

Sleep

Babies are waking up around 5:15 but sometimes staying in bed till nearly 6.  I had a lot of trouble sleeping after gym incident.  I am sometimes waking up too early.  And writing buddy came over one evening and we stayed up later.  So for a combination of reasons, some my fault and some not, I have been averaging 7.1 hours of sleep this week.  I would like a bit more.  But without baby naps and without childcare I have so little me time that 7:30 onward feels like my only time for myself and it's hard to get myself to bed before 9:30.

Speaking of that - time for bed!

Did you have an unsettled week? Do you think full moons are unsettling?

Thursday Things. Stress things. Good things. Things you mustn't say in holiday club.

Things causing stress:

• My friends all being on different schedules.  Holidays.  The end of summer! the vast wasteland of time to fill, now filled, and feeling like I didn't catch up with people I hoped to.
• Gym drama.  I don't like drama.  As unfair as it feels, I will just have to be super careful that when we work out he never offers me help, or comments on my form.  I will try and speak with the general manager next time we go, to hopefully clarify my position, but I don't have high hopes.  My gym buddy emailed the gym and they replied with a long letter that included a note that they will be watching us train to make sure he's not coaching me, and I feel immensely uncomfortable know that we are being watched by staff in the gym.  
• New Nanny starting.  It's great to have help, but it's also a change.  Twins need to get used to her, I need to get used to twins getting used to her.  It hasn't been the magic "Rachel Freedom" I possibly hoped it would be
• Sleep.  Always sleep.  Last night I couldn't fall asleep.  The night before I woke up randomly at 4:30am.
• Lilah finishing at the nursery we love.  I miss them already.
• Lilah starting at a new nursery that will be fine.  It is connected to the school.  They all seem nice.  But we chose a terrible day to start her settling in.  She has another day for settling in tomorrow
• Not getting enough exercise (running & Peloton classes)
• Meal planning.  So much food. So many requirements.  Kid food, Grown Up Food, Baby food.  so much food.
• Being on the no pay part of my maternity leave.  I am lucky I was paid for so long, but a £0 paycheck is sad, even after 10 months of leave
• Starting back at work.  I'm excited but there have also been a lot of changes at the company and my team seem understaffed, which means it's going to be a lot of work for me.
• Everything I sold recently on Vinted hasn't had updated tracking.  The Post Office said they had an issue on saturday and nothing has gone out since, but I would really like my parcels sent

Things that are good

• I have had lots of play dates and caught up with lots of people.  I haven't had many "I have nothing to do days"
• I love working out with my Gym Buddy and he is keeping me from spiraling during gym drama
• I think the new Nanny will be good.  I need to give her time.  She has made our house really clean.
• Sleep has actually been OK.  Babies have slept until 5:30/6:00 recently.  
• No more £600 a month nursery bills for Lilah
• I went for a 20 minute run this morning.  I can schedule in some more running.
• Starting back at work.  It will be good to use my brain.
• It might stop raining soon.
• I've continued to declutter.  All my gym clothes now fit in the bottom drawer of my dresser.  I have listed and sold some pieces on vinted. I sold my last two nursing dresses.
• I dropped off a bag of things at the baby bank
• I took Isaac to the eye doctor and his eyes are fine
• I got my hair dyed and it looks awesome (I mean, I can say this right?)
  
• Good thing sub point: I have decided that hair care goes under the "Misc" budget because I cut everyones hair in the house and they can't/don't cut mine so I have to pay, but that's an Andy problem.  If he learned to cut & dye hair then I wouldn't need to pay for it)
• I am really enjoying reading Wedding People
• There is new Emily in Paris on netflix for when I ever get a chance to watch TV again
• Bad thing sub point - the Netflix Family Plan isn't a thing anymore apparently so I may need to get my own account.

Things that are great

My writing buddy came over this evening, as I was writing this post, and we talked for TWO HOURS and I have realized that I am in a massive transition, as are the kids, and transitions are hard.  And writing buddies (who are real buddies, and not training me on being a writer, but helping me on being a human) are great.  

Two random photos:

All my gym kit in one drawer! sorry for the terrible photo.

Isaac brought this home from holiday club.  It is a list of the words he mustn't say in holiday club:

Poopy Pants

 Poop Face

Poo

Stupid

Stupid Poopy Pants

Poop Face

Poo

Morning drama at the gym.

Here is a rant incoming!

