Well well well, it appears that we have to get ourselves motivated for the winter and do a blog?? So, lets start with the basics. I am Kirsten. I am an overweight, middle aged woman who is determined not to be fat at 50! I currently have exactly 54 weeks to sort this issue. I go to Cani-fit attached to Splash and Leo who are probably the most attractive collies you could ever hope to meet (biased? me? nonsense!). I chose cani-fit for my big fitness campaign as I needed something that I could do with my boys. Splash had been very unwell last year and I nearly lost him so it was important for me to find something to build up his fitness and stamina at the same time as my own. And Leo? Leo is just Leo. A wee special boy who loves his mummy and his big brother – and hates children and other dogs. After years of trying Obedience (yup, Splash rocks obedience) and Doggy Dancing (okay, Leo has his moments with this) we have finally found something that we can all do together! And guess what, Leo now loves other dogs (we are working on the children bit but I kinda see his point 😉 ).
There are downsides. I can no longer pick up a pair of trainers in the house without all holy hell breaking loose. My car now stinks of wet harnesses and my husband thinks I am having an affair with a smelly version of Christian Gray but hey ho, its all good fun isnt it?
Anyway, I started this in the early part of summer. We had lots of long, hot nights of pleasure (back to the Christian Gray bit here) spent running slowly (very slowly) round Eglinton Park. The boys had wee dips in the river and life was good. Gradually I started to see an improvement. I could run for longer and slightly faster. It wasn’t such a struggle. I didn’t hate Lindsay quite as much as I did at the start…
Then the weather turned. Oh. My. God. Running in the rain. Well, you know what, running in the rain aint so bad! Especially if you are like me and carrying a couple of extra stone of blubber which helps with the insulation.
Then it got dark. Oh. My. Effin. God. Headtorches! The first night was an epic fail. Back to the drawing board (ebay) for a second try at the headtorch buying campaign. Once my trusty Cree arrived I was off like a rocket :D. I discovered that I actually really like running in the dark through the woods. Its spooky and atmospheric and its really good fun!
Then it got dark and wet at the same time! Hmmm – was I man enough for this? You better believe it! Last night was hideous. The rain was pelting down and it was totally miserable. Off we all went, headtorched, canifit cap and tubigripped up (did I mention my ankles? Dont worry, you’ll hear about them soon!) and it was AMAZING. I gave up trying to avoid the puddles and the mud and just ran right through the middle of it all and I had a whale of a time. We finally got back to the car and got the boys all snug in their rugs (rugs? they are farm collies, they should be out in a barn tied to a chain, not sitting in their matching pyjamas drying off so they can get on the couch as soon as we get home – pair of pussies!).
Then the fun really started. Lindsay hit us with the boot camp bit of the night (I was so sure we were going to get away with it – I was wrong). It started badly – “do you remember the Bleep Test from PE at school?”. In a word – NO. In 2 weeks time I turn 50. I can barely remember what I had for last nights dinner. I know for a fact I didnt do a Bleep Test because I managed to evade PE altogether for most of my later school years (I refused to get all sweaty and mess up my blue eyeliner and my flick!). The only sweating I did in car parks was in the back of someones Ford Capri (oh, or a few memorable months in an XR3i).
It took mere minutes for me to realise why it was called the Bleep Test. “Are you having a bleeping laugh? You want me to run back and forwards getting faster and faster? At my age? With my ankles?”. There was a lot of Bleeping happening and then she hit us with the real nasty bit. Planking. In the rain. On the hardcore path. On the bright side, for the first time ever I managed to do the full exercise but I suspect that was just because I didnt want to lose the skin on my knees if I hit the deck.
I got home knackered, stinking, covered in mud. The dogs werent much better. My long suffering husband pointed me at the shower before he even let me sit on the couch (although I noticed that didnt apply to the dogs….) and I COULDN’T GET THE GRIN OFF MY FACE!! I can do this. I WILL do this. I am mega motivated :D.
My goals are to break the 30 minute mark for 5k, increase the distance I can run and learn how to stay upright as the dodgy ankles sometimes give me a bit of grief and I do have to watch what I am running on. If I cant learn to stay upright I need to teach Splash to stop if I hit the deck. Honestly Splash, while I love your enthusiasm, dragging me through stinging nettles is Bleeping sore!
Talk to you all soon,
Kirsten and the boys xxx
