Kirsten Cowling, Splash and Leo :
Well folks, thats us into the second week of the Canifit Winter Motivator – and I’m still motivated :D.
In keeping with this weeks weather, my theme for todays blog is “Wet and Windy” (I know, there is a joke in there but I have to know my audience before I tell it – it involves the house and tornados 😉 )
I have had a friends wee collie staying for his holidays so I have been free running the dogs most of the time. I have managed to clock up about 7 miles over the course of the week but Lindsay had mentioned Cross Training so Splash and I thought we’d give it a go. One of the activities she suggested was swimming. Now, Splash lives up to his name. Swimming is one of his very favourite things to do (unlike Leo who swims like a brick – he had to be rescued from his one and only attempt in the dog pool!). Clearly Splash and I cant rock up the Galleon sports centre and expect to get a family swim ticket so only one of us was going to be getting wet this week. And it wasnt me! I have major issues with swimming and I blame my parents for this. From a very early age I was taken to Renfrew Baths once a week (and Troon open air pool – I was a hardy wee soul!) to be taught how to swim. I love swimming and I am a good swimmer but, and its a big BUT, after swimming, we always went to the chip shop for a bag of chips and a strawberry milkshake. Even now, 45 years later, I cant go swimming without having a “chittery bite” afterwards. This would be fine if it was say, a teabiscuit but no, I have to have a fish supper – which ever so slightly defeats the purpose of the exercise :(.
Anyway, that left Splash to keep up the Cross Training campaign. So off we went for his regular tuesday swimming lesson. As always, he had a whale of a time (gettit 😉 ) and its really good for his muscles and stamina. He goes to a hydrotherapy pool in Dunlop (heated to 21degrees and 5’ deep – I could just about swim in it myself!). A good swim, a quick blow dry then wrapped in his towel and fleecy jammies for the journey to Kilmarnock for his training class (I am an overachieving dogmother – thank heavens I dont have children!!!). Splash competes in Obedience and since starting Canifit he has built up his stamina and enthusiasm and won out of his class and is doing very well in his higher class. This was a side effect I hadnt expected but that I am delighted with.
Thats the “Wet” part of this weeks offering. Now we get to “Windy”. The weather has been shocking all week…. 😉
When I finally decided it was time to get myself fit I had a few issues to resolve. I am a dog groomer and I occasionally get peed on at work. By the time I get home, I am usually pretty pongy. Add to this, I have horses so spend a lot of my time shovelling shit. None of this is going to endear me to the gym bunny that ends up on the treadmill next to me so I had to have a bit of a rethink. I had seen the posters for Canifit so finally decided to take the plunge on the basis that both myself and the boys could get fit together – and most importantly, it was outside and the likelihood was that no one was going to care if I smelled of dogs!
It worked (either that or everyone is just being very polite :/ )! I started running without a care in the world – till I got a wee extra jet boost that I didnt expect. And another. And another. Turns out running makes me fart. Constantly. Which is when I discovered another major reason why canifit beats a gym hands down – YOU CAN BLAME THE DOG AND THEY ALL FALL FOR IT 😀 (please please please dont let me be the only one who admits to this!!)
I cant believe I am saying this but roll on tomorrows class at the Dean. I can DAE hills 😀
Kirsten and the boys xxx
Gillian Donohoe and Sadie :
Week 1 of The Cani-fit motivator started off fab with Thursday class derri and I had a great run, really enjoyed the trail what a wet muddy and puddly route. Not so much the bleep test at the end lol ! More importantly for me I love class for the social side meeting with friends both two legged and four.
We also had 2 lovely runs at the weekend, Sat was a family trip to the Dean Park every thing was wet and muddy espically the kids at the end :). Wee James was a walking mud man after a nose dive at the play park. Derri found this run very interesting from chasing a squirrel to having a nose to nose kiss with a horse and a meeting with a grunting pig post run. The pig being her fav as she bounced like a kangaroo trying to get in with it (daft dog).
Sunday was a 2mile route near home nice hills and 2 small rivers to cross yes again another muddy wet run lol our jack Russell Millie joined us for this run as the chance of meeting others is very slim . She wasn’t so impressed with the river crossing but my pro Derri smashed through them 😀 that’s my girl !!
