Juneathon 2014 - Day 21

Yippee, I've got up, been out, jogged and now I'm back blogging and it's not even 9 o'clock!

I've been awake on and off since half five this morning, the sun was shining in through the curtains and I couldn't get back into a deep sleep so thought I would bite the bullet and go for a morning run. No sooner as I set off the sun disappeared and the good old Pendle mist descended, the skies went grey and it turned a little bit cold. But I continued and managed to get to the top of my hill, couldn't see anything for fog/mist so no use in taking any pictures of the views because there wasn't one!

I did a 3 mile circuit in 48 minutes and felt fantastic when I got back home.

Today I'm going to do my female duty of trying to boost the local economy by going clothes shopping for our holiday, Husband and Squiggle are going for a father and son day at the park to keep out of trouble!

I'm looking forward to it, the shopping, ( and the holiday ) because my psoriasis treatment has worked wonders this time and I'm very pleased with how my skin is looking, in fact a few people have even complimented me on my complexion. I've been discharged from the treatment room so don't need to go for daily short contact dith treatment any more, but I've still got at least another 12 UVB sessions to go. 

Anyway I'm looking forward to buying a couple of dresses and short sleeved tops, heck I might push the boat out and buy a pair of shorts!

Happy Shopping!

Juneathon 2014 - Days 14 -20

My dear readers, I cannot tell a lie, sadly this week I have had a serious case of C.B.A ( Can't Be Arsed ). I went out on Friday and Saturday night and had a little drinky winky and it seems to have taken its toll on me. I know they say it takes longer to recover the older you get, but a whole week - I'm only 35 for goodness sake!!!

Mind you it didn't help trying to drink a rainbow's worth of alcopops!

For illustration purposes only - I didn't drink them! ( all!! )

Saturday was my friends annual Ann Summers Party, it was a tame party compared to previous ones because the girl who was presenting it was new and it was her first party, so we were her guinea pigs. The night went well until after the party when the karaoke came out and we crucified a good many songs. I swear I can sing better in my car, than trying to keep a tune on the karaoke, apologies to any neighbours who thought we were strangling cats!

Tuesday I was back out at bingo, but sadly have no wins to report, Thursday I took Squiggle to Rascals play centre in Preston, it was his treat for being good in the craft shop, other than that I haven't done anything this week.

I think it may be fair to say that Leo Cat may have done more than me this week. Well things will change tomorrow, it's the longest day of the year and I am determined to get out and make the most of it.

Juneathon 2014 - Day 12 & 13

Yesterday was another fairly non active day, too much to do around the house, thought I would make the most of the good weather and try to wash and dry as much washing as I could ( and I did ). The evening was also non eventful, Squiggle went to his grandma's for a sleepover so I took the opportunity to go to the pub for a child free tea and then get back home and watch as many episodes of Game of Thrones as I could cram in before bedtime.

Today, I took Squiggle to playgroup and spent the morning chasing the kids around before returning home to tackle the mountain of ironing I had created yesterday! Tonight I'm off out with the girls for a slap up meal followed by the pub, so I don't think I'll be doing much this weekend as I try to recover from tonight.

I will wish you all a happy weekend, just in case I don't get the chance to post over the next few days!

Juneathon 2014 - Day 11

Ahh that's better, nothing beats working up a sweat, then having a nice warm shower, putting clean pyjamas on and getting into a freshly made bed.

Did my uphill run again tonight, I'm going to name it The (ex)Pub To Pub Run, because there was a pub at either end of the road but one has since closed. My couch to 5 km app kept crashing on me, so I didn't have that encouragement to motivate me, but I did manage to go a little bit further tonight in the same time as Monday's run. I haven't truly done the full length of the road - I'm leaving that for next time, but I am quite pleased at how well I'm doing. My stomach doesn't seem to hurt as much so maybe my muscles are toning up and starting to do their job again ( wishful thinking )

Whilst running tonight I passed many other runners and one thing was quite noticeable, they all looked a normal colour, nothing like the glowing beetroot that was running towards them.

Everyone else seems to look a normal shade of pink, perfect hair and not a drop of sweat on them whereas I don't!

Does anyone else turn red or a shade of purple whilst running or am I on my own here?

Juneathon 2014 - Day 10

Does walking around Ikea count?

I guess it should do as it took 2 hours to get round it today with a friend. I was only going as the chauffeur ( she doesn't drive, I do, I'm a sucker for taking her places ) and had no intentions of spending today, well that went out of the window in the first few minutes. I've visualised my ideal bedroom, kitchen, living room and bathroom - I just need the funds and a willing volunteer to help me! As mass spending was out today I had to settle for a few glass jars for the kitchen, some plastic cutlery and plates for Squiggle and picnics and a nice storage box.

My friend spent considerably more on glasses, she has taken up glittering them to sell. - Here is her Facebook page - Nic's Glitter Glasses, it's a new business and yes I am biased as she is a friend but they are really good, very sparkly and great for parties!

Tonight I dodged some more rain and went to the bingo, hurrah, I had a nice little win which should compensate for my spending at Ikea earlier!

