Walkers' thread (those training for a moonwalk or those just wanting to get a bit fitter... sign in here)

[EllbellTheBluestocking]

OK... following on from another thread, I thought I'd start this for those of us who are not really that into exercise but who are struggling to get a bit fitter.

I am working towards doing the Edinburgh moonwalk in June (and would prefer it if no-one mentioned just exactly how blardy far it's going to be just yet [panic emoticon]), and am struggling to find the time and the inclination to train.

Anyone else in a similar position? Hippipotami? Quint? Don't leave me walking all on my own...

Will come back and post again when I've got off my bum and done some exercise!

Hi all,
Hippopotami, thanks for the invite!

Just checking in here. My hips hurt from yesterdays walk, I guess that is a good sign. I am going on the exercise bike in a moment, but have a busy day as get visitors.

Catch up with you guys later!

Oh, I just read back on the thread, my dh is buying me a heartrate monitor for my birthday, it has pedometer, it counts calories burnt, and measures distance walked.
"Accidentally" there was a magazine called Womans Fitness laying around the house but it was really praising heart rate monitors and pedometers for walking and keeping motivation up.

Hopefully: fitness here I come!

Welcome talkingmongoose and wisteria, and hi again quint!

My pedometer was an £5 cheapy and does not work, but I may treat myself to a decent one!

I have just come back from an hour and 15 minutes walk. I am exhausted. I practically cried with relief when I arrived back at my front door! I did my normal walk along the canal towpath, but then decided to go further as there is a footbridge 'not much further on' according to my friend. Well, the footbridge was a bit further than anticipated, and once on the towpath (on the opposite side of where I live) I had no option but to keep going until I found it.... On the other end of the footbridge was a 1970's housing development and I spent what seemed like an eternity trying to find the way out.

Anyway, I did it! I am covered in mud, my back is killing me, but my cheeks are tingling from the fresh air and I feel happy. Won't be able to move tomorrow though...

bum ... ds2 is off school alternately languishing on the sofa and throwing up so all my plans to fit in this week's walking today and tomorrow when I'm off have gone out the window ...

dh is away so can't get anything done at the weekend either - double bum

(of course I do feel sorry for ds too!)

Hi all,

Sorry to hear your ds2 is unwell Mimsum. It's always worse when dh is away too ... I know from experience ...hope he feels better soon.

It sounds like an excuse but it seems that whenever I start a new exercise programme, one of us gets ill and right on cue dh came home from work tonight and went straight to bed saying he felt dizzy and ill (and he's someone that usually struggles on).

I'm wondering whether I'll be able to do my power walk tomorrow (1st day of new walking programme) because dd is off school for half term and thre's no one else to baby-sit. She might have to come with me!!

Last glass of wine tonight for 40 days too. Could do with swift kick up bum encouragement for tomorrow ... giving up coffee too and the weather is 'orrible here!!

Good luck everyone!

oh and why do my crossings out not work ???

Hi Counting

I was intending to start my Powerwalking training on the 3rd of January. But I had to delay by nearly 3 weeks as first ds, and then dd got chickenpox.
So I know how you feel [wry grin]

Are you training for a specific event? How much proverbial kicking up the bum will you require

I need loads and loads and loads. Am also giving up chocolate for lent, and frankly the prospect of the next month and a bit with lots of walking and no chocolate fills me with despair [wail]

Hi Hippotami - well done for starting, despite all the setbacks.

Do I detect a fellow holy roller??!!
Chocolate IS a tough one. If it makes you feel any better, officially, you are allowed every Sunday "off" in Lent because there are forty weekdays and Saturdays in between now and Easter - Sundays are not included!! So we only have to get through one week at a time!! Only ... ha!! [maniacal cackle emoticon]

(Seriously - used to be very "all or nothing" about this and I'm now trying to approach things a bit more realistically in my old age.)

I'm not training for a specific event, need to start to exercise regularly first, but hoping to reach week six of my walking prog (from Good Housekeeping magazine) by Easter and lose 10 kgs by 15 May.

Need LOTS of well-directed kicks please!!!
Sending positive vibes and small but purposeful shoves from this end too!
Good luck everyone!

Apologies counting, you had already said on the other thread you are just wanting to get a bit fitter...
See, brain befuddled already, and that is before it is deprived of chocolate...

Ah, Sundays off in Lent - Love it!! Will take that little pearl of wisdom over to the 'giving up chocolate for Lent' thread if you don't mind

Mind if I join in?

For those of you contemplating the Moonwalk for the first time, beware, you may become hooked
I signed up for it on a whim after reading a thread about it on here. That was in 2005. I trained (and smoked) and finished in just under 7 hours.

2006 I succumbed again to the madness. By this point I'd stopped my 15 year 10-a-day habit and managed it in 6h 18m.

Last year I trained harder, and felt generally fitter than I had. I aimed to do under 6 hours and managed it in 5h 54m.

I decided to call it a day, as I'd reached my goal timewise. However, the day before the Moonwalk last year, my dear big sis was diagnosed with breast cancer. That I was walking with her in mind spurred me on, I'm sure.
She is now post-treatment and asked me to walk the half moon with her this year, with a group of her friends. So who am I to refuse. It will be a completely different experience and I am really excited about it.

Good luck to all of you. It really is the most inspiring occasion

Hello Posey

Glad to hear your dsis is doing well, long may it continue

I hope to become hooked, at the moment the walking just feels like a chore adn everything hurts [wail]

I am doing the half-moon with a group of mums from school, one of whom is currently undergoing chemotherapy for breastcancer. (she is fully aware she may not be able to complete the walk but is willing to have a go, I so admire her!!)

