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LMV's Gym Thread

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Hope you had a good workout and were able to leave some of that stress in the gym! Good luck with the job interview too, I'm sure you'll do great. :)
 
Had another really good workout at the gym today! :)

I totally wanted to work off some stress and it really worked. I really love my new work out trousers. I feel like I look good, makes me feel more confident as well. I know its not a fashion parade at the gym... But it feels good to think I might be starting to look like one of those people you see at the gym who you look at and think they look really nice...

HAHA Bigging myself up here... But why not?? I Look HOT in my work out clothes :) And I'm proud of that because I know I have played a part in it.

A couple of weeks ago I felt fat because I was eating chocolate so much at work and hardly working out. Plus I'm probably the heaviest I've ever been. I have also started buying clothes in the next size up. But Then I realised, I'm not fat at all!! lol

I look good and that feels good! :) Is it a coincidence I think the male personal trainers seemed more friendly this last couple of weeks too? ;)
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Woo hoo, go LMV! And here you were talking about having a lack of confidence earlier! It sounds like you're getting a lot more confident in the gym and also in how you look, and that's wonderful. I bet you look awesome and it's great to hear that you're feeling good about yourself! :) And as for the male personal trainers, do tell! Are they gorgeous? ;)

I've had to buy bigger clothes too, particularly shirts. As my arm muscles have gotten bigger, I've found I couldn't fit my arms into some of my older shirts that have tighter sleeves! I sew, so there were a few that I could let out, but for the most part I had to buy some new shirts. I felt kind of fat at first too, but really it is all muscle so it's a good thing! Plus I will always be happy to buy new clothes for any reason so it's not actually a problem. :p (Well, it might be a problem for my bank account...)
 
I know, about the confidence thing! I was still feeling down this morning about the interview. But I started feeling better as soon as I took my mind off it by getting ready to go to the gym. I wish I could transform some of this confidence into my work.

Haha, with the personal trainers... One of them isnt that good looking but seems friendlier than the good looking one. I don't really want anything to happen, I just like the attention! :p
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
You mentioned feeling better just by getting ready to go to the gym, and I can totally relate to that. When I change into my gym clothes, I feel like I'm putting on a work uniform in a way. Like I have a job to do and I'm going to work really hard at it. It transforms my whole mindset, and the things that were worrying me all get put on the backburner even before I start working out. I like that. :)
 
I'm skipping the gym today :(

This makes me sad coz its one of the highlights of my week! lol

But I woke up this morning with an odd muscular pain in my lower back, which shoots down my bum and top of right leg when I stand/sit/bend down... I just thought... Well I can't really work out like that.

Also I had my infliximab and then went shopping and had a strange light headed/faint moment.

I would have to have left about 20mins ago to get in a good workout before 5pm as well.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Aw, that stinks. I've been avoiding the gym all week myself as you probably already know due to this possible flare or whatever is going on, so I know it sucks when you want to go work out but your body throws roadblocks in your way. I'm going back to the gym tonight after a week away, not sure how I'll do.

I hope you're okay and this is just a fluke, and not anything sinister. Remind me, how long have you been on infliximab? Have you ever had a reaction to it? It seems odd that your body would do this right after an infusion, but hopefully that's just a weird coincidence and not a reaction. Rest up and feel better!
 
This is my fourth infusion.

I'm wondering if it might be a slight reaction too. But I think maybe I did too much straight after. I was rushing around town and had just quickly eaten a lot. Maybe the blood went all to my stomach and made me light headed or something? This was probably about two hours after my infusion finished.

It was a minor thing. I was fine as soon as I rested. Now I just feel sleepy.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Do you usually rest after an infusion? Hopefully it was just the rushing and the eating that did it. Get a good night's rest and hopefully you'll be back to normal in the morning.
 
I had a really nice day today :)

We have lovely weather in the UK atm. According to my comp its 24C atm.

Me and my mum had a day out to the living rainforest which is like an indoor rainforest they control the climate and there are rly lovely plants and animals.

So that was nice, we wanted to go during the school holidays to avoid it being busy with children but we didn't anticipate school trips!! So the cafe there was too busy so we went to another one which is on an estate of this big house. We had cream tea's which was really nice. We then went onto the next town to go to the bank but got distracted by a pub which said it had a secret garden... So we had a cider in this lovely place.

Very nice day! Then I was like... I can't be bothered to go to the gym. I didn't want to get back into a hot car.

But I went anyway and had a really good workout. My holiday is less than 2 months away now so I did a bit extra on the bike - 15mins. Then I did 10mins each on the cross trainer and rowing machine and then I did some weights.

The only annoying thing was there were a lot of teenagers, about 16 I reckon. I felt like they were using the gym as a play ground and none of them had a water bottle! On a hot day as well...

Its good that they want to go and exercise but I worry its all about body image. These kids haven't finished growing up and they are working out to get muscley (however you spell that). God I sound old...? ahaha
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Yay, I'm glad you went even though you didn't feel like it. :) Have you gotten your bike back from being repaired yet?

A secret garden and an indoor rainforest sounds really nice! Sounds like a really good day aside from the annoying teenagers. Some people never grow up - I think my hubby just wants big muscles too and he only brings a water bottle to the gym because I bought one for him. :p Ha ha.
 
I had another really nice day yesterday too! Caught up with a friend who is going to America on Weds to spend her summer there. So I wanted to see her before she left.

We met up at a local pub which is next to a canal. So we had lunch in the beer garden and then walked up the canal a bit and sat by a lock on some soft grass. so nice.

Then I went home and had a bbq and my friend called me up again inviting me to a barn dance! I have never been to one before but it was so much fun!
 
I don't really live in a town I live in a village, so where I actually live there isnt much about. But its a great central location so can get to a lot of good places for days out. Plus this time of year the countryside is so so pretty!

She is spending most of her time somewhere in Minnesota, then also Colorado and Wyoming.
 
Do British people know much about the 50 states and where they are? I don't know anything about your states, or districts, counties, burroughs, provinces, whatever they are called. I don't even know the difference between United Kingdom and Great Britain. And is it 1 country, or 3, or 4, or 5?

But I do know Andy Murray won at Wimbledon today, and the local people were generally happy with that.
 
We know a lot about the USA,we are 4 nations joined under the banner of the United Kingdom of Great Britain sometimes not happily but for hundreds of years it's been like thie.
P.s we owned USA for a while decided we didn't,t want it
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
LMV, we had a barn dance at my wedding! :) Well, we danced in a barn anyway. We got married out in the country at this little place that used to be a farm but now is all nice for weddings (no stinky cows, the barn has been renovated into a dance/dining hall, etc).

I hope your friend likes the US. Colorado is a really pretty state although the high altitude gave me headaches every day when I was there. The mountains are gorgeous though and Boulder is a really fun city. Wyoming is pretty too although I haven't been there since I was a kid so I don't remember much about it. Minnesota is pretty much like my state (except their football team sucks, ha ha). :p

Lustforlife, I *think* (please someone correct me if I'm wrong) - the UK is 4 countries - Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. I don't know much more than that though!
 
ahaha, UK geography lesson! :p

We are the United Kingdom of Great Britian and Northan Ireland. (Ireland is its own country). So England, Scotland, Wales, and Northan Ireland are the four countries in the UK.

