My ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

So I got nominated and it's a really great cause, so click the picture to see my Ice Bucket Challenge video!

Donate by texting ICED55 to 70070

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My running shoe journey

Hello!

So, I've never really classed myself as a 'runner' until recently. If you saw my gym challenge post you'll know that I've been trying to rack up the miles over the month of April in order to complete a marathon as it were (just bit by bit).

Taken from www.twenga.co.uk

Since starting my fitness journey in June 2012, I've come on leaps and bounds. I look back at what I was like in the beginning and I literally would be struggling for breath after about 2 minutes on the treadmill!

When I ramped up my exercise regime to near on everyday, after a month into starting out, I realised I would need some proper footwear to help avoid problems such as shin splints, knee pain etc...which can come from wearing the wrong shoes when working out.

Way back in July I did a post about upgrading my trainers...I can't believe I actually worked out in these...

They're pretty much as flat as you can get! No support whatsoever!

I headed over to my local sports store and got tested on the treadmill to see how my feet land etc whilst running. I would really advise having this done because it means you know what training shoe is the best for you in terms of support.

My result was a fairly neutral left foot, with a over-pronating right foot. This basically means my ankle rolls inwards slightly when it lands. Consequently I left the shop with...

A pair of Adidas running shoes. Unbelievably in a size 7...when I usually take a 5 in shoes!
The colour wasn't to my liking but...if they did the job then hey ho! And then a pair of insoles to help with my over-pronation! However, wrongly, I was advised to only wear the insole in my right foot...So for a little while I wasn't wearing them correctly.

Quick to follow came my blister complaint post. As I got fitter I naturally started to 'up' my treadmill usage and when I became able to run comfortably for 5-10 minutes straight I got really excited and quite proud! :)

However with this increased run time came the sheer burning pain on the inner arches of my feet, although the right foot was always severely worse. Convinced the insole was adding to the issue I removed it but found the blisters still reared regardless.

Having paid somewhere in the region of £60 for the trainers and insoles I headed back to the store unhappy and in exchange left with a new £70 pair of Asics.

The Asics brand are designed to help with over-pronation and generally support most runners' feet so I was confident they would resolve my issues.

Sadly, they didn't and although they were much better than the Adidas ones, they were still causing me painful inner arch blisters right up until this Saturday!

Now at the peak of my fitness, I am able to run for much longer periods of time (30+ mins) but this  is always cut short by the sheer pain of the blistering...usually occurring at around 15-20mins into a run.

Nearing the end of my marathon gym challenge, I was getting fed up of my skin being ripped apart quite franky and getting frustrated because my heart wanted to continue running but my feet wouldn't let me!

Sunday I returned to the store and possibly spent over an hour trying on different brands of footwear and running on the treadmill to test them out! This time both my feet were slightly over-pronating but again my right foot was definitely the biggest culprit.

This time I left the store with a pair of Saucony's! Apparently these are very highly regarded in the running world, featured in the running mags and what not.

Amazingly I also found myself a right bargain, with these beauties reduced from £90 to a mere £30! Result!

And the verdict?!

Well...I don't want to jinx myself but having tried them out last night...so far, so good AMAZING! I managed to complete a 3 mile run in 26 minutes (which isn't a brill time but for me it's improving) and I wasn't in agony at any point! I could have ran for longer to be honest but I had to stop for my Core Blimey ab class.

So, yes, I'm pretty happy at the minute knowing I can run without pain :D !!! As for the marathon challenge I only have 1.2 miles to complete so I will do that and more on Wednesday. (Tonight I have spinning and zumba so I can't fit a run in! hehe)

Hopefully I've solved my issues!!! Wish me luck :)

London Marathon Gym Challenge

Hello!

