December Reflections: Green

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Back in May I went on a weekend retreat and totally forgot to write about it at the time. With day eight's theme for December Reflections, being 'Green', I thought now would be the perfect time to tell you all about the wonder that is Green Farm Fitness.

I first found out about Green Farm Fitness while reading Psychologies. Not long after I was out for breakfast with my friends and we happened to start talking about retreats and what we had planned for the following year. I can't remember who mentioned Green Farm first, but it turned out Claire had been before and loved it. She was planning to go again so she said she'd dend me the details so that I could join her. I didn't need to be asked twice!

What seemed like many months later we arrived at Green Farm one lovely Friday afternoon and Claire introduced me to Maryann and Kathryn who would be looking after us for the weekend. We were shown to our room at the very top of the house where we relaxed while waiting for everyone else to arrive before.
  
 
Dinner was amazing (every meal was home cooked and freshly prepared) and it was lovely to be able to chat to and get to know everyone that first evening. We all had a right laugh and went to bed (way past my bedtime) in good spirits ready for an energetic weekend.
Saturday morning we were all up bright and early for breakfast and then into the forest for cardio and strength circuits. It started off well and despite my level of fitness I was quite impressed with how well I was keeping up. But then came the step ups on, what I now attectionally call, the log of doom. I was just getting into a rhythm when I stepped up, slipped on the log, felt my ankle twist and fell on my arse.

Kathryn made me stick it up in the air few a few minutes so I just lied down on the ground feeling mightily embarrassed that I'd fallen not far from the first hurdle. I took it easy on the rest of the circuits and was happy when I noticed that it had started to feel better.

Once our circuits were complete we had free time so Claire and I went on a mission to find somewhere that sold magnesium sulphate for a nasty insect bite that I got on holiday. Nowhere seemed to have it so I ended up settling for antihistamines and hoping they would do the trick. When we got back I was under orders by Kathryn to keep 'log foot' elevated and for good measure I decided to do the same with 'bite foot' as well.
 
I was famished by the time we sat down for lunch and the soup and freshly baked bread that we had was exactly what the doctor ordered. After lunch we were all due to go for a walk in the woods, but while we were eating my ankle really began to throb. The adrenaline that has been pumping through my body during the morning session was wearing off and it was becoming obvious that my ankle was not OK as I first thought.

The walk through the woods was the part of the weekend that I had been looking forward to the most so I stupidly decided to ignore the increasing pain and go for the walk. Bad idea! We'd barely been out for five minutes and I was at the back of the group when normally I'd be holding my own pretty well. It hurt so much that I was fighting back tears and I was so annoyed because I thought I'd ruined my chance of doing anything else for the rest of the weekend. Looking back I'm still glad I went though as I got to feed the lambies!
 
 
 
 
Once we got back we had a short break before our core, yoga and pilates session. I really wanted to do it, but by now my ankle was throbbing so much that I felt physically sick. I took some painkillers and went up to bed so that I could stick it up on a few pillows. I tried to keep it elevated as long as possible, but the pain was so bad that I went on to plan B and decided to sleep through it. Needless to say I missed the afternoon session.

Claire woke me up when she got back, for which I was very grateful as I had booked a massage and there was no way I was missing that. Never had one before and now I have, I don't know why I didn't before. It was amazing and just what I needed to help relax.

Walking was a serious issue now and I tried to stay off it as much as possible, but the sessions for the day were now over and I just had to hope that a good night's sleep would sort it out.

The next day was much the same minus the woodland walk and the massage. After breakfast we ventured back into the forest for circuits where I point blank refused to do step ups on the logs. Nope! No way! Not doing it! I was glad that I was feeling up to doing the yoga session though. Love a bit of yoga, I do. Kathryn was absolutely amazing advising would I should and shouldn't do and giving me suggestions of alternatives. This woman knows her stuff!

As well as the circuits, core sessions, walk and spa treatments that were available, we also had the opportunity to book a review session with Kathryn to look at our fitness and nutrition once the weekend was over. The weekend really was tailored to suit everyone's level and goals.

Despite my mishap, my weekend at Green Farm Farm was absolutely amazing and I would love to go again next year. And even if I don't get back to a fitness retreat as soon as I would like, I'll definitely be heading back to the spa for a massage!
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