Woody Wonders

We've waited a year longer than expected but the Olympics are finally here.  I'm still unsure how I feel about them going ahead in the circumstances, which is a shame as I'm usually bat sh*t crazy with excitement.  However, I'm determined to get behind Team GB from afar and let's hope they put a smile on our face. I've always been fascinated by the Olympics from an early age, my first experience of watching them was 1976 in Montreal and although a little too young at six years old to completely understand what was going on, I knew it was something special.  When they next came around in 1980 with Coe vs Ovett in Moscow, I was completely hooked.  By the time London 2012 arrived, I thought I was going to implode with excitement!!  On my home turf, there was no way on this earth I was not going to be there in person and, to top it off, I was there on 'Super Saturday'. Sport is a powerful tool in bringing people together, even more so at the Olympics which i...

I know, I know, it's a phrase that's becoming rather over-used at the moment but relevant all the same for this week's blog. Why does it always take a sad event to jolt you back into reality and re-assess your own life.  A recent death in the family made me do just that.  If there is such a thing as a 'good' funeral, then this was definitely it.  It was a celebration of that person's life and a chance to recall some touching, yet funny stories. But have you noticed that these moments make you question how happy YOU really are in life?  This event especially, as following a very short illness, this person was given the news that they literally had only days to live.  How the *&%! do you process that news? It got me thinking, if a doctor had told me that, would I be happy in the knowledge that I'd been living my best life?  Would I be thinking 'yep, I reckon I've done alright' , this news is NOT what I want to hear but I'm ok with how I...

It's been a year since most of us started working from home and living our lives in very different ways to how we had previously.  So in this week's blog I thought I'd take a look back at the events along the way. DISCLAIMER:   I can only relate to myself and those close to me.  Everyone has had a different journey so please bear that in mind when reading this blog!! February 2020:   Covid has become the buzz word of the moment and starting to feature more and more in everyday conversations.  At the end of February, me and Mr Bob signed on the dotted line for our new house, believing we had a couple of months to decorate before moving in very smoothly and with no mishaps - hmm! March 2020:  Covid has taken a strong hold across the world, events are being cancelled left, right and centre and it was only a matter of time before we would be in lockdown.  Everything related to our new house was grinding to a halt and we weren't in a position to move at th...

All the gear, no idea! I have to admit that when lockdown part trois was announced I felt a bit like a deflated balloon and I’m usually a pumped up kind of gal.   Last week’s boot camp was such a beautiful morning against a backdrop of fabulous surroundings and I was looking forward to many more over the coming weeks. During the Christmas holidays I’d planned out all of January’s boot camps. Sadly, like everything else right now, they’re on hold for the foreseeable future.   However, the good news for me and my fitness family is that we can carry on regardless thanks to Zoom sessions.  It’s not quite the same but at least we can still feel like a group and support each other and yesterday's online session was no exception.  They're still smiling and it was the end of the session!   Sorry, I’ve digressed somewhat from what I was going to talk about so I’ll get back on track. The thought process behind this week’s blog started with me reading something that riled ...

My life is still bonkers! Unless I get completely carried away, this is going to be a fairly short blog this week as I'm absolutely exhausted but in a happy, satisfied physical way rather than mentally exhausted which has been the norm recently. Following a mini-meltdown last week involving tears and tantrums with all the house issues, me and Mr Bob took ourselves outside, gave ourselves a good talking to and have attacked this week with complete gusto.  We finally said to ourselves "so what if the blah di blah falls off, so what if the so and so is not working, it's fixable, everything is feckin' fixable so why are we putting so much pressure on ourselves". We did have the opportunity to put this new found approach into action as we started the week with no hot water.  Deep breath, ok, it's fine, we'll just contact the boiler company.  They can't get to us for another two days.  Fine, just hose me down after my run.  Not a problem. Once the boiler was...

What a way to end the week!! The end of the week, and the end of yet another quarter, certainly ended with a bang.  In fact, it almost ended with a crash, bang, wallop!! It seems like a lifetime since we moved house and yet it's only been just over a week.  We'd managed to get a few things done over the course of the week but yesterday's events almost put paid to that.  I was preparing for boot camp on Saturday  morning when I heard a squeal from Mr Bob - "look at this, that wasn't there before".  I looked up and saw a water stain on the living room ceiling.  Luckily, Mr Bob's son had arrived to help us out with a few things so we all raced upstairs to track down the problem.  Eek, it was obvious we'd have to rip up the bedroom floor.  My heart sank, the bedroom was one of the few rooms we'd finished and it looked lovely.  I had no option but to go ahead with my boot camp as it was far too late to cancel at this point.  I couldn't go out...

Life in lockdown, it's probably going  one of two ways right?!  You're either getting fitter, eating healthier, working harder and being more creative than you've ever been  OR you've barely moved from your couch, eating rubbish, drinking more alcohol and have lost all motivation!  There's a happy medium between the two so let's see how we can achieve that. Let's take one thing at a time: Fitness Have you lost motivation?  Are you new to fitness and don't know what to do?  Are you over-exercising because you have more time? If you were a gym bunny or exercised outdoors with a group before lockdown, then you may be struggling with the social aspect of things, it's always more motivating when you're with others.  Don't despair, there are literally hundreds of virtual group classes out there that you can join.  My boot camps used to be in fabulous locations and we often had coffee and breakfast afterwards.  I've now ...

So what do you do on Fridays? I started my 'side hustle' in 2006, way before it was trendy to call it a 'side hustle' and having two careers became 'a thing'.  Although to be perfectly honest, back in those days my 'side hustle' consisted of one boot camp on a Thursday night and writing the odd training programme.  For quite a few years, it remained like that and then in 2011 I decided to do a 'walk to run' course and it kind of exploded after that.  I started taking on more fitness clients and I eventually dropped down to 4 days in my 'day job' as a PA so I could do more fitness work on Fridays. I was torn as to what to do as I felt under pressure to choose one career over the other.  I really enjoyed being a PA.  After starting out my office life as a receptionist and working my way up the 'admin ladder' I quickly realised that I wasn't cut out to be a manager or anything like that but being a PA was the next best t...

Who's up for a mash-up in May? So what exactly is a mash-up I hear you cry?  Why it's quite simply ... "A mixture of different, often contrasting, elements" Throughout the month of May, we'll be looking at how to get more bang for your bucks.  Mash-ups work particularly well when you're short on time but still want to achieve as much as possible.  They're also a great way to incorporate some variety into your life to jazz things up a bit.  Whoa there, I didn't mean in THAT area of your life, let's keep it clean folks! We are kicking off the mash-up month by focusing on exercise this week.  The  mini, but challenging, circuit below can be completed in a ridiculously short period of time.  The only catch is that in order to achieve the best result you must put in your maximum effort. This circuit which will help you develop upper body, lower body and core strength, balance and stability, there's even a few fast runs thrown in fo...