Shakin' that Ass!

Well, January came quick and I now find myself in the middle of the biggest training schedule my life has ever seen!

I have downloaded a marathon-walking-for-beginners training schedule and faithfully begun my programme.

On Tuesdays I do 3 miles, then 2 miles on a Wednesday, then 3 miles again on Thursday. On Friday I need to do just 30 minutes cross-training or similar and then Saturday is a big walk - increasing in distance and getting longer every couple of weeks.

The longer walks are done at regular pace whilst the shorter distances are walked at a quicker pace - like power walking! (Thankfully there are rest-days too otherwise I would be done for!).

At the weekend I dutifully sat down and wrote on my dates, starting with week 1 of the programme and the date I started it... and continued until the date of my event drew nearer ... and to my horror I realised that my event was only 19 weeks away - making my 24 week training plan somewhat ambitious!!

I have therefore had to amend my schedule, step-up the training and skip a few weeks (well, 5 weeks actually!).

So here I am - week 8 in my schedule and doing pretty well I think, although I am annoyed at the Wii fit machine - this new-fangled piece of kit was very impressive when I started out but this over-egoed creation is now insisting that despite doing more exercise I have ever done in my life I am gaining weight rapidly and aging faster than Benjamin Button in reverse!

I reassure myself by the firm knowledge that muscle weighs more than fat and what do machines know anyway??

As for my cycle training - well this has to fit in around my walking - yes I know - it will get harder to fit it all in, I need that time-spinning thing that Hermione had in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban...

Well the biggest part of my training for Amsterdam is to get my bottom in the saddle for as many hours as possible! The exercise bike is useful as this means that I can get some practise in an evening, leaving daylight hours for walking!

Yesterday, Sunday, the family took a cycle ride to Skipwith Common - not too far but with kids along it was far enough believe me! The pace was somewhat slower than I prefer and poor Emily was in some discomfort - in fact at one point on the way back I had to ride in front of her as following made me laugh so much that I almost fell off my bike!!

Her poor bottom was so uncomfortable that she had a little rhythm going all of her own ... rise, wiggle, down and pedal... rise, wiggle, down and pedal...

Talk about shakin' that ass!

Anyway, more training this week so let's see how I get on...anyone fancy a walk? :-)

He's Behind You!

It's a long time since I've been to the panto but when Mum and Dad were both ill and offered me their tickets I couldn't refuse!

I took Emily along to see Berwick Kalers annual performance at York Theatre Royal - it was his 30th year starring in the production which he also writes!

This year the story was Dick Turpin and it was fantastic!

It had so much in it and was jam-packed full of quips and anecdotes, references to local places and of course hilarious ad-libbing which made even the hardened cast (the baddie has been the baddie for the last 21 years!!) chortle a little too much at times! It was brilliant!

We had the Dr. Who theme music complete with Tardis, 'Bucks Fizz' singing 'Making Your Mind Up', Britains Got Talent as Yorks Got Talent, Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, fantastic Irish Dancing, Scooch - Flying the Flag, water tanks with people falling in, water flights, slapstick with a huge ball of dough, a pipe which blew air with such force that the actors faces were distorted like something from a Wallace and Gromit sketch!

There was the Rocky Horror song 'Timewarp' dance, fire-eating, ballet, flying on wires, blacked out stage with cast in fluorescent costumes doing the Ghostbuster song, quick change scene where Berwick Kaler had two characters who had to be on stage at the same time - incredibly quick!!

There was also real video footage of Dick Turpin in costume in London outside Buckingham Palace, riding Black Bess up The Mall and along the Embankment. Not to mention them both (Dick and Black Bess) getting on a train from Kings Cross to York Station - have you ever seen a pantomime horse refusing to get on a train and having to be pushed - what a sight!

All of this and all with the usual wagon wheel throwing, references to previous productions, booing and hissing the baddie - he did play a superb baddie! Whistling at the guy playing Dick - well he did look flipping fantastic in those leotard/tighty things!

Wow! What a night!

It was such fun and it really does make me want to go again - next year! Tickets go on sale in March ... watch this space :-)

Haircut 100

I had a right panic today!

I rang the hairdresser to make an appointment and was told that Lauren hadn't showed up yesterday and nobody knew why - she also had not showed up again today!

Now this may not seem like much of a problem but I only found Lauren in the summer and I have been used to her regularly cutting my hair AND doing a great job too! I hadn't been happy with a hairdresser for a long time - over a year - and after so many bad cuts and changes of salon Lauren has become a very important part of my routine!

So, I came off the phone with no appointment (Lauren or nobody - I had decided!).

Later today I was in Goole with the kids and had a sneaky glance in the salon window as I drove past ... and there she was!

Well, after parking up I marched along to see if she could fit me in - phew, luckily she had time to do both me and Emily :-)

I didn't tell her how panic stricken I was at the thought that we may have lost contact - I really should have her mobile number but the salons new owner may have something to say about that!!

Poor Lauren explained the reason for her absence yesterday and lateness today ... she had been beaten up on New Years Eve!!!!! She had a black eye, cuts and bruises behind her ear, bruises on her arms, back and stomache! Her boyfriends ex-girlfriend had taken on a fit of jealousy!!

Not only that but poor Lauren had to drive herself home (the attack had occurred mid-way through the evening and she had not had anything to drink as she had to drive home later)...

BUT ... the story doesn't end there!

Poor Lauren was involved in a car accident on the way home! Not too badly hurt but very shaken on top of the evenings prior events!

Poor kid!

... and there was me worried about the loss of a decent hairdresser!!