Firstly Happy New Year – Hope you had fun bringing in the new year! The Hubby and I saw the new year in watching Deadpool 2 and then the fireworks on TV! In bed by 12:20am! Rock ‘n’ roll!
So, like a lot of my blog posts, this started life as an Instagram caption but got rather lengthy so it graduated to being my first (unplanned) blog post of 2019! Woo!
I downloaded my Best Nine Instagram posts of 2018, ready for that to be my first Instagram post of 2019 (it’ll now be the second instead) wishing everyone Happy New Year but what struck me was that the posts that did the best were those that were open, honest, communication from me – either sharing a truth about me and my anxiety, celebrating a success or just showing gratitude!
I have kinda of lost my running mojo, so this 14-day challenge I totally think is the kick up the bum I need to rekindle my love of running and to start considering myself as a runner!
The challenge starts, tomorrow, on Valentine’s Day – no day could be more appropriate to start reviving the love! What is more, I am going to be a Blog Ambassador for this program too – go me!!! Yay!!! Read More »
Bit late posting this, sorry about that, had a manic day just running around doing errands! Can’t believe the third week is complete! It’s crazy how fast June is going by!
Wow – half way already!?! Where is the time going?
So what exercise have I been up to this week?
Day 8 Day 3 of the Fitness Blender 5 day Strong and Lean challenge plus some additional weight work for my arms using my 1.5kg weights (20 bicep curls, 20 upright rows, 20 tricep kickbacks, 20 overhead shoulder presses and 15 bent over reverse fly) repeated 3 times!
My Blue One loves his football! His first words (after the obligatory ‘mama’ and ‘dada’) were ball and goal – so we knew early on! Think it’s in his genetics as his daddy is a pretty good player himself! The Blue One has been attending football sessions with AW Football Coaching since he was two years old! He’s now four – so he’s been playing for half his life!!! :-He adores his Coach Alex and really looks up to him – and Alex is great with the kids. How he remembers all their names is a mystery to me!
The Blue One loves it and actually attends four sessions a week (that’s 3.5 hours of football a week, occasionally a bit more if he goes to a Friday session too!) – we’re enjoying the ability to do this as much as we can as he starts school in September and this will obviously all change. It’s amazing watching someone so young, who actually has a talent, but thoroughly enjoying himself at the same time as well as getting lots of exercise and keeping fit! I love that my kids love being so active! It’s wonderful!
Went for a run this evening as soon as the hubby got it in.
It was a bit brass monkeys to say the least but I managed 6km and was pretty chuffed as tonight’s 6km was pretty much two minutes faster than my last 6km on 9th January! I’ve shaved 20 seconds of my pace too! Hoping I can keep up this improvement… Hopefully something different for tomorrow! 🙂 xxx
Today was the usual type of morning, which is get the small people to school and nursery and then I come home and study. Then it’s back to collect the Blue One from nursery and then home. Today was lovely as my mum and dad visited, so they came with me to get the Blue One with me which he loved.
Later in the afternoon it was another football session with Coach Alex for the Blue One (he’s active for Janathon too), I love the fact my kids are rather active and love all their sports sessions.
On the way home, we picked the Pink One up from my friend who kindly collected her from school for me. My mum and dad were still at mine, so I sorted the kid’s dinners and was then able to get out early for my run. I managed a pretty steady 6km for Janathon day 12!
Check out that neon yellow – making sure I could be seen!
I was pretty chuffed though to see that each of my last 3km was a smidge faster each kilometre than the previous, not by much, but quicker nonetheless. Certainly ached and could feel it when I get in, but well worth it. What to do tomorrow? 🙂 xxx
Today was just a really lovely day, despite the rainy weather, for a number of reasons;
It started with taking the Blue One to a taster session of Saturday football that his coach (Coach Alex of AW Football Coaching) invited him to. The Blue One has been doing football sessions since he was about two with Coach Alex, who he adores, starting at a toddlers session at North Cray Children’s Centre – he now attends an improvers session at Falconwood and does another session at Sidcup Youth Centre.
At this session, the Blue One and three or four other ‘little’ boys his age got to see what exciting things they have in store for when they get bigger and they got to play with the ‘big’ boys – who are all of about 4 and 5, but when you’re still only 3 that’s quite a difference!
My Blue One had a fab time and was totally in his element, not nervous or intimidated at all, and he ran around for a full hour! Good going when you’ve only got little legs and it was raining! He chatted to me about it non-stop after he loved it so much, but he now thinks he’s going to be playing football 3 times a week!!! I on the other hand now realise I am a ‘soccer mum’ – oh dear! Must remember not to keep calling out… haha!
What the Blue One loved about football today
The boy and I then popped into the Card Factory after, and if you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram you may already know this, but the nicest thing happened, whilst queuing to pay for our purchases the Blue One was chatting to me about the Spider-Man balloon he liked and maybe he could have it for his birthday, he was then chatting with the lady behind us in the queue. Just as we finished paying the lady asked if we could wait 5 minutes, and then said to the Boy “the lady in the shop has a surprise for you as you’re such a good helper to your mummy, happy new year” and then she was gone and she’d bought him the Spider-Man balloon – I was overwhelmed and speechless! Bought tears to my eyes, such kindness and I don’t even know her name – but Thank You, she made my boys (and my) day! The kindness of a stranger has definitely restored my faith in humanity!!!
