200 Sit Up Challenge

Yesterday morning I hit the gym before work around 8am and it was packed! I don't normally go to the gym before work on a Monday so I was surprised to see so many people on the machines.

It also meant that all of the treadmills were full! So much for my treadmill interval workouts. So I jumped onto the cross-trainer instead and completed the following workout (based on this pbfingers workout)

Time	Resistance Level
0-5min	10
5-6min	15
6-6.30min	11
6.30-7.30min	15
7.30-8min	11
8-9min	15
9-9.30min	11
9.30-10.30min	15
10.30-11min	11
11-12min	15
12-12.30min	11
12.30-13.30min	15
13.30-14min	11
14-15min	15
15-15.30min	11
15.30-16.30min	15
16.30-17min	11
17-18min	15
18-18.30min	11
18.30-20min	15
20-25min	10

It was harder than I thought, and after a tough Body Pump class on Sunday my thighs were burning! I cooled down on the bike for 10minutes afterwards before stretching on the PowerPlates.

After seeing the 200 Sit Up Challenge online, I decided to give it a go. Today I took the initial test to see how many sit ups I can do now to see what programme to follow. I achieved a measly 20 full situps which puts me on plan 2. This involves 3 workouts a week for a month, I can't wait to see the results!

Edited to add: Check out my 'Crappy Race Pic' on Skinny Runner's blog today!

The Hind's Head

Last weekend Tom took me for lunch at The Hind's Head in Bray. It is one of Heston Blumenthal's restaurants, and right down the street from The Fat Duck. The Fat Duck has been voted the Best Restaurant in the UK, has three michelin stars and consistently scores 10/10 by the Good Food Guide. It's on my bucket list to eat there soon, it's just so tough getting a table there!

The Hind's Head was voted 'Pub of Year' in 2011 and has been awarded a Michelin star. And it did not disappoint in food or service.

We arrived in Bray early and went for a walk around the town.

Bray is on the River Thames, and with all the Autumn colours it was beautiful. Tom was a bit annoyed to be missing the Chelsea game so kept checking his phone. Apparently Bray is not the sort of place that has pubs that show the football.

We also met this gorgeous horse on our walk. Tom cheered up by feeding it some polos. He didn't believe me when I told him that horses like polos until they started snaffling them out of his hand!

I started my meal off with a Virgin Mary. They make their own spice mix and it was delicious. It also had a very fancy garnish!

For starters we had to try the famous scotch eggs. The Hind's Head came second in the UK's Best Scotch Egg competition. I love Scotch Eggs so couldn't not try one. The eggs inside were quail's eggs, which meant there was a lot of meat around the egg. It was perfectly cooked, with a juicy pork meat and a runny yolk. I would have liked it to have been a bit herbier though. It was served with a mustard sauce that really made it.

For my main course I chose a Shepherds Pie which was warm and filling, perfect for this time of year. 

It was very tasty but a little too much. I couldn't finish it all. Maybe because I had to try some of Tom's triple cooked chips... They were amazing. 

And I obviously had to save some room for pudding! I had an awesome chocolate tart with amaretti biscuit base with vanilla icecream. It was smooth, rich, indulgent, sweet, I could go on, lets leave it at AMAZING. 

Tom chose a rhubarb trifle; definitely wouldn't be my choice. I'm not a big fan of rhubarb OR trifle, but Tom loves both of them so it was the perfect pudding choice for him.

I was so tired after lunch that I fell asleep for the entire drive back to London! It was such a nice lunch and good to get out of London for the day. It has also made me more determined to eat at The Fat Duck  soon. I have dropped a number of hints about wanting to go for my birthday next year.

Goodbye Abu Dhabi

Thursday was our final day in Abu Dhabi. It started with a quick session at the hotel gym before a leisurely breakfast and some pool time.

My Mum and I had brought some of Karen Russell's class notes, from the class that I signed up te earlier in the year and hadn't had time to participate in. My Mum had read through a bunch of the notes and was practicing taking photos with her new knowledge. It was not all successful.

