Juneathon Days 29 & 30: The End and The Overview

So, it's all over...

Day 29:

I woke up at 15:00 after a late finish at work. I had a few hours before my next shift and quite a few things to do.

I decided for today I'd do:

• 50Squats
• 50 Leg Raises
• 60 Bicycle Crunches

After all that I quickly showered and started getting ready for work...

Day 30: 

THE LAST DAY! 

Although it didn't seem that exciting to begin with... the day started in a pretty awful way - you can read about that HERE. 

After the bad start I headed to a surprise birthday BBQ for an ex-colleague's 18th. I had so much fun I almost forgot about Juneathon, until Jess brought it up.

She managed to convince our friend, Alex, to run around the field with me for my last Juneathon. However, he was drunk and then also ended up taking another drunk person to get safely home - so we lost him...

He met up with us later at about 11pm though, and after we'd got changed all three of us (Jess, Alex, and I) went for a run.

We started off all jogging together, but Jess kept running out of breath then stopping. I surprised myself by actually having enough breath to have bits of conversation with Alex along the way.

We stopped at one point when I mentioned I can now (sort of) do sit ups and Alex and I did them (again, sort of) on the side of the road. Alex is training for the RAF, so did sort of show me up.

The rest of the way after that I ran then stopped and waited for Jess and Alex who were now walking. Alex was impressed by how well I was doing, as was I!

It was also quite nice that we did it at night, it was cool and there were few people about.

Overview: 

I have lost weight, and I feel better in myself!

I have discovered that it is possible to exercise every day, even when working full time and on nights.

My work trousers aren't as tight any more and I can't tell you how much weight I may have lost, mainly because I don't own scales...

Juneathon has been a great way to force myself to exercise. The fact I have done this for Macmillan has actually made it doable. I would have given up by probably the third day if I didn't have the fundraising incentive.

I may have ached almost every day for a month, but I have raised over £100 and that's something to be proud of.

There's still time to donate: https://www.justgiving.com/Shelby-Juneathon/

Juneathon Day 28: Gross Content

Warning: may contain gross content. 

Today's exercise was done at about 4pm in pyjama bottoms and a sports bra, an attractive start. My curtains were drawn and in the darkness I cleared a space, turned on Spotify and began.

After the Burpees

I did 60 Burpees then after all that, and already sweaty, I did the 10-min Booty Shaking Workout.  During the booty-shaking I began to wish I'd done the the other way around, because when I started the video I had sweat dripping (literally) down my face. 

The order in which I'd done it also meant my legs really ached already and bending my knees for the long period of the video was very difficult. It really helped that the instructor counted down each section. 

After the workout video

Today was painful. Hopefully I am not in more pain later, as I have been, because I am working tonight. 

Two more days left! Still time to sponsor me: https://www.justgiving.com/Shelby-Juneathon/

Juneathon Day 27: Popeye Arms

If you've been reading my journey from the beginning (or even know me as a person) it'll come as a shock to you that today I did 20 push ups! 

You haven't fainted have you?

On the second day of Juneathon I was asked, among other things, to do 50 push ups - I couldn't even manage one. On Day 12 I only managed 5(ish) and yesterday I managed 10 and today 20.

It's a miracle. I am basically Popeye. 

I spent the afternoon (which felt like morning to me) doing... gardening! Not at all as I'd planned my day. It was a fabulous day nonetheless, and my planned exercise was replaced with taming a bush.

That's right, me and my house-mates spent the morning taming our bushes (heh-heh) in the surprisingly beautifully hot weather. The task left all three of us sweaty. The below picture doesn't quite do justice to what we've done:

Basically, that whole wall was covered in bush. With our massive gardening scissors we trimmed the whole thing down using strength we didn't even realise we had. As well as the above picture there were also two rose bushes to the left that were trimmed. 

