Things to Do
2012 in 2012 – February Update
12 months ago
As suspected and reported in my January Update, February has been a much harder month for my 2012km in 2012 challenge.
We started February with snow. I love the snow – it was gorgeous – but it did not help me get some long distances in, either on the bicycle or power walking. I went for a really enjoyable walk in the snow which was fantastic, and did get back on the bike as soon as I could after the worst of the ice was gone, but haven’t done as much walking this month by a long way. We’ve also had some busy weekends which hasn’t given me much opportunity for long training walks. But I’ve not sat still, I’ve still managed to do a decent number of km this month, so I’m not disappointed with myself or anything, just well aware that I need to walk much more to get fit and ready for the MoonWalk and Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenges.
Apart from cycling and a little bit of walking I’ve also done some skiing. I’m actually in the middle of a week long skiing holiday in Andorra and agreed at the start of my 2012 km challenge that skiing would count because it is exercise in the same way as walking and cycling is. I have been using the Ski Track app which I really love (maybe a review when I get home). I set it going when we get to the top of the main gondola and it follows me all day, tracking where I am, when I’m on a lift, when I am skiing and when I am having an ice cream stop (yes, ice cream, it’s been like summer on the slopes!). At the end of each day I have a report that says how far I’ve skied, how many runs I’ve done, how fast I’ve gone etc. So far my top speed is 66.7kph – which I got on an easy blue run just aiming down the fall line (ok I was trying to beat my previous top speed of 40-something!!). In total I’ve done 53km skiing towards the February total.
So here’s the data:
2012 in 2012 Summary, Wednesday 29th February
Total for February >> 209.8 km
Total for 2012 >> 459.4 km
Average per day (60 days) >> 7.65 km
Remaining >> 1,552.6 km to go
I’m still well on track for my 2012 km target, which is excellent news.
I’ve been doing some research on my walking style and have had the opportunity to try some new boots and trainers this month from brands wanting to see reviews here on Splodz Blogz – I’ll have the perfect pair for both the MoonWalk and the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge by May I’m certain of it. Last month I asked how I could try and become lighter on my feet (having the grace of an elephant makes me ever-so heavy footed) and I’ve had some great advice from Justin at Just For The Challenge which I’ve been trying, but I’ve also been warned that some people are naturally heavy footed and it’s pretty difficult to change that. My poor feet. Ho hum!
March is potentially going to be equally as difficult as February for time (and the whole year looks pretty busy) but I’m going to have to find some hours for long power walks if I’m going to manage the MoonWalk in the six hours I’m aiming for. With Spring definitely on its way I’m hoping for lots of cycle to work days and lunch time walks which all add up. This month I will also be concentrating on nutrition – I’ve got to sort out my eating – I know about eating healthily but with all these miles am always hungry and need to sort out what I take in to get the best out (haven’t done that since I was a teenager and doing athletics and playing hockey!).
So how are your 2012 challenges going? Let me know below…
Oh and if you can/want to please (please please) help me with my MoonWalk fundraising by donating a couple of quid over on my fundraising page. I’m aiming for £250 but would really love to beat that.
The Enormity of the Challenge
14 months ago
Day three of getting outdoors and today I had to wait for a moment between the heavy rain, hail storm and strong winds to force myself to leave the confines of my house. Well technically I had been outside as first thing this morning I went out to sort the bunnies out, I’d also put the rubbish out in the wheelie bins and opened the front door to the postie – but we all know none of those things count in my #getoutdoors year.
Anyway, I did go for a walk this afternoon, and I was out a whole hour without getting rained on, pretty good timing I reckon. I went up into the village (which is quite a steep hill), round a bit, and then back home – total of a smidgen over four miles.
I managed the four miles in just under an hour. RunKeeper, which I have used for at least a couple of years now to track any “on purpose” and “for exercise” activities like running, cycling and walking, tells me I had an average pace of 14:44 minute miles, and an average speed of 4.06mph (and a climb of 239 feet). I can tell you with absolute certainty that was as fast as I could go. I can also tell you I couldn’t have kept that pace up for many more miles.
The enormity of the 26 x 14 minute miles the MoonWalk challenge requires has hit me. I’m looking at 4.3 miles an hour, or approximately 150 steps a minute. I’m nowhere near. Speed or stamina. And I have 18 weeks to go.
And the MoonWalk isn’t my only challenge this year. Actually it’s not my only challenge in May. I’ve also said I’ll give the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge a go just one week after the MoonWalk. Possibly one of the most nuts decisions I’ve made (especially as the MoonWalk recommends no strenuous exercise for two weeks after the event), but I really want to do it and as I have an opportunity to do it with family and friends, I couldn’t say no. Not quite so much pressure because it’s not for charity, but 26 miles of Yorkshire terrain in 12 hours will be no easy task either.
So, here’s a blogger at the start of their training for two quite different walking events, already really worried about what they’ve agreed to. I will do them. I will complete them both. I am quite confident of that. But I am hoping I will be at a level of fitness (physical and mental) that will mean I am able to enjoy them rather than just manage.
