Regular moderate exercise log

[zauberflote]

@Goonergal you have a second career waiting, guiding canal walks!
@MrsA2 haha your cats would terrorize the dog and then get bored of it
Barre class. Some of the complicated moves are bad for my knees and wrists. I keep floundering trying to find a good alternative before we move on to something new!

 

[zauberflote]

Noon barre class, much happier than yesterday's!

 

[Goonergal]

After a slower day yesterday (although did get to 18k steps), back on the serious walking today. Turned into an adventure as there were two longish tunnels which don’t have towpaths, which involves hiking over and round - no signs!

Ended up having to crawl under a fence at the first one - correctly found route and footpath across a dual carriageway, but having crossed and then gone up some steep steps, there was a fence that looked like it wanted to be a gate or a stile, but was neither. My legs weren’t long/flexible enough to get me over the top, so having gone back down, had a look around - and consulted the map of a friendly boat owner- went back for another go. Legs still too short so put backpack over the barbed wire at the bottom, took off waist pack (@zauberflote I know you call these something different, with rude connotations ) and crawled through! At the other side of the field there was a normal gate, so very straightforward. Just had to navigate to the right path back to the canal.

Thankfully the second tunnel was much more straightforward as I’d read about walking right through the middle of a field and following the path and doing just that eventually led back to the towpath.

 

[LaoDan]

Walked through Singapore’s botanical gardens, crazy beautiful place. As usual, I walked through the rainforest section, didn’t see my lizards. There was a notice that a family of monkeys has moved in. Suddenly I imagined myself swinging from vines wearing a loincloth, but I was reminded that bananas are totally off limits.

 

[zauberflote]

@Goonergal but we really should call them tummy packs because no-one wears them in the small of the back since maybe 1975 lol! What a walk you had! You know, don't ever take for granted whatever ancient custom it is that allows you to hike right through people's fields! That's a good recipe for getting shot at in some parts of this country!
@LaoDan maybe you would have a few nuts tucked in the folds of your loincloth...would you be yodeling in the approved manner?
Zero exercise yesterday or today phooey Yesterday the humidity was about 9000%, but the weather today was gorgeous and a taste of a month from now. Should have walked; I could have gone to the river!

 

[Goonergal]

Gorgeous pic @zauberflote

Maybe you could walk in the river, if there are sections shallow enough? Yesterday I saw a woman out with her dog - dog was in the canal happily fetching / chasing balls/stones/sticks/ whatever she was being thrown. Looked great fun!

The rule here is (usually) if it doesn’t say ‘private’ you can walk there. On the two off piste bits of walking I did, there was a ‘public footpath’ sign at the start of the first section. Crossed a major road and there were no signs, but steps exactly opposite the public footpath on the other side. Then at the top of those was the barbed wire incident - that had me thinking I wasn’t supposed to be there, but at the other side of there was a gate for access - we do like a good puzzle!

The second episode was much easier - followed the path off the canal and over the tunnel. The field appeared in front of me with nowhere else to go but where I’d come from. There was a path right through the middle. Once out the other side there were again no signs except for those randomly saying ‘private, keep out’ so I stuck to the allowed paths and ended up in the right place.

 

[zauberflote]

@Goonergal we have MrZF's top-of-line new iPhone with the fancy camera to thank for the pic! I'm jealous... walking in the river to avoid mosquitoes? Quite the opposite lol. Anyway, the water has to be quite low for going in to be safe. We live right on the fall-line, so lots of rapids. Just upstream of that pic is a very small dam with such powerful hydraulics that 19 people have drowned there in maybe 40 years...

 

[Japes]

@Goonergal - I've not contemplated the section with Tardebigge as it's always sounded a bit too adventurous! Though when I'm back on the local canal walking again it does sound like one for next summer!

I've taken myself in hand today and informed myself I need to get back to my usual amounts of steps. After a fortnight of Scottish steps, I'm now much fitter again and took myself off on one of my regular long walks so I didn't need to think about anything too much. The fact I managed the two hilly bits with absolutely no problem was most pleasing. As I'm back to work on Wednesday, the commuting walking will start up again. And there is strong encouragement from my workplace for walking to and from work if possible if you don't have a car and trying to minimise public transport use. I've pointed out I can do all I can on that front, but the reality is, if I have a hypo or am heading to one on the way home, it's more important I stop walking and get on a bus than I avoid getting on a bus.

 

[zauberflote]

Tuesday evening barre class. I was "exhausted sick" all day, but had fun in barre, and while even more exhausted, at least felt better.
Today is waaayy too sticky for a walk, even after dark. We are supposed to get wonderful weather starting Saturday after a strong cold front passes through. Sunny and low 80'sF. PERFECT!