I didn't quite feel satisfied that I'd done enough though, and as my house-mates are now asleep anything rigorous would be a little tricky. I sat thinking about how strong we were trimming the bushes though and thought, hmm I wonder - can I do more push ups? And I did! 

Tomorrow I have work at 9pm again so will get up and do some exercise tomorrow afternoon (I am staying awake tonight as otherwise my body will be even more confused). 

Just TWO DAYS LEFT! 

Not that I'm excited or anything...

Juneathon Day 24 & 26

Day 25: 

Yesterday I finished work at 7am. I got into bed at 8am and woke up at... 11am. I had three hours sleep! This means in two days I'd had only 5 hours sleep.

Somehow I managed to force myself to clean the bathroom and prepare for a new house-mate to move in, and then I did a workout video I had done before, mainly because I knew it wouldn't hurt until later and I figured I could deal with that. It was probably the easiest workout I could think of to do with no energy at all in me.

Instead of listening to the music and the instructor this time I decided to put on my workout playlist on Spotify. It made me more energetic but made my co-ordination slightly off.

After the exercise I had a quick shower before heading to a meal with my now ex-house-mates - which was lovely. However, I had to go straight to work afterwards and work from 9pm until 5am.

Day 26: 

I have never been so thankful for an early finish, ever. I got out of work just half an hour early at 4.30am.

And... I got 8 hours sleep! It felt amazing.

I had a busy day though, helping my new house-mate settle in. When we'd started relaxing at home I realised I only had an hour until I had to be at work again (9pm-5am shift again) and dashed upstairs to do the days exercise.

I did 60 bicycle crunches, 60 leg raises, crazily 10 push ups (my arms are getting stronger!) and 60 star jumps!

Must dash, or I'll be late for work...

Juneathon Day 23 & 24: Finding Time

One of the struggles I've had with Juneathon is finding time...

Day 23: 

Yesterday I woke up with more pain from the previous days workout video, as the instructor had promised. Instead of just a bit of pain in my lower back the whole thing hurt.

I'd planned to exercise when I'd gotten back to Canterbury before I had to get ready for work. That is what I did, but not as rigorous as planned. I only got back to my house at half 9 and needed to leave the house an hour later to get to work.

After making my bed and unpacking I had about 15 mins to do some exercise. I quickly settled on 100 squats. I was exhausted afterwards (well, I'd even been yawning beforehand) and immediately had to have the quickest shower of my life and get ready for work, completely unsure of how I was going to survive the night, and hoping I wouldn't ache too much during the shift!

Day 24: 

I left work just after 7am this morning and was in my bed at 8am. After around 5 hours sleep I awoke in a zombified state and headed for the kitchen for breakfast - it may have been after midday, but it was my morning.

When I had gathered some energy I dragged myself from my bed and headed to my sister's house to borrow her washing machine (ours is broken). We ended up watching the film Stepmom while I waited for the load to be done, and after it had finished her lovely boyfriend, Pete, drove me home as it was raining. It was then gone 7pm.

All I wanted to do, especially due to the weather, was spend the day/night (feels like daytime) snuggled on the sofa watching films. I couldn't get too comfy though, otherwise I'd never get to work!

I was putting off my exercise, anticipating an estranged housemate returning to get her belongings, but seeing as she is currently two hours late I gave up waiting and got to it. I found another 10 minute workout video on YouTube and gave it a go.

I used THIS video.

One thing I cannot understand after doing this, is how these women don't even look sweaty or out of breath! And they're so coordinated!

I struggled to remember to breath, to keep up with them, and not to trip over myself.

The hardest exercise in this workout was the plié jump. It hurt. I struggled. The rest didn't as hurt much, but I struggled to keep up.

Working until 7am again and start at 9pm tomorrow, hoping to find more time to exercise somewhere inbetween.

See ya...

Juneathon Day 22: Disbelief

Today I remembered to exercise, but almost forgot to blog!

Today's exercise was completed in the morning (please, try not to faint). I completed thee workout video I had planned to do yesterday before all of the drama occurred in my life.