Tomorrow, I am planning on doing another of my couch to 5k app sessions, just hope the weather is a bit brighter!

Meal Planning Monday - 9th June 2014

Good Evening folks, apologies for a very short and hastened post, been having a spot of trouble with the electric's tonight, there's a storm brewing outside.

The Juneathon mission is going well but I'm having to do most of it indoors due to the typical British Summer, so the exercise bike has been dusted off and is getting a bit of a hammering, but tonight I did manage to go for a hop,skip and jog!

My menu this week is a bit hit and miss because I have a lot of girls night's out planned, so as a rough guide we shall be dining on

Cod in a tomato and basil sauce

Beef Stroganoff

Spaghetti and meatballs

Pasta salad

Carvery/Roast dinner

Next week I am hoping to try and do something a little different and fun for the World Cup, watch this space.

As usual, this post is in conjunction with Mrs M's linky!

Juneathon 2014 - Days 8 & 9

Good evening readers!

Totally forgot to post yesterday, and now I'm sitting here trying to think what I did!

I do remember walking around a supermarket for an hour trying to do my shopping and making my tea but other than that I have no idea! ( and I wasn't even drinking!! )

Today has been a very active day, rain did not stop play, mainly because I had to nip into the town and the only free car park was quite a distance from where I wanted to be and yet again it was pouring down, torrential rain and flooded pavements = me hopping, skipping and jumping my way along!

This afternoon I took shelter in a shopping centre and had a spot of retail therapy, I bought a pair of running leggings - check me out, I've nearly got the full gear now, just need to decide if I want a fancy GPS watch or to make do with my phone.

When I returned home I tackled the mountain of ironing and when I say mountain I mean it - it took nearly 3 hours to conquer it!

Finally after tea the sun came out so I donned my new leggings and went for a jog. The problem with where I live is that I'm sort of in the middle of a hill, and the surrounding area is quite hilly so I don't have anywhere flat to walk/jog/run*

There is one road which has a steady incline which I normally incorporate into my walk but I have to go up another hill to get there and am usually knackered by the time I get there. So I decided to cheat a little and drove up the first hill, parked at the bottom of the second and then walked/jogged my up and back down it. I've taken advice and downloaded a version of the coach to 5 km app, which I used, to some effect. It wanted me to run for 60 seconds in between walks, I can just about manage 45 second bursts at the moment! But with a combination of walking and jogging I did cover 2.58 miles in just under 42 minutes and it was on a hill!

Anyway I just about managed to get back in time before the rain returned, I must admit it was quite nice jogging in a the drizzle, very cooling, but I don't think I could do it in a torrential downpour!

I will have to see how I shape up in the morning, last Monday I could barely walk after my jog and I did a lot more tonight than last week! I'll report back tomorrow!

*delete where appropriate

Juneathon 2014 - Day 7

Today I attended the Ideal Home Show at Event City, Manchester, so spent a good 4-5 hours on my feet firstly avoiding the torrential rain as I 'ran' from the car park to the venue, and then wandering around around looking at all the different stalls.

I will blog separately about the show, but just wanted to get my miles logged for today!

I'm hoping the massive thunderstorm that we've just had will clear the air for a nice Sunday morning jog, I've really missed going out this week because of the weather!

How's everybody else doing with their Juneathon?

Juneathon 2014 - Day 6

Well what a scorcher it's been today, I made the most of it by parking the furthest away from the hospital and had a nice meander through the grounds on route to my UVB appointment. I was apprehensive about going because it's getting hotter and hotter in that cabinet, I feel like I should wrap myself up in tin foil and sell myself as an oven ready chick!

Anyway I persevered and  a minute and half later was back out getting dressed and deciding what to do with myself.

I took my son to playgroup and spent the rest of the morning listening to Michael Jackson on repeat. Squiggle has taken a shine to Thriller and Bad and just wants to listen and dance to them all the time.
This afternoon he decided he was well enough to go to nursery so I spent the afternoon in the garden putting a few more plants in! Before I knew it, it was 4 pm and time to pick Squiggle up.

Tonight we were very naughty and had tea at McDonald's but on the plus side thanks to their app we got 2 free frappacinos!

Peach & Passion fruit or Chocolate Chip

The chocolate one was by far the better of the two, possibly because it contained chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate sauce and whipped cream, whereas the other was just fruit!

Hopefully tomorrow will be a more exercise worthy day - I'm off to the Ideal Home Show at Manchester, so will be spending all day on my feet walking around and hopefully getting inspiration to sort my house out!

Juneathon 2014 - Day 5, poorly child

Woohoo I'm back on track, was up bright and early this morning to do a 10 km bike ride in the comfort of my living room, yes it was pouring down with rain again, so I opted for a quick ride on my exercise bike.

I then proceeded to spend the rest of the day in the urgent care centre at the hospital. Poor Squiggle has been suffering lately with a cough and runny nose but during the night he started with earache. It's the one ailment that makes me feel useless as a mother, a scratch or cut an be covered with a plaster, a grazed knee can be kissed better, a coco pop up the nose can be extracted but there's nothing I can do for earache, sure I can and did give him children's paracetamol but trying to explain to a 4 year old that it needs time to work is a bit of a pointless exercise whilst they are crying in pain.

