My family, my friends, my colleagues, going to the local cafe for breakfast, going to the theatre and biscuits (cus we just ran out)……
What do you miss?
I miss…….
Motivation
Anyone remember record breakers tune? Motivation, Motivation, ……..Motivation that’s what I need, if you want to prevent a frown, want to survive this lockdown,……yes motivation is what you neeeeeeddddd…la la la
So the last couple of days mine has been waning a tad, well a lot actually. I’ve gone from someone that always made an effort to look nice for work, getting up early to do a workout before work, to rolling out of bed, pulling on my joggers and sitting down to my work desk in the same clothes with messy hair, no makeup and definitely no pre work workout. I’ve started to notice my energy levels dropping and a loss in interest in my beloved sport and my favourite tv shows. Levels of biscuit eating have increased exponentially and I’m definitely having far too many coffees. I mean what next eh 😂
So today I decided that the only way to find motivation was to kick myself up the backside and force myself to shower, change and make myself look nice/ready for the day. At lunch I went for a run; just a 2 miler but its a lovely 2 mile trail run straight uphill and down again.
Mid afternoon I spotted this bird on the lamppost outside preening itself. I decided to take a picture and if it appears again tomorrow I might even name it. Not sure of a good name for a pigeon? Percy?
After work I got on the turbo for 35 minutes and followed this up with a 30 minute gym workout with my son in the garden, focussing on forearms (something he wants to work on). We also enjoyed some entertainment whilst gardening, apparently we have an extra from Dr Who living in the garden:
End of a weary, very weird and yet positive week
I sacked off my bike ride this morning for a laze about do nothing for a few hours start to the day instead. I will admit I felt really weary and sometimes you just need to sit still 😝.
I spent the next hour or so working as I’ve realised recently that whilst working at home has its upsides (fetching cappuccinos from the kitchen, putting your laundry on at lunch), the downsides include speed of working remotely and this ultimately means you need to extend your working day or week in order to keep on top of things. Ah well every silver lining and all that.
Hubby and I then did circuits with our lads in the garden and maybe pushed them a bit too hard whoops 😬
Otherwise in the week what was weird…….well what isn’t weird really? The new way of shopping metres apart on crosses, only going outside once a day for exercise or for your necessary shop, not visiting your loved ones, chatting to friends online, working out online, doing most things online really. It’s odd how quickly this is all becoming the norm. I wonder if we will all continue with these things when we are allowed out again to roam, party and socialise.
I’ve found myself addicted to reading jokes on ‘spread the cheer whilst corona is here’ on facebook, laughing like an insane person at the silliest things. Good tv is becoming increasingly difficult to find or perhaps I’m just becoming fussier, gaming seems to be my new hobby of the moment. Happy to receive recommendations for good tv to watch by the way.
We put our teddy in the window following a note on facebook and a WA group that the kids are going on a bear hunt counting teddies (how cute).
So the positives…well I managed 4 runs this week (yes on different days), 3 circuit/gym style workouts in the back garden and 1 bike ride. I am amazed at how much community spirit I see on various groups on facebook and our local neighbours, we are cooking more as a family, spending more time together as a family and the “kids” are helping out more around the house.
So I wonder what this next week will bring…
Week 8 of training
Ok so I’ve pulled out of the Ironman for this year for obvious reasons but I’m continuing to train, be it on a somewhat reduced basis. Yesterday i went for a gorgeous bike ride through Marple Bridge and Charlesworth. I didn’t stop to take a picture as I was trying to get a pb for the entire loop. I managed it woohoo, reducing my time from 1hour and 1 minute to 1 hour 😂.
My only other activity yesterday was playing pseudo personal trainer to my son and step son as they trained in the back garden. We set up circuits, 3 stations in each circuit, 45 seconds on each station and 3 reps. Here they are, one doing wall sits and the other bicep curls. Well done lads.🙌
Heart warming
Just come inside following the mutual clapping supporting/thanking the NHS for all their hard work. All the neighbours were out clapping, all very heart warming stuff.
Today was a positive day in so many ways. I went out early this morning to the corner shop and everybody was observing the social distancing as well as being very polite, good to see. When I got home i went to ‘work’ which is basically the spare room upstairs now. I looked through my window and saw a family across the road (sorry not snooping honestly) doing their daily exercise routine presumably in front of the tv. It’s so lovely that families are doing this and spending quality time together, good for them.
This afternoon I did a 5 mile run with my son along the canal, the sun was shining and i felts so lucky to be able to go outside, I realise how much we take our basic freedom for granted. I hope this allowance to do one exercise outside a day lasts but I intend to appreciate it as much as possible as you never know what will happen next.
After the run my husband and I had our first virtual personal training session. This was quite good fun and we used my iPad out in the back garden. Our PT Emma chatted, demonstrated and generally encouraged us through a series of exercises.