I feel like today has shaped up to be quite a productive day so I thought I'd mark it with a post :)

Admittedly my day didn't really begin until 12 noon. Since being back home and up-ing my exercise I've fallen back into the insomnia trap. Working out in the evening means that I find sleeping ever so difficult until around 1am/2am. Then I occasionally wake up early morning as well. Today I jumped awake at 7:30am before forcing myself back to sleep. Headache.

Why not exercise earlier? Well...it's difficult when most of the exercising I do is in the form of group classes, so I go whenever they are on...mostly around 6/7pm. Nevermind. I love it so I don't mind a few ill effects...

like the blisters...

OUCH!

Wednesday's are typically one of my gym days so I get to workout earlier than usual.

At my local gym they have started a challenge during the month of April where you can record the number of miles you run/walk on the treadmills, with the aim of essentially completing the London Marathon (just in however number of attempts it takes you).

I think it's quite a neat idea. The wall shows you where you would be in London in turns of the mile markers and you have a little tracker with your name on it to plot where you are.

I signed up to it today and managed to run 3 miles in just over 28 minutes, before my lovely blisters surfaced and meant I could barely walk afterwards, let alone run haha! NICE!

My name is somewhere on the wall along with many others...3 miles is a popular point at the minute though!

My sister ran 4 miles today which has given her 7 miles in total so far, so she's doing really well but it doesn't matter who finishes first...

At the end of the challenge everyone who's completed the 26 miles will get the chance to win a free month's membership (name in a hat type draw). I think this is good because it gives everyone a chance to do it in their own time but still having had achieved a fair amount of mileage :)

Apparently one guy completed the challenge on Day 1 in about 4 hours...Hats off to him I say!! :)

Anyway, aside from the good old fitness...Today has also been worthwhile for me in terms of revision. I'm currently in the process of revising for my Maths QTS skills test and boyyy is it grating on me! 

I've never been a fan of Maths and although I managed to somehow get a B in GCSE I've never found it to come easy to me. However I feel as though I am starting to make progress...slowly, step by step!

Actually finding the motivation to force myself into revising in the first place is half of my battle but once I'm doing it it's not too bad :P

So yes, revision CHECK, 3 miles CHECK...and the night is still young. Good times :D!!

How was everyone's day?

Ellie 

Tips for classic New Year resolutions!

Hey again! :)

So, I touched a little on this in my last post, 'Happy New Year', but... "this year I'm going to lose weight" or "this year I'm going to get fit" are common things that people always say at the start of a new year. And, whilst New Year resolutions are often made with great intentions...sadly more often than not they are broken within the first few months.

What I would say is...don't set yourself up for a fall. Don't go for the unrealistic goals that ultimately you can't stick to. So, you want to lose weight? Ask yourself why? There might be many reasons...Health problems? Self-esteem? Body confidence? Whatever it is, place this at the forefront of your mind. This is your motivation. Picture the end result...what does it look like? How does it feel?

So... you've definitely convinced yourself that you want to lose some weight/ tone up/ get fitter etc...You know the reasons why, so now it's a case of how? First of all...DO NOT immediately think..."I can only eat salad from now on!!! No more chocolate, no more chips, no more meals out..Sigh." You are trying to make a change for the better, not transform into a rabbit! It's simply not realistic to go completely cold turkey and deprive yourself of the "naughtier" foods. Believe me, if you try YOU WILL CRACK sooner or later and possibly go on a little binge!

It's funny because, why is it that when those four little words "I'm on a diet" enter your head or leave your mouth your stomach immediately rumbles and your mind is one tracked on FOOD?!

Scrap the word diet and go with simple and achievable changes. For example, if you know your weakness is chocolate and you usually have a couple of bars a day, start off slowly and cut your intake down to e.g. 2 instead of 3, perhaps swapping that third choc fix for a piece of fruit or a glass of juice? If you tend to raid the crisps cupboard (or chips if you're American) perhaps think about switching your e.g. Walker's 'full of fat' packets, to slighter healthier alternatives e.g. French Fries, Skips, Snack'o'Jacks, Quavers- they are all lower in calories and lighter choices. Turn that big breakfast butty into a less calorific option like cereal, toast, yogurt, fruit? And if you can't cut it out completely limit the amount of days you have it for breakie? Small and steady changes will win the race!

