How to make successful new year plans...

I find my most successful new year resolutions are ones with clear steps & goals. For 2016 my goal is try my first triathlon. This is going to be difficult for me as I'm not currently a confident swimmer & I don't currently own a bike. But these are the challenges that are going to work towards and give me the satisfaction I've been missing from my work outs. I'm putting my goals up here & to give example of how to plan a new year resolution but also to make myself accountable. 

Time specific: set a date and a target. I've looked at sprint distances and there is the crystal palace pool based triathlon in May. This gives me enough time to build up my swimming & buy a bike. Also being a pool based tri I don't have to buy a wetsuit just yet. Setting a time for a goal means that you have to have a deadline to work towards. 

Break it down into smaller stages- although I want to do an Olympic distance a sprint distance is a smaller goal to build up to. I'm also including lots of new classes into my exercise routine 

-spin classes & strength training. Variety to my routine to keep myself interested. Don't throw yourself into something that isn't realistic for your body to cope with or something you don't have the time to do. 

Be realistic- I'm not going to be able train for a new challenge as well as lower my body fat and save for a mortgage. I only do one important new year resolution to focus on and concentrate on the one main goal. Be realistic about what you can achieve, what the most important goal is for you?

So my January goals are:

Run at least 2 times a week. 

Attend 3 spin classes in the month. 

Swim 2 times this month. 

Save £100 towards a bike. 

What are your new year resolutions? Any tips for training for our first triathlon? 

Christmas Races 2015

It's that time of the year - where the tinsel and mulled wine comes out, everyone is drinking more and everything has a 'festive' feel. I'm so happy that races this time of year also have a festive feel - choosing race comfortable fancy dress and a well deserved mulled wine and mince pie at the end. Here is my chooses of festive races available across London:

Saturday 5^th December – Christmas pudding race

This race is a fancy dress which raises money for the Cancer Research and is located in Covent Garden which is a pretty great central location find out more info here.

Tuesday 8th December – Santa Dash London

This race is a 5K round the streets of London in compulsory Santa uniform. You will be asked to raise money for children with additional needs but in the price of the ticket it includes a costume, medal and Christmas cocktail! More info here.

Saturday 13th December - Osterley park 10K

I’m actually doing this race as well as it’s a local race for me and set in the beautiful National Trust grounds. I haven’t sorted out a fancy dress yet but hope to put something together. If the atmosphere or organisation is anything like the Ealing Half then it should be a good race: Find out more here

Saturday 20^th December – Greenwich Park 5K/10K

I have done a run through half before and it had a really good turn out. These races are a decide on the day and decide on the distance race. Friends have done the Christmas race last year said the fancy dress was great and even rumours of a mince pie at the finish line afterwards: Follow the run through site here

Christmas Day / New Year Day Parkruns

Christmas can be an expensive time with all the extra costs of socialising and the other Christmas plan me and me partner have is to complete the parkrun local to my parent’s house on Christmas Day. With most of my family having a Christmas hangover and us having a later Christmas breakfast we are hoping to get up and walk to the ground for a festive run in the community. To find out if your local parkrun is running on Christmas day please check here.

Free Fitness Classes in London

Are you interested in attending the hottest gyms but don't have the money to pay £10+ for a class? No neither do I! But I got an email in my inbox this week that I thought you guys might be interested in....

The lovely people at Be:Fit (FYI the most amazing fitness expo that comes to London) are offering 2,000 free classes to people when they register with nimble booking. To book a class all you have to do is register at the nimble website here and search for 'Be:Fit' in London and it offers you a selection of classes to book across London next week.

I managed to book myself onto Bounce - Dancefit class at the YMCA studios on Friday and 'Fight club/Urban Raw/ Cycle + Metafit' at Edge cycle on Sunday (it sounds very scary to me too!) There are plenty to choose from so sign up and let me know what your trying out.

Why you need a slow cooker in your life

When I moved in with my boyfriend one of the first things that he purchased was a slow cooker. At the time I thought it was a bit strange but I let him get on with it. Since we have been living together it has completely changed my cooking an now I'm here to tell you why you need to have a slow cooker to make cooking healthy food quicker and to save on the washing up!

Easy to make Stock or Bone Broth
I don't digest gluten well and the majority of store brought stocks have gluten, loads of salt and other nasties in them. The hassle of making my own stock hasn't interested me before now as leaving bones boiling on the hob all night feel like a real waste of energy and e pensive for my bills. Now I throw bones in the slow cooker with onions, garlic some other herbs and it makes beautifully tasty stock without the hassle. The energy used costs less then a lightbulb which makes its a far more cost effective way. 

Quick Meal Prep
On a sunday I can throw in some veggies and stock, leave them all day to stew, come evening time I have soup for the week with no hassle from me. I easily throw together some meat and vegetables go off to work and then I have a enough food to feed a small army or two hungry adults and a couple of portions for a freezer. With a slow cooker you don't need to spend your sunday meal prepping as spices and herbs stew to make tasty meals. 

Cook Cheaper Cuts of Meat without it Getting Tough
I would love to buy organic grass fed meat but my budget doesn't always allow it. Sometimes I buy cheaper cuts of beef because its getting dangerously close to payday my. Often they're so tough I really wonder why I bothered wasting my money but now with the meat slow cooked in liquid the meat doesn't end up being tough and I'm happy eating a tasty meal without my bank balance suffering.

Add Flavour and Tenderness without Extra Calories
Cooking food with herbs and spices allow the flavours to really develop over the day, I then get tender and flavoured meat without having to use cream or butter. Also roast chicken cooked in the slow cooker is the juiciest roast chicken I have ever eaten, I actually can't go back to oven roasted chicken as its just not juicy enough.

Do you have a slow cooker? What do you use it for?