I’m not starting from the beginning because I’ve done things like these before, such as the Spires and Steeples Challenge and other hikes, walks and runs, but I’m not very fit at the moment. And I’m not in any routine either. My plan is to walk and cycle as much as I can fit in during the working week, and then do some walks at the weekend. I have a training plan from the MoonWalk organisers which I will do my best to follow (hoping that will also help me prepare for the Three Peaks too), but proper plans like that don’t seem to fit in with a busy schedule like mine.
Any advice for a blogger who kind of knows what she’s doing but is struggling to see how she can get from this point to successfully completing both challenges in May? How about this “always making excuses” head of mine? What is the best way for me to get into a routine of focussed training, especially when I get home from work and the weather is like it’s been today? Is the gym the answer? Feel free to comment below!
Oh, and if you’re feeling generous and would like to sponsor me to do the Walk the Walk London MoonWalk (which may well help motivate my training!!) please visit my fundraising page. Thank you.
Splodz Blogz New Year
24 months ago
Last night the world waited for a single moment when the clock chimed midnight. The start of a new year. There was excitement and anticipation, wanting and waiting. The sci-fi thriller Dr Who loving part of me kind of wonders if time will ever get stuck at midnight… but of course it never does and it’s just another second of another day, we toast the New Year in and make our way to our beds to sleep off the festivities.
You may wonder what all the fuss is about. We don’t all stay up and get together with friends and family any other night of the year – its just another midnight, another 12.01am. So what are we excited about? What are we actually waiting for? Aren’t we setting ourselves up for a fall by expecting and anticipating so much on New Year’s Eve? No. What we are doing is giving ourselves an opportunity to reflect on the year just gone, be thankful for what we have at the present time, and to look ahead to what we hope will be an awesome year to come.
It is of course up to us as individuals and families to make the best of 2012. Some of us try to push ourselves into a good start by making New Year’s Resolutions. Get fitter? Lose weight? Be more active? Learn a new skill? Spend more time doing a lost hobby? I know people who have already been out for a run this morning. Great way to start. Whatever you’ve decided (or are thinking about), it is a way of giving ourselves a goal, making concrete our hopes for the year. Apparently if you make New Year’s Resolutions you are much more likely to reach your goals in life. I didn’t manage to stick to all mine that I made this time last year, some fell by the wayside very quickly, others lasted a bit longer. But I do feel like 2011 was a year in which I achieved things.
Last year I wished for you that whatever you wanted from 2011 and whatever the year brought for you, that the beauty of happiness radiated on your face in the form of a smile. We all need to smile and laugh, it is a fantastic medicine and is even infectious. I hope that has been true for you in 2011 and will continue in 2012.
Personally, I have delegated 2012 as my year of getting outdoors. It’s kind of a Resolution and involves lots of things that should help me better myself. I am hoping that by promising myself I’ll get outside more I’ll spend more time walking and cycling, go on more motorbike rides, go on more days out, have more barbecues, see more of my local area (and further afield), find more things to take photos of, that sort of thing.
It’s not like I’ve been adverse to getting outside in 2011 or 2010 etc… I mean I’ve been surfing, done the Spires and Steeples, been skiing, done a bungee jump and skydive and loads of other stuff too. I love the outdoors and that is the point – I want to spend the coming year doing something I enjoy. My mantra is life is all about the journey and it is in that vein that I try all these things and so what I do – in an attempt to make the most of my years and always giving myself something to look back at and forward to. This is me making a concerted effort to not just sit down, something I have become very good at. I want to “get out more”… into the countryside that is, to explore the world around me. I want to try and make sure I don’t spend a single day cooped up inside – it’s a promise to myself to quit with the lazy bum attitude that has enveloped me in 2011 (which I know is my own fault and down to my own excuses).
And by doing so I hope to really make the most of the year to come, creating lots of memories and being more me than ever.
I’ve already got some stuff in the diary that will help with my year of getting outdoors. I’m doing the MoonWalk in May – and am gonna have to do some serious training if I’m gonna be anywhere near 26 x 14 minute miles by then (and I am going to be asking for sponsorship!). This is also an Olympic year, and I will be carrying the Olympic Flame which will be just awesome, I still can’t believe I have been chosen for that honour. Other things too like skiing in a couple of months and the Zorbing experience I got for my birthday and haven’t used yet. Lots of things to look forward to – lots of chance to use my camera and lots of chance to make fantastic memories.
If you have any suggestions of outdoorsy things I should try and places (fairly local!) I should visit then give me a bell.
There will be no Year in Photos in 2012 for me, I’ve done the 365 project for two years now and I’m gonna have a break. But I’m expecting Splodz Blogz to follow with the outdoors theme this year. No idea in what shape yet but don’t worry, it’ll still be my “everything blog”.
So here’s to 2012. A year for making the best of the world outside my front door. A year to be in the fresh air.
I hope whatever you get up to in the year ahead you have a great time doing it. And smile.
MoonWalk in 20 Weeks
14 months ago
A little while ago I signed up to do the 2012 London MoonWalk. I wrote about it here. It is a marathon power walk to raise money for brest cancer charities run by Walk the Walk.