Making changes to your diet is a crucial step in losing weight. After all, whatever you have been doing so far isn't working out because you feel unhappy with your body. And speaking of working out...regular exercise is another important aspect. And by this...I'm not talking about running marathons or becoming Mr or Mrs Macho! I again would suggest to start off small.

Don't worry I know that the word exercise is enough to make you want to cry! I can relate to this. I can. I wasn't always so 'pro-exercise' believe me. However the key is to find something that you enjoy. So now you're probably asking yourself...do I enjoy ANY exercise?! Well, rack your brains...there must be something that you can at least tolerate...something that you think you can muster up the motivation to do perhaps a couple of times a week? And it's got to be something that can fit into your lifestyle. Maybe you always give the role of walking your dog to someone else (if you have one)...perhaps you could tag along or take on the job?! It could be that you have a bike collecting dust in the garage that you could dig out? Or maybe you could stick on that fitness DVD you got for Christmas, a few nights a week?

Whatever you do, don't go and sign up to a pricey gym membership if you aren't actually a 'fan' of the gym. This is possibly the worst thing you can do! Not only are you going to have to battle with yourself to find the  motivation to go, but you may as well just throw your money away because you certainly will end up wasting the hard-earned stuff when you eventually quit.

I would imagine that gym owners pretty much look like the guy above when New Year hits...Ca Ching! Yep, I've already seen so many new members in aid of these ambitious New Year resolutions...Taking up the bikes... clogging up the treadmills... I mean I wouldn't mind if they showed that they were serious but when you have people playing on their phones whilst half-heartedly cycling...It's just not going to happen really is it!

My advice, if you are contemplating the gym, is to ask for a membership trial. Most gyms offer a package whereby you can try out the gym for a little while for a small fee. This way you can gain a sense of whether it is going to be suitable for you and whether it's wise to invest in it. Personally, if you really hate it and you always try and put it off, I wouldn't bother signing...There's plenty of other activities, the gym isn't for everyone.

For me, I particularly enjoy exercise classes or group activities like Spinning, Zumba, Aerobics etc because I like having an instructor telling you what to do and the pressure of others around you. But I can see how again that might not be everyone's cup of tea...I know some might feel self-conscious with others being around and watching (although from experience, generally everyone is so busy doing the class themselves that there really isn't time to look at anyone else!)

Exercising is usually easier with a buddy. If you have a friend(s) who wants to get fit too then it's much more motivating to do it together. It can make group exercise less intimidating and can take the dullness out of the gym. You just have to be careful with who you select...You do not want someone who isn't serious about exercising and ends up chatting the whole time, because that will mean you too get less done and ultimately this makes achievement less likely!

Running or jogging is a popular FREE option. And yes, wouldn't we all like a body like that girl in the photo?!(unless of course you're a guy that is)... but call it inspiration if you will! The good thing about this exercise is that it provides a full body workout and is a pretty effective burner of those pesky calories. Additionally you can go for a run or a jog anytime you wish, so it's a good one for those of you with busy schedules.

Why not make a list of some of your planned changes. Perhaps not as long as that guys though! Do you have a weight goal? A dress size goal? What small changes do you plan to make to your diet? What exercise, however small, are you going to fit into your weekly schedule?

As always, I'd be interested to hear from you as to what you plan on doing. Tweet me! : @ellie1989 or leave a comment on this post!

I hope you found some of what I said useful or helpful in some way? I mean I'm not a professional or anything, just a girl that decided to get fit half way through 2012. But, I do have a little experience with how it all works now and I hope to motivate and inspire others with their goals...

Good luck everyone!!! I'm wishing you well. I have faith in you.

(I'll let you know my New Year resolutions when I've ironed them out a little...)