Day 30: Posh houses and Rasberries

Its the last day so I had to blog even though I have been slacking a bit the last few days. As I am up at my folks cat sitting once again and working I tried to spread my steps over the day. It was yet another miserable day and couldn't be bothered running but still need to get my steps up after a pathetic day yesterday where I didn't even manage to get to 10,000!

So due to the wet conditions today's Junathon effort consisted of walking around the housing estates in Fairmilehead. There has been quite a lot of developments in the last 10 year or so. I haven't really looked at them properly but today as I needed to go do a long walk I decided to have a nose round them. My word! - so many big and posh houses! I'm not sure what people do with so much space. 5+ bedrooms just seems excessive (unless you intend to run a B&B or you have a particularly large family). Anyway, think of all the housework and cleaning!

I've also never liked how they all look very much the same and what is with the fashion for monoblock! And then there's all the cars - so many that some of these places had tarmaced over the grass for more parking space! And people wonder why we have issues with surface water flooding.
Here was one interesting place that had astroturf instead of actual grass...looked rather weird and more suited for a miniature golf place!

Anyway, as well as posh-house spotting I also spotted the first raspberries of the year. Isn't it a bit early for them? I know brambles come out towards the end of summer but not sure about raspberries. To be fair there weren't many of them ripe but I manage to grab a couple :)

So after all this posh house spotting and raspberry picking, I managed to get home before the rain came on yet again and have managed to get to 20,000!

Day 27: meh

You know those days where you just wish you could stay in bed... Yeah it was one of those. We are back to the energy sucking, grey wet weather and the news is  making me want to hide under the covers. I've been trying to keep my average step target up but today my friends I just have to say fuck it and get me a beer.

I did manage to do my usual walk from the car to the office and back but no lunchtime walk as the rain was literally bouncing off the pavement. I also walked to the shops but that was solely to get the aforementioned beer.

I do hope to be in a better frame of mind tomorrow but I can't promise anything, though I do have a wine tasting planned so that's nice tho maybe not so good for my exercise prospects...
H
Stats!
Steps so far :13,893
Level of meh feeling :100%

Day 26: still in recovery

Most Mondays that aren't raining I should really be cycling to work yet I don't often manage it, mainly due to the fact I'm still recovering from the weekend. Today was no different. After all the activity over the last couple of days I got up feeling pretty stiff and entirely unprepared for the close to 5 mile, mainly uphill cycle to work so feeling the usual guilt I took the car. But I'm still parking it about half a mile away from work to get some walking in.

I also had my usual lunchtime saunter and being aware of my 19,500 average target for this section of my challenge I also walked to the supermarket for dinner stuff. I can smell the yummy smells of home made Thai red curry as I type!
Sadly I won't be cycling to work again tomorrow as the forecast is 'peeing rain' boo.
Step stats: 18,534 (somehow need to squeeze in 1000 more before bed!)
Had just came across some photos of Saturday night. This was from the last song. It was very hot and sweaty but wonderful

Day 24-25 Weddings, moshing and saying goodbye to Studio 24

As per usual my socialising gets in the way of my Junathon blogging. But not my exercise thankfully.

It was a busy weekend with much love and lots of dancing occurring. I attended the fantastic wedding of 2 of my friends. They had their ceremony up at Dunsapie Loch in Holyrood Park.

Was a lovely ceremony and as I walked there I managed to get some steps in too!

Myself and Ian then went for some food before getting ready for the eveing reception. More walking ensued, despite Ian's requst for a taxi home haha.

The reception was much fun also and usual I spent a good amount of time on the dance floor bouncing about like a crazy person!

Not content with dancing the night away til 1am when the festivities ended. Myself and my co-party animal Matt decided to go along to the last ever metal night Keep it Steel at Studio 24 to get some moshing in. There was a 5am licence so it seemed rude not to :). I think we were the smartest dressed people there still havig our wedding attire on.

And it was a night to remember. The last song played (apart from the theme tune to Cheers as the lights went up) was Bohemian Rhapsody where everyone sang along and danced in earnest. There were people crying by the end as we said goodbye to one of the best club venues in Edinburgh. RIP Studio 24.  I ended up with mild whiplash from all the moshing but it was worth it!

