Shattered

Absolutely shattered man.  Did so much walking today.  I walked from house at the east end all the way to city centre, St Enoch's shopping centre.  Then after lunch I walked from St Enoch's shopping centre to the a...

Too tired.  Need a wee nap first.  To be continued...

Keeping fit in the snow

Ok I'm back.  Now is almost 10:00pm.  My ankles and feet are mega tired from all the walking today.  They feel like I've been doing Body Attack or some sort of cardio exercise for prolonged hours.  Lol!  It must be from all the walking on snow, ice and slush and the occasional jumping over puddles etc.  So I as I said earlier, today I walked from my house to St Enoch's Shopping Centre (2.8miles in 55minutes), had lunch to refuel before walking from St Enoch's to around The Point (2.7miles in 60minutes), from there back home (2.9miles in 70minutes).  So a total of 8.4miles today of snow, slush and ice!  Walking is not that difficult, but walking on a slippery surface means you cannot use as much pushing power into each step, less traction so to speak in order to avoid slipping.  It was so frustrating at times, especially the final trek home, to find myself walking an endless journey and there was fog at some point too, when I was cutting through Sighthill.  I wish I had a pedometer today.  They say an average of 20,000 steps a day would ideal for keeping fit and fighting fat etc.  Or half an hour of exercise a day to keep the heart healthy.  I think I exceeded both targets today.  In fact, not being in the gym today I am glad I got to walk so much in a way.  Because it helped with fat burning I guess.  And walking on snow/ice was different from walking on normal dry land, cos you tend to use more stability muscles, which would explain the tiredness and soreness.

Saving grace

The weather today was much worse than the weather of the past week combined!  Last week I still managed to venture out to the gym several times through the snow, but this week I think I'll keep the car safely parked outside the flat.  I say today was much worse based on the fact of the effect it had on today's traffic.  On my morning drive around the local area I saw cars wheelspin all over the place, especially moving off at traffic lights, and at any gradient.  I was also one of them whereas usually there wouldn't be a problem moving off in a higher gear, or moving off in first gear but feathering the clutch.  However, this morning when giving way to another vehicle reversing backwards from a give way junction, I managed to reverse back into deep snow and got myself caught in a ditch and could not move forwards or backwards.  Sigh!!  Half an hour I spent trying to get out, moving out in first gear, second gear, and third gear.  Reversing didn't help either.  The snow flakes battered down onto the windscreen and blew into the car each time I opened the door to step outside.  I tried kicking away the snow around the tyres but they snow was still too deep for the tyres to get any grip.  I sat inside and prayed to God for help.  I told Him once I got out I'll drive home and keep safe, away from all this stuff.  About ten minutes more of frustrated efforts, a man walked across the road.  I asked him to help me push the car as I tried to rev out, but that didn't work, so he offered to scoop some salt grit from his depot which was only one minute walk (he was actually on his way out to the petrol station I guess to buy cigarettes or something).  With the salt grit under the front wheels and some pushing at the back along with high engine revs in a low gear the car was eventually free.  I had my window down in order to ask for his name and to thank him properly, but he shouted, "Move!  Keep on going!" (cos stopping the car would mean it would take longer to move off again).  I could only thank him by shouting, "You're some man, pal!  God bless you!" and had to drive off again.  Although I don't know him, I think I recognise his face and I definitely know where his workplace is, so once this horrible weather settles, he will get a nice reward.  Thank you God, and thank you kind sir!  =)