Our time at the Desert Island Resort came to an end far too quickly in my opinion, and all too soon we were being collected to get our flight back to Abu Dhabi! I was really excited to take a small plane back to the mainland, but actually the plane was not that small!

Once back in Abu Dhabi city we had some time to kill. Approximately 6 hours to kill, before our flight left. Yes our flight was at 2.20am! We wandered around Abu Dhabi mall for a bit, lots of great shops, but not so much fun shopping with a super heavy bag! We then had dinner at the Beach Rotana Hotel, right next to the mall. We ate at the Italian restaurant there, and even though my broccoli and beef pasta only had 2 pieces of broccoli, it was still pretty good.

It was also right across the (one way) street from the bus stop to the airport. It took us a while to figure out how to cross the street, but we eventually made it onto the bus and to the airport. Where we waited, and waited and waited some more. Then we got on our 2.20am flight and I fell promptly asleep until breakfast was served on-board around 5am English time. Yes, I am that person that can get onto anything moving a fall asleep for most of the journey. It drives my travelling companions mad! Our flight arrived at 6.30am to Heathrow, just time to head home, have a shower, change my clothes and go to work! Think I am going to crash over the next few days!

Have a great weekend!

Wildlife Drive and Kayaking

Another action packed day on the Desert Island today. It started it ridiculously early for a holiday, at 5.50am to go on a Wildlife drive around the park.

The sun was just rising, the light was beautiful and it was nice and cool out. Perfect.

The wildlife in the park has all been introduced to the island over the last 40 years, some of them are indigenous to the Arabian Desert, whilst other species have been brought over from India and Africa. There are 15 giraffe on the island, given as a gift to Sheikh Zayed, the man who created the island and park. We were lucky enough to see one up quite close. (Ali would have loved it!

There are also Cheetahs, Onyx, Gazelle, Spotted Deer, Peacocks and a variety of other animals in the park. We were fortunate enough to see quite a variety on our early morning drive. Apparently it's the best time of day to see them as it's feeding time. Many of the animals are fed, all except the predators.

There were also a number of Ostrich in the park. One of them was really tame and came right up to the vehicle and nibbled my hand! Mum was too nervous to let it nibble her!

After our drive we had breakfast and hit the pool area, where we stayed for the remainder of the day, until it was time for activity number two. Kayaking! For some reason, my Mum loves Kayaking, although I think she loves the idea of kayaking, more than actually doing it.

We drove to a spot around 15mins from the hotel, and got kitted out with lifejackets, oars and kayaks, before setting out on the lagoon. We paddled out to the mangroves and through them- it was quite tricky to manoeuvre through them. 

But all good fun! Our guide Ted is obviously pretty well practised, we watched him zip through the bushes all whilst standing on the kayak- apparently it's a better workout! Probably not something I will be trying, but it looked a little like paddleboarding. 

We ended up kayaking for about an hour in total, great upper body workout. It's our last day tomorrow and I am going to be so sad to leave the sunshine behind. 

Mountain Biking

Today was action packed, well in the most part. We were up early to hit the gym to each complete an interval workout. I had printed out some workouts that I adapted from PBfingers before we left- an incline walking workout for my Mum and a half hour interval running workout for myself.

The view from the treadmills was awesome- if only this was my view every time I ran at the gym, it might make the workouts a little more exciting!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool, reading, listening to music and swimming. The pool area was so peaceful... until about 15 children descended on it, then it became a less relaxing place to be! But I'm not complaining, it is so nice to be able to chill out and enjoy the sunshine!

At 4 o clock, we had a mountain biking trip scheduled. Mum was very keen to do the 18km 'challenging' route, whilst I was drawn to the 9km FLAT route. Mum won out and said it would be fun.

It was fun! The bikes were good quality and we had a lovely guide called Theo.

We didn't realise how hard it would be cycling on the sand. Apparently the key things you need to get you through the sand are Power and Balance- both of which I think I am lacking. I found it so tough! We decided to cut our route short and avoid the major hills. I think Mum and I were both relieved.

We finished off cycling 10.6 miles- not too bad! The scenery was beautiful, although we didn't see much wildlife. Hopefully we will see more wildlife on our nature drive tomorrow morning!

