So often in life, we have a plan A. And when it doesn't work out, you need to abort mission and switch to plan B. I have a couple of recent examples on the topic (UK/US translations where necessary.)
Sadly for me- The self-dubbed 'Gym Gypsy'- this was a flagrant lie (UK: a load of bollocks.) When I arrived at K2 Crawley with a bottle of water, a towel, and that eager 'get me to the weight rack' look on my face, I was turned away. Why? Apparently I was supposed to call (UK: ring) ahead to make a "30-minute induction appointment (US: 'so that you don't get hurt and sue us') with a consultant (US: salesperson)" I refrained from bellowing out in my finest California accent, "WHAT?! Are you KIDDING ME?! I only have an hour to get my SWEAT ON and then I have a very important bloggie date in Brighton!" This snafu called for a side-trip to Plan B. I high-tailed it out to the running track that I happened to spot out back.
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| What would I like to do with this pass? Um, how about "use it, thanks?" |
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| A shockingly clear and sunny day in Merry Ole England |
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| "One man's trash is another girl's treasure...." |
- Disused street sign. Plan A: to help people negotiate the many crazy and dangerous roundabouts (US: Eek, WTF!?) Plan B: T-bar rows.
- 22 kg Umbrella stand. Plan A: to help prevent spectators from getting wet. Plan B: Perfect amount of weight to hold for front squats, sumo squats & stiff-legged dead lifts.
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| 22Kg- that'll do nicely! |
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| Umbrella Stand Front Squat |
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| Umbrella Stand Sumo Squat |
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| Umbrella Stand Stiff-Legged Deadlift |
- Kegs of Strongbow Cider and Fosters Lager (empty I assume?). What are they doing at an athletic center (UK: centre) I ask you? Plan A: to get many hooligans drunk. Plan B: faux 'bench' to use for pushups and tricep dips.
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| Kegs? At a Fitness Centre? |
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| Strongbow Tricep Dip |
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| For the un-initiated, Strongbow is an Apple Cider...and NOT your granny's apple cider either, unless she happened to be the Queen Mum. |
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| Australian for "I need to do some pushups, mate" |
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| Notice in the background: A group of Mums and a trainer...I named them "Mums with great bums" |
Now onto the other plan B: Brighton Bloggie Bash: Who could it be? Someone that I met before in London.
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| Tamzin! |
Tamzin! of Salad and Sequins. She is a super sweet and fun girl who just got her Personal Trainer's license AND got a job at fabo gym in the sea-side town of Brighton.
Our plan A was to bring our sneakers and do a power walk around Brighton, but we opted for plan B:
We ate veggie burgers and wraps at a vegetarian restaurant in "the lanes"...
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| Veggie sausage wrap and Sweet potato wedges? Um, yes please! |
We sipped Americanos (I was just being patriotic) from Starbucks...
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| This served as 'dessert' for the time being. Notice the English magazine Tamzin gave me. |
We strolled around Brighton in flip flops on a gloriously sunny and slightly windy day...
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| Tamzin in front of Brighton Palace |
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| In front of Brighton Pier |
And of course we had to go back to plan A... for Asian market. I think that all food bloggers love Asian Markets. No?
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| Buying seasoned seaweed and green tea noodles! |
Tamzin's sweet recap of our afternoon here.
Then it was back to plan B again: as in Bye-bye Tamzin...I'm Back on the train to London under Blue skies.
Today, plan B was Brilliant!
Q: How do you deal with last minute changes? Do you try to plan things out ahead of time? Do you love Asian Markets?
17 comments:
This is the best post EVAH!
Though when you asked what to do with the pass I was sure the answer would include arse.
I'd love to see Brighton! You'll have to tell me how far it is from London so we can work it into our British Invasion.
Way to go Deb!!! No one can ever say they have any excuses about not being able to work out on vacation - that workout was awesome!!
I'm trying to think if I've ever been to Brighton - I know my mom mentions it a lot...it might've been one of the places she lived. Looks beautiful!! So cool you got to do another bloggie meetup. :) Save travels!
I was going to say the exact same thing Tiff said but I without the cools way of spelling ever. Best. Post. Ever.
Oh Debs, we were so destined to be friends. I would have done the same thing. Although not so sure I would have thought of the rows with the street sign. So clever! Love it!
What a fun day with Tamzin. You both look gorgeous in those pictures!
Loved the British translations too!
