Day 31 - The last day :(

I can't believe it's 31st January! 31 days ago I was worrying about what I had signed myself upto, but it was one of the best decisions that I have made. Doing Janathon has shown me how easy it is to exercise more. I've learnt to make time for it. I exercised 28 out of the 31 days - I'm really proud of myself.

Today I decided to end Janathon on a high. I ran 8miles in 1hour 20minutes. That's 10 min miles. I kept the same pace for the whole run and didn't struggle with my running but it was absolutely freezing and I couldn't feel my hands towards the end!

Janathon has been an amazing experience for me. I'm going to keep my running and kickboxing up and squeeze in yoga when I can. 

 I just want to say a massive well done to everyone - we did it! :)

Day 29 and 30 - Country weekend

This weekend I escaped to the country. We stayed with my boyfriend's parents in Castle Cary, Somerset. It was lovely to get away and see them but it did mean I couldn't exercise as much as I wanted to. Yesterday we were busy with football, travelling, playing uno, talking, eating and playing DJ Hero 2 which is great fun but I was rubbish! I managed to do 10 minutes of yoga exercises before I went to bed - pathetic I know but I thought it's better than nothing.

Today has been much of the same, however, once I got home and Finn was bed I completed 40 minutes of Pilates exercises. I feel quite relaxed and ready for the week ahead. Can't believe it's 31st January tomorrow - Janathon has gone so quickly!

Day 28 - Warm ears

Yesterday my running headband with ear protectors arrived so I tested it out today. My ears felt lovely and warm for my whole run :)

I also used a different audiofuel programme today which meant running at different speeds. It made a difference from running at the same speed and trying to run as far as I can. I ran just over 5km. I ran along the beach - the sunset was beautiful.

Day 27 - Not long to go

Kickboxing tonight and we are preparing for our grading. For this we have to show a certain level of fitness, techniques, sparring and self-defence. For mine I have to be able to do 40 press ups, 40 crunches, 40 squats and 40 star jumps. Tonight my instructor made us do double squats, crunches and star jumps. I did them all and felt good - I don't think I could have done that a few weeks ago!

Can't believe we are nearly at the end of Janathon - I'm definitely going to carry on exercising every day I feel so much better. Next step is to stop eating crap! :)

Day 25 and 26 - Not used to the routine yet

Day 25 - Ok Confession to make - I didn't exercise yesterday no excuses - I felt tired so I didn't do anything. I'm really annoyed with myself, especially so close to the end but I just couldn't summon up any enthusiasm to exercise :(

Day 26 - All set to run after work today only to find that the boiler isn't working again. So yet again I had to sit around and wait for the boiler man to come. So I decided to do my Yogalates DVD. It's a mixture of Yoga and Pilates. It's quite easy to follow and I feel like I've had a good stretch. I'm going to try and do this at least once a week now.

Tomorrow I have kickboxing and I'm definitely running on Friday - I'm not going to let boilers or rain get in my way!

Day 24 - Back to routine

Today we had to get back into routine as I started back at work. It was hard getting up at 7am and going out at 8am but I'm sure it won't take us long to get used to it again.

Finn had Beavers tonight so I went for a run with a friend from Kickboxing. My nikeplus didn't record the run so I'm not sure how far we ran but we ran for aboit 30mins. It was nice to run with someone and we've decided to make it a weekly thing :)

Day 23 - Should I or shouldn't I

I've had a great weekend and stayed up late the last two nights - something I haven't done for ages!

My plan was to do one of my DVD's this evening but I'm really tired and I've decided to go to bed early instead. I'm back to work tomorrow and running with a friend tomorrow evening.

So close to the end of Janthon now - no more excuses and I'm going to push on and do as much running as I can - my next rest will be 1st Feb :)

Day 21 and 22 - Escape to London

Yesterday I came to London to stay with my boyfriend. I had quite a few jobs to do before I left and wasn't able to squeeze in any exercise :(  but the main reason I came to London was to go to a birthday party. We had a great night and I danced loads so I don't feel so bad.

Today we relaxed and I managed to persuade my boyfriend to go for a run. We ran a mile and a half together - well I say together he had to be 10foot in front of me the whole time incase I tried to overtake him!

Day 20 - Tired legs

I didn't run today as I had my kickboxing class. My legs are starting to feel tired and I struggled with some of the kicks :( 

I'm off for a relaxing hot bath and lots of stretches tomorrow :)

Day 19 - Evening Hill

The sun is shining and the sky is blue in Bournemouth today so I decided to drive over to Evening Hill for my run. Evening Hill is a very special place to me. My sister died three years ago from Cystic Fibrosis and this is where we scattered her ashes. It's a beautiful place - it's on the coast between Sandbanks and Poole Harbour. It's always so peaceful there and a great spot to think and feel close to my sister.

