Hark! What is that I see before me? That thing, the bright yellow ball shinning in the corner of a clear blue sky! Can you see it? Am pretty sure I have seen it somewhere before... perhaps in a dream or a foreign country!! Seriously though, how amazing is this weather we have been having!! Un-seasonally warm for March - 'can you believe its only March' I have heard so many people say! Doesn't the sun just put you in such a good mood. I swear everywhere I have been the last few days, people seem happier and just so smiley! What a way to instantly lift the mood of 1.2million Dubliners! Throw into the mix the clocks going forward and and an evening that now stretches to after 8pm... Dublin is on a Sun high! Its so lovely seeing so many people out walking, running, kiddies out playing, outdoor cafes full, seaside areas heaving with a happy mood. Perhaps I'm the one one the Sun-high?! I actually think I am! I kept craving seeing the sun this weekend, it was like a magnet that wouldn't let me stay inside and just pulled me out! Sunday alone, I done a 5k run, walked 6k around the local park, and ran the pier out at DunLaoighre! Am I crazy? Over-doing it? I don't think so.I really cant describe the buzz I get from exercising. Hard to believe a little over a year ago I was the girl who wouldn't get up off the couch no matter how much the sun-shone, now I am trying to heard everyone out doors with me! Honestly though, I enjoyed so much seeing all the people out in DunLaoighre, there were people of all ages, shapes and sizes out, people walking , running, jogging, skating,biking...you name it! I remember, maybe 6 years ago I went out to the pier with my family on a similar sunny day.I was loathe then to walk a slow pace up that pier, it was so long and never ending, I don't think I made it all the way to the end even without at least sitting down. Jump forward and here I am running the thing! I may have looked like a slightly crazy person running along that pier, with a dopey smile on my face, but I don't care,when this is your view/path, how can you not smile?
I hope you have all been enjoying the sunshine in whatever way you can. Even if its just sitting out in it, the good mood you get into can give you so much motivation! Summers on its way folks, lets get out and enjoy the weather while it lasts!!Who knows how long that yellow ball will be shinning out there for! (just watch our for birds that like to masquerade as giant bee's- isn't that right Georgina?!!)
And that bring me onto the other thing I want to talk on the blog this week... taking things for granted. Something else we are all guilty of! Today I learnt a girl (who'll remain nameless because I'm not sure its appropriate) I know is doing a charity event for the Irish Cancer Society later this week, & she will be doing something amazingly self-less for a worthy cause, and it got me to thinking. How much do we take things for granted? We take our health , for one, for granted, we're all healthy right now, so things are good right? Now I don't want to start bumming out anyone reading my blog, or for me to turn into some sort of preacher, just the more I embark on this journey, the more it concerns me. Now is the time to take care of our health and fitness, putting it off all the time is just not, well its just not healthy. No time like the present, and with such a sunny day in Dublin in front of us, there really is no better time to get out for a 20minute walk and take control of our own health, fitness and general well- being, no one else can make that decision for us. And certainly no one else is going to do it for us. Who knows what might be around the corner... so lets make sure we're fit and healthy enough to tackle whatever is lurking.! My whole reason, as you will all know, for starting this blog was to keep myself motivated and give myself a little pressure... in the last 4 weeks that's flipped, I'm helping to motivate others, and the pressure I feel is keeping that going. Its a nice pressure, don't get me wrong! I really am thrilled with the amount of emails I get after posting a blog, from people telling me they got up and went walking. I've had mails from strangers. Its an credible feeling, something I wont ever take for granted, as long as you all promise to take a teeny-tiny leaf and not take your health for granted, get out there now and do something small to improve or keep up your fitness... you'll thank yourself for it one day!
And on that cheery note.... back to training! I mentioned earlier that I done quite a lot of exercise this week, and I did pose the question Am I maybe doing too much? - because I have asked that a few times. The honest answer is I don't think I am.. I do 3 dance classes a week on top of the running/walking. But I have taken it really slow to get to this level. I stretch before and after every exercise. I get such a buzz from exercising now, I just want to do more and more. But I know my limits! I'm slowly pushing harder and harder at the things I am doing now... I am fit, happy and healthy!
So this weeks training was great!! The only thing was, the lunch time running just wasn't working out for me, as much as I want it to, my work tends to be too busy for me to keep it up constantly .. so I switched, to early morning! Yup I am now the girl out running at sunrise. And I couldn't enjoy it now more than I do! This is what a training programme is all about folks,you need to make it work for you, not stick strictly to someone Else's! You've gotta be happy doing it! (well as happy as you can running up a hill, ha ha) So I've found my running hour, but how about my running time! Woo I am up to 4.11K.That's the one big run I push myself to do once a week. The rest of the week I spend training myself in all different ways....I run and walk on my training days.I push myself (sometimes quite literally!!) up hills and around steep bends. Every run I finish gets me one step closer to that starting line! My favourite training day, as you probably already got, was Sunday this week! I pushed myself so hard that day, OK the sunshine made it a lot more enjoyable, but I swear i felt better than I have done before! So 4.11K down, less than 2 weeks to go to my first goal, the small one, 5K in 35mins, will I be able to do it? I most certainly intend to! 2 weeks left of the training programme I am following at the moment, and then it gets really seriously... I am scaring myself!
And that's it for this week. Please guys, think about your health and fitness, and get out once or twice this week for 20mins, the sun shinning should give you some motivation!
Thanks, as always to all of you for your continued support, this blog is as much for you as it is for me! Thanks for reposting the link, and please keep doing so, I really want as many people as possible reading!
Hope to see you out walking or running, if I bump into you on DunLaoighre pier, ignore the dopey smile I'll quite possibly have plastered to my face !! :)
Big thanks this week to my wonderful pals, Emma and Bernie who came on walks/runs with me!! I always want company - so give me a shout!
See ya next week,
Av xx
Running Track of the Week;5) - Nalin and Kane - On the beach (couldn't think of a more appropriate running tune this week - really good to run to!!0
4) – Flo Rida … Good Feeling (this is my feel good song, you may have noticed my cheeky use of some of the lyrics in my blog today... it’s also my favourite song to dance to! (Quick Emma, play my song for me!!) haha)
3) - Rui da Silva... Touch me - (yep, Spawell days anyone!!??)
2) - Boney M - Gotta Go Home (you may feel the urge to do a little dance whilst running to this one!)
1) - Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar
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