Then other than that we are split up into counties. So for example, I live in Berkshire, I'm close to Hampshire. Its not like we have different rules or different people running them. But they have local councils who will work with local issues like the roads or librarys or whatever??

The other countries have their own governments but it not like you need your passport to go there. (I'm not very clued up on politics though!!)

Oh and the other differences is the languages! Like in wales they learn welsh at school and all their signs are in welsh as well as english. I think they speak gealic in scotland and Ireland too but not sure if thats in schools or more a tradition??
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
That's nice that you don't need a passport to travel around the UK. What about travelling in the rest of Europe, do you need a passport then? They changed the rules here a few years ago so we now need passports just to cross the border into Canada (and also to cross back into the US), which seems silly to me. I have Canadian friends who also think that rule is silly, and the specific rules about what you can & can't take across the border are also silly. My Canadian friends were road-tripping into the US, and they had sandwiches with them with multiple types of meat (I think it was stuff like salami, pastrami, etc). They were allowed to bring in certain meats to the US but not others, so they had to pick parts out of their sandwiches and throw them in the garbage! How random is that. :p I hope Europe isn't quite as silly as we are about stuff like that.
 
Because of the nice weather I have hated being at work this week!! I am counting down the hours untill my weekend (6.5!!)

Can't wait to hit the gym tomorrow!! I also might be getting my bike back so hopefuly I can fit in a bike ride this weekend as well!
 
Gym was good today :)

At first it was annoying because I couldnt get onto the bike, everytime I finished a machine someone else was on it. I had given up the idea of going on it but just as I finished my workout it was free so I thought I would just do 10mins. I was doing and I just thought... this is too easy. So I took it up a resistance level and it suddenly reminded me of how hard it was when I just started the gym. Which made me realise how much I had improved when the resistance level I was on was too easy!

So I'm pleased about that :)

Its also my sisters birthday today :) she is 20. I took her to the canal place I went to last week and she has had a nice day. Now we are going on a night out to a club in our town probably. I haven't been clubbing in like a year... think I'm getting too old! :p
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
That's great that you were able to go up a resistance level on the bike! It sounds like your fitness is definitely improving. Are you still going to the gym once a week? Doing any resistance band training at home? I'm impressed if you're only going once a week and had such improvement, that's great! :)

I hate when the machine I want is in use by someone else. The worst is when people just sit on a machine texting or whatever, not using it but not vacating it either. That drives me nuts! I don't even bring my phone with me into the gym, I keep it locked up in my locker. There are some places where people just need to put the phone down - the gym and the movie theater are the two big ones! And while driving and in restaurants too. I'm starting to sound like a complaining old person here so I'll stop. :p

How old are you, about 23? I don't think you're too old to go clubbing. I'm 33 so I'm sure I'm too old for it, not that I have any desire to go to clubs. :p I don't really drink, I definitely don't dance (that would be horrifying, ha ha), and I get sleepy around 9 PM. Yeah, I'd be tons of fun at a club, ha ha.
 
Yeah I'm still going once a week. And not doing any resistance bands at home. I just don't really have the motivation for it now when I'm tired from work. I think the thing with the gym is once you are there you have to do it. But I'm finding it hard to do the bands at home.

I'm 22 :) I think its just coz here you can drink/go to a club from 18 so I've been doing it for years now and it is getting old. I hate how tired you are the next day! I did have a good time last night so its good to go occasionally. Glad I dont do it every week though!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
A bike with gears is not too hard to figure out, I think you'll do fine. How many gears does it have? My bike has 7 gears. The lower gears are for when you're first starting from being stopped, or if you're going up a hill. So I'd start out in 1st gear, then shift up to 3rd or 4th gear if I'm riding on a flat level surface. I'd go to 5th or 6th gear if I'm going downhill. If I'm going uphill, if it's just a little hill then probably 3rd gear. If it's a bigger hill then 2nd, and if it's a monster hill then I'd go into 1st gear and huff and puff and go very slowly but would eventually make it up the hill! :p Play around with the gears and I think you'll get the hang of it in no time. Oh, and don't change gears when the bike is stopped, only change gears when you're in motion. I've tried changing gears when my bike is stopped, and it makes like clunky sounds and doesn't seem to like that!

Have fun riding! I miss riding my bike (although it's way too hot here to do anything outside lately anyway). I would always try to ride to somewhere beautiful, like by the lake or through the arboretum. Even when I just rode to the gym, it went by the lake and through a really nice neighborhood with interesting houses to look at. I hope there are some pretty or interesting places you can ride to as well. :)
 
We don't really have places like that where I can just ride to on my bike. I would have to drive somewhere. We basically just have fields and woodland near my house. I have found a route I want to do though which isn't too many main roads and my sister wants to come with me so she can practise riding before her holiday too.

We also plan on going somewhere for a picnic on a bike ride. I might attempt to go at the weekend or sometime next week. I don't have a helmet yet though so I don't really want to ride too much until I get one!
 
I went to the gym yesterday.

It was good but I didn't do as well as usual, I'll blame the heat.

Tomorrow my Dad is going to adjust my bike so I can ride it (saddle and handle bars). And then some time in the week me and my sis are going to buy helmets. Then we can go for a ride! Considering I don't have a job again now I can spend more time on fitness!
 
Hey everyone!

I hit the gym yesterday as well. It was good, but same as above. It was too hot to work too hard even in the air conned gym! It got up to about 33C here yesterday which is about the hottest it gets in the UK. The hottest day in 7 years!!

Today me and my sis went to the shop where her bf works and he found us some helmets. We spent ages trying them all on because we have small heads! For a second I thought I was going to have to get a childs one!

But luckily I got an adults one which fits nicely and is nice colours!

So we are hoping to go on a bike ride tomorrow... My sis just needs to get her bike from her bf's house!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
LMV, I had to do a celsius to fahrenheit conversion to figure out how warm 33 C is. :p It looks like it's about 91 F, so that is very warm! It was about that warm here all last week so I know what you mean about it being too warm to work out. The gym I go to is one big room basically, with really high ceilings, and there's just no way the air conditioning can keep up with cooling such a large space on a really hot day. I did get to the gym on a few of the hot days, but I went much slower than usual and sweated a lot more! Fortunately it's cooled down here significantly (it's something like 75 F today) so it's much more comfortable weather to exercise in. I hope your weather cools down soon too!

I have a really small head too! I got my helmet online, after reading reviews that said it was an adult helmet but it was practically a child's size, I figured that sounded about right for me. :p It fits me quite well and it's the same turquoise color that my bike is, and other than people complaining about the size online, it got good reviews otherwise.

Have fun on your bike ride tomorrow! I hope you and your sis have a fun time! :)
 
Its good coz my sister's bf got them on his store discount so mine was only £12!!

