gym

November 30th – a little bit mystical

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

I went to the gym!  At last!
I have been planning to go ever since arriving in Cornwall and today finally made it there  for the first time. Then I went for a swim in the pool.
I thought I needed to relax a bit as this intense time here draws to a close and I need to find a way to sleep for more than 5 hours a night.
We’ll see how it worked tomorrow.

I forgot to take my ipod so was left with my thoughts as I ran and cycled and cross-trained. Mostly my brain was leaping around from one subject to the next without pausing to breath. But what I love about training is the way it sends waves of energy throughout your being which sometimes result in problem solving or interesting ideas.
So…..
I realised that on Christmas day I don’t have to leave the dogs alone in a strange house only one week after arriving in Catalunya. We will go to eat with the family and it means a minimum of two but more likely three hours away. Suddenly on the running machine I realised I can take them along in my van and go out to check on them every hour.  They will be happy sleeping in the familiar smells of my camper and I can relax eating dinner.
Then……in the swimming pool…….
I was thinking about 11.11 again and how since that date I have been noticing these numbers more and more. In the van the milometer was on 1111xx for all the period around the 11th November 2011. The clock is often just clicking onto 11.11 when I look at it. And when I was running I decided to check my heart rate and it was 111. It stayed there exactly on that number for a few minutes.
I grabbed the only empty locker by my cubicle by the pool and when I looked at the key it was 222. I know that is stretching it a bit but it was still interesting.
Anyway, by now you must be thinking I am crazy but when I was swimming I thought about how strange it is when predictions come true. It reminded me of the concept of ‘proof of existence’ which I think means just that something proves to you that there is more to life than meets the eye.  I think my mother first told me about ‘proof of existence’ as she had an uncle who was a spiritualist and who was always seeking out proof that there is more to life than what we see on the surface.  If you go to see a medium they don’t need to tell you something new – it is more important that they tell you something you know to be true but you can’t find an explanation for how THEY know it. This gives you proof of existence.
Anyway, in a long roundabout way this led me to thinking about two predictions I’ve had about my life. The first was that I would live in a foreign country ……..and the second was that the second half of my life would be happier than the first.
So, for me this is proof of something and even if it is just that if you believe something then it will be more likely to happen, then, let’s believe in miracles!
Does anyone else notice 11.11 or have you had predictions that came true?

Virtual Vermut

~ Kate Wilson ~ 8 Comments

So at last we can sit down for a virtual vermut. It’s sunny and hot and I want to enjoy it to the full as I am off to Cornwall again on Wednesday and someone told me it’s cold there!
Sorry about Friday – I don’t know what happened with the blog site but it was impossible to get online. But my friend Bodhi Chicklet was ready with a bottle of bubbly on the right day so I hope you went over there instead!
So much of life seems dependent on technology now and it can really wind me up – only a few years ago these things didn’t exist and I don’t like feeling so vulnerable to the whim of the airwaves. Perhaps they are the new God – we don’t understand them but we try to please them and hope they won’t suddenly knock us to the ground.
I have the feeling that I keep up, but only just. I can’t get my phone to send pictures by email – something which would evoke derisive laughter from the Resident Adolescent, if I dared to ask him for help! And now yet again my  whiteboard drawings are stuck on the phone and I can’t send them here. Not even by Bluetooth……which I am quite proud of knowing about. It still fills me with awe that I can press a couple of buttons and music or a photo will just invisibly move from one machine to another.
If this is how I am at age 54 then how will it be in ten years time?
54 – yes, it was my birthday at the weekend and we went to the Costa Brava.  Sometimes I feel like an innocent abroad, a wide-eyed child who still jumps up and down with delight

I still get a thrill from words like Costa Brava, Mediterranean, Barcelona…..I have to pinch myself that I am here. Must be all those years living in rainy cold climates huffing with asthma and being buffetted by sharp winds. By the way, do you see those small beginnings of muscles on my arms? That’s the gym starting to work……more on that later.

