Month: March 2014

Ahhhhh…at last I’m snuggled in bed with my iPad, books, teddy and TV…. No, no Hubby, he’s in London.

Did you enjoy the glorious weekend weather? I did until I decided to show Hubby what I had learned on Last Monday at the WalkActive…
We took our dog down to Rye Harbour where there is a tarmac path that is ideal for the walking…along with hundreds of others enjoying the sun!
Off I set, dog running at my heals as we wove in and out of the other strollers, leaving hubby behind. He later said his thoughts were “bloody hell” which is very unlike him so I must have been doing a good pace.
On I went, getting into my stride…and then it all went wrong! Can you guess what I had forgotten to do? Yes, warm up & stretch before starting the style walking!!
My left calf muscles started to swear at me so badly that when I had to side step for a group coming towards me I had to stop and try to stretch it out using a bench.
Hubby caught up to me looking very impressed, but it was too late! I had to walk at his pace for the rest of our walk…which he then took me off Tarmac round the bird sanctuary in Barefoot shoes… Not ideal folks!

But I did show him…even if showing off lead to pain. Next time I will warm up first and wait until I am past the slow strollers before showing them all my Open Ankles!

Right, I’m switching off the technologies and turning to my book before hopefully dreaming of a mixture of George Cloony, Brad Pitt and My Hubby!
Night all?
Lx

It’s Tuesday, 4th March. It’s Pancake Day (woohoo). More importantly it’s the day after the WalkActive introductory day in London.

Did I survive?
How are my knees?
Will I ever walk again?

Such big Questions!

Well, dear Reader…oh YES,YES,YES!!!
To be honest I can’t believe it! My knees feel fine!! No pain, and in fact no stiffness either. I walked downstairs to make tea and had to remind myself I had walked loads yesterday! (15,889 steps!)
Ok, so my ankle tendon on one side did that slightly; and it may have helped falling asleep in a lovely hot bath of muscle relaxing bath salts, but it’s true! My body is not swearing at me for punishing it.

Now, before you all start saying, “well, it’s was only walking” there is no “only” about it! The WalkActive style is different from your usual slouchy! scuffing lope down the road to get the paper or walk the dog.

Let’s start at the beginning.
In my last blog about this I admitted to pre-conceived fears about my fellow walkers. I was completely wrong. My 39 fellow walkers came in all shapes, sizes, and ages, and we had one brave chap who came with his wife too. We all had read the article in the Daily Telegraph and had booked our places ages ago. When I chatted with some ladies before it all started we had the same slightly nervous questions and feelings about what had we let ourselves in for.
The majority of us were dressed ready for action, but there were some different foot wear examples, and one lady braved it in a skirt and tights( with trainers). One fellow walker had not thought about whether we would be walking outside. We sipped our coffee/tea/herbal drink, nibbled on fruit skewers, which were delicious, and waited.

Joanna came straight from another walking group, and shook hands with us all, glowing with health and vitality. She went through the technical points of why we all have been walking incorrectly and how to walk actively. We all had a quick practice standing near our chairs and then headed out to Regents Park to have a go… Imagine a slightly aged school group on an outing!

Spilt into two groups and with Joanna plus two of her trainers, Caroline & Julie( hope I’ve go that right!) , we were slowly shown how to put the 4elements together, feet upwards.
It rained!
Now, I would normally have headed back inside for another tea, but thanks to my golfing wet weather gear and the fascination of watching the first group emerge from the slightly-slouchy, apologetic walkers into the strong active walkers they became took my mind off the rain in my face. Of course when it came to Group 2’s turn the rain eased, and we too were transformed.

Think I’m exaggerating? Not a bit of it! We walked back into lunch, and couldn’t help but walk in the new way…even me!

Of course the fun began after lunch with the retail bit! Oh, I tried to resist! Honestly! After all, I have trainers (they were a bit damp, true), and how many bum bags and back packs have I got in my cupboards? But this beautiful pair of bright blue shows just yelled at me! And I couldn’t keep carrying my water bottle, could I?? See?

