More hobbling and bring plans forward

Monday was a good day for my #MarchForMarch.  I toddled off for a lunchtime walk, and actually walked faster than I thought.  It was a gorgeous day, and it would have been a shame not to get out into the sunshine for a few minutes.

Tuesday started off pretty well too.  I didn’t get the chance to go out at lunch, but I did get a couple of walks around the factory running some errands.  In my last walk around, I managed to roll my ankle in a tiny (and I do mean tiny) gap between a drain cover and the concrete floor.  In slow-mo, I felt my ankle roll, my bulk come crashing down, landing on my opposite elbow, and taking a deep breath in and feeling the bruise on my pride start to swell.

Anyway, the floor won.  I am rather renowned for being accident prone at work, and I was long overdue a tumble.  My ankle swelled up quite quickly, and hurt like a [insert various swear words].

On Wednesday morning, it felt worse, so Matt made me go to A&E.  One x-ray and 45 minutes later, it turns out it is just a nasty sprain.  Usual RICE advice given.  The swelling is now beginning to go down, but this whole event has made me realise how much I sit on my feet or cross my legs, and how annoying it is that I cannot sit like I usually do.

Needless to say, that has kind of limited my walking for March for March, though I am still trying to get a few steps in each day to stop my ankle from stiffening up.  What I am trying to say is, I’m down, but not out!

Matt and I have also had some news.  It’s a bit good and a bit bad.  We live in a rather odd set up, above some offices in a flat with no real front door (we have to come in through the offices).  We’d always assumed that the main business of the offices owned the building, but it seems the building is leased, and the lease is up this summer.  Bad news for us is that the premises they’re moving to doesn’t have a flat above, so we’ve been given notice and will need to find a new place to live during the summer.  The good news is that we had been planning to buy a house this year, around November time anyway.  We’ve been saving for the deposit for our own house since we paid off the wedding, but it hadn’t had too much of a focus until January.  So while it is bad news that we have to move out, and a little quicker than we had intended to, it has been the kick up the bum we’ve needed to really get stuff in order and on the move.

Right now, I feel massively overwhelmed by the task of buying a house, and it is pushing me out of my comfort zone.  In addition to that, we’re having to look at properties outside of our home town (which we have both lived in for over 20 years).  We’ll be looking to move a little further up the road where it is a little more “first time buyer friendly”.

Oh blimey… it seems I have now hit adulthood!

Hobbling, Hill Walking and Here is Spring

Week 1 of March for March is complete!  It’s been a good week too.  I went for a walk every day except for Friday, and made up for that with two walks on Saturday.  I’m mostly logging via Instagram, but you can join in on Facebook too if that’s more your thing.

Day 1 was a quick out and back with Matt.  We’d had a reasonably busy day around the house (finally caught up with the laundry!), so it was nice to get out into the fresh air for a short walk.  I also decided to take some long overdue front and side shots.  One thing that I regularly see around social media is that progress shouldn’t be judged by the scales along, and progress photos can be more helpful.

Day 2 saw me go for my (possibly first ever) lunchtime walk.  It will certainly be my first ever lunchtime walk at my current workplace.  I’ve been there for over 5 and a half years, so that isn’t very good!  I used to walk on my lunchtimes at my previous workplace, but then it was an agriculture college and there were plenty of beautiful grounds to walk in.

Day 3 was an evening walk.  It almost didn’t happen at all, as the pavement literally outside our front door was being taken up and replaced.  Thankfully, Matt and I made it out and back in without incident.  Our walk took us around the marina.  The last time I wandered that way in the evening was around Christmas.  The Christmas lights definitely made it nicer.

Day 4 saw me running around my workplace.  I have to admit, it was really nice to get out of the office.  At the end of the day, we both had a short evening walk, complete with a new pavement outside our door.  I have definitely come to realise that I am incredibly inactive as a general rule, which is slightly terrifying given that it seems that sitting for too long is bad for you.

By Day 5, my calf had become quite sore (near my Achilles tendon), and so I hobbled around work, but decided against a proper walk outside.  I still managed to get a good amount of steps in despite not getting outside (the benefits of working in a big factory I guess).

Day 6 proved to be a bit of a hobbly mess.  I had problems with putting my foot flat on the floor without pain.  I have a feeling it was the shoes I had been walking in that caused the pain, as they’re not really walking trainers, and while they’re comfortable, they really should be confined to meanders around town.

I made up for Friday’s lack of walking with two walks on Saturday.  It was such a lovely day that we decided to head off to Lyme Regis with our cameras, and stopped off at Colyton on the way back.

We parked at the top of town.  If you’ve never been to Lyme Regis, when I say “at the top of town”, I do mean “top”, vertically so.  It’s a beautiful town just over the border into Dorset.  I haven’t been there for years and years, and I had definitely forgotten how steep the hills were.  The hills, of course, were fine on the way down!  No problem at all.  There were some great little photo opportunities on the way down too.

When we reached the bottom, we walked around the Cobb.  Thankfully it wasn’t too windy – while I have no doubt that the Cobb in a storm would be spectacular, it would be incredibly treacherous (it was slippery enough yesterday!).

We walked back along the beach and up to the town, negotiating the hills (first gear hills!) before huffing and puffing back to the car.  The water we had in the car had never been so welcome!

Once we’d caught our breath, we made our way back towards home.  Matt wanted to show me Colyton on the way.  While we’d gone to primary school together, I went to our local comprehensive for secondary, but Matt had sat the 11 Plus and made it in to Colyton Grammar.  I had to get my head around how far from our home town it was (I walked for 30 minutes to get to school, Matt’s bus took him an hour!).  However, in terms of scenery, his school definitely topped mine!  It’s a gorgeous little village.  The added bonus?  It seems that spring is finally here!

By the time we had started to head back towards the car, my calf had tightened up significantly and I was back hobbling again.  Hot water bottle and painkillers it is for me!

Have you walked anywhere nice recently?

Joining in on #MarchForMarch

I’ve recently started watching YouTube vlogs.  I think I stumbled across Blue Eyed Betty (aka Lose It Like Lauren) via Laura at Laura:Fat 2 Fit.  She has documented her absolutely amazing weight loss and subsequent surgery on her YouTube, and she’s fab!  I find her a real inspiration, and was chuffed when she vlogged that she was starting a challenge for March (yes – #MarchForMarch).

It’s beautifully simple (and actually, I don’t know why I didn’t think to do this for #Janathon).  It’s just about getting out and walking every single day.

I work in an office, and have a very sedentary lifestyle.  I am horrendous at getting off my bum and going for a walk, yet when I feel a bit down or stressed, it is one of the best things I can do for myself.  I always get the Sunday Blues, but going for a walk, even a short one, helps ease it off.

This challenge has come at the right time for me.  I’m out of my Whole 30, past the strange month of January, but I’m feeling a little lost and unsure where to restart.  A daily walk will hopefully just ease me back into exercising.

Yesterday I pootled out for a 20 minute walk on my lunch break, and today I will be going for a wander when I get home.

I’m playing along via Instagram, and there is a Facebook group you can join too.

Are you focusing on anything for March?