Training from here has been nil :’( but not for lack of wanting to get out my daughters football and mans pigeon shows have taken over this week leaving me looking after the boys. Big aim next week isint the normal aims its to “justdaeit” manage my time better to ensure i get at least one more run 🙂
Kirsty McEwan and Georgy :
Week 1 was jam packed with fun adventures, steps closer to overcoming fears and helping others meet their goals. Myself and Georgy squeezed all our activities into the 1st 5 days. We went walking with fellow Cani-fitters, the boys (Georgy & Nismo) played a bit of chase me and hide & seek along with some swimming. We visited new places and supported a fellow participant to meet her goal of running non-stop for a mile whoopee!!
Georgy had ‘fat club’ on Monday and all day I was trying to find ways of getting out of class as it was going to be a rush and was trying to motivate myself when I spotted class had been cancelled and my 1st thought was RESULT I no longer need to think of excuses the decision has been made for me! Then all of a sudden I had ‘the fear’ of the backlash from Mrs Whiplash for not going out on my own. I managed to rope Kirsty into joining me for a run (poor girl, I always talk her into something) so off we set for Lanark Loch which is about 0.96 miles to go round it. Head torch in hand in case it got dark. I had Georgy in harness to try and stop him from going to another swim lol to our surprise we got round in jig time and decided to give ourselves a challenge to make it round again before it got dark, which we had no doubt we would do J
Tuesday saw me taking 1 step closer to overcoming my fear of the dark. With no other option I pulled on the winter jacket with my hood up (so chuffed with myself) and off Georgy and I went for his night time walk and guess what……I survived!! This gave me the motivation to try it again soon, although I do wish the rain would just ‘dae wan’!!
Roll on this week’s adventures!
This week’s main achievement – Georgy starting to become a skinny Minnie (sorry Mickey) although according to Pauline he has some wiggle lol
Sam McKay and Angus :
So here is my blog submission for #canifitwintermotivator for week 1.
The week in the run up to the start of the #canifitwintermotivator was actually really good – I’d completed all my planned runs for the week, been out with Angus twice played 2 games of squash and had a squash coaching session – so was feeling fairly positive. And then I did Falkirk Parkrun on Saturday 🙁
Since I’ve entered the Canisport Edinburgh race at Foxlake on the 16th and because most of my runs have been around the 2.5mile mark due to Achilles problems, I had thought it would be a good idea to do a full 5k under similar-ish conditions– didn’t turn out to be such a great idea though. For those who know Falkirk Parkrun, you will be familiar with Heartbreak Hill which normally causes lots of people problems – though this time for me the problem wasnt the run up the hill but the run back down the hill to Callendar House. By the time I crossed the finish line my Achilles was causing me a lot of pain and I was starting to think I’d really caused some damage. To add insult to injury, although I was expecting to be a good bit slower than when I last ran Parkrun (in 34 mins last year), I didn’t expect to be over the 40min mark – 41min 49sec to be precise.
The pain from my Achilles plus the realisation of just how slow I was hit me, and as I hobbled along in a sea of tears to pick the boys up from the playpark, I vowed – rather dramatically – never to run again and Foxlake could ‘fox’ off. Demotivated was not the word for how I felt, but after a stern talking to from the hubby, some stretching and ibruprofen, I started regained my perspective on things. The plan would be to rest up completely this week in terms of squash/running, but keep mobile as much as possible with short/slow walks with Angus and lots of stretching/massage.
Hopefully having rested this week, my Achilles will be in a good enough state for me to get round the course at Foxlake on Sunday. Based on my disaster at Parkrun, I’ll be really happy if I can run non-stop and get round in under 40 mins, but if I don’t then I’m not going to let it get to me – at least I’m out there with Angus and hopefully enjoying it!
So setting my intentions for the week ahead – I intend to:
- -Run 3 times – two runs with Angus and once during work lunchhour
- – Walk Angus every day for >40mins, except the days that he is being run.
- – Play squash twice
- – Go to the gym twice.
Fingers crossed!
Amy McLaughlan and Mighty Maisie:
- My targets: 27 min parkrun time, able to run a continuous 10k, don’t make shins any worse, adventures & new places with Mighty Maisie the Motivator.
So week 1 kicked off for Team Small but Mighty with Cani-Fit class at Eglinton Park. This week we were tail running which is getting tougher as all the others in the class get faster every week!! Good stuff 🙂 The park was really muddy and flooded which made it extra fun, well and truly christened my new trail shoes. Maisie loves when there are tons of puddles to run through en route, she is a spaniel after all.