This morning I was working out at the gym with my gym buddy (as in, my friend from University who I have been gymming with since 2012).  He was setting up his wide armed pull up while I was failing to do a normal pull up (or even a jump and slowly lower)

While gym buddy went to get more weights, a trainer from the gym came and asked if he was training me

"definitely not!" I said "we have been gym buddies for years"

"well it looks like he's training you" said the trainer

"I can assure you he is my gym buddy.  He has trained for 15 years while I've had four kids.  He is much stronger than me"

"the thing is" said the trainer "we have trainers who pay to train here so he can't train you"

"he's not my trainer.  He's my friend" I said

At this point, gym buddy came back. the gym trainer told him he couldn't train me.  We both insisted he wasn't training me.  We asked him to leave us alone, but I was really angry at this point. 

Gyms are generally not safe spaces that encourage women, and I assume he came to harass me because I was one of the only women in the rack area at the time?  Certainly the only late thirties mom of four in the rack area.

Would we have been told we were breaking rules if I was with a girlfriend?  Or is it because was working out with a super strong dude?

I asked the trainer for his name so I could write a letter of complaint.  He asked why I was upset and I told him that I get to go to the gym once a week with my gym buddy and it's upsetting that he spent 10 minutes of that arguing with us.  his response? "Yeah yeah you have kids whatever".  He then proceeded with:

"Well you need to listen to my side now because that's what a conversation is, and if you want to have a conversation you need to listen to me"

At that point I went back to training, but I felt intensely uncomfortable for the rest of the workout.  

I could not explain to the trainer man how incredibly infuriating it is that when women enter men's spaces - such as the free weights section of the gym - it's so quickly noticed.  How targeting me tells me that I am the "other" and that my presence needs to be accompanied by a trainer.  That it would be impossible for two people, for a woman and a strong man, to train together as friends.

I looked around me and saw so many men.  There are two older men who train together who asked what is wrong.

I couldn't answer "the patriarchy" or "feeling excluded from this space because I've I have boobs"

I told them my friend has been accused of training me and we all laughed.

Those two trained together all the time and have never been told they were training each other.

There were women in the gym.  Most women were alone, following programs on their phones.  

My gym buddy asked the gym to clarify, and they said that it looked like he was training me, and it was a situation they had been monitoring.  They noted that he could no longer give me any instruction, or guidance.  

Since my main reason for going to the gym is to see the gym buddy I am not really clear on how this will work.  Can I do the same sport as him? Can I work out after him on the same equipment? Can he pass weights to me as I've seen lots gym buddies do for each other?  Are we allowed to talk? Are we allowed to talk about workouts? Am I allowed to ask what his next excercise is?

I know I should figure out how to complain, but maybe the corporate gym world is just too big and too scary and too full of men unhappy that a woman isn't paying them to tell them what to do.  

The problem with injustice, as minor as this one is in the big scheme of things, is it can be quite profitable for many.

Thursday Ramble

Currently posting during afternoon baby nap.  We have had some HARD times with babies recently.  The babies have been generally unhappy, which has made me generally unhappy.  Or potentially unhinged.  It doesn't look so bad in time log format, but it has certainly *felt* bad.  

A few weeks ago I decided to make a list of pros and cons of having twins.  The cons side said "everything" and the pros side said "good if you wanted more children in fewer pregnancies"

[I'm going to assume this internet will be gone and disappeared before the twins ever read this blog.]  

It's just sometimes too many babies.  I also think that there is no way to *not* live close to the margin with this number of small kids.  I am mostly fine, but a few nights of <5 hours sleep sets me back and there's not really time to recover.  Morning naps that last 90 minutes and screaming wake ups are more than twice as hard with twice the babies.

So anyways, before I ramble about other things, I want to acknowledge that it's not all super-mom "twins are great!" over here.

With that in mind, some things *are* great.

• Our nanny did a settling in day with the twins and Lilah on Monday and she seems like a great fit for our family.
• I signed up for Peleton app (the classes, not the bike) and I *Love* it.  I might be over-loving it.  I want to sneak upstairs and do a class All The Time. I want to look at the app and pick out future classes (I don't actually do this, because I still try not to use phone for stupid things, and this is definitely a stupid thing).  I don't know how long this will last, but doing exercise is great
• I've been using said app to do 20 minutes of yoga and a 10 minute meditation every evening for the last week and I really look forward to it.
• I have been working out with my gym buddy once a week for over a month now
• My physio said that I am recovering well from having twins and I currently have a 1.5 finger diastases (gap in stomach muscles from where babies grew.  Bodies are crazy).  I had no diastases at 7 months with my single babies so I was worried but apparently this is normal (FYI I am not a skinny human and when I do a plank I definitely still have substantial twin tummy so the diastases is not an indicator of physical look.)
•  I think one of the reasons the last month was so hard (in addition to grumpy teething babies) is that help is on the way.  We found a babysitter to come in the day for a few hours and watch the twins, and the nanny starts in August.  Perhaps I just didn't have the energy to make it to the finish line of 100% twins 82% of the time (actually it's just 54% of my time, or 82% of my waking time)
• Our babysitter came on Tuesday so I could go get a blood test and then I cycled to a local beauty spot and did a 22 minute run.  It was supposed to be a 30 minute run but I ran out of energy.  It was still nice to know I wasn't on twin duty for 4 hours.
• The sun is out.  It's meant to stay out.  It's been so cold - we actually turned on the fire last week because we were so cold and wet.

