The short walks had taken a bit of a back seat with the focus shifting to longer training walks for Isle of Wight Challenge. However in Novemeber we managed to fit a short and long walk in.
On the 15th November we did a 6.4km walk along the trusted Nutbrok Trail. We've done the walk so many times but it's so simple and easy to do and the views are great all year round.
The Power of Nature
By now you will have figured out that there is a great little coffee shop on the Nutbrook Trail called Nutbrok Coffee Shop. This was our aim for the walk to get a nice little "healthy"ish snack and a warm drink.
We had a good group of us from some Ilson Glowsticks members to other clients just enjoying a morning walk away from work with their family.
Nutbrook Coffee Shop and the Nutbrook Trail
This walk wasn't about pace, distance or anything serious. It was all about a stretch of your legs, some fresh air and a nice social time.
Bring on the next walk on 21st November for the Long walk and more Isle of Wight training.
Team IlsonGlowsticks love a random run, something a bit different to a 5/10/half marathon event. We've done a few mud runs :- Mens Health Challenge, Water Wipeout etc.
Now it's time to combine a few events into one with the Color Obstacle Rush a nice mixture of paint, foam, 5km running and obstacles. The event we ran was at Uttoxeter Race course but there are others around the country, check out their website for more details.
We had a team of 7 all looking to have a blast. I did take the GoPro with me to this event so check out my videos of the event on YouTube - Color Obstacle Rush Playlist.
But here's a little clip of what to expect.........
It took us about an hour to do the event because we ended up trying different moves in the paint stations from paint swimming, to crab walks, making snow angels and just having massive paint fights with each other.
I won't give the obstacles away, you need to watch the videos to see them but here are a few photos to see the before and after look for us.
On the 23rd May I organised a walk from Hollies Farm Cafe, well actually two walks.
I wanted to accommodate clients of all abilities and those who are/were pregnant. So I planned a couple for walks both around 6km in length with a little bite to eat between the walks.
The first walk took us down towards Hermits Cave and Dale Abbey.
Walk 1
We did have some fun in the woods as there are some steep steps and they weren't suitable for all walkers so after a little jog around the edge of the wood I met up with some of the group who took the longer but flatter route around. We then all met up at Hermits Cave for a group photo before walking towards The Carpenters Arms for a quick drink and toilet stop before walking back around to Hollies for our food stop and the end of the walk for a few people.
Hermits Cave
After some lovely food as always, we set back out the other direction from the tea rooms and looped around to Cat & Fiddle Windmill.
Walk 2
We've been on most of the paths/trails before in other walks - Miller's Walk and Hermits Walk but it was nice to cover them in two smaller walks so all ages and abilities could enjoy the lovely views. Don't forget to look at the walks in Erewash on their website - Erewash Walks.
Just watch out for cute lambs, horses and cows on your travels....
The evening was part of their "Sporting League Cup" where different sports teams and charities can apply for 100 tickets and the money from sales they keep/donate. We managed to sell about 88 of our 100 tickets raising £440 for Cancer Research UK. This is split between mine and Robs JustGiving pages and helped hit our fundraising target for our London to Brighton Bike ride in September.
Both of us are raising money for Cancer Research UK and it was a brilliant night helping a great charity.
I will be organising another night out there again later in the year so sign up on my website for the newsletters and you will see when it's organised.
A massive thank you to all that attended and donated. I know a few of you left with some winnings and I wasn't one of them.
On Sunday 8th Feburary a group of us went to Leen Valley Golf Club for a game of FootGolf! I know my spelling can be a bit dodgy at times in these blogs but there's no mistake here yes FootGolf! Put yourself on an adapted golf course with a football and smash your way around the course.
It's one of the fastest growing sports in the UK, with national and international competitions. Check out the links below for more information on the sport.
If you enjoy Football and or Golf it's something you've got to try. In our group we had from age 10 to 50, football players, golf players and people like me who just wanted to have a laugh enjoying some sport. The same as Golf we played at our own pace and had a brilliant day out. I was sceptical about the game mixing with golfers but they really didn't mind us being there. The two sports worked well together. All I know when we go back hopefully it will be a nice warm day without the freezing winds or puddles, and I will buy some astro-turf boots as being a rubbish football player I got excellent value for money kicking the ball all day long.
