Sunday 15 August 2010

Nordic Walking & Much More...


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Tuesday, 10th of August, week 9 of the NHS Learn to Nordic Thorpe Meadows, along a lovely track across a meadowland, along the end of the rowing lake and back along the river bank. It was a little bit noisy as we Nordic Walked fairly close by the overhead parkway but as we strode along the river bank talking about butterflies, fauna and flora it became peaceful and enabled the ladies to switch off from a busy day at the operating theatre. The ladies look forward to the next Nordic Walk. We saw beautiful meadow flowers, wild geranium, bullrushes and waterlilies as well as swans a swimming on the river with their goslings that are fast transfroming from their stubby greybrown feathers to emerge as beautiful white swans soon.

Wednesday, 11th of August take one, week 9 of the Royal Hoskoning Learn to Nordic Ski Walk, Active Workplaces program. This week we were able to take a loop of Bretton Park in it's entirity, which was a brisker walk due to the fact we had to adapt the lessons slightly to accommodate for two later arrivals to our group. One of the ladies had forgotten her niece and nephew were staying with her this week and did not want to miss the walk so we had a quick introduction for them so we could get her out and about in the fresh air. We managed to make a train and do some dragging with the poles and make some light work of stretches using the poles. It was lots of fun to work with the two youngsters who came along unexpectedly with ladies who Nordic walked at lunch.



Wednesday, 11th of August, take two - week 9 of the U3A, Nordic Walking program. We are now comfortably walking with poles and increasing agility and directions of travel. Round about , weaving in and out of the trees, a veritable playground of outdoor activity was what we found in store on our walk today as we went down to the country park.

During our walk we saw, deadly-nightshade, seven swans a swimming and beautiful wild orchids in the nature reserve. It was so lovely, on the water we saw so many wild water based birds, coots, moorhens, cormorants roosting in the trees in the middle of the lake. On the bank there we kept company with copious canada geese in a gaggle as we Nordic Walked along the banks of the lake.

Wednesday, 11th of August, GP 5k series, round 5.

It was a fantastic event, organised by local running club Werrington Joggers. Phil Lloyd was the race director working hard behind the scenes to get results and co-ordinate the event. Some good performances were had by all, a dry evening and it all seemed to come together on day. A personal performance this time. Best 5K time for the season, finished in a time of 20:49.


Thursday, 12th of August, 4 mile challenge was the order of the day - The challenge was to walk 4 miles in 1 hour, last time we took 1.06 so the ladies and Andrew were going for it. Off we set with determiniation in our step, as we set off Andrew was keeping good pace, he had some catching up to do and he wasn't giving in easily. We kept a steady rhythm, faltering for a undone shoe-lace, and a cardigan that had fallen from a waist. On we went with strong determination, the end drew near and Andrew and I kept closing the small gap that had appeared. This time around, the gap did not widen to far and our gentleman challenger was awarded the most improved Nordic Walker for the evening. In a time of 1.04 was the final score so we are getting closer to that magic 4 mile per hour. Next time we will have it cracked. We were so lucky to have a dry evening that ended with a Rainbow, earlier that day there had be thuder in the air and then the sun came out and allowed us to take our challenge. You are all stars!

Friday, 13th of August, Nordic morning improvers walk saw the return of Helen from her travels it has been so long she was almost like a new girl on the block. We took a trip to the nature reserve and discovered hides that were hidden from view, the posse had been to this part of the park and never set foot in the hide before. Today we had a look at the bull rushes and the dried up water bed. East Anglia is one of the driest parts of the UK, it is the fourth driest area which is quite hard to believe because it rains quite a lot. We will walk here again when it is wetter so can see the wetland wildlife in its naturally created habitat. Our walk was lovely and so was the company. We look forward to the walk to see the different seasons. Today we saw cherries, hawthorne and rowan bright berries amongst approaching autumnal foilage.

Friday, 13th of August, it was FUN FIT FRIDAY with the YMCA. The girls outnumbered the absent boys and we worked on getting more from the gym for the thighs, bums and tums were the order of the day. We used swingstick fitness to work the core, we used fitness bands to help burn fat from the the thighs, bums and tums, hamstring curls and leg extensions, followed by some upper body, to balance out, chest press, bicep curls, tricep extensions and lateral back stretches using a jelly tube. What fun we had in the gym, it was all about taking it slow and working the muscles not banging out heavier reps with no downward phase. Yes we did get the muscles working and fat burning today. Well done girls you have the power to tone and trim that body to better shape, it is good to look healthy and have sculpted lean muscle tone.

Friday, 13th of August, more Nordic Walking was in store. Private session was taken in the rain for our newest Nordic Walker student, we did not notice that it was so wet we had so much fun. This was followed by Lesson 3 in our Learn to Nordic Walk this August, the rain stopped just long enough to allow us to get into a stride, and did Chrissie go. Wow, you would not beleive week or two ago this would have been possible, she really got the heart and lungs going and felt the training effect. On her face she wore the biggest grin ever. She has really been inspired, and is looking forward to the MOONWALK challenge next year. Nordic Walking is so going to help her with this challenge, our Thursday Nordic Walker completed the MOONWALK this year in a very respectable 6 hrs and 59 minutes. Well done Lynda, Well done Chrissie.

The week is not yet over, Saturday was spent not cleaning the house and ironing which is long overdue. Updating the website and preparing to attend Thorney 5 , organised by Thorney Running Club's David Bailey, Sunday 15th of August. Fantastic, well organised event, I was so busy I had forgotten I posted a last minute entry. No running for me today though because forgot that I had entered the event and didn't pack any trainers, club vest and shorts. Spent the time making new friends, promoting Nordic Walking and passing my place to a fellow club mate who should have had a number, he had shoes, shirt and shorts. I said take my number it will serve well, enjoy the race. Well done to all the prize winners! Made new friends , added to facebook pages and written this blog post. What an extraordinary week, time for a well earned rest and a glass of red.

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