Also, since this blog has basically become free form problem solving for me, I think I *expected* things to be easier by now.  And when they're actually harder (teething babies, not sleeping babies, relentless rain) I sometime just can't keep feeling good about stuff.  

Some things are noticeably easier - the kids and twin combo isn't a red alert horror combo it once was.  The big kids are playing with the twins, and twins seem to really like big kids around too.

Have you had a hard month or an easy month so far?  Have you ever tried the Peleton app (fitness classes or bike?).   Do you like online classes?

I would be remiss not to mention that I didn't realise Peleton had so much stuff if I wasn't reading San's great blog here

Being Influenced from around the Internet - Podcasts and Blogs

Here is a quick roundup of recent things that all seem to have been influenced by podcasts and blogs.

I got my hair cut and dyed and I that is a BIG Rachel thing off my list.  I've decided I want to go back to my natural-ish colour and then let my hair go grey naturally.  I'm excited! If I hate it I can always dye it again later.  I think it was the Girl Next Door podcast which made me think about aging and how it's odd that we talk about "grey haired old ladies" when most women actually go grey in their 30s or 40s.  So why is Grey hair only OK in your 60s or 70s?  I'm all for hair dying but I am loving the grey haired 30 and 40 year olds that I see and the more I can help normalize what is normal (going grey) the easier it will be for anyone else who doesn't want to dye hair forever or have to make the "big decision" to go grey.  

I signed up for the Modern Mrs Darcy Patreon  so I could get the Summer Reading Guide.  Now I just need to find a colour printer so I can print it off because it looks SO COOL.  I flipped through it super quickly (on my phone - total demerit there) and reserved a few of the books at my library hoping to avoid the flood.  25 library hold a month on Libby isn't enough for me so I had to drop a few off my already on hold list.  I am not going to read Outlive by Peter Atilla soon.  And I have had The Lincoln Highway on there for ages too.  Those both went off the holds and onto the TBR list.

I made this chickpea salad from NoraCooks which I think was on Birchie's blog? And Jen?  Or elsewhere.. but anyways it's SO GOOD. My husband tried it and he said "this seems like an American approximation of a coronation chicken salad.  Which is true - coronation chicken is a super gross (IMHO) British salad made from mayonaise and curry powder and chicken.  But somehow switch to yogurt and chickpeas and it is yum. The only problem is the gastrointestinal issues surrounding my consumption of chickpeas and cashews... but the babies don't seem to mind. 

I really enjoyed this podcast on Grocery Shopping from About Progress.  My grocery bill is HUGE right now and although it's not really a problem I thought there were some interesting ideas in this one.  Mostly the idea of shopping every other week, and of doing a two week meal plan.  I feel like we are *always* planning meals and maybe doing it for two weeks at a time would make it feel less like we were *always* planning?  There are some things (milk and fruit) that we would need more often but how much of my grocery shop is random bits because I am putting an order in?  Although saying that... I didn't buy any cookies during last week's delivery and I have regretted it every afternoon.  I did buy courgettes with the intention of making courgette brownies, but I still just have two courgettes and no brownies.

And finally, I was influenced by... me!  I took a trip down memory lane of this blog and found a post about Gym Day which I wrote in 2012.  My gym buddy Geraint and I are still good friends but we have not been gym buddies for a while due to the sheer quantity of children and pregnancies I've had in the last 6 years (4 children, 3 pregnancies).  Anyways, I sent him the blog post and we were reminiscing about gym and then I realized I *could* made it work!  So on Thursday I went to the gym with him and we did an arms set.  It was great.  While I have been busy having kids he has been busy getting strong and now he lifts weights so heavy I couldn't even load his rack for him.  

And while this isn't influenced at all, I really love taking photos of babies and making it look like they have hair.  Is that a tic tok trend?  Here is Audrey the baby hair model:

What's your best tip from the internet or podcast sphere recently?

