1940s Glamour Model Meets 2007

We were having a great time at Margate Beach and this pose is a delightful reflection of our day of relaxation. It was the perfect way to spend the end of our summer!!

Craziness!!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while but my life has been insane. About 10 days ago the woman who owns the house where I live informed us that she is taking on a corporate let and so we had two weeks to find a new place! UGH!! So I've been out basically every night hunting down places and then we also had assessments that I was giving last week so I have been absolutely exhausted. Since the big moving announcement I have been to the gym precisely twice...not good! However, I have definitely been getting some exercise running around all over town seeing some scary places to be sure...one where you had to climb this rickety wooden ladder up to the room...oh dear!...and then it rained for three days straight so I ran around soaking wet and the predictable outcome was that I got sick. Feeling mostly better now, I've just been resting this weekend. In the midst of it all however, I did have QUITE an experience one morning on my way to work...walking through the park I saw this guy and from a distance I had the thought...WHOA! that dude need NOT wear leggings that tight...as he got closer I saw that he was wearing no leggings whatsoever! It was CRAZINESS I tell you! He had on a navy blue sweatshirt that he was holding up at chest level and his trainers(running shoes)...and nothing in between...it was ridiculous! When I got to school Linda called the police and I made a report and everything. Definitely not your everyday commute...lol

However, the super good news is that I do have a place to live...a very very gorgeous place...the bathroom is WOW! hee hee Martha, one of my friends at work, was also looking for a place and we decided to team up. And Friday we found our new home. It was priced higher than our price range but we offered closer to our range and it was accepted so we are hoping to be able to move in this Friday/Saturday. WHOO HOO!!! I'm a little nervous about how much more I'll be paying a month than I am now but we really are paying a fantastic price for what we got. We looked at places that were about 200 pounds less than this place...so 100 each per month...and there was just absolutely NO comparison. Of course we may be eating peanut butter sandwiches for every meal for the first six months but hey...we'll be eating them in an incredible setting...lol I'll be sure to post some pics as soon as I can. :)

This week we're getting ready for the international show at school and so it's going to wild again...and of course in the middle of it all I need to be packing so please just keep me in your prayers cause it's going to be insane. I'm hoping to make it to the gym at least twice this week and then back to the regular four workouts next week (my half-term break...YEA!!!!) So stay tuned...

Snow Day!

Here are Micol, Mathilda, Natsumi, and Anna having fun in the snow! I think that's the one of the ones they hit ME with! lol

It was an absolutely gorgeous walk to work that's for sure!

A veritable winter wonderland! hee hee

The Gym!!

A Week of Excitement!

It's been an interesting week to say the least. Found out on Friday that I'm allergic to cashews. Never have been before. Anaphylactic shock is no fun...just in case you were wondering. ;) Then last night I saw Colin Firth on the street!!! AND he smirked at me!!!! Oh yeah, now that was oh SO delightful :)

The training is going well. I met with a personal trainer type tonight that came as part of my new membership package at the gym. He was a little condescending at first but after his misconceptions about my past activities and my future plans were corrected (hee hee)...we got on just fine. He thinks the training plan that I have from BT (beginner triathlete) is great, he just made a few small changes and then he was just suggesting some of the better interval programs for the bike and treadmill machines.

Meanwhile, it's FREEZING here! Literally. And it's supposed to get colder on Thursday...oh dear! We'll see what happens...apparently we only get out of school around here if the heating actually goes out in the building...lol I'll keep you guys updated! xx

Whew! One Week Down!

OK...so one week finished! I need to take a new picture...not that you can really tell anything different...lol...but still when it's all said and done I want to have one for every week :) But it went well. I did my three workouts that I was supposed to do as per my training plan and then I also did one extra run/walk. I'm a little sore but not debilitatingly so which is delightful. This week I have three similar workouts planned and hope to get the other extra in because next week the plan bumps up to four official workouts a week. I'll post a sample one from this week so you can see! And I most certainly ate significantly better than I have been...maybe ever! I drank quite a bit of water last week, maybe 1-2L every day but still need to drink more (I would like to drink 4L a day) and ate lots of fruit and a fair amount of veggies even! SHOCK! lol And then, this weekend Colin cooked two very excellently nutritious and yummy meals and then my pastorate leaders cooked for a small group of us yesterday for lunch. So I've had tuna steaks, roast chicken and salad, and carrots, and asparagus, and red/yellow peppers, leeks, roasted potatoes just to name a bit of it...so yeah...quite impressive weekend fare! hee hee And tonight I am headed to the gym to begin week 2! Maybe I'll post a pic of that for this week so you can see where it's all happening. ;) YEA! Thank you guys SOOO much for encouraging and supporting me...you're THE BEST!

This is one of my workouts for this week:

Lift: Shoulders, Back, Abdominals. 2 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions for 2 exercises each body part.
Bike: Ride 50 to 60 minutes. This is an endurance ride. Try to put the resistance higher for a minute here and there (no more than 4 times) and come out of the saddle. Working on leg power and relaxed upper body. No bouncing or rocking. 5 minute cool down.
Stretch: 15 to 20 minutes of FULL BODY stretching.

Let the fun begin!

Here we go!

Tomorrow is the official start to my training for the 2007 Blenheim Triathlon. It's June 2-3 and Blenheim Palace is where Winston Churchill was born and the whole thing takes place on the grounds. COOL! The website for it if you want to have a look is http://www.thelondontriathlon.com/BThome.html I'll be doing the sprint distance. I'm so VERY excited about it while at the same time scared silly. lol I did a few random workouts during November and December but now the training will be in full swing. I'm doing this for several reasons. The huge, main one is because my state of fitness has just gotten totally out of hand and I need a goal to work toward. And by using this blog I am setting up huge accountability to all of you guys. I can't do this without your support and encouragement...truly! I'm also going to be fundraising for a Christian charity called Send a Cow where they send livestock and other agricultural supplies to needy African farmers, mainly widows, orphans, and disabled people so that they can try to support themselves. You can check it out at www.sendacow.org.uk YEA! You guys will be getting the link to my just giving page later if you want to donate online to support the work they're doing but do NOT feel obligated in any way to do that, seriously. And if you'd like to and for whatever reason didn't get the link it's www.justgiving.com/adawn412 It's only if you really want to. So get ready for some real craziness...it has to be pretty nuts if Angela is going to participate in a triathlon after all! hee hee