Challenge Week

The ever-so-stylish Jess had what she calls a brainwave. I call it a moment of madness. She wants to do a series of week-long fitness challenges and I, stupidly, agreed to join in.

This is not mine or Jess' bum...

The first is to see if we can make time in our hectic lives to exercise for 30 minutes every day for a whole week. I've got to fit my 3½ hours in with:

• 56 hours sleeping
• 45 hours working
• 10 ½ hours commuting
• 2 hours showering
• 20 hours playing with my kid
• 6 hours eating
• X hours doing anything but exercise

Perhaps that's the wrong attitude to take though? In my Good Housekeeping magazines (don't say it) there's a whole page on how you can save time on boring tasks to make time for fun stuff. So my ideas to fit it in are...

• Walk/Jog home from work one evening - it shouldn't take any longer than the bus and it's FREE!
• Get the kid to join in - dancing, roller-skating, cycling - they all count as exercise.
• Skip the post session shower.
• ^ ^ ^ Not really ;)
• Get up early - I'm rubbish in the mornings, but if I can master this one I'll be away!

See, when you put it down on paper screen it doesn't look so hard, does it? My job is to come up with a pretty "Weekly Challenge" chart for us to fill in so we can chart our progress throughout the week.

Why not join in with us? The more the merrier! Feel free to post on your own blog and remember to leave a link here in the comments so we can see what you're up to.

Random Running

The Mr managed to convince me that I'm probably better than c25k week one and that, instead of following the plan, I should just run as much as I can, with no route.

I got MapMyRun up on the ol' HTC and we set off. Yes, we. I ran with my husband for the first time ever. After about 15 minutes we were doing some 'off-roading' in the woods and my asthma started to kick in. Having lost my inhaler in the house move I decided to slow down for a bit. Some sporadic (and painful) jogging later and I was back home.

Unfortunately I had managed to pause MapMyRun in my pocket and so had no idea how far we'd gone, if all that pain was worth it. I went on-line later and figured it must have been just under 2.5 miles in about 35 minutes. Not bad when you feel like you're going to pass out, be sick and explode your lungs all at once.

The thing is, I feel like I failed. It wasn't a long run, overall I was quite slow and it hurt. I'm going to stick to the plan and do solitary c25k runs from now on. If they are easy then at least I'll feel like I've achieved something and look forward to the next run.

As it is, bring on Sunday when I'm going to smash my previous week 1 time/distance record. Go me!

Tasty Friday: Pickled Shallots

We get a vegetable box delivered every week and, sometimes, we manage to eat it all. Recently we were sent loads of little shallots and decided to pickle them.

Shallots - prepare to be pickled!

20 things you didn't know...

Due to issues with the needle/shuttle timing on my sewing machine, Thursday Sewing Club is postponed. In the meantime, here's some things you might not have known about me...

New Plan

Well, we all know how things went for me last time I was running - injured knee within a couple of weeks and then over two months off training! So now I have a new training plan up on my wall and am getting really into it.

The Team Bangs ladies know how to run!

This time, instead of focusing on the running, I am aiming for a more balanced regime. Each week of the 12 week plan I'm doing two runs, one muscle session, one yoga session and two cardio sessions (aerobics, dance etc.). The running is basically following c25k but only two runs per week instead of three. I'm aiming to be running a 5k parkrun by the end of March along with Jess of Feeling Stylish.

For now let me point you in the direction of Team Bangs on the Run - it's a project by Muireann Carey-Campbell (aka Bangs and a Bun) which gets people running! The Team Bangs Army is currently training for the Berlin half marathon in a little under 12 weeks time, but even if you're not going for something quite so ambitious sign up to the newsletter for some fabulous running tips and motivation.

Until next time...

AGA Sale!!

I'm sure you all know by now how much I love AGA. You probably also know that I recently moved house. What you won't know is how much I hate our cooker. We've got a really little oven/grill with only one shelf, all the buttons are broken so we can't set the clock, and the hob has two settings - polar or nuclear. It's time to convince the Mr to buy a new one... Wouldn't this look lovely in my kitchen?!

Aga Masterchef Cooker
Up to 50% off

Review: Tickled Trout

As some of you probably know already, I was stranded near Preston recently and ended up with a last minute stay at the Tickled Trout Hotel for New Years.

The Tickled Trout Hotel

Because we arrived at night time we missed the "stunning views over the beautiful River Ribble" and could only see motorways. Getting to our room was a five minute trek through identical corridors, most of which smelt very strongly of gone off potatoes. The twin room was tidy and clean, your usual bog-standard motorway hotel room. I'm not convinced of its status as a twin room though, the beds were less than an inch apart. It was also roasting hot. The radiator would not turn down (even when a member of staff was sent to help) so we opened the huge window, which was broken and balance precariously on one hinge, and headed downstairs for some food.

Unfortunately for us there was a New Year's Eve party so no room in the restaurant for regular guests. We sat in the bar and ordered food and drinks. The choice for vegetarians was appalling from such a large hotel chain and Matt's pumpkin risotto, despite tasting OK, lacked a lot in presentation. He was presented with a large white bowl, a portion of ravioli in the bottom and that's it - no sauce, no garnish. My burger was similarly disappointing being just a lump of (delicious, succulent) meat in an un-buttered roll with a few chips. I was disappointed, just a little more effort would have turned it into a fantastic meal. Perhaps they were too busy in the kitchen dealing with the party...

Mr Bunn in a ridiculously hot 'twin' room

When we returned to our room some hours later it was still unbearably hot. We tried calling reception but got no answer and so trudged back down to speak to someone. A sign on the desk informed us we should speak to the bar if we needed help. They were busy and did not want to speak to us. Eventually an off-duty staff member found the manager who gave us a key to a different room and requested we call down to let him know it was OK. The second room was marginally cooler and despite the strong smell of rotting eggs we decided it was more acceptable than the first room. Unfortunately we could not let the manager know as the phone in the room was broken.

All in all our stay at the Tickled Trout was disappointing. It could have been so much better with just a little more effort.

1. Don't turn the thermostat up to full. I know it's winter but no-one likes tropical heat like that.
2. When someone orders room service remember to remove their dirty plates or your hotel will smell of rotten potatoes, especially in that heat.
3. If you're going to dress the staff up like it's a proper hotel then you should train them too. Wiping overflowing Guinness off the side of a glass with your hand is not acceptable anywhere.
4. When you have a big party on do not neglect the rest of your guests.
5. Put some effort into the presentation of your food. It tastes great but looks worse than Wetherspoons.
6. Do some maintenance - half the hotel was broken.

Kirstie Allsopp's Potato Stamped Wardrobe

I originally saw this on one of Kirstie Allsopp's shows, it's a great idea for updating an old wardrobe. I have looked everywhere and can't find reference to it but here is my attempt at re-creating the effect!

Linky Saturday: Theoriginalisaac

Today I'm directing you to one of my favourite blogs to read - Theoriginalisaac. I may be an over-the-hill married mum now, but I was young once! This blog reminds me of the good old torturous days of dating and is basically a real life (and wittier) amalgamation of Bridget Jones' Diary and Sex & The City. Read it.

Resolutions

It's that time of year again when we all need to make resolutions. We need to tell ourselves (and others) all the things we'd like to do in the coming year knowing full well we won't keep it up.