Yo Yo Yo

So training has begun for the dreaded walk!! I have been trying to have a walk at lunch time, which has been slightly successful, for those of you who dont know I am a chocolatier for a small business called Coco Chocolate, we have shops in both Edinburgh and Australia.  As you can imagine this does not help keeping the weight off, which as you McArdle-ites all know, is very important.  Walking can also sometimes be the last thing you want to do, but it also can be exactly what you want when all you have done all day is look at chocolate. There is a nice walk up past the Edinburgh Dick Vet School and round Bush House.  I have done this walk lots of times, there is a bit of flat before a slight incline and then a fairly flat walk up the road, which is around 2 miles.  Some days I find I dont need to stop at all and some days I need one stop on the incline.  Yesterday and today were very difficult.  Yesterday I had to stop twice, once just before the hill and once on the hill.  I always walk with Mary who I work, she is great and understands if I need to stop and I never feel uncomfortable stopping, she noticed I was a lot more sluggish than usual and that I had to stop twice which is very unusual.   Once Im up the hill I find I can get into second wind very quickly and I can usually speed up and cover the distance in a short time.  Sometimes Mary can be the one who needs to slow down and I can pick up the pace.

I have said "Im having a bad McArdles day" lots of times and I know our McArdles is not thought to be different on different days but thats how it feels.  I know its because Im just generally feeling run down, I can feel Im coming down with a cold so I know that will be affecting me but sometimes you just want to scream and be pissed off that your McArdles is "stopping" you from doing something as basic as walking 100 yards without stopping.  In general though I find having this walk at lunch time very beneficial.  I find that as soon as I stop exercising I feel terrible.  I know that other people with McArdles feel the same.  Last year after I did the walking in Wales with the McArdle's group I felt great (If anyone is thinking of doing this I highly recommend it).  I came back thinking I would keep the fitness up and quickly fell back into not exercising and I can honestly say I have not felt so bad for a long time.  I felt run down, tired and just generally ill, I kept hurting my muscles and they were swelling up.  As soon as I started walking again I felt so much better.  TING the light has just come on - exercise is good for me!!!

Jen x