Day 109 – Week 16 – 16 mins (16)
Family party over and back to our quiet little apartment about half an hour away. It is still hot – roasting, in fact, and I am having trouble functioning.
It was half past six in the evening before it was cool enough for me to get in the pool and do my minutes today. But apart from avoiding children and their inflatable swans, all passed without incident.
I really do like to swim, so it is no great hardship. But then I decided to get out of the pool and tried to touch my toes. Oh my goodness – I really don’t suggest you leave it 10 years in between attempts – you may be shocked at how rubbish you are at it!
Suzi
Day 108 – Week 16 – 16 mins (16ish)
Ah holidays – nothing is better designed to prevent you from exercising.
Today’s group/family activity was to hire a yacht laden with cava and fine food and spend 8 hours sailing around the Mar Menor in north-east Spain. Now I challenge anyone to go for a jog in that environment!
Fortunately – we were surrounded by water – and with much encouragement from those on board, I attempted to do my 16 minutes of swimming about. With no-one having a stop watch to hand, I had to guess, but I reckon I got pretty close to the required amount of time – with some extra bursts of activity whenever those on board screamed out “jellyfish” and I had to scoot away from that particular spot in a hurry.
The thing to remember here, is that particular 16 minutes of exercise, is exercise I would never have done in a million years while on holiday before this experiment. So I like to think that though it may SEEM like I’m not really doing a lot, it is an awful lot more than I would have done before, and that has to make some kind of difference!
Of course the amount of cava I am drinking totally wipes out any advantage I may have…but as I have often said, adjusting my eating and drinking habits was never going to be part of this experiment.
Suzi
Day 107 – Week 16 – 16 mins (3)
Not a particularly successful day I am afraid.
Today, we had a pile of things to do before getting in the car and driving to my cousin’s house some miles away, for a big family gathering and a 50th birthday. In the hurry to get out of the house, I didn’t think to do any minutes, and of course once arrived at the other end, I was immediately given a big glass of Sangria and all thoughts of exercise disappeared.
And it was about 45 degrees, which in my book means all normal activity should cease by decree of the government, and only lazing about in cold water or aircon should be allowed.
But all was not lost. Late in the afternoon it was decided that all at the party should take part in some swimming races, in the pool in my cousin’s backyard. It is not the biggest of pools, so I am calculating that the two races I took part in probably added up to about three minutes of very intense, heart-rate raising activity – but that is enough to put a score on the board for the day. Phew.
Suzi
Day 106 – Week 16 – 16 mins (13)
Apologies for three posts arriving at once, but I have been without internet access for the last few days. This is what holidays are all about it seems.
Woke up this morning, to some terrible burn lines as a result of my 15 minute in the pool yesterday. Admittedly it was the middle of the day, but I had overloaded myself with sunscreen in anticipation of my lily white skin being exposed to the elements. Obviously it didn’t really help!
So today, I waited until after five, before doing my swim, but once again, didn’t do my stretching at the end. This time, I had an excellent excuse. I only had about 20 minutes to get myself in the shower and dressed before meeting 14 of my favourite friends and family for dinner. And it is still really hot. I really considered sitting by the pool and doing the stretches, but I am already burnt enough.
This swimming is proving tougher than I thought though. My legs were like jelly afterwards, and I used to be much better at it than I am now. Hopefully, I am slightly better at it by the end of the week.
Suzi
Day 105 – Week 15 – 15 mins (13)
I have noticed a niggling in my knee which is worrying me, so I have decided to take the opportunity of being on holiday and staying in an apartment right next to a pool, to adjust my routine somewhat. For the week that I am here, I am going to do my minutes in the pool. It should give me a much needed change in routine and hopefully give whatever is going on with my knee, a bit of a break.
It is roasting hot, here in Spain – around 40 degrees every day. And although, as an Australian, I know it is crazy to go out in the middle of the day, come about 1.00pm, I was desperate to go for a swim. So I did my minutes by doing breastroke for my usual warm up time, and freestyle for the bits when my heart rate should be higher. It was harder than I thought, especially as I had to work around several children in the pool, some of them learning to dive from the sidelines, and cutting across my path unexpectedly.
But – I forgot my stretching. I was so keen to get out of the sun, I raced inside after the swim, and so I can really only claim my 13 minutes for the day. Bugger!
Suzi
