Starting Pilates

I’d hoped to get my week off to a good start with a swim. However, after getting home late on Sunday evening, there was a lot of organising that needed to be done yesterday 🙁 Despite that, today turned into a very good day because of starting Pilates and running with a friend.

I’ve done pilates a few times before with varying success. The first time I tried was at Bournemouth Uni. The teacher was lovely but young and inexperienced. She was extremely nervous and we didn’t seem to cover much in the class. In contrast, the yoga teacher at BU was absolutely fantastic and had lots of experience. I could have chosen to do both classes, but at the time, I enjoyed the yoga more, so I did that and replaced the pilates class with spinning and strength and conditioning.

The last time that I did a pilates class was when I was on holiday with Embrace Sports. One of my fellow triathletes was Nicky Green – an elite marathoner and pilates instructor. One rainy afternoon, Nicky offered to lead a class. It was really enjoyable, but as Nicky lives hundreds of miles away, it wouldn’t be practical to go to her sessions!

Park Lives Pilates

Anyway, today’s pilates class is part of Park Lives Southampton. I’ve posted about this initiative before – it’s free outdoor activities sponsored by Coca-Cola. I already go to Buggy Mums twice a week and really enjoy the classes led by Christine. When I saw that she was offering pilates, I knew the class would be good.

I intended to arrive early but took M along to be weighed first. Unfortunately, the weigh-in over-ran, so I ended up being 5 minutes late, and Christine had already started introducing the class. I had brought along my own mat, so I quickly got myself set up and joined in.

After a while, M got a bit bored in her buggy, so I sat her on a mat with some toys (*and my keys – not hygienic, but her current favourite plaything). She occupied herself for the rest of the session.

Christine explained all of the exercises really clearly and although there were people of varying abilities in the class. Exercises were layered so everyone could work to their own level. I’ve signed up for the next three weeks and am really looking forward to doing more sessions.

Running with Sarah

After the class, I met up with my friend Sarah and we went for a run. It was a bit too muggy for us to run quickly, but that’s fine as it’s a combination of social event and fitness for me. My Garmin disagrees and has admonished me by giving me a training status of ‘unproductive’, which is the first time that has happened since I got my new watch. Apparently,

“Your training load is at a good level, but your fitness is decreasing. Your body may be struggling to recover, so you should pay attention to your overall health including stress, nutrition, and rest”.

I’ve had a cold recently, which took it out of me and I’ve not been eating as well as I should this week. I can’t comment about sleep as I never have enough. I also think that most of my recent runs have been with M in her buggy, but my watch doesn’t know that! Hopefully, I’ll be able to become ‘productive’ again soon. Anyway, Sarah and I had a lovely run that was about 7.5km.

Tomorrow is Buggy Mums and food planning followed by grocery shopping. I’m also hoping to finish off some blog posts that are missing photos. It’s so annoying to have written most of what I want to say, but to know that the accompanying images are trapped on my broken laptop 🙁

What are your plans for the rest of this week?