Prices taken from FOotGOlf website at time blog was written - 9 Holes - Adults = £7 / U16s = £5
18 Holes - Adults = £10 / U16s = £7
See the video below for our footage from the day, there are a few others on my YouTube account too.
I'm only two months behind with my blogs from walks and runs so I best catch up.
On Saturday 17th January we did the Walk in the footsteps of D H Lawrence from the AA guide book - D H Lawrence Walk.
The walk is just under 6 miles but we started from Beauvale Priory Tea Rooms so extended it to about 6.5 miles.
The walk is relatively flat with only gentle hills to walk up and down so it is a good walk for all abilities. By setting off from Beauvale Priory we walked across Moorgreen first and there were lovely views over the surrounding areas. The walk takes you past St.Marys Church as we approached there was a funeral taking place so we had a little pause as we let the service begin before following the path around and continuing with the walk. The church and surrounding area looked lovely and such a peaceful location.
St.Mary's Church
There is a nice walk in and around Colliers Wood near the start of the walk if you follow the AA guide or around the half way point if you set off from the tea rooms like we did. The wood is used by bird watchers and there are loads of bird feeders dotted around allowing for a nice educational walk in the woods for young families.
This is then shortly followed by the much larger High Park Wood which was not only in use for walkers and joggers but there looked some good trails for cyclists too (mountain bike not road). On this section you get close to the M1 but at no point can you hear it, we only just spotted it between some trees. This section is about the hilliest part and compared to most other walks we've done it's easy.
Up to the Woods we go.
This was one of the few up hill sections and it's not a challenging climb, walks of all abilities will be able to do this walk especially in spring/summer in dry conditions.
We then finished the walk back at Beauvale Priory where we started. If you followed the AA guide you will be just over half way and now head over Moorgreen back towards the car park. I recommend following the walk how we did as the Tea Rooms are really nice with friendly staff and great food. As you can tell by Simon's very happy face after finishing his home made soup and the afternoon tea that a few of them enjoyed.
We had a little walk around the old ruins too and a look into the history of the area. I'm sure there are some amazing photos to be taken by a much better photographer than myself haha.
As a festive treat for my clients I hired the sports hall at Kirk Hallam School where I do group sessions for an hour of dodgeball.
After a little warm up we set up the foam balls and off we went. teams of 3 or 4 depending who was in which game. Just like laser tag I took the GoPro camera with me to get some footage of the day. We didn't keep score as we changed the teams most games, it was all about having fun.
It was very surprising how energetic it was, when we finished all of us were dripping with sweat and by that evening I had messages of people starting to ache already. When you think about what we did for an hour it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise really:-
Running around
Jumping
Ducking
Throwing
Catching
Diving around
For an hour is always going to be tiring. Add to that last dancing to the cheesy music we had on it was a good calorie burn.
This just highlights that exercise doesn't need to be a gym session, there's so much more out there for improving your health and fitness. As highlighted in the blogs this year, walking, running, sports, activity days all get you off the sofa and active. To see the different things I offer for Personal Training visit my website - www.adamfretwellpt.co.uk There is also a newsletter sign up link then you can receive information about other days out like laser tag, walks, and dodgeball in 2015.
Once again thanks to Alistair Carvell for the music I used on one of the videos, the other music was that on the GoPro software. Bring on more activities in 2015.
I organised a trip out for fitness clients to Wild Park Derbyshire for an afternoon of woodland laser tag. 18 of us went with a mix of 9 males, 9 females, aged 7 to 59. It was a very random bunch of people and it worked perfectly. Some people had played laser quest before, others had done paint balling, but it was the first time for all of us playing woodland laser tag.
We all got issued our camo jumpsuits, vests and weapons. I added the GoPro camera to my outfit with the chest and head mount so we could get some footage of the day.
Laser Tag Fitness Day Out
They put us into 2 teams Yellows V Pinks and we had 6 different games over the afternoon. 2 x capture the flag, 2 x attack/defend the van, and 2 x bomb the fort, with each game was worth 20 points.