Apparently all of the animals have been introduced to the park over the last 40 years, and are from various locations that share a similar climate, including South Africa, Northern Africa, and the Arabian desert.

Abu Dhabi: Day 1

Welcome to Abu Dhabi! My Mum and I are here on a short last-minute break for some sunshine!

After a long flight yesterday, we arrived into Abu Dhabi late last night. After a room service supper we had an early night and set the alarm for 5am UK time. Or so we thought. At 3am UK time the alarm went off!! Apparently my Mum was unaware that when you turn your phone off, it updates its time to local time. Luckily we realised it pretty quickly so went back to sleep for another three hours.

We were up early to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

It is the largest mosque in the UAE, and the eighth largest mosque in the world. It can fit 40,000 people inside to worship!

It is the only mosque in the world where a ruler is buried within the grounds. Sheikh Zayed obviously wanted to be buried somewhere that he had funded!

There was quite a strict dress code inside. I thought I would pass it with trousers, a t shirt, cardigan and scarf. Apparently not! I was escorted into a dressing room to be fitted with a burka style outfit. It was so hot, it made me appreciate the women that have to wear full burkas and hijabs in the Arabian heat! It was not comfortable.

After the mosque we relaxed by the pool for a bit, before catching a taxi and boat to our next destination; The Desert Island Resort and Spa. Unfortunately, we didn't realise that the taxi was a 2 and a half hour journey. And it was right around lunchtime, needless to say we had not prepared snacks. A quick stop at a petrol station to pick up some (unhealthy) snacks, and we were back on our way.

It was a long trip to the island, about 4 and a half hours in total, but it was worth it once we arrived. So beautiful.

There are lots of activities on offer here including nature walks, wildlife drives and horseriding. We have signed up to do an 18km bike ride tomorrow evening, a nature drive the following morning and a kayak trip that afternoon. We are definitely keeping ourselves busy!

A long way to go...

Yesterday I went to the gym with the intention of running 5K on the treadmill. The aim was to complete the 5K in under 30mins, at about a 9-9.30 min mile pace.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. It wasn't even close to happening.

Over the last couple of weeks I have had the horrid realisation that not only am I overweight, but I am incredibly unfit. I haven't run more than 5K at once since the marathon, and I have really let things slide, both with my exercise routine and with my diet.

Here are the facts;

I am 5ft 6in and weigh 69kg, and last time I was measured, had a body fat percentage of 30.7%. (31% is classed as obese). Whilst I am not obsessed with my body fat percentage (lets blame it on the boobs), I am concerned that my BMI is 24- the top end of healthy, and that my clothes size has gradually increased over the last 2 years. Most importantly though, I am unhappy with my figure, and this affects my confidence.

With a hot holiday (warm/warmish) coming up in 8 weeks time, I am determined to get myself to body shape that I am happier with, and one I will feel comfortable wearing a bikini in.

Add to this my lack of fitness, and the need for a lifestyle overhall comes into play.

• I need to increase my cardio fitness.
• I need to decrease my waist size.
• I need to reduce my body fat percentage/weight.
• I need to increase my muscle strength.
• I need to tone up my body.
• I need to clean up my diet.

Anyway, back to the 5K realisation workout. I set out to run the whole 3.1 miles in under 30mins. This would mean the treadmill would be set at about 7mph. So I set the treadmill going at a speed of 7 and felt quite comfortable running at that pace for 1km, until I looked at the time it had taken me. Over 8 mins! I realised that would equate to a 5k of over 40mins- way over goal time. I then worked out that I was running at 7 kilometres per hour! Not so impressive.

I cranked up the treadmill to work out at 7mph- about 10.3kmp, and found it really difficult. So difficult infact that I talked myself into running 1K at 10.3 speed, before turning it back down to 7 for 1K, effectively doing an unintentional interval workout!

So it looked a little something like this

Distance	Speed (kph)	Incline
0-1K	7	1.5
1-2K	10.3	1
2-3K	7	1.5
3-4K	10.3	1
4-5K	7	1.5

I have signed up to do a 5K race on the 11th November, and am really hoping to clock a time of under 30mins. I have a lot of work to do between now and then if I am going to achieve that!

