The Bunny Tragedy

Since the start of this year, I have become a keen runner. There are numerous obvious health benefits but also a run at the start of day clears my head and helps me focus on the day. It has also become a way for me to explore my neighbourhoods and countryside on my doorstep. But, the hazard of running in beauty spots is disturbing the wildlife. At home in Brighton, this hasn't been a major problem, mainly dodging snails at 7am. But while in Wales for work, it's a different story.

My chosen route for a morning run was on the pedestrian path by the Shropshire Union Canal in Welshpool, which you can follow "all the way to Newtown if you like" according to the self-titled 'Big Dave' on reception at the Royal Oak hotel. I won't be going to Newtown, it's 14 miles away and I'm only training for a half marathon but keen to explore the canal, a very different environment to my usual run routes. Needless to say it's a haven for a vast variety of species. On my first morning, I followed a grey heron along a stretch of the canal which was a real treat.

The late Canal Bunny

On my second day of running I saw a cute little bunny, hopping along the path. I quietly whipped out my phone and took a video for my daughters. How proud I would be to show them a real life rabbit in the (sort of) wild. Suddenly he decides to escape me by jumping in the canal (rather than trot back to the field he came from) to which I immediately panicked, can rabbits swim? While I'm desperately looking for a branch to put in the water and steer him back to the bank, a family of swans start to terrorise the desperately swimming rabbit. Sternly warning off the swans who were hissing furiously at the brave bunny, my feeble townie ways couldn't think how to help the poor mammal short of jumping in. I didn't jump in of course, that would be daft.

Exhausted from swimming the rabbit stopped still and turned on his side. All alone, I still hunt for something to try and bring him to shore in the desperate hope he would hop to life. Heartbroken, I had to go on my way. The swans swam off.

So I'm feeling utterly useless & destructive. I know it wasn't directly my fault but if I hadn't have been there, the canal bunny may still be alive. Answers on a postcard in the form of a blog comment of how I could save a drowning bunny again?

Rest in peace. You were much loved but not by swans.

The Bunny Tragedy

Mid Life Crisis? Moi?

Don't you just hate the term 'mid-life crisis'? So I've reached mid-life and feel like shaking things up a bit? So what! I think people should be applauded for trying new things, especially as they get older.

Couch 2 Running in the Rain.

I've used the phrase. Usually applying it to middle-aged men who buy a convertible Porsche or have affairs with younger women. But in truth, the fact declared someone is having a mid-life 'crisis' says more about me than the person I'm referring to. In the sense that, a) I'm jealous of someone who gets a Porsche b) I'm disgusted by men who break up their families for 'a grass is greener' affair.

Mid Life Crisis? Moi?

Fit & Fab At 40

This year I'm launching my own self-improvement campaign. Fit and fab at 40. I hit the big 40 in November which leaves me plenty of time to attack my appalling BMI and get fitter in general.

My story isn't unique. Over the years I've yo-yo dieted, each time I fell off the wagon my weight crept up on the scales. In 10 years I've lived somewhat in denial being a little overweight and now I find myself deep in the obsese category of the universally acknowledged BMI scale. Having kids hasn't altered my attitude to food and weight, due to morning sickness I lost over 20lb with each pregnancy, vowing each time to keep the weight off post-natally. To put things into perspective, on 1st February this year, I weighed the same as my 41 week weight with my second child. So this isn't baby weight or lack of fitness due to having two kids, I was fitter during pregnancy than I had been for years previously.

Like many, I spiralled into an understated but very real depression. The kind that leads you to comfort eat and ignore the obvious. Hating just about every 'diet' club I had joined, I wanted to find a solution for life. I wanted to examine why I couldn't exercise self-control. As a close friend put it, eating and exercise is like managing a calorie bank account. You can't continue to permanently overdrawn.

So, when it looked like I was pushing towards the next clothes size up, I knew it was time to take action. I was consistently tired, with grumbles in my joints and back. These were the warning signs and thankfully I listened.

So this is my personal campaign. To be Fit and Fab at 40. The age is a turning point for me. If I don't change habits now I can see it only becoming harder as time marches on. Plus my kids are 18 months and 4 years old, so if I'm lucky, the only memory they will have of me this overweight is in photographs. I've set up www.fitfaband40.co.uk where I will talk about the tools I've used, my progress, my challenges and generally exploring the emotional side of habit changing. Add me to your reader, book mark me, tell me your stories.

What will you do to change habits in your life? It doesn't have to be about losing weight. Health inside and spiritually is equally as important. Join me in my question for Fit and Fab! Make a pledge below or in secret to me fitfaband40@gmail.com - I'll email you monthly to see how you're getting on. No cost, no agenda. Just a passion to support those who want to change.

 

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Fit & Fab At 40

Stoptober: Show Me The Willpower

October is one of those transitional months isn't it? September is the start of autumn, school and college, the end of summer. October has got Halloween at the end of it and not much else. The NHS are trying to change that by introducing Stoptober, a 28 day challenge to stop smoking. Inspiration struck, so am stopping a few things of my own.

I don't smoke. I've never smoked. I'm overweight. My BMI is a higher on the index than it should be and this puts me at risks to my health, just like a smoker. So I'm jumping on the bandwagon and setting up a little challenge of my own: can I change my eating habits by pure willpower?

Stoptober: Show Me The Willpower