Unfortunately my sis can't come on a ride tomorrow as for some reason her bike is wheel-less!!

Her bf doesn't want to fix it until his day off on Thursday. We probably wont be able to ride together until Friday which is usually my gym day.

So I could gym tomorrow and ride on Friday instead?? I duno I can't be bothered to go to the gym while it is so hot.

I'm thinking I'm going to go out on my own on the bike. The only thing is I'm nervous about trying it on my own coz I'm unsure of the gears!!

Why is there some on the front wheel and the back?? what is the difference?

I'm thinking I'm going to practise up and down a quiet straight road tomorrow and if I am confident enough I'll go on the route I planned on my own. Then go again with my sis on Friday.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
I can't answer your question about why some gears are on each wheel - I have no idea! I think all the gears on my bike are on the back wheel. Tagging Alliruns and Ya noy, are either of you bicycle-savvy ladies able to answer that one?

Your sister's bike is just randomly wheel-less? That's ridiculous! :p

Good luck with your practice ride! You're sounding a bit pessimistic about it, but I'm sure you'll do great. :)
 
ahaha... I think I'm over thinking it.

Dad just got it out of the shed and showed me which way to flick the thing to go up or down.

I think I'll be fine! I'll practise tomorrow and see how it goes!

Yes my sister's bike is in her bf's shed. Not sure why the wheels are off it!!
 
Location
Ontario
The combination on front and rear deraillers give you a wider variety of gears to choose from. For the front, smaller = easier and on the rear, the opposite is true :)
 
Haha... My sis said to me its easier than in a car...

I don't think it is! Small is a high gear, flick it up to take it down a gear...

Mind boggling! :p

My dad successfully demonstrated changing gears while going up and down a five meter strip in our garden so I'm not too worried about it now!

I'm guna finish my breakfast, shower and take it out for a practise!
 
Ok.... Practise did not go well!!

I don't know why I decided to go on a bike riding holiday when I can't even ride a bike! :(

So I knew my bike was set in a higher gear and I would want to try and get that into a low gear to get started...

but it was so hard! It was so wobbly, I could hardly even get my foot on the second peddle and then once I did I tried to change down and nothing happened! :(

I only got as far as my next door neighbours house!! Then I gave up.

To make matters worse I then tripped over my cat twice! Ended up scraping my arm against a brick wall and probably hurt him too!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Aww. :( Don't give up, LMV! Give it another try. As the saying goes, get right back up on the horse!

Cats are resilient, I hope yours is fine and would guess he probably is. I trip over my pets all the time (I have a cat and a corgi and they are both experts at tripping me). I've never hurt my cat from tripping over her, and she's 10 and I've probably tripped over her like 100 times. :p The most she's ever hurt is her pride.

Keep trying with the bike. Take a little break from it if you need to calm yourself down, but then give it another try. I'm sure you'll enjoy it a lot more once you get the hang of it with the gears & everything. Don't give up!
 
Thanks!

I will give it another go, maybe I'll ask my dad to help me tonight.

It was just really frustrating and I felt really embarrassed in case someone was watching me! I mean there I was in a sports bra, trainers and helmet and I couldn't even ride the stupid thing!

The funny thing is, the exact same thing happened to my sister when she first tried to ride her new bike. She was at her bf's house and thought she would ride home. The same thing happened, she was wobbly and thought she just couldn't ride coz she was in the wrong gear. Her bf and his mates thought it was hilarious! Now the exact same thing just happened to me!
 
I finally went on a bike ride!!

My sister helped me and I got the hang of it this time!

So we went slowly because we were both doing it to play around with gears and give it a try. It was a 3.5 mile route, it was good but I found it a lot harder than my sis coz her bike has more gears and is lighter.

It was so funny because has anyone seen the tv programme Miranda? (I know UK people will know what I'm on about but not sure if it is on over seas!) Anyway, me and my mum and sis love it is so funny! We have it on DVD so watch it all the time. There is a scene where she just went to the gym and she is an over the top red colour in the face. And they are teasing her about it, saying they want to decorate in that colour and what do you call it? "Full fat fuchsia?" "Heart attack maroon?" Any way there was some point over this ride where we had been going up a hill and I felt SO hot! And I said to my sister "Am I Heart attack maroon?" Omg when I got home and looked in the mirror I was WORSE than the colour she is on Miranda!!

In other news... I am on antibiotics for a week coz I have an infection in my nose of all places!! Its scabby and bleeds a lot. If I'm honest its been like this for months and I was just putting up with it before now! Not looking forward to taking antibiotics 4x a day :( :(
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Yay for the bike ride! I promise, it'll get easier the more you do it. You still have a few months until your holiday, right? If so, you have plenty of time to get more used to going up hills. It took me a few tries but I eventually conquered that big hill that I had talked about in my thread - I'm sure my face was red too but I didn't even care, I was just happy to have made it! :)

I haven't heard of Miranda, I'll have to see if it's a show we can watch here or not. We get some British shows online - stuff like Doctor Who, Peep Show, the IT Crowd, Doc Martin, as well as older shows like Black Books and Red Dwarf. And my hubby is a big fan of a quiz show hosted by Stephen Fry - I can't remember if it's called IQ or QI, something like that! So yeah, we get a few Brit shows here but not a ton, and I am not familiar with a show called Miranda but I'll keep an eye out for it. The descriptions of the colors does sound pretty funny. :p

Wow, is the infection related to your Crohn's? How long are you on the antibiotics? I hope they don't mess with your guts too badly - I always seem to get worse diarrhea, cramps etc from antibiotics. I hope your nose heals soon!
 

rygon

Moderator
Dont worry about the gears, get used to riding the bike 1st on a straight then change 1 gear down then 1 gear up and see the difference. Once you have understood that you should be fine.

Always try one thing new at a time and somewhere you know so you arent having more variables and you can understand what is happening.
 
Thanks,
Yeah I have until 2nd september. We plan to go out a couple of times a week so practise makes perfect!

My bum and shoulders ache today!! :( :( Hopefully I will get used to that too!

I'm on antibiotics for a week. I'm hoping it sorts it out! Yeah they do that to me too cat :( Hope they will be ok! I'll get eating probiotics I think!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Oh yeah, my booty was sore the first few times I went out for bike rides! You'll get used to it somewhat, although if you go on longer rides do expect to still have some soreness afterwards. A cushy gel seat or seat cover can help. I got a whole new gel seat for my bike and it wasn't too expensive, I think it was $20 or maybe $25? A seat cover should be even cheaper I think. Oh, and I think we talked about the "ghetto booty" pants before, but as we discussed, they also make padded bike shorts. :p I haven't gone down that road yet, too much fear of looking ridiculous!
 
aha! We were looking at the padded bike shorts when we got our helmets!!

I already have a fairly cushy seat but I'm thinking of getting a cover for it too!

Just went on the second bike ride! I think we did a bit better, but I still had to push up some hills where I just lost momentum!