Is it weird that in these hard times I feel really serene? I feel I’ve been given a chance to appreciate every little thing, my husband, my family, my friends, my home, cooking, reading, enjoying music and I could go on and on. It’s time to take stock and breathe, look to what you have and look forwards with anticipation and hope.
Not a soul up here
Social distancing is easy when you can cycle up into the hills of the Peak District. Out on a bike ride with hubby on the back country roads to Hayfield and home, we barely saw anyone, just lots of sheep. In fact we momentarily had to slow down due to a lot of lost looking sheep running down one country lane in front of us aww.
Beautiful sunny skies, glorious views and breathe……..
Happy Mother’s Day to all mums, to those who are still with us and to those who are not xxx 💕
I have a skype call in a bit with my mum and my siblings. Sadly the new way to do Mother’s Day in these times. Hopefully we will have a laugh though. And my lovely son got me a card and a pile of my favourite mint chocolates. That should keep me going for a week :-).
Finding the light
I’m generally an optimist but following yesterdays update on the news I will admit to ‘worrying a tad’. I’m also sad to hear of friends losing their jobs at this time and my heart goes out to everyone. I hope the financial reliefs offered are swift and genuinely beneficial to all that need it.
I will also admit to feeling somewhat selfishly sad by the realisation that I would need to cancel my Ironman this year and either re-sign up to it later/nearer the time or simply do it next year. But when you think what others are dealing with it really puts things in perspective and I should quite frankly shut up and be happy for what I have.
So with that all being said, I woke up this morning and thought right time to find my optimism and happiness again. So I went for a run. I have been wearing a scarf around my face whilst out running on cold days way before anyone knew the word covid but now people appeared wary as the woman with the ‘bandit’ look ran past and they kind of shuffled even further away as I went by.
Following the lovely run our personal trainer Emma came round to our house and we did a workout outside in the sunshine. She is great and now offering virtual workouts for all her clients, go Emma.
Wired now and ready for the rest of my day, bring it. 😁🌞🌞
Still smiling
Well we are living in crazy times and I’m not sure it’s all sunk in yet. Still thankfully I remain optimistic about everything, perhaps naively, perhaps wishfully but none the less optimistic that things will get back to normal in few months ish ish.
I will continue to train for the Ironman although swimming maybe an issue for a while, may have to come back to that later.
In the meantime I’ll focus on what I can do, rather than what I can’t. I can run and cycle as much as I want and the roads should be quieter. I can search cookbooks and try out new recipes and I will be inventive when the ingredients I need are not on the shelves. I can still ‘meet’ friends and family via Skype/ Zoom etc and am planning a ‘night out’ with a lovely group of friends via Zoom and accompanied by gin and tonics. 🍸🍸
I hope everyone stays well, isn’t facing too much stress and can find some gold at the end of the rainbow… the elusive bog roll ✌️
Recovery time
During any training period time to recover is important. The very basis of improving fitness is incremental increases in training, rest and recovery and adaptation. Then repeat…..a lot.
This weekend I’ve been forced into an early recovery stage and it may last longer than I would like… I seem to have picked up a bug of some kind, no cough or fever in sight but none the less not feeling well and sleeping a lot, really a lot!
Sadly this has meant cancelling seeing dear friends as well as cancelling my participation in the half marathon race today (although subsequently the race was cancelled anyway).
Additionally it’s hard to not be affected by the news of flight cancellations, the potential loss of an upcoming holiday, the uncertainty of future races not to mention the uncertainty of older loved ones potentially having to isolate for longer periods.
So I’m lying here in bed and trying to think positive thoughts, what can we take away from these situations as a positive?
I’ve seen a number of examples of how lovely my friends are and people are in general. A lovely new friend dropped off paracetamol with some chocolates through my door yesterday. Another lovely friend made cake for my husband and I after our race today (sadly the one we then couldn’t do). I’ve seen locally a forum of people offering to help others if they get stuck at home. It’s so refreshing to see such kindness.
The other positive about resting is that I hope to be stronger and fitter when I return to training. Bring it on.
Corona virus blues la la la
Been a busy week so the most I’ve managed so far is a short run and a turbo session. I’m hoping to swim tomorrow and Saturday if the pools stay open and do a half marathon on Sunday if it’s still running. However a reality may soon be gym training in the garage, turbo time in the lounge and reading up on swimming techniques rather than doing… we will see what happens oh dear covid.
In the meantime I’ve just had my singing lesson, enjoyed singing At Last, a great jazz tune. However shortly maybe I’ll practice some blues, covid blues… to the tune of heartbreak hotel…
Since they’ll close the schools down, the gyms and pools too, we’ll have no place to train and then we’ll need the loo …
I got the covid blues babe , and it’s taking its toll, I don’t know what I’ll do when I’m out of bog roll…
They may soon cancel races, events and laughter too, and I’ll be eating biscuits, watching movies , finding things to do
I got the covid blues babe, and it’s taking its toll, I don’t know what I’ll do when I’m out of bog roll….
La la la
Lorna Runs 