I was only going to run 5km today but I felt good and carried on to do just over 8km including some hills at the end.

I've seen lots of stunning views, houses and expensive cars on my run today so I'm off to buy a lottery tickets!

Day 18 - Taking advantage of a freebie

I found a free day pass to Fitness First on the internet the other day so I thought I'd take advantage of it. I did a 45minute spin class and an hour of Body Balance.

The classes were ok - bit disappointed with spinning as it was quite boring and the instructor didn't even get on his bike! The music was fantastic though.

Body Balance was good, alot easier than other releases that I have done or maybe my legs are just stronger! But there was no meditation at the end, which is the best bit :(

Also I managed to avoid the hard sell to persuade me to join which was good.

I'm very happy as when I got back to my locker I had a missed call from my old boss. I start back teaching on Monday :)

Day 17 - The Zig Zag

Today I went for a short run - whilst running I decided to tackle one of the Zig Zags from the beach to the cliff top. This isn't any old Zig Zag - it has 8-9 zigs. One of which is really steep!

I'm soooooo happy as I ran up the whole bloody thing :) The last two zigs were difficult but I kept going. I would never have been able to do that a few weeks ago.

Here is a pic of the Zig Zag - this is just the bottom!

Also I've now reached orange level on my Nike plus profile because I have run 54km since Jan 1st - I feel really chuffed. Definitely not a blue Monday for me :)

Day 16 - Kickboxing

After not exercising yesterday I threw myself into kickboxing today. Another good session but today we did alot more kicks. 

We had to go up and down the hall kicking the pads. This is great when doing normal standing kicks but the kicks started getting fancier - we had to start spinning round and kicking. Not easy at 10.30 on a Sunday morning!

Back to running tomorrow :)

Day 15 - Confession

Yes I have a confession. I didn't do any exercise yesterday. I felt guilty all night aboiut it as I did have intentions to run.

Yesterday I had until 4pm with my son so I planned to run after 4pm. We had a great day together. Finn had football first thing - good for him, cold for me! We played Monopoly Revolution - he won and we did our food shopping and a few jobs. 

I live near an alternative therapy centre and when walking past I noticed they were offering £10 taster sessions for reflexology and before I knew it I was in there booking a session for 4.15pm. It was wonderful and  I felt so relaxed that by the time I got home the thought of running and taking away My relaxing mood didn't appeal!

This is the first time I've missed some so I'm still proud of myself for everything I've done so far. From today I'm back on it and I've booked a full reflexology session for 31st Jan to celebrate completing Janathon :)

Day 14 - Not so sunny Bournemouth

I waited all morning for the rain to stop or at least ease off - finally at 12.30pm ish it did so I got out there quick.

I'm not feeling my normal cheerful self today. I'm finding it hard not having a job and I'm feeling a bit low. Going out for a run has kind of helped but I found it hard today. Thank goodness for the audiofuel coach! Any way I'm glad I did it and the rain stayed away too. 

I'm looking forward to 3.30pm when it's time to pick up Finn. I know I'll cheer up as soon as I see him and we are going out for dinner tonight with my nan so there should be lots of laughing tonight.

Day 13 - Nearly the weekend

Decided not to run today as I have kickboxing on a Thursday.

Another great session - I even got a "well done" for my low block reverse punch :)

Back to running tomorrow. I'm going over to Sandbanks so I'll take some photos as it's always beautiful there whatever the weather.

Day 12 - Waiting for the Boiler man

I had a great night sleep so I woke up feeling ready for my next run only to find out I had no heating and no hot water :( poor Finn had to have a wash using water from the kettle.

My plan of going over to Sandbanks went out the window as I had to wait for the bolier man to come. He came at 2.45pm and was finished half an hour later which is when I had to leave to pick up Finn.

No run today but I now have heating and hot water. I did 40mins of my DVD again once Finn was in bed so I've still exercised and hopefully I can do my Sandbanks run tomorrow.

Photo's as promised

Day 11 - My longest run so far

Last night I planned my run for today and hoped that there wouldn't be any rain. It was quite grey and windy this morning but no rain.

I took Finn to school and then ran from there. I ran upto Christchurch past the Priory and the river then upto Hengistbury Head which is on the coast. I then ran along the overcliff back to my flat in Boscombe. The views were amazing. By the time I got to the coast the sun had come out . I took some photos so once I figure out how to get them from my phone to here I will upload them.

I ran 8miles today which is the furtherest I have ran before. I know that's not much for some but it's a big achievement for me :)

Day 10 - DVD Day

Today I visited my Grandad as I haven't seen him for a while and it's his birthday tomorrow. He lives an hour away from Bournemouth so I didn't have time for a run before I had to collect Finn from school. It was great to see him and catch up - I wish he lived nearer.