 

[DJC3]

Keep forgetting to post. I’ve done over 10k steps a day and quite a lot of those were uphill so feels like I’m getting better value for my step.
Still going to boot camp on Saturday mornings and amazingly still enjoying it. Last week eldest daughter came too with her Great Dane which made it even funnier. Melody ( the Dane) tried to keep up and join in - running alongside in her gangly Jowels and ears aflapping way when we are sprinting. Standing over my daughter when she’s trying to do sit ups. It made the time go very quickly.
I’ve taken a note of the exercises each week and repeated them at home in alternate days. I’ve found a free timer app which you can set for the intervals, rests, and number of sets you want.

 

[zauberflote]

@DJC3 that does sound like a fun boot camp with the dog, and you are smart to remember the exercises for home use! And way to go on all those uphill steps! Did you roll down? Somersault? Fly?
Barre this evening.

 

[Goonergal]

I've not contemplated the section with Tardebigge as it's always sounded a bit too adventurous! Though when I'm back on the local canal walking again it does sound like one for next summer!

I think you’d like it and happy to share the routes over the tunnels.

As predicted the return to home/work has led to a sharp decrease in exercise. Will change today as we have an all day in-person meeting in a space donated by a company so I’ll be walking the 5 miles there and hopefully back too - weather dependent.

 

[zauberflote]

@Goonergal has your footie group stopped getting together? You could do drills at a 10' distance?!

 

[Goonergal]

@Goonergal has your footie group stopped getting together? You could do drills at a 10' distance?!

Things got a bit fractious and I got distracted by other things. The usual sessions are inside in a venue that hasn’t reopened yet.

I managed a 6.3 mile walk today - to get to an all day meeting. Didn’t walk home as I was hungry - no brekkie and limited lunch options so hadn’t eaten much all day. Lovely walk along the Thames - a favourite route that I haven’t been on for a while.

 

[zauberflote]

@Goonergal what a lovely route that must be! Is it all paths, or do you have to bush-whack? Also, is "The Hwy" an abbreviation for Highway, or a word of its own? Also clever you, "Sugar Free September"! But you snuck in a piece of chocolate.....
Very satisfying barre class at noon. Our teacher has been booted out of all the regular studios at this time on Fridays, so they cleared out a tiny conference room for her. Her computer has to be set up blocking the door (don't tell the Fire Marshall!!!), so she has to work facing up the long dimension of the room so we can see her face-on. The width dimension is barely wide enough for her to lie full-length with arms stretched up! Definitely the opposite of a dance studio. We are nothing if not adaptable!!!!
2 edits because I didn't proofread.....

 

[Japes]

@zauberflote The Highway is the road's name - I used to work in a primary school just off The Highway many moons ago and lived about a 15 minutes walk north of it!.

 

[Goonergal]

@zauberflote what @Japes said about the Hwy. They’re all paths - very built up along the river now, especially that centrally. My favourite time to walk along the Thames is when the tide is very low - love being able to descend onto the riverbed. That can be a bit muddy but makes for some interesting photos and great views.

 

[Japes]

Dearie me, but the commuting walking is taking longer than it used to! Possibly because I am carrying slightly more than I did pre-March 20th (when I was last in the workplace) and dodging other unaware people is becoming more, um, interesting.

I've slightly re-routed myself to avoid some very narrow pavements so added maybe 1000 steps more each way. Then there's the sanitising when I get there! I'd always swapped T-shirts on walking days, but am now swapping trousers as well. Just off out to get some more of the variety which have worked best this week for drying fast!!

@Goonergal - I may well take you up on the offer of routes when I eventually get to doing the Tardebigge section!! But, it won't be until next summer now.

 

[zauberflote]

Thanks @Japes and @Goonergal ! My city's main in-town N-S street was called "The Boulevard" for possibly centuries (remember, to an American that's a long time) A few years ago it was renamed after Arthur Ashe the tennis star, who was from here. All of a sudden the road and street signs have teeny tiny writing on them lol. It will take years for a"quick-to-say" name shakes out. We are a people who still call a certain small bridge "the Nickel Bridge" because until 40 years ago the toll was 5 cents. It's made its way up to I think 35 cents now, but you can't call it the Dime Bridge then the Quarter Bridge and then the"you'd better have your smart tag bridge" because that requires changing! "How many Richmonders does it take to change a lightbulb?" "Fifty: one to change it, and 49 to talk incessantly about how much better the old one was!"

 

[zauberflote]

4.7 mile walk, with the river as destination. Walked across a little meadow to get closer, took a pic, and on the way back to the road walked over my ankle in a pothole disguised as more clover, twisted it pretty good, went down hard on other knee, did a further 3.5 miles and now I'm sore all over! The worst part of it is that the dr ALWAYS asks, "have you fallen in the past year?", and, "are you afraid of falling?" Sheesh. If I were afraid of falling, I would have been shuffling my feet and staring down!
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