A smile can get you a long way

I am exhausted. It's a result of plenty of exercise, a long week in the office, and a very early Saturday morning.

The tail end of the week hasn't been as active as I'd have liked but I managed a run, a swim and a gym session plus plenty of sit ups and press ups whilst watching On Thin Ice (maybe another year) so I'm not feeling too upset with myself for not doing much apart from digging and walking this weekend.

Unfortunately I'm moving office on Monday for the next couple of months which means no more free gym. I might try cycling into work if they've got showers at the new place. I'm almost certainly going to get a membership at the local sports centre for swimming though, make use of student rates while I can. And invest in some new goggles. I felt really great after the 1.15km I swam, made good use of my shoulder muscles.

The early morning was in aid of some more fundraising outside the local supermarket. Managed to make just shy of £100 during the morning which bumps me up to 91%! I thought Saturday would be busier but there were less people around than on the Sunday. Luck of the draw I guess.

So feeling positive and smiles all round :)

Obsession... for sports

Last week was a good week for me. I got went to the gym 3 times which means I'm back in the saddle with a new routine of going before work. I even managed to get back up to level 5 on the cross trainer for 20 mins, increasing by a minute this morning. Friday morning I attempted a short run but hadn't fuelled properly so struggled. At least it was exercise. Yesterday I did a 4 mile walk with my mum to Danson Park which was just lovely. It's made me realise what a difference a change of scenery makes. As a result I've found some new routes this morning and can hopefully get a longer walk in this weekend, maybe after the fundraising on Saturday morning. Would love to get another £100. I got £45 in donations this week so less than £500 to go now!!

I am a bit scared I'm not doing enough walking, hill walking in particular but with firmer plans now in place for Snowdon I guess I'll get a feel for my fitness level and what I need to work on. I'd like to start including some swimming, just once a week. My trouble is I like to do everything all at once, and I get deeply into things very early on. For example, running. It's only meant to be part of my training but I'm still treating it a bit as though I've got a race planned, beating myself up about under-performing, looking at what the best kit is and reading almost everything I can get my hands on. Runner's World is currently my favourite maagzine with SportSister discovered this morning. Running's not so much of an issue because I know I'll keep it up after the climb but in general I'm focussing too much on the individual sports and not the overall goal so I need to watch out.

In other news I've booked my first rabies jab for mid august... fun!

Supermarket Sweep

This weekend has been incredibly productive in terms of fundraising. The cheque from the Parish Magazine turned up and I managed to raise a somewhat staggering £107.81 in 3 hours outside my local supermarket on Sunday. I really didn't expect to get nearly that much but I was averaging about £1 per person, one lady gave me a fiver and even the guys refurbing the soon-to-be Costa Coffee over the road gave a couple of quid. Well they did sit drinking tea watching me just stand there all morning.


It wasn't quite as boring as you'd think but then I am quite a fan of watching the world go by and it's insightful, just how much life there is in Crowthorne on a Sunday morning. I'm not a fan of rattling collecting tins in people's faces so I just stood there and smiled a lot. Obviously did the trick! A second session is planned for a week on Saturday and I've got a couple of other supermarkets to ask too.

Didn't get out for a run or a bike ride over the weekend but started today off with a quick gym session. 22 minutes on the cross trainer and some crunches, press-ups and lunges. If I can force myself to get up an extra 15 minutes earlier I'd get a much better session in. The aim is to get back up to 20 minutes at level 5 hill programme on the cross trainer by the end of the week and get one bike ride or run in.

Update on everything

Some more very generous donations mean that I'm now at 75% of my target. When the and the cheque from the Parish Magazine for £200 arrives I'll be up to 80% with £650 left to raise! I'm looking forward to reaching the target because I won't have to worry about it so much then and I'll be able to concentrate solely on fitness levels. I also promised I'd give Shruti a hand with her fundraising at that point.

This weekend marks the first supermarket collection day. It's a Sunday, which isn't at all ideal but it will all help. I've got a Saturday session scheduled for a couple of week's time.

I've managed to get out on the bike a little this week and fitted in an early gym session this morning. I'm hoping to get in a run on Saturday. I could tell I'd been slacking. More gym sessions needed! It's been a little bit tough fitting it in between my study for the OU (deadlines loom once again) but I always feel much better for it. I've had to go as far as writing down in my diary, when I plan to fit in exercise because the habit is not yet concrete. Early gym sessions at work at least once a week will help.

I had my second Hep B jab yesterday and need to organise getting some of the other vaccines at the travel clinic.

I knew that yoga would pay off

I get really excited about kit. Everytime I get something new I show my mum. It's meant to make her feel more reassured that I'm headed off with all the right things but it seems to just make her worry more. Mainly she seems to be worried that I won't be warm enough.



Anyway one of the latest things I got for the trek was a duffle bag. It's one of the 100l Mountain Equipment dry and wet kit bags. Dead nice and very sturdy. On showing it to mum she says "You could probably fit in there!". So I tried. And I do.



So if the worst comes to the worst I can always sleep in it...