Yellows too an early 40-0 lead after the 2 games thanks to Simon running like Forrest Gump and capturing the flag.
If capture the flag suited the Yellows, Attack/Defend the van suited Pinks as by the end of game 4 it was 40-40. Thanks to Lexie and myself attacking and capturing the van in game 3, and Rob and Danny getting very well camouflaged and defending the van in style in game 4. This game had a van at the bottom of the hill with one team defending and one team attacking. When attacking you had 5 minutes unlimited lives so it was all about how quick you could run up and down the hill to take out the enemy and get back up to re energise before going again. It was a killer on your legs!!!
2 games left all to play for!
In game 5 Pinks were defending the fort with Yellows trying to carry to bomb into it. Things weren't going well for Pinks as all but 2 people were killed. However those two who survived turned into Rambo and took out every single Yellow as they charged to the fort with the bomb. THEN!!! Rob picked up the bomb and carried it into our own base blowing it up! Doh!!!
This had the scores at Yellows 60 - Pinks 50 because even with every yellow dead the fort was blown up, but we claimed 10 points for killing everybody.
Winner takes all in the last game!! Who will come out on top?
PINKS!!!!
With a charge from Lisa and the two little minions into the fort clearing the way, it allowed myself to use Danny as a human shield and charge with the bomb into the heart of their fort.
End Scores Yellows 60- Pinks 70.
A brilliant day out and we will definitely be back for more laser tag and probably archery too. A top quality venue for team building, parties or just a fun day out. Really good instructors and good prices.
October has been a busy month so we haven't been able to fit many walks in. The one we managed was to take a long route to get to Ilkeston Fair. We made our way down to the Beauty Spot on the Nutbrook Trail and headed along towards Swan Lake. Usually for the Fair weekend it's cold, wet and miserable. This year it was dry, mild and really nice. So as we walked along the trail with the sun setting slowly, leaves on the ground it was a really nice evening for a walk and chat. There was about 11 of us on the walk and the bulk of us getting excited for laser tag which is coming up this weekend. The others were chatting about the what food to eat when we get up there haha.
In the end we ate at Patti House a local small business who sources all her products locally and makes the burgers herself. She had on a fair special hot dogs from the local butchers, so they included high quality meats with amazing seasoning. It was a nice treat especially with her home made salsa on top, a nice bit of autumnal heat. It's well worth a visit especially as you can have a nice lean chicken burger, no bun and salad making it a health option.
We got round towards Manor Floods and headed up into the Industrial estate, from here a little walk in Victoria Park which looked lovely with all the different coloured leaves falling from the trees.
Once up the fair the night only got funnier, after winning unicorns on "Hook a Minion" and going on a few rides, it culminated in seeing somebody producing projectile vomit off a ride that splatted a few people in the queue to go on it next. It wouldn't have been nice for them at all but from a by standers point of view it was a pure £250 "You've Been Framed" moment......but none of us caught it on camera dam it!!
We also saw some rather amusing sights on the bulls with bodies flying all over the place.
Then finally a group of us went on the Fun House, be warned don't have a sign saying "children and adults welcome" when us lot are around. You've seen us on the ziplines haha.
The next photo sums up the Fun House!
Simon taking a tumble.
This happened to a few of us including myself attempting to spin all the way around it in a handstand position. The slide at the end finished it off as you had to shuffle all the way down so there were a couple of pileups.
According to mapmyrun the walk was 8km but I'm not sure how accurate it was this time seeing as it was left running while we went on rides and I think they may have added a few metres.
Magic Mouse and Jump & Smile according to Map My Run haha.
28th September 2014 was the date for my first ever half marathon. I have covered many 10km this year for Cancer Research UK and even 54km as part of the Isle of Wight Challenge but this is the first half marathon I've attempted.
It had to be said I was nervous as I didn't know how I would cope with the distance none stop running. Everybody had been telling me I will be fine and my fitness levels are easily good enough with my job but there's always room for doubt before an event. Once I was at the start point ready for the warm up I was growing in confidence thinking 21km of running won't be as bad as 54km of running and walking. I knew I had been slowing down my race pace from around 4min 35sec per km for the 10km races to around 5min 10sec per km for this.
