Thwarted by the Tea Rooms

Day 46. Today was a struggle after all the mince pies, turkey and general Christmas over indulgence. Clearly the occasional bout of charades is insufficient to keep active over the festive season, so today Andrea and I took our usual Bradford/Avoncliffe/Turleigh route. It was a struggle towards the end as Hartley Farm was closed so the usual refreshments weren't available at the top of the hill, and when we went to our emergency tea room in Bradford, we were turned away as they were expecting a large party and could we come back in an hour? We were thwarted at every turn like the Thunderbirds by The Hood. As I said on day 26 (?), someone needs to open a café in Turleigh. They are failing in their public duty to provide tea and cake to to the occasional passer-by.

Walking Backwards for Christmas

Day 45. You may think I haven't been out for a walk for 23 days. Blimey, I didn't realise it was 3 weeks since I last got on here until I counted back. Trust me, I have walked. I have the mud soaked boots and the worn out blister plasters to prove it.

But its been the run up to Christmas so I've been a bit busy to get onto the laptop. But now all the cards have been chosen, written, posted and displayed; the presents have been bought, wrapped, delivered and opened; the food has been deliberated over, bought, prepared and eaten; and the house has been cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and dirtied. Its been a hectic few weeks but it was well worth it as we had a wonderful day with the family.

So back to the training programme. I know its traditional to go for a walk on Boxing Day, but we will procrastinate until tomorrow. After all, its been dry for a few days so we need to ensure those paths have had the chance to get muddy and slippery again with today's rainfall...

A picture may follow soon of me on my latest acquisition to prepare for this walk: a gym ball to tone up those infamous core muscles. So far its been a useful seat in a house full of family, and a prop for charades. Who knows what it will used for next? Exercise? Surely not!

In the Dark

Day 22. Did the 40 mins round the block again, through the picturesque trading estate.  Hadn’t realise how dark it was, so by wearing black trousers and dark brown coat I was well camouflaged from those walking and cycling home from work. I need to put ‘torch’ on my Christmas wish list! 

                                                    Me walking in the dark

Into the Morning Mists

DAY 19  Went out early today for a 40 min walk. Maybe 9am on a Sunday isn’t early for some enthusiasts, but it was pretty quiet out there. And such a beautiful morning with Keats mists. Passed 3 dog walkers and forced a good morning from each of them. Well it was more of a guffaw from one as I commented on his bitch (female dog, not female companion).

 So 40 mins was a pretty easy walk. The plan requires 2 of them this week, and then a 7 mile walk at the weekend. So far so good.

Well, maybe this isn't quite the view I had. The mists were covering up the view of the train track and the industrial estate, but as visibility was pretty poor, it could have been like this underneath.

One Small Library...

DAY 18 Time for another 'long' walk, so Andrea and I did the Avoncliffe/Turleigh route again. Although we didn't have any personal encounters with electric fences or raging bulls today, we also failed to encounter a toasted tea cake at the Avoncliffe cafe. I was mortified. The café was closed with a sign saying that they had a leak! Don’t they realise how important it is for us to keep up our energy while walking? To say nothing of the  effect on our morale?

So we soldiered on to Turleigh. There’s no café there (why not? They’d have sold 2 teas this morning. Clearly missing out on a profitable business…). However there is a library! And a very cute dog.

 

One small joke

DAY 16 of the amazing training plan! So Connor came with me again for another midweek walk, a slightly longer one of 30 mins. You see, you have to build up gradually, and I am certainly doing this gradually! Not much can happen on a suburban walk around the block, however, we walked past a bus stop which prompted this hilarious joke from Connor: What's the difference between a dirty bus stop, and a lobster with breast implants? One is a crusty bus station, and the other is a busty crustacean!

To avoid further bad jokes, please donate to ME Research UK or to Katharine Cheston's Just Giving page!

Four small rests!

DAY 14. The training programme suggests 2 midweek walks, so I dragged Connor out with me again to walk around block. That’s not really true, I’m the one lagging behind because Connor walks at a casual stroll while I am practically jogging to keep up with him. He may be my son, but he is at least a foot taller than me. It was a busy week, so only managed one midweek walk. The programme is crumbling already and I’m only 2 weeks in to the 18 week plan. Whoops.

On the other hand, I did go salsa dancing and do some yoga poses, and the programme says it’s important to have rest days too. So I’ve had 4 weeks’ worth of rest days this week. It’s good to get ahead of some things!