Royal Parks Half: The race that wasn't!

The problem with setting goals is not reaching them. Worst then not reaching them is realising half way through a race that you never gave yourself a chance to achieve the goal. I love running, I love racing but I will never be the fastest. I run because I love the space to think. I race because I enjoy the atmosphere and achieving a goal (the medal and eating afterwards also help)

The reason it's taken me so long to post this race report is because I'm disappointed in my time. But I would be dishonest if I didn't talk about the good as well as the bad. If for no other reason then to make sure that I don't make the same mistakes again.

I love the Royal Parks Half Marathon-it was my first half two years ago and the reason I started to run when I signed up on a whim for a charity place. This year I signed up for the ballot (and will continue to do so in the future) because it means a lot to me and the views around the parks are beautiful. It is also a massive race-something I should have remembered because I didn't allow enough time for the toilet queue and got myself into a tizz as I ran off to join my starting pen. But I had 2 minutes before the race started to find the pacers, but I stood in the blue area (the one I had signed myself up to) looking at the pacers for 1:50-2:10 - I knew I had put myself in the wrong time and was in trouble. It was too late to change pens so I just ran and did what I can and tried not to be too speedy. The problem with being in a faster pen is that EVERYONE overtakes you, you hold them up and you can feel their frustration. I also didn't have my Garmin so I didn't know what pace I was running so it all went wrong from the beginning.

I gave up trying to get that PB around mile 7 and tried to enjoy the run but to be honest not having the right pace had made me lose my steam. I had also been to my first ever barre class the day before and I hadn't realised that it would be so hard on my thighs (foolishly I'd read low impact and thought I would have been okay!) But I tried to just run and enjoy the race but I could escape the niggle I had in my head that was telling me that I hadn't even given myself a chance and need to work much harder if I'm going to get my half PB.

I finished the race and am well enough to run again, and attempt to get a PB again, but if I want to give myself a chance then I need to make sure I don't make these mistakes again!

There is also a distinct lack of photos in this post-the amount of runners meant that my photographer (boyfriend) completely missed me running round and I was fed up enough that I couldn't even muster a selfie.

Is social media bad your health?

 As an active social media user I've followed the posts with interest and do sometimes wonder if social media is a good or bad influence on my life.

I use social media on a daily basis to learn new information, to find out about events and products and to keep up with friends. (I look at millions of baby photos) My boyfriend has no interest in any kind of social media, he doesn't understand why I spend so long glued to my phone but he respects that I enjoy it. If I go on holiday I am happy to go days without checking my newsfeed and I am far from addicted. If I'm busy at work social media is the last thing from my mind, its just something I choose to check in my spare time.

But with recent famous instagrammers talking about the 'fakeness' of what is online. I'm not naive, I know people get paid to post pictures and wear products. At 29 I'm balanced enough to know people only post positive pictures online. No one shows them chilling out in their pjs on a Saturday night-but I'm not the impressional young girls maketing teams are trying to get through too. I can't justify spending £40 on a sports bra and I doubt many females my age have that disposable funds. 

Recently I've been having doubts about myself and the world of instagram. While going through my digestive issues I got really down about the state of my stomach. I made myself worst by looking through instagram and seeing lots of people eating burgers and having abs. I'm not one to comment if people are photoshopping instagram photos or if people are being truthful online but I couldn't look at those feeds. I went through my instagram and I deleted any account that I felt didn't show a balanced healthy lifestyle. I also deleted any accounts that just put up body shots and didn't educate me, inspire me or make me think. I also added more balanced accounts such as some inspriring yoga and mindfullness accounts so my feed is no longer full of abs & people eating green juices thankfully. 

I love social media and I will continue to use is everyday. But if it doesn't add to my life or make me happy then I will delete it, there is more to life outside a phone. Also I strongly believe every workout completeyl counts even if you don't publish it on social media.

Ealing Half 2015 - The Hangover Race

I've lived and worked in Ealing for over 6 months now and I've become very fond of this little Borough. When the local half marathon was advertised it wasn't perfect timing for my Royal Parks plans but I didn't want to miss the opportunity of running a local race.

But after a weekend of drinking and lots of beer I didn't feel like I was going to make it round the course, let alone be able to run. I regretted the (very tasty) beer, I regretted the (also tasty) burger and I hated my stomach for what it was going to go through for that morning.

But I did enjoy the relative snooze, not having to wake up until 7am to stroll down to the start line. I was very shocked about the amount of people who were running. I wasn't expecting the large crowd-it was double the amount of people who had run the Hackney half. So understandably waiting for the start was very slow. I put my self at the back towards the end of the 2:30 marker as I was aiming for 2:45 to save my legs for my next half in 2 weeks.

My plan had always been to take it slow and walk the hills. As I'd forgotten my Garmin I didn't really have a choice but to go with what felt natural and see how my body holds up. As I started to run I felt good, my stomach was a bit tricky in bits but the fresh air and exercise surely sorted it out. I was towards the back of the crowds (as you can see in my un-busy pictures) and got very happy in my own pace. I have no idea of my pace or my splits which is completely new to me for a race and I really enjoyed not having the pressure to either slow down or speed up. Somewhere after the 10 miles I knew I could finish and looked forward to the eating afterwards. I crossed the finish line with a finish time of 2:34 and I was mighty proud-I did walk the hills and run comfortably and got 10 minutes faster then my desired time.

I loved the race, I didn't think I would but it was great and I loved the atmosphere and running. If this was a test to see if I can run on too much booze then I can! As long as I get the training runs in and build up the strength in my legs.

For anyone wanting a Autumn race I would recommend Ealing-the hills aren't as bad as reviews make it out to be and has been voted best UK half marathon for the last two years at the UK running awards so they are clearly doing something right. It happens every year in the last Sunday in September.