Day 23: the one where I walk everywhere

So, on Friday I attempted to beat my personal best for my Global Step Challenge. As this stranded at 31,000 I had set myself a rather difficult target seeing that I had work. However, determination is something I'm generally pretty good at. So I got up at stupid o'clock to make the 5 mile walk to work. And most of this is uphill. By the time I got to my desk at 8:15am I had already clocked 11,000 steps. And was already tired!
At lunchtime I dragged myself out again and tries not to think about the fact I had another hours walk home at the end of the day. Arriving home I still had another 4,000 steps to get to reach my target.

Thankfully after a couple of reviving beers (see alcohol is medicinal!) I geared myself up to don my trainers once more to make the 2.5 mile trip to my friends flat for a 'girls night in', which wasn't that girly as nine of my friends are particularly girly (thankfully).

I'm pleased to say that all this walking resulted in a grand total of 34,000 steps :)

I will say this tho, I definitely needed my headphones and music to distract me from the pain in my legs. Even managed a little air guitar along my way. Totally oblivious to what a weirdo I probably looked like!

Day 22: pondering the masochistic urge

Aiming to do an average of about 20,000 steps a day is starting to look like one of my not so clever ideas. It's the sheer amount if of your time it takes to squeeze them in. I'm currently at 22,000 at 7pm. I clockes a couple ks before work by parking far away, walked at lunchtime as well as adding some more on a site visit in the afternoon. Walked the long way to my car. Then on getting home going for a 4.7 mile run. My knee hurts, as do my feet.

I do sometimes wonder why I do this. Today I also signed up for next year's Tough Mudder. It will be my 3rd. Hopefully I'll do it without a fractured elbow (unlike last year). The training will be hard. My upper body strength still sucks after many promises to myself I'll get better. But yet I'm determined to do it. I get lots of satisfaction from achieving physical challenges and they are hard as I'm lazy and like partying too much. But I guess it's all about balance. I just need to tip it a little more to the healthier side :)
Stats!
Run distance :4.7 miles
Time : 48 mins
Tough Mudders signed up for :1

Day 21: don't trust that bastard weather forecast

It warned about rain yes but that rain was supposed to come in the afternoon not after 8pm in the evening. Good when I'm out walking!

But to be honest I rather enjoyed being out with the thunder and lightning going on around me and I had my huge umbrella to keep the worst off :)

After my cycling and running yesterday I wanted my legs to recover a but but I have still managed to clock over 20,000 steps today.
At this point in the pics below the rain was bouncing off the ground... Didn't stop the footballers though. This is the meadows, and in the sunshine this empty area of grass would be heaving

Day 20: Double Whammy

To make up for the fact I missed a few days last week I'm punishing myself by doing extra exercise this week!

Having a bonus day of summery weather I cycled to work, walked at lunchtime (in uncomfortable shoes as my trainers had been taken hostage by a rogue cleaner who locked them in the changing rooms) and then cycled home a long route.

THEN, I went for a run. The run wasn't very fast as I was tired and hungry.

Not bad for a Tuesday.
Stats!
Distance cycle : 12 miles
Run: 3.5 miles

Day 19: oops, I appear to have missed a few days

I'm blaming illness, my friends and the brief appearance of summer for my week long absence from Juneathon.

My cold pretty much sucked my energy last week and over the weekend I got distracted by friend dragging me to the pub, pride celebrations in the meadows and a birthday party for my terrible slacking. Though I did alot of walking on Friday - over 24,000 steps.

Though I'm back on track this week. I've set myself a target of averaging 19,500 steps a day for the next stage of my Global Challenge so will need to be more disciplined.

May actually look at a proper training plan to really kick start my running off again!

Stats!
Steps today :19,700
Juneathon days missed:7!

Day 12: unseasonal illnesses and angry housework

It's June and I have a cold. How utterly unfair. And during Juneathon too! So stuffed up with a sore throat my main exercise has been my walk to work, a lunchtime walk to get painkillers and tissues and an impromptu evening walk cause it looked sunny but was actually quite cold thanks to it being windy (again!).