I love walking - I've done the London Moonwalk a couple of times now and it's SUCH good fun.... Though Hyde Park will seem like the LONGEST mile you've ever walked!!!!!

I'm due to have my baby on 30th May so haven't entered this year, but I am still considering the Edinburgh moonwalk - which is mid June. is this too soon after the birth of my baby (can you guess it's my first!??!)

Did anyone else get an email from the moonwalk organisers today? I've just had one saying 'we still have places available and you can register online, blah blah blah', and yet I've already received confirmation that I'm 'in' and have paid my entry fee. I'm a bit confused.

However, if anyone not yet signed up for a moonwalk fancies doing one, apparently Edinburgh still has places!

Didn't walk today either as dh got delayed at work and has only just got home, and I am not going out at this time of night!

Oh well....

Forgot to say... very well done, hippi. That sounds like a good walk.

Hi Kacy... Umm... How can I put this? I think you may not feel like walking a marathon two weeks after your baby is born. (There's also a chance you'll go overdue and then it'll be less than two weeks...) Perhaps give it a miss this year, get your baby in a buggy and get out training from the summer onwards and show us all how it's done in 2009?

PS Not being alarmist. You'll feel great after your baby is born. It's the best experience ever. But maybe not conducive to marathon walking, that's all!

Hi, I'm signed up to the Edinburgh one [what have I done emoticon]. I'm basically training from scratch but I used to be a keen hillwalker, way back when, so I'm hoping that underneath all the flab there's a few shreds of muscle that remember what to do.

I had a look on the moonwalk website and it says they're sending out registration packs and training plans sometime this month, in the meantime I found this training plan online, looks pretty hardcore!

I have a question for you all-- are you doing the arm thing? I really want to but I feel soooooo self-conscious about it.

Anyway, thanks ellbell for starting this-- I've been searching on MN for a couple of weeks to see if anyone else was doing the Edinburgh one so delighted to find your thread!

OMG mybaby, that is a scary looking training plan!!

I am sooo glad I am only doing the half moon now

And weekend walking is out of the question for me as dh works most weekends and I don't think the dc would appreciate being dragged out for hours...

Kacy, don't even thing about walking a marathon, Ellbell is right, if your baby is late...
Plus you will be soo excited about your baby, and sooo sleep deprived, walking will be the last thing on your mind.

Just enjoy your bundle, I know I would

Hello all! Feeling a bit left out that I'm not signed up for anything, perhaps next year when I'm back - I live relatively near Edinburgh so who knows....

Hippi - how old are your dcs? Walking would be a great habit to get them into and if you don't think you can get out at the weekend at the moment then any time you can get out will be a bonus. You won't have to walk that fast as it will be extra IYSWIM.

I have done bugger all walking today but did cycle a bit so I suppose that's something.

kacyB - speaking as someone who was two weeks late with a baby I think it may not be your year for moon walking! As others have said you'll be knackered and want to sit in a big comfy chair eating chocolate cake and stare adoringly at your pfb. Well, I did anyway

bamama my dc are 5 and 8. They do come into the woods every weekend with me and we walk the dog - but that is a slow amble, whilt they climb trees and throw balls for the dog. Not a long walk as such. And certainly not a powerwalk. We don't have time for long walks at the weekend as dd does swimming in the middle of a Saturday (1pm, what a daft time), and ds has theatre group from 2.30 till 4 every Sunday.

But yes, they do come dogwalking with me, and love it

bamama - point taken about not having to walk fast. I have this (daft) idea in my head that all walking sessions must be at fast speed and at least an hour in duration. But yes, a nice relaxed stroll in the woods with the dc and the dog is an extra, so can be done

Hi Mybabysinthegarden - Know exactly what you mean about feeling a bit odd doing the arms. BUT it makes a huge difference to how fast and easy walking is. It is far more effective with good arm action. Imagine trying to run with your arms by your side, or swinging. It just doesn't work. Have you got a park nearby where people run/walk dogs? I never walk as well on the streets but get me into Regents Park where nobody gives a monkeys. Also investing in dark glasses and a hat makes me less self conscious

Hi all... Well, I did walk for about half an hour this morning, but it was hardly a power walk because I had to take the dog and at 14 and a bit stiff she's more of an ambler... Still, I did keep moving and circled back to rejoin the poor old dog when I got too far ahead of her. Good point about walking with the dcs. Mine are 5 and 7, but even if I don't walk fast with them it's better than nothing (and better than what we did this last Saturday, which was stay in the house all day - mostly due to snow outside - and bake cakes!).

Might not get back on here till I get back from Italy, so happy walking to all of you over the next few days... I'll catch up with you soon.

Enjoy Italy Ellbell, and don't forget those 99 circuits of Stanstead!!

I must admit, I have not yet tried the arm bit. Mostly because I have been wrapped up in a fleece and a thick scarf, neither of which are conducive (sp?) to arm movements...

Hello all, just checking in!

Hippi - have just tracked down the chocolate/Lent thread - the "Sunday's off" theory seems to have met with a bit of an unenthusiastic response. Bummers - will have to go whole hog on chocolate now too!!!

Taking inspiration from everyone on here!

Good to hear about your sister Posey.

Don't feel left out Bamamama - I'm just walking for fitness too - I haven't signed up to anything (yet!). I'm abroad too, where are you?

Feel chuffed because I completed day one of my plan (just 25 min brisk walk up and down hills). Went to park and it was so much nicer than plodding along the streets! Can still 'feel' the fresh air on my face 5 hours later! Definitely worth making the effort.

PS I do 'the arms thing' furtively, when no-one else is around!!

Oh and safe travelling Ellbell ...