After work activities

Re: After work activities

Kirsten Simpson — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 15:21:17 GMT

[quote user="Elizabeth Billimore"][quote user="Kirsten Simpson"]

[quote user="Anthony Dennison"]

[quote user="Elizabeth Billimore"] I've been to a Crossfit taster session[/quote]

Before you commit to further sessions - google 'Crossfit Fails'. There are much better ways of exercising that won't damage you.

[/quote]

; I'm not a sporty person by any means (prefer cake, sofa and crappy tv) but I do like it as it's different everytime you go and there is quite a sense of community :)

[/quote] It's the sense of community that I'm looking for (if that exists if you finish work at 7pm). I'm a bit like you in that I am drawn to the sofa but when I have people around to motivate me I enjoy sport and physical challenges. At the taster session I really enjoyed the 500m ergo because I was competing against someone else I was with. If I'd been on my own and wouldn't have been as bothered. Plus there was a lot of banter from the instructor. How many times a week do you manage to go? I could probably manage once a week as where I'm locuming at he moment I get Wednesdays off. I can also go to Park Run on Saturday morning and maybe also get a surf session or a day walking in the lakes at weekends if I organise myself. Maybe I am just being a bit negative at the moment. I'm due a holiday and my partner has been absent most evenings working in A&E until midnight. I think I just need to look on the bright side. :)

[/quote]

I manage 3-4 times a week actually! Monday is my half day so I go to the lunchtime one at 1:15, then go to Olympic Weightlifting class there on Tuesday night, then Wednesday and Friday do the evening workout. They also run a Girls only WOD on Saturday mornings and I have been to a few the weekends I'm not working! I agree, if I was at home, I have no motivation to do anything, but there you make yourself do it :)

Re: After work activities

Wren — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 08:47:50 GMT

Yes, ditto. I need a goal. Having not run for several years I entered a 10k last year knowing that I'd be gutted if I either had to walk any of it or got a crappy time - this meant I HAD to get off the sofa and train. In the end I ran 52mins off the back of 8 weeks training. I'm also committed to getting my Parkrun time below the elusive 24mins. I keep trying... I've let the running slip a bit recently so I've entered another 10k for 8 weeks time. Just need to get off the sofa and get the running shoes on... I'm not a hugely sociable person so I prefer the solitary sports, though I don't mind running in a group once a week or so. It often gives me a positive boost as I realise that I'm faster and fitter than I thought.

In the same vein I was feeling a bit fat and lazy this spring so I entered my horse in a point-to-point, knowing that I'd be gutted and embarrassed to be publically overweight (they read it out on the tannoy if you are!). Both of us were reasonably svelte racing machines by the time the day came along. We didn't win but at least I can look at the pictures without grimacing!

Re: After work activities

karen jones — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 08:07:15 GMT

My motivation for continuing to exercise is to enter an event that I know will push me so I have something to aim for. I recently did an Olympic distance tri which was outside my comfort zone but pushed me to swim in a local lake on a Tuesday evening from April on wards.!! I attend a local private gym where I spin but also go out with a local ladies bike group in an evening when work permits. Like martin I enjoy running or walking on my own as it's time for me where no one is asking questions and I can clear my head. The ladies bike group is good as we have a laugh and a chat while cycling along. The local cycle club even invited us to their Friday evening 10 mile time trial to try out, that was a new experience and probably one I'll repeat .

Re: After work activities

karen jones — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 08:07:15 GMT

Re: After work activities

Laurence Webb — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 23:59:01 GMT

Does a dog normally put out the bins? Hope my wife doesn't get one, I may become redundant.

Re: After work activities

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 16:52:25 GMT

[quote user="Sarah Keir"]o you have a wife/live in housemaid/mistress who cleans the house, cooks the home cooked food, walks the dog, takes out the bins, sorts out household sundries/bills. For the rest of us, I have to do all that and then no time to do anything but go to bed.[/quote]OK my wife does most of the housework shops and cooks. However, she doesn't sort out the household sundries/bills or put out the bins (we don't have a dog) nor does she iron my clothes, do any DIY around the house, mow the lawns, trim the hedges etc etc, I do. I also have a practice premises to run and maintain as well as work in, there is no practice manager or general dogsbody - that's me. I fill every minute of my day from dawn until dusk. I'm not sitting here idly just watching vetsurgeon.org, I'm at my desk writing up case notes, preparing invoices, dealing with administration and log on when something interesting comes up.

it is a matter of time management and determination. It helps that my idea of relaxation is physical exercise not sitting in front of the telly with a beer that is a rare treat. but as said where there is a will.....

Re: After work activities

Anthony Dennison — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 16:25:52 GMT

[quote user="Elizabeth Billimore"]At the taster session I really enjoyed the 500m ergo[/quote]

Ergo; so called because by the time you've finished the only noises you can make are 'Errrgghhh' and 'oohhhhhhh'.

Last summer I was challenging a good friend of mine, fastest 500m, fastest 1000m, how far you could go in 10 minutes. Horrible.

During rugby season I train twice a week and play most weekends (OOH permitting), plus gym before or after work where I can. Currently training for next season and I'm in the gym 4-6 times a week. Though my working hours are pretty jammy and my OOH rota even more so...

