The end of an era !

It's been a week of mixed emotions.   

Regular visitors to the blog will know of my tentative venture into attending boxercise classes back in 2014 (yes it's been that long!)   I arrived slightly nervous, going on my own during a particularly bad bout of anxiety which was a major step forward for me, but very quickly I settled in and became a "regular" "one of the girls".   To start with it was billed as a "womens only" class but we have seen men come and go during that time - mostly go!   It's been an amazing 4 years of weekly, occasionally twice weekly beasting.  I've made some great friends from it and I think I've learnt quite about my mind and my body.   It's been my Monday (and/or Tuesday) night stress relief  and it's made me realise what my body can actually do when I overcome the "I can't do that" voice in my head.   I couldn't do burpees when I first went - I can barely do them properly now but hey I'm doing it so let's not get tetchy about it.   I still can't do a proper press up but with Claire that never mattered, not in class anyway.   I'm sure in her PT sessions she'd make me do them properly.

 We've had lots of giggles along the way and I've enjoyed it far too much, but sadly due to injury Claire has had to give up Boxercise and Kettlercise. 

Monday was our last class

So in true Claire style it was a mad bad vomit inducing beasting - we all look a bit minging in the after-class photo!  

Words cannot express how much I'm going to miss doing this class and seeing the girls, luckily some of us still do Claire's spin class twice a week so it's not all bad.    I just hope that Wave Leisure can come up with an instructor as good as Claire and a class that measures up - I have no idea what I'm going to do instead but at least it's summer so I can always go out for an hour on the bike! 

Making the most of the Vitamin D Boost

What a fantastic Bank Holiday weekend we had last week- helped of course by some amazing weather.  Nothing beats a decent run of sunshine and warmth for making me feel better.  Sadly we're back to normal "May weather" this weekend.

On Saturday morning I took Candy (the Cannondale) for a spin to a class at the sports centre and then cycled back.   The class was core blast - I think this is my 3rd or 4th time I've done the class and it never fails to deliver a whole load of pain during and after.   No cardio just a continuous 30 minutes of ab(core)-breaking moves.  I was beginning to feel the effects quite early on in the evening and on Sunday morning I definitely knew I'd worked absolutely every part of my core!   59 minutes of cycling to start off my British Cycling/Strava Ride 5 challenge.    why I didn't spot it was only 59 minutes before I got off the bike I will never know!

On Sunday we got up nice and early, Shaun walked the dog and I got some odd jobs done around the house and then we set off for a ride.  I never ask where we're going anymore because I know I'll only spend hours fretting about the distance or the elevation so it's best not to know.   Shaun did ask whether I wanted hillage or something more gentle - it's Sunday morning ffs, the sun is shining and it's already 20 degrees!  why would anyone want to volunteer to do hillage just for the sake of it.  So we did a nice "gentle" 30 mile ride from home, out to Golden Cross and back again.  Two stops, one at Arlington Reservoir

for a wee, refill the water bottles and snaffle a revolting sugar laden flapjack from the kiosk between us.  Thank god I didn't have to eat it all by myself - think the ducks might've had a nice breakfast.    The second stop was at Southease YHA - we like stopping there, it takes us off a very busy A road and the coffee and food and is very nice, all freshly cooked.  It also has stunning views of the South Downs while you're eating.

All in all a very nice ride over 2 hours 30 minutes.  That takes my total Ride 5 challenge to 3 and a half hours.  I also managed to cycle to and from spin class on Tuesday.  Just got 50 minutes to get done before 16th May.

On Monday (the very much needed Bank Holiday) I spent with Danni.   She'd got tickets for the Foodies Festival at Hove for her and a friend but the friend dropped out so I got first dibs on the ticket.  Shaun and I were supposed to be going but he decided he didn't want to go after all.  Shame 'cos it was very good.  Lots of drink and food to try - I was a bit concerned that we might need help getting home after sampling the gin but it was fine.   There was lots of choice for lunch too.   I had a Chicken Souvlaki and Danni went for a Crispy Chicken Pancake.

Mummy & Daughter day out

Look at the size of them!   We had to walk around a bit after before we decided on what cake to buy for afters!

There were also lots of demo's and talks by various famous bakers and chefs.   We headed to the tent to see Mark Tilling who was the 2016 winner of GBBO Creme de la Creme.  He made the most amazing Gin & Tonic cake and showed us some wonderful handmade chocolate decorations.   Definitely an inspiration. 

Danni entered an Instagram competition to win a Kitchen Maid Mini - fingers crossed she wins!

Having a day out with Danni also gave me an opportunity to search the shops for a graduation outfit.   I really wanted a dress but they're either too long or too short or too flipping expensive (Monsoon!)

I walked a total of 16,000 steps (10k/5 miles) so it's no surprise that my feet have been flipping killing me all week.   Damn you PF !