Pilates, Pumpkin and Pump

Yesterday was jam packed with an early morning Pilates class with a friend before work, then a full on day at work, followed by a Body Pump class after work!

SJ and I have been encouraging each other to try new classes at our gym. Last week we tried Body Balance, although we were both a little unsure about it. Although neither of us enjoyed it that much, or felt like we had a good workout or stretch, it did highlight just how inflexible we both were. Not only that, but I realised that my core strength is pretty poor, despite increasing the number of weights sessions I am doing.

I spoke to one of the trainers at the gym who I do a number of PowerPlates classes with, and who I had my induction with. She said that in order for my body to perform at its best during cardio and weight sessions, it was crucial to include some low impact, stretching sessions into my routine.

With that in mind, SJ and I met up for an early morning Pilate class. We were the only newbies in the class, which meant that although the class was quite fast paced, the instructor made sure we knew what we were doing. It was tough! Definitely something I need to improve on.

After Pilates, I treated myself to a pumpkin spiced latte from Starbucks. It was AMAZING.

I love pumpkin flavoured things, and having seen loads of recipes in blogland, have been inspired to try some pumpkin recipes over the next couple of weeks. 

After work, I ventured back to the gym to take part in a Body Pump class. Having tried my first class about 6 months ago, I am now hooked! I love feeling strong, and challenging my body in a new way. 'STRONG IS THE NEW SEXY'. 

In other news, I have joined Pintrest, and become a bit addicted. It's great for inspiring me to get to the gym. I've started a Fitspiration board on pintrest and am going to make a Workout board for days when I am unsure what to do in the gym. 

Harry Potter Studio Tour

On Saturday, after our Boris Biking adventure, Tom and I went to the Harry Potter Studio's in Watford.  We had booked back in August, so I had been looking forward to it for a while!

We were given a slot at 3.30, but managed to sneak into the earlier tour. It was so fun to see the set, costumes and props, as well as learn some secrets from behind the scenes!

Whilst waiting for our tour to start we got to see inside the 'cupboard under the stairs' before entering 'The Great Hall'. It was one of the largest sets, the floor was made out of real stone to ensure it lasted for all of the films! So many iconic scenes were filmed in there!

I loved seeing the makeup stations and wigs- I had thought that Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) had to dye his hair peroxide blonde, but we got to see his wigs from some of the films.

The Gryffindor common room- the beds were only 5ft 9in so the boys grew out of them for the last few films and they had to be filmed so that you couldn't see their feet hanging out of the beds!

The Mirror of Erised...

and the wands from all of the cast. You could buy replicas of most of these in the gift shop, for a £25!!!!! Apparently they are collectors items, not toys! Not sure what I would do with a collectable wand!

The potions lab, this was used for a variety of scenes throughout the 7 films. 

The Knight bus was made using pieces from three vintage London Buses. 

Privet Drive- they had recreated the fronts of Number 4 (where the Dursley's live) and their neighbours at Number 3. 

We could see the actual models of a lot of the creatures seen in Harry Potter, including Aaragog, Buckbeak and the Dementors. 

Two of the most impressive sets were left until last; Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Castle. 

The detail that has gone into all of the sets is fantastic, each wand box in Ollivander's was handwritten. They actually had the names of all the cast, crew and production people involved in the movies! Diagon Alley is built to size, whereas Hogwarts Castle is a scale model that took 42 days for the team to build, and had to be adjusted and have areas rebuilt for each movie, depending on what scenes were in the film. They based parts of cathedrals and castles around the UK including Durham Cathedral, where some of the scenes in The Philosopher's Stone were filmed. 

Every 4 minutes the lights in the room with the castle were turned off and Hogwarts lit up from within to show how they filmed the night scenes. So impressive. 

I am a real Harry Potter geek and had watched the first 3 films again before visiting. I am so glad I did, but wished I'd managed to get through all 7 before to remind myself of all the storylines, props, creatures and costumes. I loved our day out and would definitely recommend it to other Harry Potter fans!