The FastDay Forum

I'm back from a brisk 5.5 mile walk at Bedgebury Forest with my Husband. It is a huge chunk Forestry Commission woodland criss-crossed by hard trails that are perfect for walking at this time of year when everything off-road is so muddy. The forecast was for a temperature of 3-4C, and I dressed warmly - too warmly for the 9C that actually happened.

I love reading where everybody's been, so varied and interesting. @sallyo I hope you don't muddle your Japanese with your italian. I was once in Bavaria, Germany after visiting Spain and asked at a bar for one more beer -or so I thought ! I ended up with a massive glass of beer much to everyone's amusement.. I think it was a litre. I had asked for" Ein mass ", muddled by "mas" in Spanish, meaning more !
I managed to drink it , ha ha, but I don't drink beer any more !
I had a local walk today and flushed out 3 deer as well as a squirrel. Nearly lost the dog down a badger hole too. The river is really high now. Then I spent all afternoon until it was really dark in the garden having a lovely bonfire, burning up all the autumn leaves, bits of rotten wood and wet straw that's been waiting on the pile all winter. DD and her friend came and toasted marsh mallows and then played on the trampoline in the dark. Now I'm having a cup of tea and still smelling of the bonfire. 12000 steps completed !
My lonely daffodil now has a friend to flower with ... Not much going on with the other bulbs yet though. Happy walking all !

Hello everybody
Something happened to me last night - I went for a 30min brisk walk!! Yes @Sallyo I did it! I was in the warm water pool earlier in the day doing water aerobics and I think I just had this extra energy yesterday evening, and off I went as the beautiful sun was setting.

I hope I have started something - again!
cheers
Maggie

Fabulous @Maggiee! It's interesting how exercise promotes energy, isn't it. You'd think you'd be tired after exercise but in fact it's the opposite. I did my 10,000 steps yesterday, went early. But today I slept in and now the weather is deteriorating. Windy, rain threatening. I hope it does rain because the garden needs it. But I doubt that I'll get in my 10,000 steps. Looking forward to the Meet up Friday week!

So I didn't walk yesterday and I can feel myself slipping from my resolve! I woke up late and it was raining, some of the day, but not all day. Excuses - the road to Hell paved with good intentions, etc . Today I have an appointment in Devonport so I plan to go early, park the car and walk for half an hour. I will take a back pack or the shopping trolly and do some shopping while I'm there. Anyone else going walking today?

That sounds like a good plan, @Sallyo. My husband and I went for a rather muddy walk just before lunch. The sky was blue but the wind was bitterly cold so it was fortunate that we were wrapped up really well. We had soup for lunch and it was most welcome!

Managed a brisk weighted (heavy handbag) walk three times round a local small lake in the winter sun and crisp cold wind and slippy ice underfoot here and there. Later played with two enthusiastic grandsons but haven't got up from sitting down at 7pm yet!
I'll be off to bed after the Horizon dieting programme finishes at 10pm.
Zzz

This afternoon we wrapped up well and set off with the intention of walking just half a mile to the railway line and then back. The wind was hurling itself directly into our faces and it was not pleasant but, eventually, we decided to walk one of our routes which was 2.45 miles. Luckily there was a little more shelter along the way in the form of trees and barns, so we arrived home with the skin on our faces intact! I am finding that once I can motivate myself to get out to go for a walk, then I am usually quite happy to walk further than I originally intended. Does this happen to anyone else?

It certainly does SR., our walk alongside a river today eventually came to near 3 miles and though a bright sun it was soooo cold. But I felt much better for doing it, even though my dodgy hip was pulling by the time I reached the car.
Today I saw a
Kingfisher
Roe deer
Buzzard sitting in a field watching us watching it
Heron
Grey wagtail
Everything but the otter we'd set out to see!

How lovely! I was about to go for a walk this afternoon, but started a bit of weeding in the garden. I ended up busy pottering for ages in the freezing sunshine.
Can anyone give me some advice please?! My step counter has vanished and I'm quite sad because it definitely helps my motivation. I'm wondering whether to get something more sophisticated eg Fitbit. Does anyone use one of those even though they mostly do walking, rather than gym, running etc?

I'm sure my buddy @Carieoates uses Fitbit so she ay be able to help. Personally I use a little Omron to count my steps. It works really well. I think it has various modes but I only need to keep an eye on my steps...for now!

[carieoates]

How lovely! I was about to go for a walk this afternoon, but started a bit of weeding in the garden. I ended up busy pottering for ages in the freezing sunshine.
Can anyone give me some advice please?! My step counter has vanished and I'm quite sad because it definitely helps my motivation. I'm wondering whether to get something more sophisticated eg Fitbit. Does anyone use one of those even though they mostly do walking, rather than gym, running etc?

Yes go for a fitbit.
On sale at the moment (tesco direct) £50 for a flex, as there some new ones coming out.
We have an invite only group on the fitbit .com site. So why not join us.
exercise-f24/fitbit-chat-for-january-2015-t13636.html

Thanks @carieoates I see that you are a Fitbit fan! I do quite fancy one, even though I do very little formal exercise. I do want to improve fitness through walking though.
Unfortunately it's not available from Tesco at the moment, so would cost a bit more...would it be worth it?

I use an Omeron and I love it. It counts steps, fairly accurately I think. It tells you how many steps you've done for the past 7 days. It tells the time, it tells you how many kilometres - or you can probably set it for miles ; It tells your how many calories your steps have burned - not very encouraging.And there's a figure measuring grams, but I'm not sure what that's about. IT cheers when you get to 10,000 steps!

I have had 2 walks. Yesterday I had an appointment in Devonport and I had to drop off some zucchinis and cucumbers so I parked the car at that house and walked into town. I took my raincoat in my back pack and indeed, I needed it on the way home. It was wonderful to walk in the rain. I am reading the most wonderful book. Surely some of you have read it? Waterlog by Roger Deakin. It is a journal of his wild swimming experiences in the UK. The writing is so rich, you treasure every page. It inspires me to be more observant on my walks. He swims in all weathers and in all kinds of different locations and relishes being cold! So that also inspires me to walk in all weathers. Only it is much better to go out early in the day before it gets too hot, I have to say! Today I managed that. I walked up the hill from where I can see our house on the other side of the valley. It is Saturday and for the first time, I met a lot of other walkers. Well, when I say a lot - 3 others. Not quite London. Or even Melbourne. Today I did Japanese. It was very hard. The child is sad because she can't find her lost dog. The women is angry because the dog has eaten the sandwich. And you are not welcome at this hotel because you can't stay here tonight. ( I think the English translation would be No Vacancies.)

[carieoates]

Thanks @carieoates I see that you are a Fitbit fan! I do quite fancy one, even though I do very little formal exercise. I do want to improve fitness through walking though.
Unfortunately it's not available from Tesco at the moment, so would cost a bit more...would it be worth it?

I got my first one from eBay as I wasn't sure if I'd take to it. Lol
Just Google fitbit and you will see that there are several and watch the videos on fitbit.com to see which one you really need.
Maybe pop into the fitbit tent and ask if anyone is hoping to upgrade and would sell you there's. I've sold mine unfortunately. You could buy my hubs fitbit zip if you like as he's upgrading soon.
Just a thought.