Regular moderate exercise log

Up and out early today. Bit nippy at a cool 3 degrees, but some beautiful, clear skies. 8.5 miles. Strava has it at about half a mile more, but something weird happened to the GPS signal as I exited the Greenwich foot tunnel on the north side, which added distance I hadn’t covered (it’s the very straight lines going back on themselves on the attached pic).

Second time this week doing this particular route. Love it!

Editing to add that I took on a challenge to walk 215 miles (length of the Thames) in November. Currently at 120 miles, having had more totally inactive days than planned. Need to do 9.5 miles a day for the rest of the month. I feel a big walking weekend coming on to get ahead!

Had a lovely walk through the woodland area of The Lost Gardens of Heligan with Dennis today.
I’ve realised that shorter walks with a good lot of inclines suit me best. My foot plays up ( neuropathic pain caused by surgery a couple of years back) if I walk too much, but a good steep hill gets my heart going, uses the big muscles and doesn’t involve so much foot slapping on the ground as a long walk. Win win.
I took some photos but I don’t think they show how high I was ( I climbed 29 floors according to health app). Not as atmospheric as the gorgeous pics from @Goonergal again, but you get the idea.

@Goonergal yep!! Yipes sleeping on sofa!
@DJC3 you have planted a picture in my mind that I can't un-see I would bash my face against the sink every time I passed up and down, spew toothpaste all over, and more likely brush my eyebrows than teeth. You are coordinated!!!!! I've had two sinks in the past where I could do hamstring stretches with leg up along edge of vanity while brushing. I miss that.
2+ miles behind baby stroller. It was a perfect perfect day. Then I did take a barre class, but since I only slept 4 hours last night, I only worked about 25%.

Maple trees all bare
oak trees hanging on tight.

@Goonergal @DJC3 I had not seen your pics before I posted, truly! Both of yours are gorgeous!

zauberflote said:

@Goonergal yep!! Yipes sleeping on sofa!
@DJC3 you have planted a picture in my mind that I can't un-see

I would bash my face against the sink every time I passed up and down, spew toothpaste all over, and more likely brush my eyebrows than teeth. You are coordinated!!!!! I've had two sinks in the past where I could do hamstring stretches with leg up along edge of vanity while brushing. I miss that.
2+ miles behind baby stroller. It was a perfect perfect day. Then I did take a barre class, but since I only slept 4 hours last night, I only worked about 25%.

View attachment 45566 Maple trees all bare
View attachment 45567 oak trees hanging on tight.

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I might have to rethink the teeth cleaning/ squats. The time I spend cleaning my teeth seems to have got shorter and shorter, they’ll start falling out through lack of care at this rate!
What a fabulous blue sky in your photos. I don’t think I’ve seen anything but grey in months.

@DJC3 do you have a free wall there to just do a wall sit? Or the closed door? More brain power to the teeth, less to the movement.

Having realised on Friday night that I need to walk 9.5 miles each day for the rest of November to hit my 215 mile target for November (I signed up to a charity fundraiser for an organisation near me and picked the hardest challenge - that’ll teach me!) I resolved to try and get ahead this weekend.

215 miles equates to the length of the Thames and fittingly I spent most of yesterday walking alongside or down on the river bed. Arrived home 14.5 miles later with shoes, trousers, backpack and jacket covered in mud. All good fun but my energy levels seemed a bit low so was exhausted.

Off out with a friend this morning - walking to meet her then a wander together.

@Goonergal I thought some of my walks were muddy! That’s an incredible walking route. I’ve no doubt at all that you’ll finish the challenge in good time.
@zauberflote good call about the wall sit/ teeth cleaning. I’ll give it a go after lunch. I doubt I can hold it longer than 30 seconds but it’ll be a challenge ( and I like a challenge!)
Yesterday I did a home Hiit workout : increased to 30 seconds each exercise. 5 rounds of all 4 exercises Squats with 3kg weight, flutter kicks, sit ups and standing row using 2 kg weights.
Daughter and I also took Dennis on an adventure. At the end of our quiet lane is a five bar gate leading to a disused quarry site. There are a lot of china clay quarries around here ( this area is know as clay country) many are no longer operational and are being reclaimed to give good walking/ cycling/ riding paths. There are many miles of Clay Trails already but our quarry isn’t quite at that stage yet. I know a couple of people have said they climb the gate and you can walk for miles - so this is what we did ( Dennis went underneath) we used the What3words app to pin point the gate - a good job as within a few minutes it was really hard to figure out any sense of direction. It’s just a vast empty lunar landscape - it’d be brilliant to film on. We had some spectacular views ( which again, I haven’t captured very successfully) we only stayed 30-40 mins as I got a bit spooked by the bleakness.