Once Finn was in bed I did 40 minutes of my 10 Minute Solution Blast off Body Fat. I completed the arms, thighs, bum and abs section. This is a great DVD - the exercises are challenging and each 10 minute section goes really quickly.

I'm back to running tomorrow. I want to do at least 10km. But for now it's back to Glee :)

Day 9 - Sunday morning Kickboxing

I woke up to my son jumping on me this morning - opened the curtains and saw sunshine :)

Kickboxing was great this morning - lots of abs and chest exercises so I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow with a six pack and perky boobs! 

I'm also getting the hang of sparring although I did take a few punchs to the head :(

I'm going to make the most of the sunshine and have a walk along the beach this afternoon.

Day 8 - Day with the boys

As it's Saturday, I get to spend the day with my two favourite people - Finn and Chris :)

Finn had football at 8.45am this morning and we are taking him to watch his first match this afternoon so I decided to give running a rest today. When we got home from football I went into the garden and did some skipping and boxing. I then did some upper body weights as I feel as if I've neglected my top half!

Today is all about football! 

Day 7 - Drowned rat

Ok so the weather isn't great in Bournemouth today so when I saw it had finally stopped raining and I'd finished watching The Wedding House (I love a good wedding!) I put on my PE kit and got out there. I decided I would just do 5km today and build up my longer runs next week.

Today I ran along the cliff top down the zig zag and then back home along the beach and up a hill back to my flat. As I got to the zig zag the heavens opened - it felt amazing! I felt really free and took big breaths of sea air however I was also getting soaked! The hill back home was tough but I kept going and I know that soon I'll be sprinting up it :) I ran just under 5km which is annoying so I'm going to change my nikeplus to show me km instead of miles.

Almost one week of Janathon completed - I'm proud of myself so far :) 

Day 6 - Kickbox Queen

Thursday is kickboxing day so I had a relaxing day looking for jobs and abit of shopping as my class isn't until 7.30pm.

It was a great class tonight. We always do a 15 minute workout of various exercises and running up and down the hall. We did some circuits as well then technique practice as it's a month until our grading. I'm currently working towards my green belt.

I felt great tonight I worked really hard but it seemed easier because of all the exercise I've done this week. Janathon is doing me the world of good - can't wait to see how I'll feel at the end of January :)

Back to routine

Today is my son's first day back to school. It's been great having the last two weeks together. My boyfriend who lives in London has also had the last week off so I've loved having time with both of them. So today I found myself on my own.

I'm not working at the moment and today is the first day that I actually missed work! I teach English as a Foreign Language and my last contract ended in December. There are not many students about so hopefully as soon as they start flooding over my phone will still start ringing! Until then I've decided to make the most of my time off by exercising and getting all those jobs done that I've been putting off!

Today I ran my first 10km for a while. I nearly didn't do it but now I'm really glad I did. I was starting to feel down about having a job but going for my run has really cheered me up and I feel positive again :)

Day 4 - Last day of the holidays

Today is the last day before my son goes back to school so rather than get a babysitter to look after him while I run, I decided to do a fitness DVD at home. 

It was hard work for me but a source of amusement for my son!

I bought the new 10 Minute Solutions Blast off Body Fat DVD which consists of 5 10 minute workouts for each body part. There were a few exercises I hadn't done before and lots of classics. I completed the whole 50 minutes and then did a 10minute stretch from another fitness DVD that I have.

Overall it was a great workout and I think the more I do it the better I will get at it. 

My son, Finn, is back to school tomorrow so I will be able to run for the next 3 days. I'm not working at the moment so rather than sit on the sofa and let my bum get bigger, I'm going to make use of the time and exercise to make it smaller (hopefully!) 

Bank Holiday run

I woke up this morning and decided to start my Monday with a run.

I've been using a running programme called Audiofuel to help me with my running. The music is great and it also has coaching to help you run to the beat of the music and it lifts you when you start to get tired. I don't think I could run without it now! I bought a new 30min programme called "Rocks Off" on Saturday so I tested it this morning. It was great - really inspiring :)

I live right by the beach (I know I'm a luck cow!) so I love running along by the sea. Whatever the weather, it's always beautiful there and helps me stay motivated. There are also zig zag hills from the beach to the cliff top so today I ran up one of them for the first time in ages - it was challenging but I did it!

I'm really pleased with my progress so far - I did 5km today - onwards and upwards :)

Back to Kickboxing!

I survived the first Kickboxing class of the year! 

Lots of circuits, technique practice and sparring. It was hard work but I feel great. Probably, no I definitely will be aching tomorrow! All good though - no pain, no gain!

Jan 1/11/11 - Day one

Today was my first run for a couple of weeks due to snow, work and being ill so I took it easy. I really enjoyed it and feel really motivated.

I managed 6km today which I'm really pleased about as I'm still not 100% better. I'm looking forward to going back to kickboxing tomorrow.

Definitely a good start to 2011! :)