I then had two rest days Friday and Saturday, as we had a race on Sunday. Travelled all the way to Anglesey with Team Cani-Fit for Canicross Anglesey’s 5k race at Newborough Forest. All the others were also doing a 10k trail race on theSaturday but in the interest of shin protection I sat that one out. Race day was fab – Maisie knew exactly what was going on as soon as we were on site. She likes to make crazy devil dog noises at the start line and she didn’t disappoint. The trail was great, fast forgiving ground, well marked by plenty of marshals with water along the route and enough puddles to keep the Mighty One happy. She ran like a wee trooper, to be fair she always does, especially at a race but this time she was extra mighty and just ran flat out the whole way. I had soaked her before take off this time which I think helped. Anyway, race done, we got a new PB so I was totally delighted. Especially since over the course of the weekend several folk said ‘oh she won’t run will she’ about Maisie. We enjoyed overtaking them.
Back up the road and Monday meant recovery run day for me – Maisie had a very well earned day off. I ran my favourite route in Troon, is 4.8 miles of mixed terrain, muddy woodland, grass, stoney trail, beach and a small tarmac section. Felt good, went really slow so that wasn’t taxing my legs too much. Feel free to join me on this route anytime!
Tuesday is swimming day – gives my shins a rest and always feel great after I’ve been for a swim, I think the water soothes your muscles at the same time as working them. Best cross training in my opinion, especially if you’re injury prone. Did 33 lengths which is half a mile, takes just under half an hour. Sometimes I do 50 but the Tuesday session starts late and I like to get home to my bed lol! (Am actually an old lady).
Wednesday, final day and 3rd session with Mighty. Went to do some hills in Troon. Dragged Thomas, my other half, with us. He’s jst started training for a hill run he has entered and is definitely the one in need of the motivation in our house I tell you!! Unfortunately the hills we chose were tarmac and I was so worried about my shins that I don’t feel that I put my all into it. We did 8 reps then 6 sprints on the flat. Maisie absolutely loved it – I try really hard to mix up her training too as I can’t help but think just battering out a 5k constantly must bore her as much as it bores me so where I can I take her for hills/sprints/track work/cross training too. Maisie is always enthusiastic about her running and I think the key to that, for us (everyone’s different) is that mix of work type and the fact that I only take her running max three times a week. Anyway, the search is on for some grassy hills in Troon to train on so that I can put my back into it without having to worry about my shins. Thomas nearly hacked his lungs up – he’s got a bit of fitness building to do lol!
Lessons learned, PBs smashed, dragons conquered, hills beaten, beetroot juice devoured – roll on next week!
Pauline Lindsay and Nismo:
Well this little Cani-Fit Winter Motivator has been well motivated this 1st week though I’m not so sure about the Nismo (ain’t that a surprise eh!).
I upped my running – take that very loosely cos sometimes that fitness bitch app tells me I’m “walking very very briskly” grrrr – to 4 times this week and there is progress.. Hallelujah. We both managed our 1st mile with no stops in a long long time. This was thanks to the help of Kirsty and Georgy who kept us going and a double bonus was that we managed it in under 12 mins.
Our next run wasn’t so pleasurable as I ended up dragging Nismo and had to give up – I’m not yet strong enough to drag an extra 8 stone mal. Needless to say, tonight’s run was minus the Nismo sigh.
Our next goal is Sundays comp at Fox Lake, the 2.5k, so let’s hope the Nismo shares this goal also…. #canifitwintermotivator
Claire Brown and Maddy :
Ok here goes my attempt at my very first blog for the Cani-fit Winter Motivator!
Well my life is seriously busy (or maybe it just feels that way) looking after my 3 girls (1 hairy with 4 legs)and working. I have found trying to fit in training a challenge to say the least but the cani-fit winter motivator has been perfect for me to stop making excuses – there are usually a lot !!
So my goals are to run at least 3 times a week with Maddy and get out to exercise with my girls. I want to improve my running technique as I seem to run very flatfooted behind Maddy and get better at free running.
This week, activity 1 was attempting to Rollerblade with my daughter –no Maddy as yet as I think she would kill me !! It was great fun but it’s been at least 12 yrs since I last attempted it and gave anyone watching a laugh!! No pictures of this though, maybe once I’m better at it 😉
We went running with other cani-fitters on Monday night which was great, Maddy loved it as usual. Wednesday I had a fab run planned. Maddy could run and chase and I would run at my own pace all by myself !! after a sleepless night and a horrible cold I would usually have cancelled and went for our hour walk before work but not this time! The challenge is on… kids to nursery and out we went! I was a disaster to say the least but hey I still went out and gave it my all and felt better after it, although I’m sure the crazy pup was laughing at me puffing my way round!