One small slide!

DAY 10. Walked 5.5 miles around Bradford. General feeling is that we were mad to walk that day as it was pretty wet. But I looked so sexy in my waterproof trousers that I couldn’t let the public down. There weren’t so many dramas this time apart from when I gave Andrea heart failure as I lost my footing and went sliding down a hill; her quick reactions stopped me from landing on my bum. That’s what friends are for J. Toasted tea cakes at Avoncliffe made it an even more enjoyable walk. Looking forward to a repeat next Sunday.

A very damp Avoncliffe!

... straight to the chippy!

Day 8. What a boy! Yes, Connor came with me again today for another 30 min walk around the block. Can’t remember what we talked about today but I religiously avoided the topic of college! I don’t deserve such a lovely boy!

We walked the same route only 5 mins faster. Then got fish and chips. Oh, have you tried The Scallop Shell in Beckington for F&C? They are flippin gorgeous.

 

Oh yes, and one small reminder

Please remember, all you people reading my blog out there... that the point of this drivel is to raise awareness of ME Research UK, so if you are looking at this and thinking good things, bad things, or anything at all, go to this link, and possibly make a small donation.Or you could add to Katharine's already amazing Just Giving total, which is £1,512 at the time of posting this. Thank you, my lovelies.

NOTE TO SELF

DON’T NAG YOUR CHILD

THEY’LL FORGET ALL YOU SAID

AND SO WILL YOU

...and one small electric shock

DAY 5.  Persuaded Andrea to join me for a walk around Steeple Ashton as part of our training programme (I love that we have a 'training programme'! We are taking this far too seriously).  After absailing along a wire fence to avoid wading through deep mud, we then hopped over a low fence into a field of sheep. The sheep became far too curious about our progress so we legged it to the next gate. Unfortunately the low fence we had earlier crossed was now a little higher, and also electrocuted, which surprised Andrea in quite a shocking way… Our only means of passing this fence was then to roll underneath it, combat style. Oh, we looked so cool to any passing farmers and fellow walkers. However, we completed our 4 mile walk in just under 2 hours, so the 26.5 miles will only take us 13 hours, without any breaks. Good.

 

 

Here we have a picture of my short legs. Don't remember what I was looking for here. My guess is chocolate. 

Concentrating on my walking style

DAY 3. Googled ‘how to train for a 26 mile walk’. I chose the page that said ‘start with 3 walks a week of 15 mins each’. Oooh, I’ve already done one of them, and it was 20 mins, so I’m quids in. Great. I rejected the website that said ‘on your shorter walks, concentrate on your walking style’. Well, I think I’ve already mastered that:

 *Place left foot in front of right foot, then place right foot in front of left foot. Continue from * until back home. Put kettle on.

So today practised my walking style for a 20 min walk around the block. Next time I’ll take a lead.

...One Great Leap to keep up with Connor

DAY 1. Walked for 20mins with Connor, my 16 year old, 6 foot tall son. He walked at a gentle pace, I walked ‘very briskly’ as my 5ft 1½in height means my legs are half the length of his. So a good first days training.

Then spent over an hour trying to find my blogger dashboard to add this post. If I spent an equal amount of time walking as playing on this laptop, I'd be so much fitter.

 

Into a Brave New World!

Blimey that was scary. As a technophobe I have no idea how this is going to work, but I'm writing a blog. Well, I hope I am. I could just be typing a document on my laptop, as this doesn't look too special right now. Having spent ages creating various accounts on google and stuff, I hope this is going to work.

So, the reason I have joined the blogging universe is simple. I have set a personal challenge and want people to know about it. In 5 months time I am going to do the Bath Beat, which is a 26.5 mile walk, and I'm not just doing it to lose that half a stone of fat that is now cuddling my otherwise shapely waist. I'm doing it because I want to do it for my friend's daughter, Katharine.

Katharine was diagnosed with ME when she was 14. This September Katharine celebrated her 21st birthday and chose to 'donate' her birthday to ME Research UK. Instead of gifts, she asked friends and family to donate money to the charity and held a proper old-fashioned tea party, raising a staggering £1,500. Look her up. Katharine Cheston’s blog. She’s really inspiring and I’m very proud of her.


Anyway. This is going to be a diary of my training for the Bath Beat, so tomorrow I will tell you how the walking is going.....As I said, one small step...