This practice worked really well as by 5, 10 and then 15km I was averaging between 5min to 5min 20sec per km. Unfortunately at 12km my iPod died, so much for the battery life being accurate. This didn't turn out to be a bad thing in the end as I plugged my headphones into my phone and listened to MapMyRun updating me of my time and pace each km.
At the 17km point I was actually feeling really good and any worries I had prior to the event had long gone. This showed with my pace increasing each km toward the finish line. The 21st km was completed in 4 minutes 28 seconds and the final 500m was a quicker pace still as I ended up in a sprint finish against another bloke with the crowd getting louder.
DONE!!!
There were loads of water station along the route and I had a couple of energy gels in my pockets to keep my energy up. I've since read there is a gentleman in a coma after dehydrating once he crossed the finishing line - Nottingham Evening Post. Hopefully he has a good recovery and can continue to run for pleasure or fitness soon. This highlights the risk exercise can have and the importance of sufficient hydration while exercising.
I really enjoyed the run which I honestly didn't expect too and finished in 1 hour 49 minutes 31 seconds. Bring on 2015 for another half marathon or two and hopefully an improved time. That's now 11 races down, 1 to go for Cancer Research UK in 2014.
This was the start of an active weekend, today's walk followed by a half marathon tomorrow. Today's walk was meant to be The Miller's Walk starting and ending at Hollies Farm Cafe but unfortunately they were having some building work done ready for their new farm shop. We all still wanted a walk so decided to redo the Nubtrook Trail to Shipley Wood walk we did towards the start of the year.
We started the walk from Nutbrook CC and headed to the Nutbrook Trail at Manor Floods. From here it's straight along the trail until you get to the old American Adventure site, at this point we took the steep left path up towards the wood. At this point you have lovely views down over Shipley Cricket Club and the surrounding fields. The first little tea room (Derby Lodge) we got too were closed so we carried on to the main visitor centre at Shipley Park. It was at this point we remembered the park that was installed a while ago with some things for adults as well as kids. As you can see on the video below we had to try out the zipline, visit my YouTube page to see Simon tackling both ziplines at once.
The zipline and park added some interesting sections to MapMyRun as I forgot to stop tracking the route while we had a bit of fun. The park was actually helpful as 3 of us on the walk have since taken on the Men's Health Challenge which involves monkey bars and other obstacles that we had a little practice at on this walk. It was now time to head back to Nutbrook CC so we headed back to the trail. As we crossed the old American Adventure car park into a field we got spooked out by a row of sheep as they were standing in a perfect line either side of the path. We all made it out the field alive and left the sheep to enjoy freaking people out.
This walk clocked in at around 12.5km taking the years total walking to 152.5km or just over 94 miles.
The next walk is Saturday 18th October 5pm visiting Ilkeston Charter Fair in the evening.
Last Sunday was X Runner's Wild Warrior at Wild Parks Derbyshire. A nice set of 64 obstacles over 10km with water slides, fire, mud pits etc. After the Isle of Wight Challenge it was nice to have a mess about event. Once I got there I bumped into a client who had just finished and was just a tad muddy and didn't smell too good. This meant one thing don't swallow any water on this course!!!
Pre-Run & Post-Run but both happy.
I didn't have any set time I would be happy with as a result for this race as it was the first time I had run it and didn't know how busy course would be or how tricky obstacles would be. By the end of lap one I realised I hadn't be overtaken by many people from the start line but knew a few had vanished into the distance too. The first lap was really enjoyable with everything being new and thinking what will be round the next corner. The second lap was more of a let's get to the finish now for a warm bath and shower. The water really did stink and wasn't pleasant at all but the course was brilliant.
I ended up finishing 109th out of about 1880 which I was happy with but even better out of the wave of just under 300 I finished 4th.
I think a wash is required!
In fact it was a shower, bath then another shower for myself to become clean again. My clothes had 2 or 3 washes too and the top still isn't fully white. Good job it only has to more races then it can be retired and I can try to get another one next year. The last big push is on now with two races to go, the biggest being tomorrow for the Robin Hood Half Marathon followed by Men's Health Challenge in a few weeks. That's now 10 races down, 2 to go for Cancer Research UK in 2014.