At first I wasn't going to go because I had had a bad day! My parents went on holiday today for the first time without us. This is going to sound childish but I was a bit upset about them going! Not coz I wanted to go as well but coz I just thought it would be lonely and strange at home without them. Anyway, luckily they didn't give us a massive lecture about what we have to do before they left. But there was the occasional make sure you do this over the weekend!

Anyway, so today I dropped them off at the train station in the village (a journey I do all the time). On the way back I went into the shop to try and get some bean sprouts for our dinner tonight but they didn't have any. So I drove home and .... Whacked my wing mirror into a bin and the glass fell out! If only it wasn't bin day!!

So later on me and my sis went to the next village on the hunt for some bean sprouts. We got stuck in the car park by a lorry, each time I tried to drive out, someone else drove in and I had to reverse back again. This happened about three times until I finally got out! (also they had no bean sprouts!) On the way to the next shop I went the wrong way... but on the third shop I finally got bean sprouts!!!

So I was like, too much has gone wrong today I'm not going on a bike ride. But we went and nothing went wrong so it was fine! I think I might be getting confused about which way I flick my lever when I want to go up or down a gear though... I'll have to be more conscious about it next time and try to get it right.

Omg, just as I have been writing this my sis says, Holly neither of the showers are working! Our water supply has gone! There are some work men across the road so I'll blame it on that and hope it comes back soon. Lets hope this is all that is going to go wrong while my parents are away!!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
I can relate to that feeling! A couple years ago my hubby went to a convention and was going to be gone overnight. And as soon as he had left, I swear everything started breaking in my house. Several light fixtures blew bulbs and I think a fuse blew or something? I couldn't get the TV to work right. All this stuff kept happening and I just freaked out and called him and told him to come home. There was too much going wrong for me to be able to handle being alone in a crazy house. :p Hubby came home and took care of everything and calmed me down, then went back to the convention the next day (fortunately everything was okay that day). I was probably getting worked up over nothing, but yeah, I totally know the feeling of being in charge/alone and having everything go wrong! I'm such an introvert and I usually do just fine on my own, but I'm not good with home repairs or knowing how to fix stuff around the house, and it was like it all broke at once that day.
 
Hi holly,

Right now, BBC America doesn't carry the show Miranda and we can only get the first 6 episodes on Hulu here. Of course, I can watch it right on BBC by accessing the website through a VPN, which changes my IP to make it appear as if I live in the UK, but those are the only ways I'm aware of that enable US viewers access to that particular show.

I remember that episode, lol! I'm currently still on my Korean drama marathon though...

Lighter weight bikes do make a difference for hill climbing, but not always more gears. Most high-end road bikes are equipped with a "double" crankset (portion of gearset that is attached to the pedal, rather than the gears on the back wheel) which, depending on the back wheel set up, provide 18 - 22 gears, as opposed to a "triple" which provides 27 to 33 different gears. But most of those additional gears are redundant, triples have more a tendency to "skip" or "jump" gears, and that 3rd chain ring adds a whopping 1/2 lb. of additional weight! In fact, bike snobs call triple crank sets "granny gears" meaning only a grandmother would use one.

More gears is not always better. For hill climbing, a compact double is usually preferable. Having a lighter weight bike with skinnier tires makes far more of a difference.

But hey! Heavier bikes provide a more strenuous workout and build up more leg muscle strength. I don't use my road bike for rides under 20 miles. For a 3 1/2 miles, I ride my (ancient and much heavier) Schwinn--which is also only a 10 speed, and I sometimes still have to walk it up hills too. Plus, it's more comfy, and I don't always like having my bones jarred.

So there's pros and cons to both.
 
I went for a swim today!

I was originally going to go to the gym, and drop my sister off at the swimming pool on the way, but after our stressful night (See my, I'm worried about my cat thread!!) I thought a swim would be more relaxing!

I did 30 lengths and defo felt a lot nicer and calmer afterwards! This may turn out to be the first week in a while that I haven't been in the gym, but I have been enjoying other activities instead which has made a nice change! :)
 
We went on another bike ride yesterday. It was our third one and I do feel like I am getting better each time. But it is still really hard. Yesterday we were a bit tired. So we made sure we had a couple of longer rests if we stopped. At one point I was so tired I was like, I don't like this!!! But by the time I got home I was like, that was good!!

I am defo working A LOT harder on the bike rides than I am in the gym. But I feel good that I can do that. Its really hard but at the same time rewarding. I don't even ache that much today so I know I am getting more used to being on the bike.

In a months time now we are going on holiday so we are going to try and keep on training ourselves up! Wish we had given it a bit longer to be honest as we are only just managing a 3.5mile one!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
I was taking regular breaks when I was going on bike rides too. Stop, rest your legs a bit, drink some water, take in the scenery, and just breathe. I was taking my camera with me on bike rides too, so if I saw something photo-worthy then I would have another reason to stop and take a little break. There's no shame in taking breaks! It can be really difficult to ride for a long time, especially if you're in a hilly area. I think you'll be okay though, if you're training a few times a week for the next month, you should improve pretty quickly. I can recall when I was training on the stationary bike, I got myself up to doing 15 mins at a time, and then I thought I'd go for 30 mins, and I did that pretty easily. Then not long after, I went for an hour and did that too. Just keep upping the bar a little bit each time, and I think you'll be able to accomplish what you set out to do. :)
 
We went for our fourth bike ride yesterday!

The same route. I still feel I did slightly better but we have to stop every so often. Its still going ok though. We are probably going to try another route next time. It starts and finishes the same route we have been doing, but it goes firstly 2.5 miles off to another village near us, all through quiet country lanes. This village has a really old roman wall, where there used to be a roman town and the defence wall which used to go all around the town still stands. Its really fascinating and we are lucky to have it so close. So the plan is to ride to there, have a rest, then come back again!

Total 5 miles which will be the furthest for us so far, and still finishing off with our same hills we have been struggling with!!!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Wow, that Roman wall sounds really cool, LMV! That's one thing I dislike about the US - we're a relatively new country so we don't really have ancient history like that. I've seen Plymouth Rock, I've been to a ghost town in the old west (a real ghost town, not a tourist attraction!). That kind of stuff is about as old as US history gets, unless you count stuff like Native American cave dwellings, stuff that pre-dates us as a country. For straight up US historical stuff, though, Plymouth Rock is about as old as it gets (from the year 1620). As a settled country we haven't even been around for 400 years yet, so we've got nothing like the history that the UK/Europe has. Anyway, I'm rambling again, but that ancient wall must be so cool! Take some photos, I'd love to see it! :)
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Thanks for the link, that is really cool! When are you going to ride there? Are you going to the gym tomorrow, or are you doing less gym and more bike rides lately to prepare for your holiday?
 
I have been doing less gym and more bike rides recently! But my sister can't ride with me until sat, which is when we plan to go to the wall so I think I will hit the gym tomorrow.

Thought you would be interested to hear about what I did today cat as well!