DUDE! you killed it at the track! i love your improv with all the props. especially the sign one. you are my hero. this really is the best post. maybe i just miss you or maybe you have built up some extra wit and charm.. either way, love this post and love you. i did a track/bleacher workout yesterday--you put me to SHAME, woman. also, i want to point out how great you look. SO, SO great. can i please have your legs? and i will take your waist while i am at it. i admire you for being able to stay in such shape while ALWAYS on the go, go, go.
tamzin is a babe! how fun that you got to meet her again!
<3 you
If only I could have worked out too, such a fab workout lady!
I am a lover obviously of the Asian market, still haven't tried my goodies from there yet......
Have a fun day pretty lady, I'm off to get my sweat on in the gym x x
Condivido pienamente il suo punto di vista. Penso che questo sia una buona idea. Pienamente d'accordo con lei.
Assolutamente d'accordo con lei. Si tratta di qualcosa di diverso e l'idea di mantenere.
Hi Debs
I'm a blog reader from the UK and just had to comment about the gym experience, on the whole the term and actions customer service doesn't translate well from the US to UK. It's seriously lacking ! hope you didn't have to queue long to get the refusal !
I think you had the better work out anyway and wow how resourceful of you to use the discarded items as props.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.
Julia
Carbz- Thanks Tiff!. And yes I should have used the word "arse" in regard to the "free coupon". argh. Brighton is lovely! And not too far from london- perhaps 40 min?
Hayley- sometimes I feel that I'm more motivated to workout when I'm away as it's a challenge to come up with things to do :-?
Jenn- Thanks for the sweet words! And the street sign was way too light! I should have borrowed one of the Great Bum Mum's babies and stuck him on top of the sign! :-)
Janetha- you are so sweet. And I loved your track workout too! Yes, I failed to mention that I did also run around the track (very hard for me to do as a NON-runner!).
Tam- next time, let's work out together! :-)
Foreign Anon- thanks, I think.
Julia! Welcome and thanks for commenting! No I didn't stand in a queue (hee hee) but I sure caused one while the poor woman had to go seek out a manager! But you're right, it was better this way! Thanks for reading!
I love your junk workout!!! Way to make lemonade out of... beer;) I'm so impressed with how you just rolled with it, no stressing out! The bloggie meetup looked fun!
Awesome US/UK translations. I love when you end up having a great workout DESPITE some sort of workout-obstacle. Those are the best. You rock girl -- be proud of yourself for making do with what ya had!
Yup, I'm usually a planner (and used to have serious "issues" if things didn't go as planned...). But, as I'm getting old(er), I'm learning to go a bit more with the flow (most of the time)... :-) Your Plan B workout seems perfect! You are so right, sometimes it's really a good thing if things don't work out as planned...
Glad you had such a fun day with Tamzin in Brighton!
This is great. I love creative track workouts! Youre so clever.
the main difference between deb and myself is the reaction to gym refusal. I would have taken the low road: bawling and then consoling myself with a pint of
strongbow. (or possibly the even lower road, flashing cleavage "are you SURE I can't use the gym?"
You amaze me with your dedication to sweat lady! As the english might say, "well done!"
wow talk about a stellar contingency plan girl! i would have honestly flipped and then flipped and then left. but you were genius! the tbar rows seriously had me laughing hahaha like that was awesome!
love the bloggie meetup :) sounds like the perfect time! power shopping in asian markets is ALWAYS greater then power walking.
love the pics of you and tam!! she's a doll and you are the queen of meeting bloggers from across the pond. I can hardly keep up with you in So Cal :)
Planning things out was a vision of my former life. The one before the economy changed, the one before I was in real estate hell, the one before I became a parent b/c lord knows kids = not able to truly plan. I love the life path I have and am on. Everything happnes for a reason, well usually :) and my life path has taught me to LET GO of all the PLANS i was always making and be more roll with it :)
Ha!! I love this post. I have a feeling I could get a lot more clients to do tricep dips if I started calling them "Strongbow dips" ;)
GAh! I am so behind on blogs. I didn't know Tamzin got the job. Wish I could have been there to celebrate with you two!!!
I don't know why I've waited so long to comment on this...it's one of my favorite Deb posts EVER. I love the US/UK translations, and obviously as a rigid Type A planner, I love having a plan B :)
Your impromptu workout is so impressive! ONLY the Brits would have Fosters on a track and fitness field, eh? Love it.
"Mums with great bums" cracked me up. You're so lucky you caught the beautiful weather!
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