Re: After work activities

Sarah Keir — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 16:02:19 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]

[/quote]

So you have a wife/live in housemaid/mistress who cleans the house, cooks the home cooked food, walks the dog, takes out the bins, sorts out household sundries/bills. For the rest of us, I have to do all that and then no time to do anything but go to bed.

Re: After work activities

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 15:31:19 GMT

[quote user="Elizabeth Billimore"]It's the sense of community that I'm looking for[/quote]I may be naturally anti-social but I prefer the alone-time that running and cycling brings me, I have enough 'sense of community' working with staff and clients all day, it gives me time to clear my head and thoughts. Maybe its lucky that I prefer sports that are largely solo but maybe it is because of the peculiar demands of working as a vet that has led me that direction. I used to play football which of course demands a team, road racing which required dozens of other participants to turn up at the event and squash, tennis and badminton which requires at least a partner. But to be honest I prefer to participate in sports where I'm not dependant on anyone else and it is all down to myself. I'm not a good team player nor am I tolerant of other's errors that cost me or my team.

Maybe you have to accept that you have got to adapt to circumstances and only participate in group sport/exercise when it is possible. Make the effort to get up and go out in the fresh air for a run or cycle by yourself, you may be surprised how much you enjoy it when you're really fit and it becomes easier, it does become self-motivating.

Re: After work activities

Bibs — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 13:12:32 GMT

[quote user="Kirsten Simpson"]

[quote user="Anthony Dennison"]

[quote user="Elizabeth Billimore"] I've been to a Crossfit taster session[/quote]

Before you commit to further sessions - google 'Crossfit Fails'. There are much better ways of exercising that won't damage you.

[/quote]

; I'm not a sporty person by any means (prefer cake, sofa and crappy tv) but I do like it as it's different everytime you go and there is quite a sense of community :)

Re: After work activities

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 10:53:58 GMT

I've been sole-charge for the past 34 years and worked 8.30 am -7.30 pm every day sometimes longer although more recently I've been finishing early 7.15 pm! I've always found time to get out and run or cycle before or after work, often very early or late at night. I have a mini-gym set up in the summer house/shed which I can work out in if its not a running or cycling day. It is a case of if you want to do it enough you will find time.

I was inspired by Edmund Shillabeer who is also sole-charge who trained for Iron Man quadrathons - that is Iron Man triathlon distance triathlon with a 50K race walk afterwards. I figured if he could train for that (and do well) I could manage to fit in the training for a mere marathon or 80 mile bike race! I am also lucky to have a tennis club at the bottom of the garden with floodlit courts and a group I played badminton with late in the evening.

My triathlete daughter works up in London, she catches the train at 7.30 am and rarely finishes work until 9 pm.. She goes to a gym near to her office and is often not home before midnight or comes home a bit earlier and joins me on a night time bike ride. We may all be crazy but where there's a will.....

Re: After work activities

Kirsten Simpson — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 09:16:00 GMT

[quote user="Anthony Dennison"]

[quote user="Elizabeth Billimore"] I've been to a Crossfit taster session[/quote]

Before you commit to further sessions - google 'Crossfit Fails'. There are much better ways of exercising that won't damage you.

[/quote]

I do Crossfit and have been since September. It's perfectly safe if done correctly and knowing your limits. The gym I go to the dudes are super strict on training properly and with the right set up etc. I think in the states there are hunners of gyms about with quite a few salubrious establishments where they push you to the point of making mistakes = injury. Anything sporty wise is risky I think. I'm not a sporty person by any means (prefer cake, sofa and crappy tv) but I do like it as it's different everytime you go and there is quite a sense of community :)

Re: After work activities

Mark Hedberg — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 08:52:42 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

Rob - good luck with the baby and don't worry - they do grow up. Eventually!

[/quote]

I didn't

Re: After work activities

Rob Reid — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 08:17:59 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]Rob - good luck with the baby and don't worry - they do grow up. Eventually! [/quote]

Cheers Gillian!

Re: After work activities

nikki — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 21:00:18 GMT

I work in 100% small animal practice. We have a late vet each evening who starts at 11am and works through to 8.30pm. They pick up any extras in the evenings so the rest of us get to leave on time (usually sometime between 6.30pm and 7pm) I keep my eventer 10mins away and manage to ride most nights and even go clear round jumping or to dressage lessons some evenings - means rather a late evening but I think it's worth it.

Re: After work activities

Julie Innes — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 19:06:16 GMT

I've pretty much always managed to find later gym classes, so for years I did a spin class at 8.10pm one day a week and a combat class 8.40 pm the next day (which even allowed me to get the kids down to sleep before I left, don't need to worry about that now they are a bit bigger!) I have my own practice and we aim to finish at 6pm and are usually out the door by 6.30/ 6.45. i love my job, but I need to get my time out! Recently I'm training for the Tough Mudder in a couple of weeks (gulp!) so most evenings are spent running/ cycling/ training. It's not always easy to motivate yourself to get out and do it after a long stressy day, but I know I'll feel better having done something other than vegging in front of the TV, dwelling on the events of the day.