Picture is off Maddy chilling after a run
Week 2 beware, I’m coming for you
Claire and Maddy X
Carol Bamber , Keely and Sanna:
This week’s blog is going to be shorter than I originally intended having signed up after running 2 consecutive days (a first for me) at the River Ayr and Auchincruive with both Keely and Sanna and not foreseeing that I would be struggling to stand-up/sit-down/generally-move-about for 2 consecutive days afterwards (guess who didn’t do a proper warm-up or cool-down).
After 3 days of procrastinating about running the Rozelle park run route with both dogs, then thinking of doing it with one dog, then thinking of walking it to familiarise myself with the route, then lounging on the sofa with the map spread out (again familiarising myself with the route) with a large tube of pringles for company, I finally decided this morning to…………….go for a run along Greenan shore.
We had a blast, and despite the fact that we only ran for a mile it’s probably the first time I’ve ran with both dogs and felt like we’ve really been able to go at full pelt at times (I usually struggle leaning into running with both of them on more technical trails – need to work on ditching the fear of a face-plant)! They were both brilliant but completely different runners, Keely stopping to sniff everything (adds a fun hurdling element to the run), and Sanna is a full-on puller who follows her nose, all 3 of us have different ideas of which direction to go.
Feeling great and (as usual) wish I’d done it earlier in week instead of thinking about it. So this coming week my plans are:
1) walk/run the Rozelle route during the week with Keely and try to keep her going past all of the interesting smells
2) explore Dumfries house estate running with Sanna
3) dig out my mountain bike (hasn’t turned a wheel for 2 years) for a visit to 7 stanes this weekend
4) another beach run with both but aiming for 1.5-2 miles depending on how they’re doing (ok, depending on how I’M doing)
5) 4 sets of planking and will also find and include ankle strengthening exercises (for running on ripply sand – was staggering all
over the place this morning)
Ok not such a short blog after all!
Until next week
Freya Kennedy and her Spaniels:
Im in Fife so nowhere near the active cani groups and although I work in Edinburgh the CSE runs are just not at times I can manage. So Mina and I are really fumbling about with this running lark !!
> I started the Cani-Fit winter motivator on top form last week managing a circuits class, a yoga class , and road run and then a canicross run.
>
> After giving myself a rest day on Monday it’s all been downhill since then. I’ve let work get to me and instead of using exercise as a way to blow away the negative feelings, I cancelled my classes, haven’t been a run and stayed home feeling down.
>
> I’ve now caught the cold so I don’t think I’ll manage any running or classes but instead I can concentrate on clean eating and nourishing my body.
Focus on what you can do , not what you can’t.
Vx
Helen Rourke, Charlie and Ruby:
So it’s week 1 of this winter motivator malarkey and I’m still riding high on the promise of a pair of snazzy free trainers (the fact that these will be absolutely useless to me and my chocolate ankles is by-the-by).
My aim was to get our running mojo back, getting the Ginga Ninjas back on fighting form. A secondary objective: to run without following it promptly with cake! (Altho I’m sure a veg-based baked good doesn’t count right?!?!)
Week 1 Target: Get out for a run x 4
Step 1: Establish the Baseline – Cue a time check 3k run round chatelherault & bitter disappointment when we realised our time was a disgraceful 17mins. (We used to do it in 15! This isn’t boding well for Foxlake on Sunday). Cake was required to drown my sorrows. #epicfail
Step 2: Build our Endurance –Sunday run at Loch Ard. A change of scenery, a promise of a slow steady run & a pub lunch at the end (note: no cake). The terrain was tricky and the route a bit hilly – hardly ideal for my dodgy Achilles…but it was great! The team were out for an hour with some dug swimming stops. I didn’t feel like death at the end. We managed to stay upright (result). Charlie pulled the whole way (ok well almost). And perhaps my greatest achievement (of the week) soup for lunch – no cake (usually the only reason one orders soup is so that one can eat cake?!) #smallsuccesses #turnedacorner
Step 3: Keep Motivated (even when your great leader is taking a duvet day) – Mondays class was cancelled, the temptation to stay indoors on the sofa with my spaniel teddybear was HUGE! An elite group of diehards braved the cold and stormed the golf course/river route. We even rounded it off with a sprint finish. Salmon & Scrambled eggs when I got home (no cake in the house booo) #teddybearluvsachillynite
Step 4: Conquer the Hills -the Ayrshire group is @ Dean Park tonight – that’s a whole 15 mins closer to home & plays host to some nasty hills. No excuses off we trot.
