The planking challenge for February didn’t go according to plan, I only managed 2 attempts of planking for 20 seconds and that was a limb shaking effort!
But on a positive note, the reason why I’ve neglected the planking challenge is that I’ve been busy being active in other ways. For sometime now I have been walking part of the way home everyday, which is approximately a 25 minute walk and a couple of times over the last few weeks I have extended the walk, so very soon I should be walking all the way home. I have downloaded a pedometer on my phone and aim to do 10000 steps a day.
In addition to the walking and my weekly zumba class I have joined my local Back to Netball group. This is a nationwide initiative to get women back into playing netball in a friendly and pressure free environment. I played in the netball team in primary school, secondary school and college and absolutely loved it, but as that was at least 32 years ago so as you can imagine I don’t feel anywhere near good enough to play in a team. Just the very mention of the words “try out” fills me with dread. I’ve only been to 3 netball sessions so far but I’m really enjoying it, although I’m very out of practice and really need to work on my defending skills. Maybe before the season starts again I’ll be up to joining a team, but for the moment I’m happy just getting back into the swing of it.
I feel so blessed to be able to build up my fitness after suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, while I was ill I never thought I would have the opportunity or indeed the strength ever again to live a fulfilling life. I hope by sharing my experiences I can bring hope to sufferers of this debilitating illness and belief that there is light at the end of the tunnel, even if it seems a very long one.
Carole Gardiner
back to life 