Janathon Day 14 : Casting a clout

"Ne'er cast a clout before May is out" as my grandma used to say. Never mind a clout today I cast off the two fleece sweaters and the fleece pants and exchanged them for a t-shirt and leggings when I set out for today's walk. Not a pretty sight at the moment but despite dressing down I still came back sweating cobblers!

My route today took my north alongside the Puglia Adriatic coastline. Following the coastal path from home towards Torre San Genarro and then on the esplanade into Torre San Genarro, down into the tiny harbour, and out along the esplanade into and through Campo di Mare. I made it to the other side of Campo di Mari just where there is a track leading off along the coast. This is nearly as far as I was walking this time last year before a foot injury ended play. I'm happy that I'm catching up with myself at last.



My goal is to continue along the coastal path until I reach Cerano Beach Lido, if that is possible. It's an unexplored route so the jury is out. It appears to be 5.6km so a 11km round trip ..... it's a goal. Maybe an own goal. I've never understood the appeal of Cerano Beach Lido, it's a nice enough beach but it sits right under the elecricity power station!

The small seaside towns are almost deserted just the odd person wandering around, a couple of fishermen in the harbour at TSG with today's catch for sale, workmen doing up one of the houses in the village, a dog-walker on the beach. So different from the summer months when the whole area will be buzzing, especially in July in August. The mass migration from San Pietro Vernotico to Torre San Gennaro, from Torchiarolo to Lendinuso and from Squinzano to Casalabate will probably start in May. Locals leaving their winter homes and returning to their summer houses to catch the sea breezes and join in the fun. More and more tourists are finding this area of the Salento, Puglia now .... but it is still very unspoilt.

The seaweed is in and the beaches are covered with it. It still amazes me how much the beaches here change from week to week, from sandy stretches, sand and shale in the summer months, pebble strewn throughout the autumn and winter, seaweed now and when that washes away back to pebbles, before returning to our summer sandy delight. The air as so clear today we could just make out the coast of Albania.

Back home again and straight into the garden for a good two hour session, still trimming, cutting back, weeding and pruning. A few days efforts and the results are starting to show. From an overgrown wilderness it is now possible to walk almost the full length of the garden along the east side of the house. From the working area (compost bins, shed, washing line) through the shrub-filled gravel garden and onto the new (nearly completely grouted) patio. It's looking good.

14 days into the #janathon challenge and my energy levels are up .... feeling good, motivated, and believing I will actually complete this challenge. Tomorrow is the weigh in after two complete weeks, feeling hopeful.

#janathon stats so far
walking       43.96km
cycling        11.00km
squats         460
gardening   9.5 hours

#alchohol free in 2015 -  8 days (today is day 9 ... not tempting fate by counting it until after midnight!)

Janathon Day 12 : Blown Away

Full of beans .... jumped out of bed quite early and went straight into the 12 minute work out from the Lean and Clean first stage workout. This time I managed all the moves ... although my plank only lasted 5 seconds at the end. Baby steps for beginners, but we have to start somewhere.

Yet again another blustery day ..... as we were going to lunch with our friends Val and Mino I decided to walk to Casalabate despite the wind. I was due to be collected from Casalabate at 1pm so allowing myself an hour in the howling wind probably wasn't a good idea. Maybe it wasn't the time to meander down a different route and across the unmade up roads. Almost, but not quite, getting lost in the process.

Despite the wind and the mislaid route I made it in a little over an hour; if I'd had any cobwebs the wind would certainly have blown them away. There were a couple of brave windsurfers trying their luck at Lendinuso; surely the wind was too strong today. If the wind had been behind me instead of me heading into it I think I would have been windsurfing the streets. It made short shrift of the 20 euro note that literally flew out of my pocket when I pulled out my camera. That one's a gonner then.

By the time I was collected at Casalabate my hands were freezing (forgot my gloves, who needs them in Puglia, even in winter!) and my ears were falling off. Val's warm welcome and home-made curry lunch soon put that right.  I even surprised myself .... no wine. It was there, it was offered, but I just didn't want it. Trust me, had I wanted some I would have had some. Now it looks like I am well on the way to a full week without wine.

I think I  have been inspired by Tom Kerridge. We watched a recording of Food and Drink yesterday and saw the slimmed down Tom. A quick Google revealed his recipe for weight loss success.