My mum asked my dad to take us on a mystery tour! (they are off work this week as the second week of their holiday). So we all went off in the car this morning and didn't know where we were going, took us an hour and a half and towards the end we were going through tiny little lanes. And Dad took us to a Roman villa! It was very interesting, all several original floor mosaics, they are so intricate!

They also had a cafe there so we had cream teas and then stopped off at a pub on our way home as we passed so many lovely country pubs.

Was a really nice day out! Here is the link to this place http://www.bignorromanvilla.co.uk/
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
That is really cool, LMV! Did you find the dolphin tiles on the floors? And I really like the idea of a "mystery tour" too, it sounds like your family does some fun & interesting stuff. :)

Did you go to the gym today? If so, how'd that go?
 
Yes we saw the dolphin tiles!

Yeah it was mum's idea, she had to ask dad to take us on one and then he had to think of somewhere to go!

I went to the gym today. It was good! At one point I realised I was the only female with about 10 males there! But nothing eventful happened to report! (Probably a good thing!) :p
 
We did the bike ride to the wall today! I'm sorry I didn't take any pics for you cat, my camera had no battery! But I will take one for you next time :)

So it started off on our normal route and then we take a right instead of a left. It was mostly up hill so it was hard. We stopped a couple of times but we got there. We didn't really look at the wall, we have seen it several times before. But we sat on a bench in front of a small pond next to a little church. We had some water and chocolate. Chatted for a bit, then headed back again! And the first part was great because it was all down hill for ages and the road is really quiet and quite wide so you can go fast. Then we join up to our normal circle again and the second part is the hardest because its the up hill part.

But I still feel that I am improving each time I go so I'm pleased about that :) It was hard but I'm really pleased we have now done a 5 mile route :)
 
I thought I should update since I haven't in a little while!

So since my last post I have done two more bike rides. The longer one to the wall last week and our usual shorter route this week since we didn't have much time. I have been finding it hard and pushing myself quite a lot. Last week I actually felt like I was going to faint and had to sit down! This week I said to my sister, once we have gone on holiday I am giving this up!! I don't know if I really will. I think the route we do is just hard because its so hilly. But I do think I did better this week.

I went to the gym today for the first time in a little while. I wasn't feeling well last night I had sudden diarrhoea and had to go to the toilet three times in 45mins and it was like liquid. I haven't had that in a while so thought it was a bit strange. I was supposed to have infliximab yesterday but had to postpone due to antibiotics so maybe it was to do with that? But I wasn't sure if I would do well in the gym today but went anyway.

I only did 27mins of cardio because I just simply got bored of the cross trainer after 7 mins! I do find it hard to do 10 mins on that one!! But I got a PB on the rowing machine which must be because the bike rides are making me stronger. Its funny how I didn't notice my stomach pain during working out but did before and immediately after!

In other news I have a new job which I start on 9th september after my holiday and I am hopefully going to buy my first car tomorrow! I am a little bit stressed out about that! Plus I have to borrow money off my parents to buy it so that is stressing them out a bit... But I'm sure once I am on the road and my repayment plan in place we will all be fine!

Might be contributing to why I'm not feeling that well.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Wow, that's a lot for one update, LMV! Congrats on the car! What kind are you getting, have you picked one out yet? Have fun car shopping, how exciting! :D

As for the stomach pain and d, I would imagine it's probably from the antibiotics. I usually get d and cramps etc from being on antibiotics. How long are you on antibiotics for? I hope you can get off them soon and get back to normal quickly.

That's great that bike riding is making you stronger - I just started riding my bike again this week myself and so far I'm really enjoying being back at it. Although I'm doing it because I'm trying to make myself bleed (that was why I gave up bike riding in the first place, it was causing me to bleed). I'm having a scope next week and I'm trying to make myself bleed for that so that my GI can figure out why I'm sometimes bleeding. But so far I've been on 2 long (10ish mile) bike rides and I feel good and no blood yet! Kind of frustrating in a way, but also nice to know I can actually ride my bike without issues. I rode around the lake again yesterday and I feel fine today, so who knows. :p

So if you do give up bike riding after your holiday, you can always come back to it later and you might enjoy it more after you've had a break from it. I'm not trying to enjoy my rides, I'm trying to bleed - but I had forgotten how nice it was to ride around outside and I find I'm really enjoying myself anyway. I went through the arboretum on my ride yesterday and it was so beautiful, I saw all kinds of wildlife including turkeys (one of which was a baby - I don't think I've ever seen a baby turkey before!). There were flowers everywhere and little bunnies & chipmunks running around, it was just lovely. Anyway, I'm rambling again. Feel better soon, and have fun car shopping! :)
 
I'm hoping to get a vauxhall corsa. Me and my mum already have an 11 year old one we share but I need my own as we will both be in jobs where we have to drive to different places all the time. So I'm hoping to get a 6 year old one. I've found a place where they have a few so I'm thinking it will increase my chances of getting one. I'm nervous though! Its a big responsibility and what if I'm buying a dodgy car or something?!? I'm taking my Dad though so hopefully his experience will help!

So funny. My sister's bf just came over to show us how to put the thing on the car to put the bikes on when we go on holiday. We are going on the 2nd but he is going on holiday on sunday so we thought it would be best if he puts it on the car now. Of course me buying a car tomorrow means we are going to have to swap it over onto my car. So he was trying to teach us how to do it and how to put the bikes on and off.

So now I have that to be nervous about as well. If this thing is going to fall off my car or if the bikes are going to fall off while I'm driving down the motorway!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
If you find a car you like, ask if you can take it to your mechanic to get it looked over. Take it to a trusted mechanic and they can see if there's anything that jumps out at them. When I bought my car, I took it for a test drive and it was just a little bit shaky on the highway. I took it to my mechanic, and they discovered that a wheel weight was missing. I called the place that was selling the car, and it turned out they had just found a wheel weight in their parking lot and didn't know which car it belonged to. I took the car back there, they put in the wheel weight, I took another test drive, and it was fine then. :) Everything else checked out fine with mty car so I bought it. It definitely pays to get it checked out before you buy! You'll probably have to pay a bit of money, I think it cost me about $50 to get my car checked out before buying it, but it was definitely worth it. I had a friend who didn't get a car checked out by a mechanic before buying it, and it turned out later that her brake lines were held together with tape! She had a minor accident because the brakes failed soon after she bought that car. That was pretty extreme, but yeah, definitely best to get it checked out just in case something really bad like that happens!

I've never heard of Vauxhall corsa, I don't think we have that brand/type of car here in the US! I have a 12 year-old Toyota which I've owned for 9 years and she's been a wonderful little car and still going strong. :)

Oh, I know what you mean about the bike rack thing on the car. My uncle gave me one of those car bike racks once, and he showed me how to put it on, but in doing so he scratched up my paint job and I couldn't open my trunk once it was on, so I took it off and then of course forgot how to put it back on again. I ended up just getting rid of it! Maybe you could have your sis's BF write down the steps, or maybe you could make a video of him putting the rack on the car? I wish I had done something like that with my stupid bike rack (although I don't think my uncle did it right anyway with the scratches and me not being able to open the trunk with it on!).
 