This run wasn't about recording a fast time at all as shown by my time on MapMyRun - 45 minutes 38 seconds for the 5km. It was all about having a good time, getting nice and colourful and doing a bit of exercise. The run is advertised as "the happiest 5k on the planet" as it's all about fun. A nice drive to Birmingham NEC where the Color Run was based, with the route going around the NEC complex. People turned up in the thousands all starting the day looking very white, but they didn't stay that way for long. The day got even better when we found the Dulux Dog!!! This really was going to be "the happiest 5k on the planet".
Such a soft dog.
Over the course there was 4 different colour stations then a massive paint party at the end. Each station you got covered in a different coloured powder paint. The volunteers at each station looked incredible as they were either bright pink, green, orange (Oompa Loompa style) or Blue (Smurfish).
Time to be a Smurf.
Post run, gutted lots of the paint blew off in the wind.
Nice shades of purple created on my back from the blend of different colours, Rob's just a mess haha.
This was a nice relaxed little stretch of the legs before the hardcore events of the Isle of Wight Challenge and Robin Hood Half Marathon take place. Bring on Color Run 2015 as hopefully I will have a massive group of clients all looking to paint themselves while exercising. That's now 8 races down, 4 to go for Cancer Research UK in 2014.
Derby 10k - 45 minutes 11 seconds. Awsworth 5k - 22 minutes 20 seconds. Hull 10k - 45 minutes 46 seconds. Wollaton 10k - 44 minutes 53 seconds. Twin Peaks Midnight Walk - 8k. - 2 hours 37 minutes. Leeds 10k - 46 minutes 8 seconds. York 10k - 46 minutes 31 seconds. Birmingham Color Run 5k - 45 minutes 38 seconds. Isle of Wight Challenge 56k Wild Warrior 10k Robin Hood Half Marathon 21k Men's Health Challenge Nottingham 12k
Yesterday we embarked on a smaller walk - Walk 3 in Broxtowe Borough Council. The walk is based around Cossall, Awsworth and the disused Nottingham Canal. I picked a shorter walk this week as I knew a few people were on holiday and would be gutted to miss a longer walk in Derbyshire.
However I decided to run to the starting point to meet the other walkers there to give myself a mini practice for the Isle of Wight Challenge in August where I will be running and walking half the Island. So I did the 5km to the starting point in a steady 22 minutes 53 seconds, a quick change into some different walking clothes then off we went.
We thought we were following the correct route, we had followed the instructions "correctly" and the next little path wasn't exactly easy to walk along. Having just re-read the route and looked on the map we actually did follow it correctly through the bushes but we then missed the turning we needed thanks to so much foliage covering the stile we needed.
The bit of grey right in the middle is Lee making his way out.
I can't say it was easy walking through that, I think a good set of pruners were needed, but we managed it eventually with only a few branches swinging back into the person behinds face. Having just looked back at the route this was the correct route! However we went wrong just after this as the buses baffled us and the foliage was covering the stile we required.
It only took us a few minutes to get back on track knowing the local area. So a quick walk up Awsworth Lane and we were on the correct route again. It's not getting lost it's taking a detour, something we manage to do most walks.
The route back was really easy to follow with some really nice views over the local area. Cossall Church looked lovely as we approached it. We then bumped into Will.i.am and Sir Tom Jones thanks to Cossall Scarecrows it was a slightly surreal moment on the walk. It wasn't long until we had re-joined the Canal and were heading back to the cars. Once again it had been a really enjoyable walk with great company and some randomness thrown in too. For more photos visit my Instagram account.
Overall the walk took us 2 hours 42 minutes and was 10.25km long. That takes the years total up to 116km (72 miles). It's only just the start of June so there's time yet to reach 200 miles by the end of the year especially if I drop in Rutland Water with a huge 26 miles one weekend.
Saturday 24th May - forecast heavy showers. The plan for the day - walk round Carsington Reservoir, maybe not such a good idea.