In this article Tom is quoted as saying "one of the big problems of being a publican is that you're surrounded by beer, so I gave up drinking."  That combined with daily swimming and weaning himself off carbs resulted in a staggering weight loss of at least 84 pounds. "Weigh" to go Tom, those photos are going in my fridge door to inspire me some more. Along with a lighter me .... taken three and a half years ago when I last successfully lost what felt like a ton of weight. I will do it again .... I know I can, I know I can to quote a certain little train.

June 2010

Home now .... house is freezing, gas central heating blasting away while the fire gets going. Yesterday was such a beautiful day, I made the foolish comment "L'inverno é finito." in the market yesterday morning; to be told it was on it's way back, but only for one day the lady promised. We will see tomorrow. I am not liking this shivering windy Puglia winter.



#janathon stats so far
walking       38.52km
cycling        11.00km
squats         460
gardening   4.5 hours

#alchohol free in 2015 -  6 days (today is day 7 ... not tempting fate by counting it until after midnight!)

Tomorrow is another day!

Janathon Day 11 : Feeling good

Much better than yesterday ...... thankfully. Beautiful morning after a cold night, warm and sunny ..... just right for a stroll around Casalabate market followed by a cycle ride towards Torchiarolo. I'm working up to the full round trip to and from Torchiarolo so I can do my local shopping on my bike. I think it will be about a week before my coccyx and my energy get me there.

After cycling, an hour and a half in the garden....  more weeding, trimming, pruning, clearing.

I did attempt Clean and Lean's 12 minute workout but only managed the first four of the exercises.10 reps of each; not much I know, but this kind of workout is something new to me. I'm very afraid of injuring myself if I go hell for leather ... something I normally do and in doing so knocked myself out of other challenges last year.

#janathon stats so far
        walking        32.68km
        cycling           11.00km
        squats           410
        gardening     4.5 hours

#alchohol free in 2015 5 days (today is day 6 ... not tempting fate by counting it until after midnight!)


Feeling contented .....

Janathon Day 10 : Lost my mojo.

I work up this morning with a mild case of the blues. I've lost my mojo. No particular reason, a restless night but for me not too bad. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the sea calm as a mill pond. The house was cold, really cold ... before next winter we really are going to have to address the issue of insulation, or no insulation as it really is. This is the coldest Puglia winter I have experienced in our 10 winters here. Tomorrow 17 degees and sunny is forecast, but 16 degrees and sunny is what Il Meteo claims it is today. It might be outside, it isn't inside.

Neither walking nor cycling appealed and I couldn't kick start myself into it, so I attacked the garden instead. Three hours of clearing, trimming, pruning, weeding and burning made me feel a whole lot better. Tomorrow is another day.

I hope gardening counts for #janathon, making a snowman does apparently, gardening certainly should. MyNetDiary, where I am tracking my calorie consumption and exercise claims 299 calories an hour for even a light gardening. Seems a bit excessive for me so I only logged two of the three hours.

#janathon stats so far
        walking        32.68km
        cycling           4.52km
        squats           330
        gardening     3 hours

#alchohol free in 2015 4 days

A presto!

Janathon Day 9 : I'm still standing

No, not still standing, I'm still walking ..... 6.67km from Torchiarolo back home. Day 9 of #janathon and I'm still there. I'm feeling good, really good. Lots more energy ..... moving much more easily, I've been almost running around the house today.





And add 70 squats for the day and 3 wine-free days! Tomorrow I am going to start the workout program in the Clean and Lean Diet Book by James Duigan

#janathon stats so far
        walking 32.68km
        cycling    4.52km
        squats      330

#alchohol free 3 days


Buon Weekend a tutti!

Janathon Day 8 : Whoop whoop - weight loss!

The first week of Jantahon is completed .... I managed to do something everyday, seven out of seven, some days better than others. This morning was first weigh in after starting Janathon ..... 1kg down, needless to say I am very happy. And another whoop whoop, 2 wine (which for me means alcohol as I don't drink anything else) free days in 2015.

I tried cycling today as a test to see if my poor bruised coccyx has recovered enough ...... I'd say nearly although it did ache a lot, tomorrow will tell.

A light day today, more effort tomorrow!

Review: The Lore of the Evermen

The Lore of the Evermen by James Maxwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I loved the first three books of the Ever men Saga and I enjoyed this one but perhaps not so much. For me too much of the book was spent on the fighting, physical, chemical and with magic, and not enough on the lives and personalities of the characters.



View all my reviews