Thought I would just update to say I got my car sorted!

It was a stressful day! I had arranged to meet some people for a viewing, we drove 30 miles and they didnt show up!! I was so annoyed because I dont have long to sort out the car as I'm on holiday on 2nd and start work on 9th!

We came home to look again and I called one up. We headed back half way along where we had already gone! And this car was better than the one we were going to look at! So we put down a deposit. They are going to service it for us and MOT it and we are going to get it next weekend. I'm very excited! Wish I already had it though so I don't have to really think about it much again!
 
So I've managed to go a week without exercising! Woops!

I meant to but just somehow missed it out. I helped my friend set up her classroom a couple of days because she is about to start her first year teaching. My mum went away for a couple of days so I was carless. Couldnt seem to fit in a bike ride with my sister. Then my mum got back on friday and I thought I would go to the gym friday afternoon and I just forgot!!

But we picked up my new car yesterday! So exciting, I've taken it on a little trip to the supermarket.

Going to take my parents to the pub today, and then tomorrow I am going on holiday! We have already put the bike rack on my new car so we are getting ready for this holiday we have been planning for ages!!

We are going from monday - friday so we are planning on three bike rides. I look forward to coming on here next weekend and telling you all about it! :) x
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Somehow I missed seeing your post about getting your car! Congrats! I saw the photo on FB, very nice. Is it the kind you had wanted?

If it makes you feel better, I went about a week without going to the gym too. I had a scope on Wednesday, and it was too hot for a few days prior to that to do much of anything (mini heat wave). Then after my scope, I had some pain, so I rested up a bit. I finally went back to the gym today.

Have fun on your holiday! I hope all goes well and you have lots of fun!
 
Thanks! I'm just having a quick coffee before we head off.

It was the car I wanted! Its so nice, really lovely to drive and we got it for such a good price :)

I'm feeling a teeny bit nervous about driving to our holiday destination. But at least I will be in my car! :p

I will update you when I get back about all our bike rides and maybe put some pics up for you!

Have a nice week everyone!
 
Hi everyone!

Got back from my holiday on Friday. Thought I would tell you about the bike rides. We went on three, one on Tuesday, wednesday and Thursday. We got a cycle map of the forest and I found an area where we could do a circular route with no roads. So we ended up going along a gravel track and got to a deserted car park. We were so lucky with beautiful weather. They were maintained cycle paths so mostly gravel, and it was so quiet we only saw a few other people.

So I put on my GPS ap on my phone to tell us the distance, although I'm not sure how accurate it is. I plan to measure it on the map at some point. So on Tuesday we did a 5 mile route, then decided to try a longer one on Weds which was 6.3 miles... But we thought it would be longer than that actually. By Thursday we were tired and wasn't sure if we wanted to put the bikes on the back of the car again... So we decided to do a route along a path on the cliff tops, which we could get to from out accommodation.

It was so lovely because it was sunny, we were right next to the sea. There were more people to avoid along the path, but we just went along for a while and then rode back again. We didn't measure it this time but I reckon it was about 3 miles.

When we got back from holiday we put the bikes back in the shed and I was like right, its going into retirement now! haha. I definitely really enjoyed the bike rides on holiday. But it makes me realise how much nicer it is to ride there compared to near our house. And I didn't really enjoy putting them on the back of the car.

I start my new job tomorrow! I have an induction so I don't know what work I will actually be doing but I will find out tomorrow.

Then I can try and plan my gym sessions around that... although I'm starting to feel that I'm losing motivation for the gym. I'm going to have to come up with a new goal or motivating factor somehow.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Sounds like you had a good trip! That's a little disappointing though about putting the bike "into retirement" and not having gym motivation right now. I'm sure I've rambled on about this a lot already, but I feel like fighting for my health is all the motivation I need. But if you need a goal to work towards, definitely try to come up with one to keep you going! I know you do a lot of cardio - maybe you could train for a race or a triathlon? Or maybe training for another bike-themed holiday? Personally, I don't have a lot of solid fitness goals right now myself - since I'm in a mild flare, every day that I can work out is a victory in itself. And littler things, like getting some new workout clothes or putting new songs on my ipod to listen to when I'm in the gym, that kind of stuff is enough to get me to want to go to the gym too. And since you have a job again, hopefully the gym can be your stress-relief after a long day at work - I know it definitely relieves a lot of stress for me! At any rate, I hope you don't give up on exercise altogether - you've made a lot of progress and you should be really proud, but you should also keep going and make more progress! :) I know you can do it!

I guess today was the first day of your new job then? How did it go? Does it seem like something you'll enjoy doing? And how's the new car and commuting and all that, going okay so far?
 
I didn't notice you had replied to this Cat!

Don't worry I haven't given up! I went to the gym today in fact! did 30mins cardio and some weights.

You are right I just need a goal to work towards. Maybe I could think about a triathlon. But I would defo have to work on my running as I can't run for long at all! And I don't really enjoy it that much.

I just really don't know what goal I want! Maybe I should start a little exercise diary and write down what I do at the gym each time to try and keep improving. I did want to try and take my sessions up to 3 x per week but its hard when I dont know when I will be working from week to week. I was thinking of changing my gym membership but that is not on the cards right now when most of my money is going on my car.

The job is going ok thanks. I am still in two minds about it. In one way I think it will be really interesting, but then I also think I'm not sure about it. I don't like not knowing when I will be working from week to week. And I don't like going to different places all the time and not having that stability.

The people I was working with yesterday were both into personal training and nutrition, so that was quite interesting talking to them about that! And interesting to see the kind of people the company seem to employ!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
I'm glad to hear you're sticking with exercise as much as your job allows. Do they not give you a schedule ahead of time at all? How late into the evenings do you usually work? If you upgraded your gym membership, could you go later into the evenings (or on weekends)? I know your car will be taking up a lot of your income, but your health is an investment too. :) Maybe you could look around for a less pricey gym? The gym I go to is called Planet Fitness and they're only $10 a month and it's open 24/7 - hopefully there's something cheap and convenient like that somewhere within a reasonable distance of you? (I looked at the Planet Fitness website to see if they're in the UK, but it looks like they're only in the US - that's a shame because it's a really cheap price for a fairly decent gym).

At any rate, I hope you can figure out how to continue working out regularly while balancing the job and the finances and everything else. I know it's sometimes a tightrope act to try to keep on top of all that stuff! My finances aren't exactly great lately either - whenever I get a bit of extra money lately, my impulse is to go grocery shopping and to stock up on food, because I don't know if we'll have enough money later to pay the mortgage and the bills and buy necessary stuff like my medications AND also buy food. My hubby can only find low-paying part-time and freelance work so sometimes it's a real struggle. We have a bit of extra money right now so it's off to the grocery store tonight! I feel like I'm a squirrel, storing up my nuts for the long winter that's coming! I'm going to buy a bunch of canned soup and frozen chicken, stuff that'll keep for awhile so I can eat it whenever.