In the spirit of an Aquarian, I love trying new things. You all may have read my blog about the Camera Day Hubby gave me for Christmas? No? TUT! For those of you who have… Andrew runs these camera clubs in pubs (stop grinning) & I have joined the Eridge one. We met last Thursday night for our first session.

 

Around the big table was a group of folks with varying experiences with cameras, making for an interesting mix. After discussing our assignment for the month – Movement – we started to tentatively ask questions of Andrew and each other.  I started to try out this new idea to me of changing the shutter speed, moving the camera a the same time… as well as chatting with my old friend who had introduced me to all of this (Huge thanks Caroline).

Where are the pics I hear you cry…well, I am ashamed to say I don’t want to show you yet! i have had great fun, firstly rushing off to the nearest camera shop to buy a Negative Density Filter ( to compensate for all that light flooding into the camera on a slow shutter speed) (sounding knowledgeable am I? HA!) and ‘accidentally’ buying a fish-eye lens too (“but I’ve always wanted one, you see, Darling!”). Then trying out different settings as I took the dog on a walk. I have had a look at the results…some are not bad, some grotesque, others just plane black! i have altered a couple in Lightroom to see how they look…that’s allowed, before you start complaining!

And the real reason I’m not showing you? We have to submit 5 of our favourites/best to Andrew by the deadline. He will critique them for us, print them, and then he chooses one to print as a blow up and…yes, you’ve guessed it! My ugly competitive head has peeked out! I am ashamed, but there it is! i think I have a brilliant pic already, but we will see, faced with a semi-professional I don’t think I’m in with a chance!…

(You do know it’s the Oscars on Sunday? How am I doing? Teehee!)

So, wait until the end of March for an update!

 

Welcome to a glorious sunny March 1st – St. David’s Day.

Somehow at the beginning of January this seemed a very long way away!
In the aftermath of Christmas, knee pains, and kicking my trainer into touch, I planned to get myself fit and healthy…well, we all do, don’t we? in this frame of mind I signed up for the www.joannahall.com/walkactive.php There was this article in the Saturday paper you see…

It is all about walking in a way that uses your body properly and burns more calories etc, gets you fitter etc…

Well, Monday 3rd March I am off to the Big City for my introduction day. I was sent a great pack of the book, a DVD on how to walk this way, and a pedometer. I watched the DVD whilst on my treadmill to get the hang of it, and it seemed to make sense and be exhausting at the same time. The book is full of good advice, and dietary advice too.

The problem? Well, since signing up all my good intentions have withered in the rain, and pain of the knee not heeling as well as I’d hoped! And have you seen the weather forecast? AND this week I have been shaking off Hubby’s cold which has left me breathless… you get the picture I am sure…you know me so well!

SOoooo…Monday morning I am going up to London with Hubby on his early train, making my way to the unknown-to-me North London area to join what I am sure will be a gaggle of already slim, fit, well-groomed ladies, beautifully turned out in their proper gear, with wet-gear to hand…I am making sweeping assumptions here… and then there will be me! Small of stature, round of girth, panting of breath, kitted out in whatever fits and a huge bulging bag of wet-weather golfing gear for JUST-In-CASE. HELP!!!!!

Why didn’t I postpone it?? Why didn’t I stay slimmer and fitter? Why wasn’t I born to slim fit parents? Why-oh-Why am I ME??????

After taking a deep breath, coughing, and walking round talking to myself for a few minutes, I am doing the self-chat thing, and trying to decide how I really feel about it – comic blog stuff aside.
Actually, deep down, I am looking forward to it. The challenge of trying something new (which I love), showing others that size is all in their eyes and just because I remind myself of a Weeble (“Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down”) it doesn’t mean that the thin fit Gal inside doesn’t deserve a chance to get it right; and giving them the opportunity to teach a larger lady how to walk well.

So, bring it on Ms Hall, I am READY!

now, where did I put that list of things I need?…