Doing it as a team!

This Saturday… as in tomorrow!… I am joining 8 other Bromley by Bow Centre supporters on the start line of the Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest. This will be the first time I have attempted an obstacle course but it will also be the first time I have taken on a challenge with a team!

Over the past couple of weeks, depsite my training being minimal, I have discovered just what it is that is so special about taking on a challenge as part of a team. I am a runner normally and whilst I do run with groups such as GoodGym and with various friends it is, on the whole, a very solitary activity. Whilst the active running community on twitter can make it feel like you are part of a team nothing beats really being a part of a team.

Some of my team for Survival of the Fittest I am yet to meet so our contact has been largely virtual however, the remainder of my team are colleagues and in fact some sit in the same office as me. We all get on well as work colleagues and have visited the pub together after work a few times but I think taking on a challenge which we are all equally as excited and nervous about has brought us together in a way other team building activities may not have done.

Creative Stimulation
Taking part in this event together and wanting to share our experiences has meant that we have been able to pull together our creativity and bounce ideas off of each other better than if it was one of us alone. Hence the birth of our spoof training video.

Motivation Boost
We have done some core workouts in the office before work or during our lunch. We have been there when one of us has had a wobble of confidence about the weekend’s undertaking and we have shared our training plans with each other. It is great to have others that you can talk to about your challenge to get you motivated!

Expanded Social Circle
Whilst two of my team sit in the same office as me one other lady who is taking on the challenge, whilst working at the Bromley by Bow Centre, sits within a different project. It has been great to get to know her through the build up to the challenge and have an experience that we have shared together.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of working towards the weekend’s challenge as part of a team and hope that our cameraderie continues on the race course!

You can support me through Virgin Money Giving - www.virginmoneygiving.com/jasminemorris 

What are you experiences of being part of a team? Do you prefer to take on challenges solo?

Baked: XXL Jammie Dodgers

The Great British Bake Off is back and the nights are drawing in, This can mean only one thing - my baking addiction is back in full force.

This Friday night I opted to stay in and get my bake on for my friend's charity fair on the Saturday. I usually opt to bake cupcakes for special occasions but inspired by the biscuit towers on The Great British Bake Off I decided to give Jammie Dodgers a go but with a twist... they were to contain custard and be bigger than your average biscuit.

How I did it:

I decided to use Edd Kimber's Custard Cream recipe which makes very short biscuits with custard powder in the biscuit mix. These are very tasty biscuits but not overly sweet which can be an issue when you then layer custard buttercream and jam inside.

Due to the size I was making my biscuits I had to make a couple of batches of these custard creams but it is quite an easy recipe to follow so this wasn't a hardship.

I then cut small heart shapes into half the biscuits so that the jam could poke through typical of a Jammie Dodger. For the jam I just used a homemade raspberry jam but you could use any jam depending on your preference.

These biscuits are very crumbly so a steady hand is key and so is patience. A couple of my early tries went wrong because I didn't let them cool completely and was heavy handed with the pallette knife when spreading the custard buttercream on. I opted to do a thin layer of custard buttercream topped with a generous layer of jam.

Unfortunately, due to a continued bug since my trip to Tunisia I didn't get the chance to try the biscuits once assembled just tasted the mix as I went along. However, judging by people's faces during the charity fair I think they were a huge success (no pun intended!)

The only downside to these biscuits is that they are just too big to dunk in your cup of tea!

What biscuits would you like to see made bigger?

“Running’s pointless. All you do is start at one point and run in a big circle until you are back where you began.”

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this, most of the time given as an excuse from people who don’t want to run and see no value in it. And I must admit at times I feel the same which is why GoodGym is a great incentive!

In short, GoodGym takes groups of people who want to run and gathers them all in one place on a weekly basis. From that meeting place everyone runs together to a local community organisation or project which needs volunteers for a short amount of time. The runners run in, get the job done and then run away again, back to where they started.

I have been going to GoodGym (almost) every week since Christmas and the range of activities and community organisations I have gotten to know over that time has been fantastic – one week I could be turning compost on Stepney City Farm to painting the inside of a local Church. I must admit there has been A LOT of poo shovelling and compost turning and although it is smelly work it is something I wouldn’t have a chance to experience if I was running for hours on a treadmill staring at a wall in my local gym.

But GoodGym is even more than this; they also match runners up to local older people who could do with a bit of company. The idea is that you run to your GoodGym coach (older person) have a chat and run away again. Seeing my GoodGym coach, Veronica, is always the highlight of my week. She gets me out there for a run even when it is the last thing I want to do because I know that she is waiting to see me. We get the chance to chat about everything from how gorgeous George Clooney is to the lack of local pubs and the subsequent breakdown of community!

So, there you have it, running doesn’t have to be pointless!

If you would like to come along to a GoodGym run just drop in to any session, they run from different areas on different nights – Monday = Tower Hamlets, Tuesday = Hackney and Wednesday = Camden. Visit their website for more info: www.goodgym.org

My Brighton Marathon team needs YOU!

So I am running the 2014 Brighton Marathon... and this is only just starting to sink in. Since September 2011 I have been working as a fundraiser for the Bromley by Bow Centre, a community organisation based in Tower Hamlets... and that's where this whole "running a marathon" idea began...

I can remember the moment I first decided to try running – I was cheering on a group of five 2012 Brighton Marathon runners who had spent months training and fundraising on behalf of the Centre. The atmosphere of everyone cheering, the positivity and camaraderie of all of the runners really captured my imagination. That evening, despite having never gone for a run and not owning a pair of trainers, I bought a place on my first ever half marathon taking place that autumn.

I was excited about getting out there for my first run, pulled on my plimsolls and went for an ambitious 3 mile run. Less than 10 minutes into the run I was exhausted, out of breath and panicking about the task I had set myself. But, I persevered and completed my half marathon, and another a few months later. Running for me has become more than just training for a race, it is how I unwind after a day at work and having moved to a new area recently it has given me the opportunity to explore where I live. Friends from school who remember me in PE lessons regularly comment on their surprise at my new found love of running – they can remember me hiding in the changing rooms when Cross Country was on the cards!

Running the Brighton Marathon in 2014 will mean a huge amount for me – not only because it is the race that inspired me to try running but also because I will be raising money for the Centre. The Centre is an incredibly special place and somewhere I regularly feel privileged to work. Walking through the park is guaranteed to brighten even the gloomiest Monday morning as you bump into Francis and Maria tending the plants in the flower garden or pass a classroom full of learners talking excitedly to one another. I regularly get talking to someone in the café and hear just a snippet of what the Centre means to them and it is that which will keep me going for 26.2 miles.

Which brings me onto the second part of my challenge – I am looking for five enthusiastic fundraisers to join my Brighton Marathon team for 2014! As a team we will support each other through the training, share our top tips and keep each other motivated. It is going to be fun, we will explore London together, our neighbourhoods and discover new places. We will put our mental and physical strength to the test and we will realise that we can do so much more than we thought possible.

A marathon is more than 26.2miles – it is a bringing together of people of different backgrounds, abilities and ages. It is sharing an experience with 1000's of people you have never met and who are undertaking the same challenge for all different reasons. This is what makes a marathon amazing!

Together we will take on the Brighton Marathon on behalf of the Bromley by Bow Centre!

If you are interested in joining my Brighton Marathon team let me know by commenting below or emailing me on:Jasmine.Morris@bbbc.org.uk