Anyway, I'm rambling again. How are you liking the job so far? It sounds like you have some things in common with the co-workers you've met so far, that's a good thing. And hopefully it won't get boring if you're going to different places every day. How are you liking the car, still good? And most importantly, have you given your car a name? ;) (My car is Japanese so I gave her a Japanese name, Yumi!)
 
Hi Cat :)

I will get my rota on a Friday night, which gives me the next week Mon-Sun if that makes sense? As for how late do I usually work... It is always going to be different! Next week is completely different to last week. Next week I am doing mon, tues, thurs and fri, four different places and four different times. Mon 12.30- 16.00, tues 9-15.00, thurs, 17.00-20.00, Friday 11-19.00. So it is literally going to be, see when I'm working each week and then see when I can fit in the gym.

Next week my friend asked if we can go swimming on weds, and then I can fit in the gym thursday morning.

And with the money, as I'm doing pay as you go at the moment, its going to reach a point where if I go several times a week, it will be cheaper to get a full membership. I just need to wait for a bit to see typically how much I am getting to the gym, how much I'm earning, where I'm working so I know if the gym I'm at now is out of my way...

I'm not going to be paid until end of October (or Stoptober as I am in the stop smoking game! :p ) Financially its so hard! I'm already in my overdraft and I've got to keep spending for two months before I get any money, and then that probably wont cover how much I'm already in my overdraft. Anyway... I'm trying not to worry about it! All I can do is work the hours I'm given and wait to get paid!

Yes I do love the car! :) It does make it a lot nicer to drive a nice car around. I've had to buy a new windscreen wiper though. But hopefully that's it for a while!
 
Hi!

So I did as I said in the post above! I went swimming with my friend last night. She wants to go once a week so will probably start doing that now.

And I went to the gym this morning. I was already a bit tired and achy from swimming so I didn't do quite as well as I can do but I didn't mind too much.

Feeling rly tired and achy now... And I start work at 5pm today so I'm really not looking forward to that! :(

Can't wait to be in my bed tonight!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Sounds like you're having a long day today! But I'm glad to hear you're making time to go to the gym anyway, regardless of being tired. How is work going, are you enjoying it so far or at least tolerating it? I'm glad to hear you had fun swimming, too - was it pool or lake (or sea?) swimming? I'm not sure how far you are from the sea! We have lakes here but they're pretty icky for swimming in, and my gym doesn't have a pool, so I haven't been swimming at all this year!
 
It was a pool! We don't live too far from the sea - fairly far for the UK though. We can easily do it in a day trip. But its cold!!

So I have started researching triathlons! I just thought I would have a look and I found a novice one which I definitely think would be doable. Its not too far from where I live, its in Eton Dorney, where they had the rowing for the olympics. So its 200m swim, (only 8 lengths in a pool), 5km bike and 2.5km run! Each individually that is fine (although I can't yet run very far at all), together I know it will be harder.

Right now I'm not saying, I'm going to do it, but looking into it has given me a guide for when I'm working out.

So I definitely need to start trying to build my running up again. I think this will be good for my motivation!

I'm going to go swimming this afternoon, and I have another swim with my friend planned on weds, plus two gym sessions for next week as I am only working three days.
 
I,m a chubby(fat)gym addict go 5 times a week about 2 hrs a visit if I,m not to creaky,cross trainer and rowing machine are weapons of choice it's funny at hospital when there checking blood pressure,cholesterol,heart rate mine are better than the doctors I haven,t told them about exercising a lot it keeps them happy thinking
I,m doing ten pints a night and smoking like a chimney obviously I,m not.my gp knows about my gym addiction she,s a member she,s never beaten me on any machine she,s about ,20 years younger than me.the gym definitely helps me with my crohns even when I got that annoying fatigue thing on the go.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
LMV, that's awesome about potentially training for a triathlon! That's a big goal but I am sure you can do it! :D When is the triathlon?
 
Thanks! Its definitely given me a buzz for my workouts. Did 40min cardio today for the first time in ages! The date for 2014 isn't up yet but I reckon it will be summer time because the swim is in open water. So it gives me plenty of time to train. And means I can concentrate on the running and swimming/general fitness for the winter and get back out on the bike again next spring.

There is also a training day in May which will help a lot, get to practise swimming in open water and they give all sorts of help and advice including help with transitions. Which will definitely be really useful. I think my sister is interested in doing it too. She can already run more than 2.5km but will have to work on her swimming probably.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Wow, you've got all sorts of training plans, that's great! I was so afraid you were starting to be done with fitness, after your holiday where you said you put the bike "into retirement". This is really refreshing to hear and I'm proud of you for finding a goal to work towards! :)

An open water swim sounds fun but scary - do you need a wet suit, or is the water warm enough for a regular swim suit?
 
Ah thanks Cat! :) You're the one who put the idea into my head! I'm just glad I found that one with do-able distances or I wouldn't want to do it. My sister was also thinking about doing one but I don't think she had looked into it.

As for the wetsuit, it depends on the temperature an hour before the event starts. I think its something like 14C or less you have to wear one, above that it is either optional or not allowed to at a higher temp... can't remember the numbers though. I hope it will be warmer than 14!!! My local pool is 29C and that feels chilly when you first get in, it defo wont be as warm as that though.

I reckon it will be cold for the training day in May though! Since it wouldn't have had much chance to warm up from winter!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
I had to google a fahrenheit to celsius converter to figure out what 14 C is - looks like it's about 57 F. Brrr! 29 C is about 84 F, which sounds much much nicer. So if you have to use a wet suit, can you rent one or do you have to buy one?

And for the bike part, if you could get a bike trainer then you could train on that through the winter. They're pricey I think, but maybe your sister's boyfriend could find you one for reasonably cheap? If you google it you can see what I'm talking about - it's like a stand that you put your bike on and it basically turns it into a stationary bike. So you're riding your own bike but you don't go anywhere obviously. :p Basically it keeps you used to riding your own bike and you can do it from inside your house during the winter. Just an idea, if you don't want to wait for spring to start training on the bike portion.

So do you think your sis will do the triathlon with you? Or at least she'll do some of the training with you? And it sounds like you have a friend to go swimming with too, so that's great that you've got people to train with. :) My mother runs marathons, and she always tries to run with her friends when possible. I think that kind of thing must be much easier if you have someone with you to cheer you on and keep you going.
 
I'll look into the bike trainer cat, but I don't think there is really any space for it in our house. I think as long as I work on my leg muscles still and my cardio ability then I should be OK.

I think she probably will do it with me too, she mentioned doing one before I even looked into it. I don't think we will train together much, she is back at uni now so will only be coming back some weekends.

Also, I'm not going to tell any of my friends about the triathlon yet, not until I've signed myself up for it anyway! I know it sounds silly but I don't want them to be like, oh I might do that too... I know it might be unlikely but its just that I found it and looked into it and I don't want anyone else stealing it! haha...
I don't mind my sister doing it though because it will be good to do it with someone and I know she had the idea as well. So I'm not going to tell my friend who I'm swimming with about it. I'll just have to secretly be training, doing the distance and just trying to push my abilities.

