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? :-)