Anyway 3 hours later and the diagnosis was an ear infection. The nurse didn't want to prescribe antibiotics if she could help it, so we were sent on our way with some children's ibuprofen and told to see how he is tomorrow.

Squiddle then spent the rest of the afternoon fast asleep on the settee, but miraculously "got better" when grandma came to see him, and he is now off for a sleepover.

I think I might take advantage of this and try and grab and early night myself!

Juneathon 2014 - Day 4

Oh dear, another day of not really doing much. I thought this was meant to be British Summer time, oh hang on it is, British Summer mainly consists of wet and windy days doesn't it? I refuse to go out in the rain at the best of times and I'm coming down with Squiggle's cold so I'd rather stay in and keep warm.

There was a moment of blue sky which didn't last long but was long enough for the magpie's to create havoc in the garden, I couldn't see which poor pussy cat they were squawking at but they weren't half telling him/her off!

It soon became clear why, they were sitting on my washing line picking the flies off the cobwebs and didn't want anything else feasting with them!

Feasting time!

Keeping a lookout

Two's company

Juneathon 2014 - Day 3

Oh dear, I'm getting off to a good start again this year *rolls eyes sarcastically* I did no notable exercise today but in my defence I shopped! I spent a good 2 hours aimlessly wandering around a shopping centre, peering in through windows at all sorts of lovely delights and then moving on, because I can't afford to buy anything this week. Well that's a bit of a fib, I did actually end up spending a whopping £7 on 3 plant tubs, a bottle of tomato feed and a bag of compost, and then spent the rest of the afternoon replanting my not so small seedlings.

This year I am aiming to grow tomatoes,

 runner beans

 and peas, and so far they're looking good

I rescued the runner beans from the sale rack at a garden centre, they were looking pretty sorry for themselves and had been reduced to 50 pence, but with a good watering and spending the night in a warm place they've doubled in size!

Juneathon 2014 - Day 2

Other than popping out to the hospital this morning for another dose of light treatment for my psoriasis and doing a spot of work, I have basically been sat in all day waiting for the rain to stop. The heavens certainly opened up this afternoon, the rain was pouring off the roofs like Niagara Waterfalls at one point.

So I've had to get the exercise bike out and dust it off, it hasn't been used since my Mad March Marathon back in March!

Also I'm in agony from yesterdays little jogging session, so I've just sat and peddled for an hour whilst watching the TV. As usual I'm last to jump on the bandwagon with big TV programmes so I've just started to watch Game Of Thrones, currently up to Season One, Episode Five!

Anyway I just about managed to cycle 15 km today, my legs feel like stone today! Hopefully the weather will be better and I won't feel like I've seized up and can get back outside again!

Juneathon 2014 - Day 1

White rabbits, white rabbits, white rabbits, first of the month today, and not just any month, but the magical month of June. The month in which we celebrate the longest day and the longest slog to get active - Juneathon is upon us, and so it begins!

I was up bright and early this morning, the sun was shining and the birds were twittering, I eagerly jumped out of bed, put on my new running trainers and my new running clobber - I've treated myself to new trainers, new shorts and a running jacket. Put my hair in a ponytail, grabbed a bottle of water and set off.

I'd previously walked a route that I thought might be good for me to jog ( crawl before walking, and walk before jogging! ). It has 2 quite steep hills to climb, but takes in my local reservoir and river and has some great views of the town and countryside, which I will share with you throughout the month.

Bluebells on the riverbank

The feeder river to the reservoir

My route is 4.25 miles ( 6.8 km ) and I normally manage to walk it in about 1 hour 20 minutes, but today I managed to walk, wobble and jog it in 1 hour 6 mins and 59 seconds. I set off jogging from my house and was well and truly knackered by the time I hit the end of the street, I did wonder why I was doing this, I was never one for doing P.E. at school and I made every excuse possible to get out of it, I don't mind cycling or swimming or even just walking long distances, but running is one of the things I've never liked, mainly due to wobbly bum and bouncing boobs syndrome, but now I've another ailment to add to the list, wobbly belly, but not just any wobbly belly, mine is the result of a pregnancy gone wrong and one which has left my stomach muscles with a gaping gap in them. 

Quick lesson for those not in the know, when a woman is pregnant her abs split to allow the womb and baby to grow, after birth they slowly knit themselves back together

but unfortunately for me that never happened, so it is quite painful to do quite a lot of things actually.
However, thanks to the miracle of body shaping underwear and corsets I have been able to truss myself up so that I can go about normal daily activities, and this underwear was a godsend today.

So anyway back to why I am doing this, I think it's a touch of jealousy and inspiration rolled into one. A lot of my friends have taken up running and one or two of them have taken part in races like The Great North Run, and I am inspired by them ( and jealous because they can run ). Also I have a secret longing to run a marathon. I've had it a while and since my illness the desire has gotten stronger. I would love to be able to do one before I'm 40, but for now I'll set my sights on being able to run 2 blocks before feeling like my lungs are going to explode!