I haven't put "Things I Like" before "Exercise" because I'm not really sure if I like it yet. I was one of those kids at school who would fake a parent's letter or forget my gym clothes accidentally-on-purpose to get out of PE lessons. On the rare occasions I was forced to play team sports I'd loiter in a corner in my knickershorts (not to be confused with knickerbockers) hoping an errant kick wouldn't send the ball into my face and break my glasses. My teachers would despair on sports day trying to find something for me to do because I was crap at everything but eventually they dropped the "it's the taking part that counts" spiel and let me get away with being a spectator.
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| Unfortunately our school-issue knickershorts were not girly and flowery. They were maroon. Nobody should be made to wear maroon. Image from here. |
Approximately 10 years later I was feeling optimistic and thought it might be fun to join my friend Katy in a spot of jogging. I downloaded an app for my iPhone called 5K Runner (there is a free download from the NHS which does the same job) which assumes you are a couch potato and starts you off slowly doing a minute of running and a minute of walking and builds you up over 8 weeks to be able to run a solid 5km. A nice male voice (we named him Lionel) tells you when to walk and when to run. Despite it being an easy introduction into the world of running I very nearly threw up after the first one and probably lost half my body weight in perspiration. It was a total of six minutes of running. Yes that is how unfit I am!
My body was pretty shocked by this sudden attempt at faster-than-a-stroll movement and promptly punished me for trying to get fit by giving me a nasty bout of shin splints. For those who don't know, it feels pretty much like your shin bones are about to snap in half and just pop on out of your skin. It is highly unpleasant and may make you cry a bit.
That meant I had to stop the running for at least two weeks and so I thought I'd try a bit of swimming instead. Unfortunately the day I chose to start my new regime was the day the under-15 Nottingham swimming team practises. It's not great for the ego when little wiry 13-year-olds with six packs are tumble turning all over your best effort at a breaststroke. Plus one of them chucked up in the loos. I was a little sympathetic knowing how nauseated I felt after my first run, but it was still gross and has put me off going for another swim in the near future.
The shin splints also stopped me playing badminton (now there's one sport I really do enjoy playing), because the stop-start nature of the game means there's a lot of pressure put on the ol' shins. Now I'm better I will start playing again and I will also return to Zumba classes (it's a mix between aerobics and latin dance) so one day I will look like this:
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| Image from here. |
Since I went on holiday I've put back on the few pounds I'd managed to shed with the running. All-inclusive buffet meals will do that to ya. I am determined to start eating better (as soon as I finish this last bag of Cadbury's Caramel Nibbles), to start exercising properly again and to catch up to my mum who also started the 5k running challenge when I did and is almost at the 30 minute continuous run stage. It's nice to have a goal to aim for!
In the spirit of sports, here's a dog called Maddie who's really good at standing on stuff. Check out the blog maddieonthings for more!
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| Image from here. |
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| Image from here. |