I used THIS VIDEO on YouTube. 

It looked quite easy, even for me, so I had planned to do more another video this evening which is why the blog section was postponed.

When I got going, still wearing my pyjama bottoms, I thought 'You know, this is okay'. The only issue I had was my lack of co-ordination - I even struggled to breath in time!

In the video the instructor says 'This exercise is great because you don't feel it until the next day'. I wasn't sure I believed her, it felt too easy.

However, waiting until evening to post this has proven useful as I can now tell you it doesn't require 24 hours for the pain to kick in. My lower back has ached for several hours now. This, apparently, is a positive thing. Hopefully the pain is no greater in the AM.

Not long left of Juneathon now, and for the rest of the duration I don't think there'll be any more morning madness, as I am starting a week of night shifts tomorrow.

Nearly there though, and if you're lovely enough to help me through this last push click this link: https://www.justgiving.com/Shelby-Juneathon/

Juneathon Day 20 & 21: A Real Struggle

It has been a struggle the last two days...

Day 20:

Yesterday was a struggle, firstly to walk in the morning as I had walked way over 10 miles the previous evening but mainly because I nearly forgot about Juneathon altogether.

I went to visit a friend and stay the night. Early in the evening I had said I will do Juneathon before bed - said friend, Alice, is a dance teacher and very fitness savvy so I figured she'd put me through a rigorous workout.

However, after we'd eaten out we went back to hers and both got comfy and started watching a girly film and it wasn't until about halfway through that I remembered - I hadn't done any exercise yet (besides running to catch the bus, but I doubted that would count).

So we paused the film and as I had a belly ache we decided the best form of exercise would be to focus on my arms. I did a similar exercise to the day I used two Oasis bottles, except this time I did one arm at a time because the weight I was using was much heavier and more difficult to grasp - the most suitable thing we could find in her bedroom - an unopened bottle of Amaretto.

While she timed me I did the reps on one arm at a time. Amaretto proved to be much more of a struggle than Oasis bottles filled with water. My arms began resisting almost immediately. I manage about half the time in total as I had the previous time, but the weight used was much heavier.

Day 21: 

Today began very sleepily. We hadn't had much sleep as I was awoken by Alice looking out of the window while on the phone. Even though it was dark outside I sleepily assumed it was morning. I swiftly discovered it was not when I realised why Alice was on the phone - she was calling the fire brigade. A pub garden a few houses down was ablaze. She then also called the own of the pub after Googling their number and woke them and alerted them to the situation.

After all of that we still couldn't go to sleep straight away as we watched from the window to be sure the situation didn't worsen - as it happens, it was all okay.

On top of all of that I still had a belly ache this morning and when I finally arrived home I hadn't much energy to do anything.

After spending a while laying down and trying to get over the pain, I decided the best thing to do would be to get up and do the exercise as the quicker I did the quicker I could spend the rest of the day chilling out and not feeling guilty about it.

As I was about to get ready to do this my housemate, Emily, came home and said she was going to ASDA. I needed to get some bits so then went with her. I was then going to go upstairs and do a workout, I'd even found a video on YouTube to use, but as I was getting ready I received a phone call inviting me to an interview, an hour and a half from the time of the phone call.

I then had to put exercise on hold again and had to quickly get ready. After the interview a friend had visited and my rearranged plan was to workout after he'd left, but while he was there I received a phone call which made me have to make an unexpected visit home for unforeseen circumstances. 

In the drama of the evening I ended up doing exercise before bed again! At this point everyone in the house was asleep - earlier in the evening my step-dad suggested I do 50 star jumps, so I did that plus 50 bicycle crunches. 

Tomorrow I will try to begin and end the day with a workout video to make up for the two-day poor effort.

There's not long of Juneaton left now, so please if you have or have not thought to do it yet think and act now, click the following link and sponsor me! You are all the motivation I need: https://www.justgiving.com/Shelby-Juneathon/