It's fair to say that I fell off the healthy-eating wagon and it rolled away on the weekend of the 9th and 10th of April! I had three social events over the two days; lunch with my dad (Union Jacks in Covent Garden), bowling and dinner with the girls (Frankie and Benny's) and cocktails for my friend Alex's birthday (culminating in a sandwich meal deal and two bars of chocolate on the train home). On top of that I was marshalling as the Dinton Duathlon so was grabbing snacks here and there. Tea cake and crisps for breakfast anyone? Although I enjoyed the planned meals, the bad planning and poor snack choices left me feeling pretty horrendous and I've been trying to catch the wagon again ever since.
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| Veggie burger topped with macaroni cheese - yes really! |
The heavy socialising left little room for exercise so I had more rest days than usual but the arrival of my new Garmin Vivoactive, at half price thanks to my new Vitality Health and Life insurance policy and the associated benefits scheme, got me obsessing over step counts and provided the incentive to get outside for a run even when I didn't really feel like it. I was reminded of how rain actually makes me run faster! I've only used the step counter and run features so far, although it does masses more. I'm keen to get to the pool soon to try it out there and to see how it fares with indoor sessions. It claims to track golf as a sport but I can't say I'll be trying that one out in the near future.
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| Snazzy new Garmin. It's pool-proof so definitely rain-proof! |
I was delighted to be invited to a Sport & Activity Forum at Bisham Abbey, hosted by Get Berkshire Active. It was an opportunity to catch up on what's going on in the area and to do a bit of networking. In a nice twist, we were encouraged to network "on the hoof" by finding someone to converse with and going for a walk around the grounds. The focus was on how sports and activity in relation to mental health, something that's becoming ever closer to my heart, and it was inspiring to listen to the presentations. I came away with some ideas for signposting people from my courses into other areas and with renewed vigour to apply for a Coach in Running Fitness qualification as well as signing up to become a Mental Health Ambassador for my local area.
On balance it was a pretty good week. Certainly an interesting one. A lighter week in terms of training but I was very happy with the quality of what I did, especially as I managed to squeeze in a cheeky clubbercise session on Friday night, though unfortunately the cat was nowhere to be seen on this occasion!
My training diary for the week ending 15th April ended up looking like this:
Saturday: Rest day
Sunday: Rest day
Monday: 90 minute yoga class
Tuesday: Rest day
Wednesday: 7 mile run
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: 6 mile run & Clubbercise
What's your favourite healthy portable snack? Got a new gadget recently? Does your sports club have a mental health ambassador?
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