I received my welcome pack this afternoon. It contains lots of information about the charity and power walking. Oh and a training plan… And now I’m scared! Not least about doing this marathon in a bra!!!! But also at the suggested 14 minute miles.
I’ve declared 2012 as my year of getting outdoors. I love being outdoors – and really enjoy walking – and this challenge should help encourage me to get out there and enjoy what the outside has to offer. It’s just one of the things I have planned. But more of that in the new year.
Of course taking part in this event isn’t just a personal challenge of fitness and stamina (and it will be that!). This is also about raising money for charity. Walk the Walk raises money for vital breast cancer causes, granting funds to projects large and small. There’s more information here: http://www.walkthewalk.org/grants
I’ve set my target at what I think is a very achievable £250… Fancy helping me out? I’d absolutely love it if you would visit my fundraising page.
Olympic Torchbearer!
25 months ago
I may have mentioned how excited I am that the Olympics are in London next year. Well I never managed to get tickets and am now resorting to entering all the competitions I see.
BUT!
This morning I received a mysterious package in the post…
…I pulled the tab slowly to see the man running across the black circle and to find…
…I am going to be a London 2012 Olympic Torchbearer in the run up to the Games!
How awesome is that?! Very cool.
I was nominated through the Coca Cola Future Flames scheme, and am very (very) pleased to have been picked. I am totally excited about it! I have to fill in a form and send off ID etc now, but the place is mine as long as I accept it on time. I wonder what the “uniform” is like?!
The small print on the pack says I should wear my badge with pride and tell everyone about this (although the email said not to talk to local press). I am totally honoured to have been chosen. I know there are 100s of people doing it, I also know that 100s of very worthy nominations did not get picked – I have absolutely no idea why I’m on the list over some other people, I kind of feel guilty in some senses but also very proud. I want to show people that life is indeed all about the journey (my mantra) and to make the best of every moment I have been given – and with the passing of my Nan on Tuesday this nudge couldn’t have come at a better time (although my emotions are obviously quite mixed). Bring it on!
All I know so far is I will be carrying the Olympic Flame somewhere between Grimsby and Lincoln on Wednesday 27th June, and should find out more nearer the time. I’ll let you know 
In the mean time I guess I’d better start running again – don’t wanna get all out of breath on my few metres as a Torchbearer!
Bungeeeee Wheeeeeeee
59 months ago
Yesterday I went down to Wyboston Lakes to do a Bungee Jump.
This was courtesy of a good friend who gave me a voucher for the jump… and while a bungee jump has been on my Things To Do list for some time, the idea of actually doing one has always got me worried!
My biggest fear? My eyes. You’ll know from my ramblings before about the RNIB etc that my eyes are not great and while I don’t have any level of disability I have been told it may happen in future – something that is in the back of my mind all the time. I’ve heard horror stories of people doing bungee jumps and their eyes popping out – yuk and squirm and shudder! But having looked into it (the internet can be good and bad for researching these things!) it seems it’s very rare and I decided worth the risk.
I was booked in for a 160 foot jump off a crane with UK Bungee Club. What a great day for it! Blue skies, white fluffy clouds, slight breeze. When we arrived (and eventually found our way to the Water Sports Centre where the crane was located) I looked at what was before me – it looked fine, wasn’t that high, I was excited.
Registration was quick. As with all experiences like this you sign your life away before you take part. At my allotted time I was put in a harness – one around my legs/waist (similar to a climbing/abseiling harness) and one round my ankles. I was expecting my ankles to be strapped together but actually while there was a strap between the two there was room for movement. My weight was checked twice to make sure I was on the right bungee cord (and written on my hand in permanent marker!), and the harness was checked by four different people in sequence – a very slick and well organised operation.
So I got in the cage and sat down, and with three instructors I was lifted to the top. At the top we were fixed in place. From there no hesitation at all. I got up, my harness was checked one last time, I stood on the edge and…
3…2…1…BUNGEE!
I’m not afraid of heights and felt no reason to stop or hesitate or worry about jumping off – the crew had been so careful after all. I remembered the Skydive I did and how the freefall part was so very awesome. Of I went, head first, diving like a pro (!) out of the cage.
The sensation was amazing. It was a smooth fall – I was flying, straight down. It was fast, the wind was noisy, and I let out a scream in happiness (and also some other less scream like noises apparently!).
As the bungee cord stretched out and pulled me back up the first time it was gentle, no stomach churning moment, and no eyes popping out anywhere! From there the bounces were less smooth, you’re no longer in a nice straight line and are pulled about, around, and can feel the harness take the strain. But it wasn’t uncomfortable and certainly not painful.
As the cord bounced the cage was lowered to the ground, and a couple of crew helped me down onto the ground and out of my harness. What an amazing experience. Shame it was over so quickly. I’d definitely do it again – a bigger one next time, off a bridge perhaps. One day anyway. Thanks Cathy.
As always please remember that if you wish to use the photographs featured on my blog, please contact me first.