Friday Cardio

Today was the kind of day where I had too much to do.

I woke up at 6:30, and started doing work.  I had intended to do something athletic, but since I hadn't gotten a chance to try the breakfast at this hotel I decided to sit and enjoy a breakfast instead.  I like being at hotels because I can order picky food - for instance I had boiled eggs with smoked salmon this morning.  Yum.  And rye vita and Boursin.  Extra yum.  600 calories of breakfast later I was too full to go to the gym

So I did work, and work, and work.

At about 1pm I had a stressful series of interactions and I started to get wound up.  I could have kept working - there was a lot more to do - but I thought it would do me good to take a few minutes away and go to the gym instead.  So I snuck out for a bit and found a local gym where I was able to do the following:

MIND CLEARING CARDIO ROUTINE

Elliptical for 20 minutes on level 7, 5 minutes forward and 5 minutes backwards

Running intervals - 20 seconds at 11 to 13.5 within 1 minute intervals

Rower - 2000 meteres at level 8 as fast as possible (pretty slow - took me 12 minutes)

Stair climber - start at level 4.  Increase by 1 level every 20 seconds until you can't bear it anymore.

And that was my routine - it took an hour and I left feeling energized and revived.  I got more work done and felt good about things.  It goes to show that when I think I have too much to do to work out maybe sometimes I am just not working well because I *haven't* worked out.

I also ate a very bizarre dinner which was Bolognese on chicken breast.  But it was kind of delicious.  When I'm away with work I'm trying to cut out most bread/grain so pasta and rice were out.  But to be honest it was quite tasty!

And now it's 10:30 and I'm exhausted!  So tomorrow is it a run day or a weights day?  Only time will tell!!

Thursday Training in non-rainy Wrexham

I managed to get out for a run this morning, the first mile was pretty fast and awesome.  I ran a strange loop around and in a local park, where I came across this somewhat muddy football pitch

I only ran 2.5 miles, the first mile was a decent 10 minutes, the second mile was an into the wind 12, and the third half was 5.5 minutes.  almost 30 minutes of jogging/running.  At some point, I need to learn to run longer.  Some point before the Cardiff Half Marathon I entered!!

After the run I treated myself to some rye-vita and Boursin cheese.  How do they make Boursin cheese sooo good?!  I don't know but I could eat it all day every day.  I don't though, because that would make me super massive.

In the afternoon I had a cheeky chance to use a real gym, and I jumped at the opportunity for an hour log weights set.  I'm getting better and better at my pushups, I can do 10 lame ones or about 3 full ones. I'm still working on the pull-ups but I can do pull-ups at 30% - where I go down to a 130 degree angle or so (180 being the top and 90 being a right angle).  Actually there's go to be some better math for that.

but still - too much math for exercise!

I did my new weights routine, which I will post at a later date, but it is a good one!  I also added some extra core work like leg lifts and crunches.

The sun has actually come out as well - the afternoon was lovely! 

Wales is so pretty when the sun is out!

Swimming Sunday

My birthday was awesome, relaxing and food filled.

The day after was awesome too, I hung out in my house all day and then went for drinks and tapas in the evening.

Sunday I thought I should probably get back to exercising  but I realized how quickly the ennui can set in when activity stops.

Last week I did the following:
Monday: Weights
Tuesday: nothing
Wednesday: nothing
Thursday: Weights
Friday: nothing
Saturday: nothing

When Sunday rolled around I really didn't want to do anything.  In fact, I couldn't understand how I used to get psyched for exercise.  Everything seemed so hard and effort-ful.

My friends were headed down to the indoor climbing wall, and with little else to do besides putter and avoid exercise I decided to go.  I've not been climbing seriously for about a year so I faffed around top roping some 5 and 5+ and then led a 5+ and then climbed a 6a+ just to prove I could.  Then to a bit of bouldering and some silly strength exercises and I was done.

I've also not been out with the Cardiff Tri Swimming for a while and I decided to rejoin them tonight, for their 90 minute session.  15 minutes in I was tired.  30 minutes in my arms felt like they were falling off.  My 400s became 100s and since we were swimming in an olympic pool the laps were longer and the 100s were shorter, if that makes sense, which it doesn't.  After an hour I gave up and went home.  I don't think I finished my 100s, and I didn't get my 900 meter swim in at all, but I must have done at least a mile of swimming.

And now I'm so tired, and I like being this tired, and I'm looking forward to a weights session with Geraint tomorrow to whip me back into shape!

Oh and a massage - my birthday treat to me.  That's tomorrow as well.

It's been a good weekend!

