The Countdown Begins

This morning I received an email from the trip organisers with the heading 'The Countdown Begins' and so it does. I am setting myself targets for each week from now on:
This week
5 runs, minimum 4 miles
Daily strength training: 3 x 1 min plank, 3 x 20 crunches, 3 x 20 pelvic thrusts, reverse lunges till it hurts, squats till it hurts, 3 x 30 biceps curls, 3 x 15 shoulder raises and presses.
Porridge with almonds for breakfast each day, lots of licourice tea, no alcohol Sunday night to Friday night so 5 glasses of water each day instead, in the hope that if I am not thirsty I won't need a glass of Aspalls/Gordons/prosecco/sauvignon
2 yoga practice evenings, if I can get warm enough as the house is so very cold and it is not conducive to yoga, even with my wonderful merino long johns.

The week started badly with a sore arse (yet again - must stop falling over) and too much snow for my annual winter trip to the Tate but things are looking up; the thaw has set in, the builders have started, the roads are open and the road to the Lodge is almost ice free. The run this morning was punctuated by short walks every time I hit a small patch of black ice ("must stop falling over going" through my head) but still managed to do 4 miles, helped by a new playlist, which I dredged up from old faves to keep me going. Running to "Hey boy, hey girl" (Chemical Brothers) was very motivational. The route should be 5 but the final hill was just too slippy. The aches and pains from the fall have gone and now I can get return to the strength building, which had gone a little by the wayside over the holiday period as the sluggishness of the cold and no routine got the better of me.

The countdown also begins for the completion of or building project, the guys from GBS have really got stuck in and are stripping the roof today, every time I feel cold I must think of them, exposed to the wind whipping in, and feel fortunate.

before the thawToday