Back to work and back to training

So who was keen to go back to work today?

My lounge feels so big now that the Christmas decorations have gone. The horrendous weather here means that I wasn’t looking forward to getting on my bike this morning.

I spent yesterday afternoon out on my slippery flat roof with a broom and a trowel. I had to brush a huge amount of water off the roof so that I was able to unblock the drain. Then I had the fun task of removing a lot of dead leaves from the gutter. Luckily, it all seems to be draining now as I’m scared of heights and didn’t really enjoy the experience.

Food prep

I prepared for today LIKE A BOSS. Like all good health and fitness bloggers, I did a lot of food prep and planning at the weekend, so I think I’ve got that aspect of life under control. I also sorted out my laundry and put everything ready in my work bag… but 6:30am rolled around far too quickly 🙁

I had considered getting up at 6am, but then figured that I ought to be able to shower, dress, eat breakfast and cycle to work in 90 minutes… as long as I wasn’t side-tracked by social media.

The plan started off well. I enjoyed a delicious purition shake (that I’ll be blogging about in more detail later this week) and I managed not to spend any time more than five minutes reading Facebook whilst blow drying my hair.

The fly in the ointment was that the chain came off my bike on the very first hill on my way to work. I’ve never dropped the chain on this bike before and really don’t know what happened. It didn’t take long to resolve, but no-one wants to start the day with oil on their gloves!

I want to get back to eating healthily, but I don’t intend to be obsessive about it, so although I enjoyed my protein shake, apple and PB, cheese salad and tofu chilli with rice and avocado, I also had a couple of Lindor and a slice of Christmas cake today.

SOAS excitement

Before heading out for my swimming session, I spent a few minutes on Instagram. How did I miss this?

I’m so excited to see the new designs… although I probably don’t need any more tri kit.

Out of the mouths of babes

That reminds me of a great overheard conversation between my brother and his 7-year-old:

Bro: The trouble with you is that you don’t know the difference between want and need!

Son: Yes, I do! Need is fruit and want is pancakes!!!

I laughed so much when I heard that.

Another thing I’ve just heard is that there may be another ‘Tour de Y‘ (YMCA fundraising cycle) in spring, which is very exciting. I really loved being part of the team for the last one, so I hope the dates work out.

Tonight, I had my first STC swim session of 2016. I went feeling lacklustre but came back feeling totally motivated. It was my best swim for a long time and I’m sure I’m getting faster. I am so determined to move up into lane 2 by the end of the year!

How’s your training going? Are you ready to smash it in 2016?

Finally, it’s another plea for you to vote for me. I seem to have been very fortunate in the last few months and have been in the running for a number of awards. I don’t want you to get voting fatigue, but it would be lovely if you could vote for me in the UK Blog Awards [closed in 2019](my blog has been shortlisted and put to the public vote in two categories: ‘Health and Social Care’ and ‘Lifestyle’)

Thank you x