Categories: uncategorized
Date: 13 October 2009 11:02:40
Today is going to be a true "get fit or die in the attempt" day, by the looks of it.
Here is the agenda:
8.30 am - frantically turn the place upside down looking for the card for the gym which I foolishly took out of the rucksack when the Smudgelet went to camp and which I then put in a safe place. Bad move. I found it, just in time to have to walk slightly more quickly than anticipated to the gym.
8.50 am - walk (with a sense of determination) the half hour walk from my home to the neighbouring town where the gym is. I felt very virtuous, seeing as I could have caught a train and been there in just three minutes.
9.30 am - run back and forth between the gym and reception as the door to the gym is operated by a swipe card and it refused to let me, or the receptionist, in. Nobody could understand it as the card seemed to work ok on the reception terminal, just not on the gym door. Hmm... OK, so who was ever so slightly embarrassed when they discovered that the key to opening the door was to... er.... read the label alongside the swipey thing which said "Insert card with black strip to the right" and actually interpret the word "right" correctly. I blame my double vision! ;)
9.30 - 10.30 My second session at the gym. Very nice young man (though sadly without much of a sense of humour, alas. Had his hands full with me!), very challenging programme to follow.
10.30 Go to reception to have my photo taken for my membership card. Alas, I somehow managed to break the camera ;) Bid a hasty retreat from the leisure centre and go to do the shopping. Fill rucksack with ridiculous quantity of rather heavy items.
10.45 Set out for home - another half hour walk (at a slightly but not greatly reduced rate, seeing as I wanted time to relax at home before going out again).
11.15 Arrive home to discover my keys are in the bottom of the rucksack, with the exception of the little key to my bedroom door which I'd providentially slipped into my pocket as I left. Shame there's a mat which has rucked up behind that door, making it almost impossible to open. Having succeeded in opening it about 30cm, I managed to squeeze through and complete the 20m sprint to the loo!
The rest of the day looks like this:
In five minutes' time, set out to walk to a new friend's house, about a 20 minutes walk away. She's invited me for coffee and a sandwich. An hour later, walk from hers to the bakers (I knew I'd forgotten something in the shops this morning) and thence home, where my afternoon is planned out helping the Smudgelet with his homework and tuba practice.
Then this evening, be picked up by another new friend and transported to the bowling alley where a group of people from church are going bowling. So a bit more arm, back, knee, shoulder exercise. I'm hoping my vision will be up to the flashing lights, but there's one advantage - I'll have twice as many pins to aim for as everyone else! :D The Smudgelet is meeting me there after taking part in an open evening at his new school (he is certainly seeming a little more settled there), so it will probably be a bus-ride home and collapse into a crumpled heap in bed. Will I be able to move tomorrow? I doubt it!
Still, the doctor has forbidden me from driving, working or cycling outdoors (oh, how sad I am to have that news!) but has said that reading and computering, going to the gym and lazing around with my feet up at home are all acceptable ways of spending my three weeks off work, as long as I stop the first three if I find my eyes getting too difficult to control or my head aching or hurting. "Don't overdo it" was rather pleasant advice.
Oops, time I was off on my next walk. My poor, poor body! The gym instructor said there was no gain without pain, so I reckon I've gained plenty today already. (Trouble is, I don't want to gain, I want to lose!)