When we arrived it was a huge shock to myself, Lauren and Rob that we were the last there meaning for the first time in 3 years Helen and Lexie had beaten me to a session, walk anything!!! The usually rock up in Fergie Time a good 5 minutes late.
As we set off on the walk the weather was ok, really cloudy but nice to walk in. 5 minutes later and that had all changed a nice constant flow of drizzle to rain, to heavy rain back to drizzle followed by more rain. Did we care? Nope. Out came the different coloured pac-a-macs and up went the hoods on the walking bags (got to keep the picnic dry.)
Lexie and Jo escaping the rain and enjoying the views from a higher, drier position.
By 9.5km we thought today isn't ideal for sitting out with a picnic seeing as we hadn't passed many large benches to all sit around and if we had they would have all been soaked. It happened to be at this point we spotted The Miners arms and it seemed rude not to pop in for a light warm snack, beverage and get out the rain for a few minutes.
After that it was a simple 3.5km back to the car in the rain but the views were still really nice. We also had fun climbing on fences were the path was flooded, getting under a tree that had fallen across the path and laughing at the brilliant warning signs for cyclists.
By the end there was 6 very soggy people with big smiles on our faces all ready for warm baths and showers, PJs and chill for the evening. I watched the Champions League Final and after a dull 45 minutes the 2nd half and extra time were brilliant.
So the route was 13km bringing us to a total of 106km so far this year from little group walks. Come rain or shine the walks have been so much fun.
Walking can help with health and fitness but this year I'm taking part in the Isle of Wight Challenge. 56km of walking/jogging in a day. I'm doing this for Cancer Research UK so hopefully walking can help save lives too please visit - www.justgiving.com/adamfretwellpt
Firstly Happy Easter weekend and it's been a beautiful day for this Bank Holiday Monday. The last walk only had a few people on it for different reasons and I thought it would be similar today, but I was wrong!!! A brilliant group of 14 of us set off on a walk with the usual added bit just to make it longer.
The walk should start at Victoria Park and is 5 miles but I started the walk from my front door today and with a few minor detours and added extras we turned it into a 8 mile walk. To see how it should be done have a look at the link - The Whittlestone Walk
From Victoria Park we headed behind the back of Manor Floods walking parallel to the Nutbrook Trail before crossing over fields heading towards Mapperley. One field definitely cleared everybody's nostrils with a very "country" fragrance.
Shipley Wood in the distance.
We then entered Mapperley Wood and followed the instructions to the letter!! "Go through gate and continue straight on through the wood to a pedestrian gate on the far edge of the wood." Not the best idea as the wood was more a bog after last nights rain and how none of us ended up face first in the mud I don't know. We had Lauren almost loose a welly in a deep section, Simon having major mud splash up the legs and Linda had an over flowing boot.
Linda and Mother contemplating how to cross the first of 3 obstacles.
Once past the unexpected muddy section it should have been simple if not for the lack of "No.6" signage and loads of talking and not much map reading. We ended up on High Lane walking back towards The Newdigate, the right direction but wrong path. But it did allow us to have a nice sit down, enjoy the sun and a quick refreshment. Then it was down the path at the side to re-join the correct route and head back along the old railway embankment until we joined the Nutbrook Trail.
So the route took us just shy of 13km bringing us to a total of 93km so far this year from nice little group walks. It's been such a good experience and so enjoyable spending time with clients doing something so simple and seeing the pleasure they get from it.
Walking can help with health and fitness but this year I'm taking part in the Isle of Wight Challenge. 56km of walking/jogging in a day. I'm doing this for Cancer Research UK so hopefully walking can help save lives too please visit - www.justgiving.com/adamfretwellpt
Last year I trekked up Mount Snowdon and it was brilliant. This year I've got a client doing the Yorkshire 3 peaks challenge for MacMillan. This got me thinking about what walks we have locally around Ilkeston and surrounding areas.
So far for 2014 we've covered 43km in 4 really nice walks. Along the Nutbrook Trail and the Airport Trail at East Midlands Airport. Bring on long Summer and getting into Derbyshire for a full day of walking.
Airport Trail - East Midlands Airport 22/02/14
To see some more of the photos from these walks check out my Instagram