Just popped in to say loving these pics! After a year like this it really does uplift you and give you hope! x

Welcome @KK123

China clay pits and river beds put my little local walk to shame this morning, but we did pass a lovely pond and some stunning woods. Was with a friend and so busy chatting I didnt even think about photos. Think the chat did my mental health as much, if not more, good than the physical walk itself.

Must be the day for walking with friends @MrsA2

I walked a few miles to meet a friend who actually lives in Washington DC, but is in London for a while to sell her house so it’s a while since I’ve seen her and likely to be a while again.

Clocked up 16 miles on total on a glorious sunny day - wasn’t expecting sun and ended up spending a decent chunk of the afternoon in a t-shirt. Wandered along the Limehouse Cut, through some of the green spaces in East London and took the cable car across the Thames before walking home.

Took no pics while with my friend, but snapped a few in the 6 miles I walked to meet her. Swans all seemed to have their plumage on display.

Those clay pits look amazing @DJC3 - right up my street. I’ll have to come and visit!

Goonergal said:

Those clay pits look amazing @DJC3 - right up my street. I’ll have to come and visit!

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Yes you must! I did think of you when I was taking the photos.
Ps I love that last photo with the two tone water - brilliant!

Evening. Gorgeous walk this morning - freezing cold but clear skies and an amazing sunrise. Got carried away, went further than intended and needed to race back to start work! 8.9 miles. Really enjoyed it and took the cable car across the Thames for good measure.

Y'all been busy here! I took a short walk Sunday night after supper and was reminded of how very much I like to walk at night. But it puts me to bed an hour too late.
Barre class this evening. Very hard even with options!
@Goonergal and @DJC3 what photos! I'm glad to know somebody else who has even heard of what3words!! I think I'd better start using it in parking lots.... I have never been good at re-finding my way. Parking decks are even worse unless I had a remote for my car. But there's no signal in a deck

Evening. 7 miles this morning at a much more sedate pace than yesterday and a bit of spookyness in an unlit park - have got so used to walking along the river I hadn’t figured out just how late it would get light. Head torch came in very handy!

@DJC3 think I need some lessons on how to use what 3 words. Ability to fix on a location would be fab!

I'm still here! I'm completely back on track with the step counts as planned for the year (with Lockdown 1.0/not going to workplace adjustments.)

Lockdown 2.0 seems have consisted of walking to work the scenic routes, usual kind of workplace step count, despite being restricted to one area of the campus, for the most part, walking home most nights, early Saturday shopping and back home before most people are awake, then being lazy/having a rest day, then getting going again with an early Sunday morning 8 - 10 miles and retreating home as more people are emerging.

Having already concluded I was sticking to my usual solitary Christmas routines, I am hoping for reasonable weather for keeping up my nicely re-established walking routines!

@Japes well done on the walking!
@Goonergal are you closing in on 215 miles?
Barre class, and before that playing "hover plank with 4 slippy-discs" while cleaning washing machine transmission lube off the floor with WD-40. Do you have that? It's not a cleaner, it's for unstickjng rusty nuts/bolts/engine parts/squeaky door hinges but it's a miracle on grease. Do not use in oven!!!!!

Morning! Good to see you back @Japes - was wondering how you were getting on.
@zauberflote you do make me laugh! WD-40 is a thing here too.

I am closing in on the 215 miles. 47.85 miles to go in the remaining 6 days, so just about 8 miles a day. My biggest challenge is having enough daylight to walk long enough in the mornings before starting work. I’m not into trudging round any old street and the routes I carved out during lockdown 1 assumed an earlier start than is currently possible.