There was also some angry housework. Angry due the the fact I had hoped that on hearing of my unfortunate state of I'll health, Ian would have taken pity on me and tidied up for me but on coming in from work I found him asleep on the couch in front of the computer. He had fallen asleep in the middle of playing a game! Cue much stomping around angrily putting out the recycling (was rather therapeutic jumping on boxes to flatten them!).
Here is a picture of the crags from the end of my walk... As you can see it looks nice enough but you can see the ever lurking rain clouds just creeping up on the unsuspecting tourists

Day 11: Unsurprisingly, a lazy day

Yes, after all my socialising this weekend I have mainly spent today lying on the couch alternating reading a book (finishing 2 and starting 1 other), and dozing.

However, being Juneathon, I did take a break from being lazy to walk round Holyrood Park. Being Scotland in Summer it was very windy, sunny, warm, then cold and raining. I was treated to seeing 3 ladybirds (pictured), and a heron (not pictured as it was too far away for my crappy phone camera). I know ladybirds aren't that exotic but I like them and you really don't see them very much any more.

Oh, and I also did my plank that I should have done yesterday. Only managed about 20 seconds and sneaked into the bedroom to do it so I didn't look weird doing a random plank in front of Ian would has also been lazy and has done nothing but sleep and play computer games today. 

To the stats! 

Distance: 3.4 miles

Time: 50 mins 

Wildlife encountered : 3 ladybirds, 1 heron, lots of swans (as is usual in Holyrood Park ) and many gulls, pigeons and dogs (though they can't really be classed as 'wild' life) 

Day 10: late again but worth it

I'm a bit behind, but what a weekend. And no slacking despite there being no running or other more traditional exercises.
However between all the mad dancing to the brilliant beats supplied by some excellent friends (i pretty much didn't leave the dance floor for 4 hours!) and trekking from club to party to home I clocked up a pretty decent step count.

For it was the henstag do of 2 of my wonderful friends who are getting married in 2 weeks and we celebrated wholehearted at Studio 24 with aforementioned musical awesomeness. Here is a rubbish photo of the lovely couple :

Much partying was done with dancing continuing on at a friend's house. And treated to a beautiful pink sky as the sun was rising.

Today will no doubt be a much needed restful day.
Stats!
Hours spent dancing : 4-6 at a guess
Alcohol units consumed: liver destroying amounts

Day 9: 3 hours sleep is not a good start

Well, it was inevitable... Staying up til 2am watching election results wasn't the best idea... Was into work for 8am. So a rest day it was. Though still managed a decent 2 mile walk at lunchtime.

Multiple coffees later I was still struggling to stay alert at work and when I got home, another planned walk turned into a long nap on the couch instead.

Will make it up with some dancing tonight though as it is my friends' hen and stag doo tonight which they are doing jointly which I think is brilliant.

Stats!
Steps : 14,796 (so far)
Hours of sleep :not nearly enough

Day 8: Don't mention the Election

Once again we find ourselves at the polling station. Or, like me at the post box a while ago. And what a miserable day to contemplate the possible end of civilised society. Any Tories reading, please F off. You aren't welcome here.


Oops, it didn't take long to break my rule (any excuse for a Faulty Towers reference!). Anyhoo, in other, non - election (sorry!) news. Despite thinking the rain would never end, I managed to go for a run today and amazingly didn't get wet.... It was actually clearing up tho the Fog was still hanging around looking like something out of a John Carpenter film:

Anyway, fingers crossed we don't wake up to some 1984 distopia tomorrow!
Stats!
Distance : 4 miles
Time :41mins
Times I have mention the Election today : 100s!

Day 7: where it literally pays to go for a run!

I am very glad I went for my rather late run today as just 5 mins into it I discovered £25 lying on the ground! Obviously, I looked around (albeit fairly briefly) to make sure there wasn't anyone looking like they had lost it before gleefully pocketing it. I do feel for the person who dropped said money, it's happened to me a few times,  and I will honour them by trying to spend it wisely :)

The rest of my run was rather good. Instead of doing the usual route round Holyrood Park, I ventured off the tarmac onto the many tracks round the park and Arthurs Seat. In stark contrast to yesterday, the weather has been lovely and I was treated to some lovely views:

You can see why l love Edinburgh so much... This is my back garden! 

Stats! 

Distance :3.4 miles 

Time: 40 mins 

Money found £25

Day 6: Ahhh, the Scottish summer time

It was pissing with rain ALL DAY. We have had very little rain the past few months and so the weather powers decided to make up for it all at once. Needless to say I didn't really want to go running in it.

