In which I try Zumba

OK, so Zumba may not be the most obvious form of exercise for someone who is uncoordinated, can’t dance, bumps into things and has no musical sense whatsoever. Imagined as a Venn diagram, there is my comfort zone – a circle filled with things like eating biscuits, listening to Radio 4 comedy, walking long distances across cities just for the sake of it, and browsing vintage furniture shops – and then somewhere orbiting that circle, in a similar relationship to the way Neptune orbits the Sun, there’s Zumba. I’ve always thought of dance-related activities as something for pretty, popular girls, not slightly awkward ones like me. But I have to lose some weight and get myself fit enough to walk 26.5 miles in May, 50km in September and – this is only if those haven’t finished me off – possibly 100km some time next year. So needs must.

Advertisement

Moonwalk – bras, blisters and a brilliant time

Long time no blog (have been prioritising actual paid work) but I’ve been meaning to say, if you want to know how all that walking went, I’ve done a report on our fundraising page:

http://www.walkthewalkfundraising.org/the_lunartits

(Don’t worry, I’ve cut and pasted it below for those too lazy to click through)

London Walks

According to my London MoonWalk training pack, this is now officially Week 1 of the training schedule. I’ve got until 12 May to get fit enough to walk 26.2 miles across London, at night, in a bra*, to raise money for breast cancer charities.

It is also clear that a few brisk walks round Crystal Palace park aren’t going to cut it. At some point before 12 May we have to fit in around six 6 mile walks, three 7 mile walks, a 10, a 12, a 14, two 16s and, the big one, a 20-mile-er.

Ignoring the immediate question of ‘When am I going to find time…?’, and moving on to the slightly more fun question of ‘Where am I going to go?’ I’ve dug out my Time Out London Walks books, my collection of leaflets on things like the Green Chain and Thames Path (I am a compulsive leaflet gatherer) and hit Google, but could do with some extra suggestions.