Air Quality Index (AQI) and getting a fitness routine back

A quick post to precede another much longer one!

Shanghai Air Quality - I check this link several times a day and certainly wouldn't go to exercise outdoors unless PM2.5 (one of the most damaging indicators) was green or low yellow. Last Monday it was a lovely low green reading, so I strapped on my (new replacement) Garmin and went out on my first run as it was time to get back on the horse fitness-wise, so to speak.
At least 2 months off from exercising and rather too much junk food has led to an increased waistline and general tetchiness on my part due to missing my regular endorphin fix.
I decided to just set off and use common sense to do some sort of a 3 mile loop. I found it a great way to be pretty nosy as I don't move quickly and had plenty of time to take in the sights along my route. Here is the Garmin link but it didn't sync up properly with the map, I was on the roads, honest! I know it is an appalling time, but it's a start...

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/591291625

Run report:

• 25 degrees, 78% humidity. More than enough, thank you, for 9am
• 3 miles covered
• One lady gutting a fish on wall outside a block of flats.
• One bloke dumped from an e-bike, throwing up at an intersection.
• Several people tending roadside 'gardens'. They grow crops on the verges between where they live and the road.
• Spitting - while I am not keen on all the spitting here, on this occasion I was grateful as I felt the need to clear my throat occasionally and had no qualms about joining in with the locals.
• Several locals bemused by the puffing, puce 'laowei' wobbling round the local side roads.
• Discovered another market (referred to here as wet markets, they sell veg, meat and fish) and also a hotel we didn't know about
• Disorientation, one count, but eventually worked out where I was and made it back.
• One near miss with an e-bike (or silent death as they are known) as I didn't hear it coming from behind. Very quickly corrected my route to run towards the oncoming traffic as we all know we should. That only affords minimal protection here as they use the scooter lanes in both directions and at night don't even bother with lights. Plus a couple of days ago in heavy traffic I saw a few cars zip down them too.
• Massive desire to jump fully clothed in the swimming pool at the end but I managed to resist and went in to the gym to do another 30 mins of weights.

I really felt like I had seen a bit more of what I expected in China as opposed to the shiny Westernised malls and that felt good and was interesting.

The following day I fancied a swim, but couldn't be bothered to walk the 10 mins to the other clubhouse when we have an indoor and outdoor pool about 150 metres away from the house, but they aren't open. The outdoor pool isn't technically open either, but it is still maintained and it is accepted that people use it at their own risk. So, I went for a 30 min swim in the outdoor pool, much to the amusement of the garden maintenance team who obviously consider 26 degrees far too chilly to swim outside. It was perfect actually, and a nice sunny day.

On Wednesday I went to a Legs, Bums and Tums style class (first session free!) with a very entertaining French lady called Pascal. While it was a good class, I knew it wouldn't suit me long term, so the next day I tried the Boot Camp. Several people had reported this to be 'full on' and really hard, so I was interested to see how it would measure up. Bear in mind I have done very little exercise for a few months other than some bike riding, so I was already feeling my legs from the run and some other muscles were making their presence felt following Pascal's class. Boot Camp was excellent and just my cup of tea. My legs were jelly by the end of it and I knew I was going to struggle to move the next day! The only downside is that these classes are really expensive compared to the UK £8-10 per session. I have decided it is far more important to me to attend these sessions than having an ayi (maid/cleaner etc) so will clean the house myself and save the money for Boot Camp!

Sure enough on Friday morning I was too sore to go to the Spinning session I had hoped to go to at the school and, thanks to Laura having come home in sports kit on Wednesday and failing to bring her uniform home that night or Thursday, I decided to go in on the bus to retrieve the uniform (and more importantly her shoes) before the weekend and then walk home to stretch off my aching limbs. I actually came back via a supermarket and walked the 1.5km home in the drizzle with a good weight in the rucksack including a badly packed watermelon jabbing me in the back!

It was obviously all a bit too much for my system as I then went down with a cold and have done nothing for the last week (ok I went for a fun swim today, but that is it). Now it is school holidays so my opportunities are limited, but I will throw myself back in as soon as they go back to school! These extra 5kgs need to be got rid of...

Will be back with the next post tomorrow hopefully as it is largely complete :)