However, I didn't totally let it defeat me. I took my big umbrella for a lunchtime walk and me and Ian walked to the shops this evening. Both were miserable affairs and I got wet feet.

Welcome to the Scottish summer time...a few days where the sun kind of tries to make us feel it's summer before we get a solid month of rubbishness.

Stats!
Distance :11,294 steps so far
Conversations had about how rubbish the weather is: too many

Day 5: Unintended slacking

It wasn't my intention to sack off today. Had totally meant to go for a lunchtime walk and then a run after work. However, the boyfriend proved to get in the way

I managed a good, long walk at lunchtime but by the time I finished work Ian had woken up and put on Grimm on Netflix and before you know it, we've binge watched so many episodes it's already 9pm!

Thanks to my long walk I did still manage to get my minimum target of 10,000 steps, so not a total fail!

Stats :
Total steps :10,137 (including 3.2 mile walk)
Episodes of Grimm watched : 4 (so far)

Day 4: late but not slacking!

Oops! Didn't get round to blogging yesterday as I was mainly recovering from an epic night out. In line with Friday/Saturday, most of my exercise consisted of dancing between the hours of 11pm and 3am...with a bit of wandering from bar to bar in the underground labyrinth that is the Caves in Edinburgh (one of my favourite venues in this city).

This was followed by more dancing (and a few G&Ts) at an after party so the rest of Sunday was spent sleeping.

It will be back to the traditional walking/running/cycling for the week

Day 3 Clubbing is the best exercise

Even though during daylight hours I have mostly been indoors tidying my flat I had already done today's Juneathon before most people were up this morning. In fact I had managed to clock 14,500 steps before 7am!

Photo credit: Alex Devereaux‎

I hadn't even planned to go out last night but a few birthday drinks turned into a brilliant night of dancing to Drum and Bass in one of my favourite clubs in Edinburgh, Studio 24. It was just announced recently that it was closing down after a long battle with the council over noise complaints.  It is a very sad day for the Edinburgh music scene but they are going out in style with lots of farewell gigs on this month. I hope to be spending a couple more nights this month saying farewell on the dance floor.

Stats!
distance: not far but I'm sure a few miles clocked up in dance moves :)
time: was pretty much dancing from midnight to 3am

Day 2: Thank Janathon for warm tonic

Anyone got that Friday feeling? I certainly did and that usual means wanting to go home and crack open a bottle of red. Not put on my running gear. Thankfully I didn't have wine but I had bought some nice tonic as I have lots of nice gin in the flat. However, the tonic, just being bought was still warm so I needed something to do while it cooled. And 3 odd miles round Holyrood Park would give it the time to chill.

Unfortunately due to endomondo being rubbish it only recorded 2.3 miles :(

Run done I now get to enjoy my chilled G&T :)
Happy Friday!

Stats,
Distance : 3.4 miles (or 2.3 if you believe endomondo)
Time 24 mins (or probably 35 mins)

Junathon Revival Day 1

Cathy just happened to share a memory about Juneathon which got me to reminiscing about it and I thought 'I  miss the whole Junathon thing'. Not only that but the proper, old school Junathon when you had to 'jog, log and blog'. I always enjoyed the blogging bit and so I replied I would do it and Cathy said, 'Do it then!' So I am. :)

I will log on Twitter or facebook and blog here on my good old blogger.com page and share will all my facebook people, whether they want to read it or not!

It's actually pretty good timing as I am doing the Virgin Global Challenge (formally just the Corporate Global Challenge, before Virgin got their marketing mitts all over it and of course, everything must be sponsored by a bit corporation!). Like last year I am team captain of a team of 7 of my colleagues who are all being encouraged to get all fit and healthy by wearing a pedometer for 100 days trying to reach 10,000 steps a day or at least do more steps than they would normally do. So doing exercise for a month doesn't seem too bad. Last year for this challenge my competitiveness saw me walking to and from work several times a week (about 9 miles both ways). And that is for 3 months!

So, even if I am the only one, here's to the start of a successful Junethon!

Oh, almost forgot my stats! a wee lunchtime run today

distance: 3 miles
time: 31mins 10
Juneathons revived: 1