Very pleased with his kind gift!
So on that high we headed home, where the hubby had sorted out the front room as we’ve hired a RugDoctor to clean our carpet, so we did that for the afternoon and then we were all confined to the kitchen and conservatory as the carpet has to dry – which it is doing, slowly!
It was at this time I decided to go for my run! So this is my actual Janathon activity for day 9. I managed a 6km run! I was pretty chuffed with that, because at the 2km mark I thought I may have to stop and walk home as my ankles were really hurting, but I plodded on and it did ease, it’s annoying as the rest of my legs felt strong and my breathing was good and for once my brain wasn’t telling me I couldn’t do it – so I am proud that I kept going. My legs, which were still feeling achy and a bit stiff after my Boxercise class, now actually feel much looser and better after my run which is great – and I made sure I stretched properly after my run, especially my ankles.
My Pink One demonstrating perfect leg stretches – how straight is that leg!? She also rather likes mummy’s Buff!Some sinister after run selfies!
On a little side note, I also got an email telling me one of my Redbubble images had been sold as a greetings card – I made all of 15p – but someone bought one of my images, it’s so exciting, I am very happy! Here’s a link to the image and a link to my previous post about my Redbubble.
So today I managed to go for a good run, but not exactly the most exciting thing to blog about, so I am going to use it to review my lovely new Buff. I think I may have mentioned it once or twice… possibly more…
I’ll start with a bit about my actual Janathon exercise, as I said yesterday, I like having a specific goal, so today I needed to go to Morrisons to ask about hiring a RugDoctor – we’re desperate to give our carpet a thorough clean. Morrisons is about 3km away, so made it a good middle point. So I set off, with minimal procrastination, as I did do some Open University study this morning as well.
The run there was a little tough as there is a bit of an incline – but this did mean coming home I would have some downhill which was a nice thought! I made it to Morrisons and went in and ask my questions.
See – it’s Morrisons!
The run home was very pleasant, running downhill is much nicer, and the sun was shining brightly, did my usual of wearing one too many layers, but all in all I was pretty comfortable!
And back home again!
A good 6.48km covered!
Buff Review
***I bought the Buff myself, and all opinions are my own – not a sponsored post***
I may have previously mentioned (in my last two posts) that I am now the proud owner of a Buff!
So what is a Buff? According to their own site a Buff is;
Multifunctional Headwear
Apparently, it can be worn in 13 different ways! If you want to learn more about the history of the Buff you can find the information here!
I purchased mine from the Buff store in Bluewater and it cost me £15, but they are available from other distributors such as Amazon. Going to the store was quite nice when buying my first one as I could see what they were actually like and feel the material etc.
It’s quite amazing what looks like a simple tube of material can be so useful, comfortable, versatile and make someone feel quite so happy!!! I think I’m a bit obsessed!
My New Buff!
I get quite warm when I am running, so generally run in a baseball cap rather than a beanie hat (the peak is useful for keeping the sun and rain out of my eyes without me overheating), but in the winter months I absolutely hate my ears getting cold, when they get too cold it actually makes me feel sick, this is why I bought a Buff (as recommended by my running buddy Helen).
Absolutely hits the spot, I wore it today for my run as it was a little chilly, as a headband going over my ears, and I was still able to wear my beloved baseball cap (bit of a lucky charm) over the top of it. The Buff was super comfy, didn’t make me feel too hot, but kept my ears nice and cosy and my headphones in!
Fits beautifully with my baseball cap!
I will definitely be purchasing more of them and am also considering them for the kids as they like mine and I think will be easier to wear than a normal scarf, we will see! I personally have my eye on a Star Wars one, but I also like the super colourful ones!
As a laugh I thought I’d attempt the ‘How To Wear’ that’s on the packaging!
The Cap – though it looks like I’m wearing a swimming capNeckerchief- think this looks quite smartBlind Chicken (why?), Wristband and SaharianeMy personal favourite – HeadbandThe MaskThe one that makes me laugh – The Pirate!
There is also a hairband option – but my hair is too short to demonstrate that!
Scientific bit – the material provides thermal insulation and takes moisture away from the skin. This Buff has Polygiene Stay Fresh – Permanent Odour Control too!
I would highly recommend them – great just to wear walking as well as running! 🙂 xxx
I was pretty chuffed with that, because at the 2km mark I thought I may have to stop and walk home as my ankles were really hurting, but I plodded on and it did ease, it’s annoying as the rest of my legs felt strong and my breathing was good and for once my brain wasn’t telling me I couldn’t do it – so I am proud that I kept going.
My legs, which were still feeling achy and a bit stiff after my Boxercise class, now actually feel much looser and better after my run which is great – and I made sure I stretched properly after my run, especially my ankles.
Jog on Mum 