Axel - I have only ever ran on the machines so it doesn't feel strange for me. Once I get up to distance I will try running outside as I know it will be harder to keep to the right speed in the race environment.

Oh and the wetsuits - I think you can hire them if you need to, but I don't need to worry about that too much yet!
 
Went for a swim today, my friend had to cancel but I still went. I did 40 lengths. But now my ankle hurts a bit. Find it strange that I hurt it swimming but oh well. I'll have to hope its feeling alright by friday as that is when I next plan to go to the gym. I'm working tomorrow for the first day since last friday...

You get used to the time off but I would rather have the work and the money while I'm fairly healthy at the moment.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
LMV, I'm glad you still went and swam anyway even though your friend cancelled on you. Sorry about your ankle though - hopefully it's just one of those things and will be feeling better soon! I have days where it seems like certain joints of mine don't fit together right, and they'll give me pain the whole day, but then a day or two later my joints are fine again. I'm not *that* old so I don't think it's an age thing, not sure if it's an inflammation thing. But yeah, my right ankle was doing that over the weekend - I walked my dog on Saturday and my ankle was painful the whole time and just didn't feel like the joint was fitting together correctly. But then it was fine by Monday, so who knows! Hopefully your ankle will be fine again soon too.

That stinks that you're only working one day this week. Are you still looking for a better job in your free time? I know there aren't a lot of jobs out there (my hubby is looking too but he's also only working an average of 1 day per week). Hopefully something with better hours will come along soon.
 
I am feeling really down today because I had a bad day yesterday. I was stressed because I had been sent to work 30 miles away and I had to go on the motorway on my own which I hadn't done before. Plus I was told this was going to be one of my clinics and I would be going there twice a week. I'm not too happy about that, I would rather be working nearer.

Anyway, on the way home it was dark and I scraped my car against a pole in a car park and almost the whole of the left side of my car is dented now!! I've only had it a month. I'm so upset. I will claim it on the insurance but I still have a £600 excess to pay. I haven't even started paying my dad back for the car yet and now he is going to have to pay for this too.

Its not even the money, I just feel really sad!! I'm not a confident driver anyway but now I feel even worse. I can't really describe while I'm feeling so sad, I guess its just a bit shocking and its the first time I have done anything like this... and its my new car!! :(

Anyway, I have had two gym sessions since I last updated. Friday and yesterday (before the accident!). Yesterday I took my running up to run 2mins walk 1.5mins x 3. Then I went on the bike, I went on a different one which I don't usually go on because its on the other side of the gym, near the heavier weights where there are always lots of guys working out. Its the same as the one I usually use so I set it up the same but it was a lot harder! I guess because it doesn't get used as much. So that was good because it worked my legs a lot more, felt a bit more like I do when I'm riding my real bike.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Awww LMV. :( I'm sorry to hear about your car. It sounds like it's mostly cosmetic and fixable though, and I'm sure your dad knows that you'll pay him back when you can. (Do you need to fix it or can you live with a scrape on your car?) I'm glad to hear you had some good workout sessions, that's some good news at least. Hang in there, yes it sucks to have an accident but nobody was hurt and your car still runs fine, right? Try to look at the silver lining - I'm sure you'll be more careful in tight parking spots from now on. When I was in college, a guy on a bicycle hit my car (yes, he hit me!) and ever since I've always been very careful driving around bicyclists, because apparently some of them are crazy. :p The bicyclist was friends with the cop who arrived on the scene so the cop believed him, not me. That was not a good situation but I sure learned a lot from it!
 

rygon

Moderator
It may be cheaper to take it to an independent body shop. They can sometimes remove the dent or fill it,, and then re-spray which will be cheaper than new panels.

Incidently, my 1st car was the only one I've had that I've never hit anything with :p
2nd car I hit my parents gatepost, my dads car I hit a deer, then with my newest car I hit a fox (and another post).
With my dads we managed to get the front bumper fixed, then a month later my brother dented it as well lol.

These things happen, and there's no point in beating yourself up over it as it happens to everyone, its just one of those things and the main thing is that nobody was hurt. :)
 
Thanks Rygon,

I know that really its not too much to worry about. It is just one of those things. But I do feel sad about it and I will just feel a lot better about it once it has all been sorted!

Its just its such a huge scrape and I don't know how I did it so badly! Its a bit of a blurr but I think I went back into it again whilst trying to get away from it... just one of those seriously annoying and expensive things!!! Just feeling EUGHHH!!

We are going to get a couple of quotes. My uncle is a mechanic so he might know someone that can do it.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Yeah, car stuff can be really expensive. Last year I got rear-ended by a teenage driver who wasn't paying attention. There was a tiny scrape on my back bumper and no other visible damage to my car. But the body shop said the bumper cover needed to be replaced and that it'd be like $700! For a tiny scrape! Fortunately, since the kid was at fault, his insurance paid me and I pocketed the money rather than pay for such a silly repair. My car is 12 years old and I don't care if my bumper has a scratch.
 
Ahh... I've had a busy week.

Been working for 6 days in a row so I'm tired!

Went to the gym today before work, it was good. I worked quite hard. On the treadmill I did walk 1.5mins run 2 mins x 4. Which is the first time I have gone more than a mile on the treadmill. This is good because the total running distance for the triathlon is only 1.5 miles. So even though I didn't run the whole way I still kinda feel like I'm almost there! My calf muscles hurt afterwards which is the first time they have hurt running in a while so I know I am pushing myself to improve which is good.

So now I have two days off which is nice. :)
 
Unfortunately not, cat.

What is hard with my job is only getting my rota the week before so by the time I can try and make plans with people, they already have plans!

I tried to see if I could meet up with my friend who works weekdays this weekend but she is busy. Then I asked my sister if I could go and see her at uni, coz she has weds and thursdays off so I thought we could go out tonight and hang out on weds, but she is going out for a friend's bday meal tonight. Then I have another friend who works different hours like me, but she has an interview tomorrow so know she will be busy planning for that today.

So I'm just chilling at home...
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Aww. Sorry to hear all your friends bailed on you! Hopefully you're able to do something nice for yourself even if you're stuck being by yourself. Personally, I'm a huge introvert and I love alone-time! Sometimes I clean my house or get a lot of errands done, sometimes I just pamper myself, paint my nails and do a mud masque on my face and take a bubble bath with lots of fancy candles lit, watch movies that I know my hubby won't want to watch with me, etc. I'm in a similar boat this coming weekend, my hubby will be working all weekend so I'll be on my own during the day. So I'm trying to plan things - should I take my dog out to the dog park that has cool hiking paths? Should I try to go on a bike ride? Should I go to the farmer's market and people-watch and buy myself some flowers? Should I stay in and work on crafts or attempt to bake something? Hmm, so many decisions! :) I hope you are having fun with your time off and can enjoy some alone-time too!
 
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