33, the missed otter and a M25 U-turn!
Apologies that there wasn’t a blog last week. I had given myself the Tuesday off (I turned the grand old age of 33!) and then woke up on Wednesday morning feeling under the weather.
I’m still not 100% as I write this but I’m on the mend and hoping it’ll pass soon.
It feels like I’ve only had a few weeks of feeling back to normal following illness over the Christmas break but there’s so much going around that I think it was probably inevitable, especially being back in the gym environment, that I would catch something.
My first few weeks in the new role have gone really well. It’s been great to be back on the gym floor and working in person with people. I’m really enjoying the balance of working remotely with my coaching clients and then doing a few hours a week with my PT clients. The gym I’m working for specialises in training people aged 45+, so it’s been a really good fit.
It’s been really encouraging to see so many older clients in the gym appreciating the value of strength work. There isn’t a single part of the population who wouldn’t benefit from being in the gym but it becomes even more important as we get older, to protect our ability to move and maintain the muscle we already have.
With weight-loss medication becoming more widely available and more people using it, there’s an even greater need for people to prioritise strength training and protect their muscle mass.
The phrase “use it or lose it” is very true when it comes to our strength, muscle mass and bone density as we age.
Illness meant I wasn’t able to make it to college at the weekend. I woke up early on Saturday morning not feeling too bad and actually left to travel down to Poole. I made it as far as the M25 before realising I still felt pretty rough and decided to turn back. The weekend was spent in and out of naps, so it was definitely the right decision not to go.
I was gutted to miss this particular weekend as it was our first look at Gestalt theory. By all accounts, it’s a little more directive than other counselling approaches we’ve already explored and definitely one I think I’ll resonate with. Given my coaching background, which is naturally more directive, I do think I’ll be drawn to a counselling approach that feels similar.
Not only did I miss what sounded like a very interesting weekend at college but I also missed the chance to see the otter at Mudeford Quay!
Before each college day, I stop off at Avon Beach and walk down to Mudeford Quay to get some steps in before being sat down for the rest of the day. I got sent a video last night of the otter casually munching away on the harbour on Sunday morning. What a start to the day that would have been!
The last time (and only time, now I think about it) that I’ve seen an otter was in May last year, up in Scotland. Speaking of Scotland, over the weekend I booked my annual trip up to the land of haggis for the end of May. I’m swapping the camper van this time for a lodge right on the coastline. It’s about 500 yards from the local whisky distillery, so cue many evening zig-zag walks back to the lodge…
Who knows, I may end up seeing three otters for the price of one… ;)
The otter I spotted last year in Scotland
Have a great week.