Step 5: Keep up the Good Work – Fri @ Cathkin, Sat @ Strathy, Foxlake race on Sun, appointment with a PT on Mon and (hopefully) 2 more canifit group runs (work permitting). It’s gonna be a busy week. Just thinking about it I think I need a sneaky fruit scone – 1 of my 5 a day surely? 😉
#ginjaninjas #solidstart #inov8srmine
Kirsty Groom and her Huskies :
After a poor start to the winter motivator, I finally managed to kick my ass out the door tonight.
A lot of people will be doing this motivator to increase fitness and times, I have to say the main goal for me is to get a healthy mind as well as body.
So tonight I wrapped up and took my boy out for a wee jog/power walk and yes I was knackered!!! But I felt really good after it and my boy loved it. Have a couple foggy blurry pics of his bottom out in front of me that I am currently trying to get from phone to iPad. Will send through once they download.
Here’s to more pics and hopefully some daylight pics but as work stands it may just be dark ones for now lol.
Kirsty Groom x
Sam Mckay and Angus:
So here is my blog submission for #canifitwintermotivator for week 1.
The week in the run up to the start of the #canifitwintermotivator was actually really good – I’d completed all my planned runs for the week, been out with Angus twice played 2 games of squash and had a squash coaching session – so was feeling fairly positive. And then I did Falkirk Parkrun on Saturday 🙁
Since I’ve entered the Canisport Edinburgh race at Foxlake on the 16th and because most of my runs have been around the 2.5mile mark due to Achilles problems, I had thought it would be a good idea to do a full 5k under similar-ish conditions– didn’t turn out to be such a great idea though. For those who know Falkirk Parkrun, you will be familiar with Heartbreak Hill which normally causes lots of people problems – though this time for me the problem wasnt the run up the hill but the run back down the hill to Callendar House. By the time I crossed the finish line my Achilles was causing me a lot of pain and I was starting to think I’d really caused some damage. To add insult to injury, although I was expecting to be a good bit slower than when I last ran Parkrun (in 34 mins last year), I didn’t expect to be over the 40min mark – 41min 49sec to be precise.
The pain from my Achilles plus the realisation of just how slow I was hit me, and as I hobbled along in a sea of tears to pick the boys up from the playpark, I vowed – rather dramatically – never to run again and Foxlake could ‘fox’ off. Demotivated was not the word for how I felt, but after a stern talking to from the hubby, some stretching and ibruprofen, I started regained my perspective on things. The plan would be to rest up completely this week in terms of squash/running, but keep mobile as much as possible with short/slow walks with Angus and lots of stretching/massage.
Hopefully having rested this week, my Achilles will be in a good enough state for me to get round the course at Foxlake on Sunday. Based on my disaster at Parkrun, I’ll be really happy if I can run non-stop and get round in under 40 mins, but if I don’t then I’m not going to let it get to me – at least I’m out there with Angus and hopefully enjoying it!
So setting my intentions for the week ahead – I intend to:
- -Run 3 times – two runs with Angus and once during work lunchhour
- – Walk Angus every day for >40mins, except the days that he is being run.
- – Play squash twice
- – Go to the gym twice.
Fingers crossed
Claire Anderson and Floyd:
Goal – To get out a run with my dog!
Well folks when it comes to the winter motivator challenge iv been rather disappointing in week one!
On Thursday I left the house started my journey to class but got caught in traffic and had to about turn! To say I was raging was an understatement! Floyd wasn’t chuffed either!
Friday took me to Liverpool with work, i had a long but a successful day followed by an overnight stay, and dinner! I did consider taking my gear to do Liverpool Parkrun on the Saturday morning but thought that Police Scotland may not appreciate this! ( they are no fun, and don’t appreciate the winter motivator!! Pfft!)
Sunday I was working again…….. Followed by overtime, and preparing for Mondays trip to Paris! ❤❤❤
So on Monday me and Mr. Anderson, my exercise phobe hubby arrived in Paris!
Again I missed my class! However I trekked a good few miles, followed by lots of booze and food