So, when I see a vegetable market I HAVE to look round the stalls

And after shopping, I HAVE to have a coffee on the terrace of a cafe.
The sight of a pastisseria makes me HAVE to eat a cake

and when I find a beach with  sparkling blue green Mediterranean waves, I HAVE to swim

The taste of Orxata makes me swoon although I could have it every day if I wanted

Duna came too and enjoyed the sea, drinking it by the bucket after a long hot walk with the inevitable consequences later that night

Talking of markets and my excitement when I see one – I took these photos in Granollers last Thursday. I love this one of the men’s arms stretching across a sea of fruit and vegetables

These aubergines looked like a painting

Talking of arms…….I don’t know what to do about Golds Gym. I had a really good session last week and also a more tense one. Depending on who is in charge there is music on Flashfm or a combination of videos and music on CD.  If there are videos you get the opportunity to study at close range some of the fantasies of the men in the room. I don’t think you really want to know about this in detail. Perhaps another day I’ll tell you more. But sometimes I am so glad that I am probably the only person in the room who understands the words of the songs!
After one of these not-so-nice sessions I girded my loins to return on Thursday – only the promise that ‘running will make the weight drop off you’ makes me go on days like these. When I arrived the place was almost empty. No videos, no pumping muscles, no stern unsmiling faces to greet me at the door. I did my running – more than 20 minutes straight through. When you get on a roll it feels like you could go on for ever. Like you get into a groove and it carries you along.
No sign yet of ‘the weight dropping off’ me though.
Then, for the first time ever, another woman, who wasn’t Tiffany, walked in. Ok she didn’t look at me or smile and she was young beautiful and slim and dark. But somehow I felt the presence of more oestrogen in the room and it made me relax. I ran another 15 minutes before leaving with more of a strut than my usual scuttle to the door.
When you arrive in the gym this picture greets you

– after that it is all sweat and iron, noise and boys.
Hope to see you next week. We might have to make it a virtual gin and tonic? Not sure where to get vermut in Penzance.

Feeling Better

~ Kate Wilson ~ 7 Comments

What is so lovely about writing this blog is that I feel I have friends close to me even when so many are far away. Thank you all who wrote such loving messages to me after yesterday’s post.
I think the Virtual Vermut idea has taken off and I will start writing that next week – not sure what day yet but I’ll invite you in good time!
And perhaps another day for the Virtual Adolescent? Someone suggested this one could come complete with remote control – that sounds good.  Mute button, change channel, switch off!
Today I girded my loins and after Catalan class forced myself to go to the gym. No arguments. A quick reviving coffee in Roca Umbert art centre (and a tiny little chocolate croissant – really tiny) and I cycled over to Golds Gym.
It is a bodybuilders place, no frills, even the womens’  changing room has been taken over by the men so I had to leave my bike in the office and ask someone to check for naked men before I went in to have a pee!
Tiffany discovered the place and invited me to go along with her the first few times. I like it because there are no young skinny brown Catalan women in skimpy shorts.  Apart from us there are never any women at all!  I like it because I can go in, do my exercises and leave without any faffing about with induction sessions or membership cards. I also like it because it is cheap – 20 euros for a month so even if I chicken out half the time then I am still only paying about 1 euro a visit.
What makes it hard then?
There are no women! So sometimes I feel conspicuous and alone as the boys pump their muscles and shout across the room to each other in Castellano.  The music is often incredibly loud and the videos are ‘interesting’!  I think it must have been kick boxing I was watching on Monday – it involved two men getting their heads very tangled up in each others arms and legs and groins.  Then they stood up and kicked each other.
Today it was great. My least favourite minder was on duty but he was very friendly this time. There were only four other men who stayed mostly in the free weights area, leaving the machines just for me. The music was tolerable so I could hear the tango on my ipod and the video was actually enjoyable to watch.  A lot of women doing belly dancing  and occasionally kissing each other while making eyes at the camera.  I stayed an hour and a half and left feeling great.
In terms of scary things I think going to this gym is on a par with the Barcelona milongas when I go on my own but….at least I don’t have to wait for someone to ask me to dance!