Could NOT do it in the morning though- definitely an evening person!!

Re: After work activities

Rob Davis — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 17:48:40 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]She's not the maternal type (thankfully). We got a puppy instead. Currently sleeping in the office on the comfy chair....[/quote]

Neither was my wife. I now have four teenagers in the house.....

Re: After work activities

Michael Woodhouse — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 17:02:27 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]hahahaha... probably wise. But who'll be there to drive you to your retirement home..???[/quote]

Can't afford to retire - I'll just work until I die.

Worryingly a thread titled 'after work activities' moves round to babies by the top of the third page .

Re: After work activities

Gillian Mostyn — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 16:22:02 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]She's not the maternal type (thankfully). We got a puppy instead. Currently sleeping in the office on the comfy chair....[/quote]

hahahaha... probably wise. But who'll be there to drive you to your retirement home..???

Re: After work activities

Michael Woodhouse — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:33:56 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]I'm currently the chair of our local Round Table, clay shoot most weeks, a community first responder for the ambulance service, still get nights out with the missus and shoot a lot of rabbits at night.[/quote]

And then one day they said 'shall we have a baby?' and the world changed completely....

[/quote]

She's not the maternal type (thankfully). We got a puppy instead. Currently sleeping in the office on the comfy chair....

Re: After work activities

Gillian Mostyn — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:15:31 GMT

And then one day they said 'shall we have a baby?' and the world changed completely....

Rob - good luck with the baby and don't worry - they do grow up. Eventually!

Re: After work activities

Anthony Dennison — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 11:09:22 GMT

[quote user="Elizabeth Billimore"] I've been to a Crossfit taster session[/quote]

Before you commit to further sessions - google 'Crossfit Fails'. There are much better ways of exercising that won't damage you.

Re: After work activities

Wren — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 09:23:57 GMT

I think small animal vets have it hard - when I used to work in mixed practice I only had one late finish a week (two if it was my on-call weekend as I had the Fri night surgery to cover too). Now I do 100% equine I'm finished between 5 and 6pm most nights, but realistically can arrange my calls so I don't for example arrange to see a client 20 miles from the practice at 5pm if I have somewhere I need to be that evening.

My limiting factor is my on-call which is 1:2. I have two horses - and ride both most days, generally one before and one after work. When I'm on-call I have to stick to riding them in the school, which is fine most of the time, but when my colleague is on holiday for a fortnight and I'm working single-handed both them and I get pretty sick of trotting in circles and not being able to go for a hack, lesson or competition. I also run and although this is a pretty solitary pastime (from choice) it fits in quite well with the on-call. I get to running club for 6.30pm once a week on my night off and schedule my long run either for my afternoon off or for a weekend so that if I'm on-call and get called out my husband is around and can come in the car and pick me up and take me out to the call. It rarely happens, but doesn't take any longer than if I'd been at the supermarket or somewhere similar. I can do our local Parkrun when I'm on call too as it's two 2.5km circuits so the furthest I could conceivably be from my car is 1.25km, and even I can run that in under 6 mins!

I have to say that restrictive though my rota is I'd defniitely prefer it to scheduled late finishes.

Re: After work activities

Gareth Dowdeswell — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 08:55:11 GMT

I found walking groups provided good out of work social interaction. There are age specific ones so its not all OAPs, and you don't need to make a regular weekly commitment, once you go a few times you'll start to see the same people and get to know them. Most walks are at weekends where work is less likely to get in the way.

In my first job I did try a hockey club, but I found leaving the house every Wednesday at 8am, going straight to training after work and getting back to the house for 10pm a bit too much, I obviously wasn't as keen as some of the people on here!

Re: After work activities

Rob Reid — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 22:35:18 GMT

Hi Liz - it's definitely possible!

I played for two football teams in my first job (mixed practice) - Saturday and Sunday leagues. My bosses were really accommodating, indeed they encouraged me to play.

I would be on-call 1 in 6 weekend games but to be fair, I rarely missed a match. Calls were fielded by a nurse at the practice so I left my mobile with the team manager. I only got called away from a game once (there was only 10 minutes left and we were winning comfortably!) and made it back to the practice 15 minutes before the client arrived! I had training every Wednesday night and also played midweek fixtures in August and May on Monday and Wednesday night - these kicked off at 6.30pm but my bosses would let me away at 5.45pm, I offered to work through my lunch on these days but they weren't too bothered!

In my third job (100% small animal) I also played 5-a-side every Wednesday night - games kicked off between 7 and 9pm depending on which league you were in, I never missed a match - work finished between 6.30pm and 7pm though no on-call. Again bosses were great and really encouraged me to play, even laughed at me when I dislocated my finger and couldn't operate for 2 weeks (though I'm sure they were really cursing me!) I would also play golf some evenings in the summer - course 2 minutes from my house, can get round 9 holes in 90 minutes so May to August can be done before dark.

My current job is great (you know the one!) - I get every Thursday off which is used for either hill-walking, golf or snowboarding (big indoor slope less than an hour away.) This may change in September though when our first baby arrives though....