Wednesday Workouts!

You read that right - workoutS!  I'm away with work at the moment which means I'm working bizarre and continuous hours.  Todays schedule ran from 8am to 10pm, but I managed to run to the gym 3 times.  I also have the added benefit of working with sports people, so when I'm away there's loads of healthy food on offer.  I've decided to try another bread detox (I was on one before I got sick, but when sick I ate everything I could because my theory is the body needs lots of food to make it better.  Or, I feel terrible so at least I can eat comfort foods that make *me* feel better).  Today is day 3.  I've been eating loads of veggies and chicken and fish - and loads of fruit.  I had 2 bananas today!

So this morning I was up at 6am to do my Weights Routine 1 though I only did 2 sets and the weights were a bit off because I'm not used to this gym equipment.

Then after lunch I snuck downstairs for 25 minutes on the stationary bike, Level 10, and I managed something around 8miles.  Obviously the resistance is to low.  I need to look into stationary bike workouts.

And after dinner I snuck down again and managed to run 2 miles in 20 minutes, then spent 10 minutes on the cross-trainer  and then practiced headstands for a while.  I want to be able to come in and out of headstand without falling - ie no thumping feet to the floor.  At least I don't fall backwards much anymore.

I'm completely addicted to this song at the moment.  It makes me want to run and jump and dance and be really good at stuff.  I know it's misogynistic and also from like 10 years ago, but I don't care, I love GirlTalk!


Tomorow is my last day away with work, then it's back home and back on that bicycle!

Tuesday Travels

I'm almost over my SARS.  Being sick is lame, but the exciting part of being sick is getting healthy again!  I've not been able to excercise since Friday but I managed to make it to the gym today for modified Cardio 1.

Modified Cardio 1:

Treadmill: Run a mile.  

Cross Trainer: 3 minutes on 8, 2 minutes on 18, repeat 4 times 

Rower: Row 2,000 meters

There were a couple of good points - the mile took me 9 minutes today, which is really good for me.  Before I started running a mile took me at least 10 minutes, usually 11 or 12.  Today I was tired after my mile, but I probably could have continued if treadmills aren't so damn boring.  I think the interval training of Non-modified Cardio 1 must be helping.

The rower took me under 10 minutes, which is also really good for me.  I've never timed myself on the rower but 11 to 12 minutes is my usual for 2,000 meters.  10 is such a nice round number that I have little desire to improve, except maybe to start doing 9 minute miles and 9 minute rowers?

Tomorrow I am going to try TRY TRY to get up at 6am for an early weights session at the gym.  Being sick over the weekend set me back and I haven't been for a long weekend ride in 3 weeks now so I'm somewhat worried about my next cycling adventure.  I don't think there's much I can do to keep my long ride stamina up, except long rides, and when you're away with work (which I am now) you can't really sit on a bike machine for 5 hours.  Also, that would be so boring I would rather....

... I don't know, I can't think of anything more boring than that.  Even watching paint dry would probably be less boring than 5 hours on an indoor bicycle.

If I am to get up at 6am I better get to sleep now, so goodnight blogosphere!

Saturday is the fail day.

I had a wonderful day planned!  First a parkrun at 9am, then mountain biking at Afan - hopefully to have a go at the epic Wall 2

On Friday I did Cardio at the gym with Geraint, which killed me as it always does.  We used to only do Cardio, then switched to weights, but decided to throw in a second session this week and make it Cardio.

The cardio routine at the moment is as follows:

Cross Trainer

 3 minutes on 8

2 minutes on 20

 keep above 100

repeat 4 times 

(20 minutes)

Treadmill

walk for 30 seconds

run for 20 seconds

10 seconds of transition

repeat 10 times

(12 minutes with 2 minutes walk warm up and down)

Rower

Row 2,000 meters as fast as you can

(10 minutes)

Running kills me, and might actually be easier outside because you spend most of the time raising and lowering the speed. 

I've also tried to cut down on bread after Christmas and eat more protein and veggies - I had a healthy dinner of chicken and potatoes and salad, then an early night with no drinking (2 weeks no beer - detox!).  All in prep for my awesomely sporty day of running and biking!

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and I woke up this morning with SARS.  Okay, maybe it's not SARS, but I'm not good at being sick. I get man flu.

I did nothing but watch 5 episodes of Dr. Who and moan and drink Lemsip tea and moan. This SARS is the worst.

Hopefully on Monday I'll be fixed enough to try running with the Cardiff Tri group - that might actually kill me.  But until then I shall moan about my sore throat and grumpy tummy.  Oh (wo)man flu!