This is kind of an extension of excuse number one. This is the excuse of being a parent and having days when it’s just me and the little one, but more specifically.

It’s just me, the little one and the holidays.

If you are a single parent or your partner works long days or even works away then I’m sure you’ll recognise the occasional feeling of putting your life on hold during the ongoing battle with their boredom and your guilt for not providing continuous memorable or educational experiences. This half term I really wanted to keep up my two miles a day, I still had the parental guilt though, how dear I insist on having time for myself when I should be spending every waking moment entertaining the child and ensuring a long list for her “what I did in the holiday” report.

Well, I’ve had a revelation, exercise is great, necessary for her too, boredom didn’t do me any harm and continuously managed experiences could actually stop her using her imagination. So I set to leading by example, hopping that this would be the best way of educating my little one that fitness is a fun way of life. She is very keen that I don’t die, as she herself has told me, so that’s helpful. I told her exercise will help us all live a long healthy life and that I needed her help with this. She is now fully on-board with the new adventure.

Yes she played at the park again while I did laps but we used a more inclusive way of exercising as well. I got her out on her bike. She hasn’t been the most confident cyclist after a fall while learning last summer. She had refused to ride unless I held on to the back of her jumper and she had struggled with getting started. I needn’t have been concerned though after a shaky start she took to it like the proverbial duck to water. She has been brilliant. She has talked about being more active and is incredibly proud of the number of miles she has ridden. Her confidence has grown and she is loving exploring the countryside.

The upshot is that I had pizza, chocolate brownies and ice-cream during the holidays, we had fun together while I completed my fifth week of continuous running, we are proud of each other and I maintained my weight loss. I’m thirteen stone four pounds and three-quarters today. I’ve lost nine and a half pounds in five weeks!

Here is a little break down now that I’ve completed May.

I ran 81.3 miles in May, furthest I’ve ever run in a single month.
I averaged 10,920 steps a day including my run, so that’s a combined total for running and day-to-day walking of 160.85 miles covered in May.

The only down side is that now I’m beating myself up as to why I didn’t do this last summer, but you can’t have everything can you.
Shelley.