Track Night

I am still now haunted by memories of school sports days and the expectation that everyone in a form group should take on an athletic challenge. One year I was off ill on the day the different challenges were assigned and my wonderful peers opted to put me down for the 1,500m running event.

On my worst runs now I get flash backs to how I felt struggling round and round and round the running track whilst my entire year looked on... it was awful. I hated every second of it, I thought I was going to die and ended up faking an asthma attack just to make the humiliation and pain end.

Which is why when GoodGym advertised that they were holding a track night I surprised myself by not only signing up but also being really excited at the prospect.

A small enthusiastic group of us turned up at Mile End Stadium ready to try and do our fastest mile and then a fun relay race.

In true GoodGym spirit there was a great atmosphere within the group, an emphasis on pushing yourself and doing your best but a focus on having fun and enjoying it. After a great dynamic warm up and slow jog to get used to the track we lined up ready to take on a speedy mile.

It felt like the longest mile of my life.

As one of only two ladies in the group I was prepared for the boys to dash off ahead of me but it acted as a fantastic incentive to keep pushing myself... and I am chuffed to say I hit a new PB... 7 minutes and 6 seconds... with a sprint finish!

With a fun relay race to finish with each of us sprinting 100m the only logical end to a Friday night track night was the pub.

Unfortunately, I was too excited about running to remember to take any photos but I will definitely be frequenting Mile End Stadium track again - at £3 entrance it is a bargain! The track was quiet, beautiful condition and as the evening got darker Canary Wharf lit up in the background.

Thank you GoodGym for a wonderful experience and putting my track fears to rest.

How *not* to keep fit on holiday

This was supposed to be an enlightening blog post on how it is easy to go away on holiday and keep fit whilst still enjoying your time away. Unfortunately, I didn't succeed in keeping fit and healthy on holiday... in fact, quite the opposite.

To put this post into context - It has been a busy year at work and at home with a lot of changes and challenges. For the first time in my life I decided to book a week away at an all inclusive hotel by the seaside for some much needed chill out time. The Mr and I decided on Tunisia and I have literally been counting down the days until we flew away.

I packed my trainers and running kit with visions of running along the beach and saw that the hotel offered free exercise classes including yoga at sunset... and, honestly, I had every intention of making the most of these. And then I arrived there... and the non stop FREE food and booze happened, and the sun was shining, and there were sun loungers on the beach and an excursion to the Sahara Desert... and, most importantly, I realised I was exhausted.

By the second day away I made the conscious decision to keep my trainers in my suitcase unless I genuinely wanted to go for a run not because I felt guilty that I hadn't. I decided I would join in the exercise classes only if I wanted to because it looked fun not because I felt I should. As it happens, in the end, I didn't do any sport (unless you count Aqua Gym following one too many G&Ts...) and I am ok with that.

I have returned to London refreshed, feeling more positive, ache free and genuinely excited about embarking on my marathon training.

Fit not thin

For years I have been obsessed with the what the scales have to tell me, sweating over a pound, always aiming for a new target. I even had an app on my phone that let me chart my weight loss only adding to my obsessive weighing.

I have never been skinny but equally I have never been overweight. But it didn't hit me until I started to run miles a week and physically see that my body was toning up that I realised maybe what I weighed wasn't the most important factor. My weight hasn't dropped drastically but my body shape has changed hugely.

Which is when I started to look into other ways to measure my changing shape and stumbled across the Body Fat Percentage Calculator. I used the measurement method putting my height, waist, neck and hip measurements into a calculator online and was given a percentage which then fitted into one of the below categories:

Women

10-12% Essential Fat
14-20% Athletes
21-24% Fitness
25-31% Acceptable
32%+ Overweight/Obese

Men

2-4% Essential Fat
6-13% Athletes
14-17% Fitness
18-25% Acceptable
26%+ Overweight/Obese

I was pleasantly surprised to see that I fell almost smack bang in the middle of the "Fitness" category. Now for a girl who loves cake and big dinners it really did show that what I am doing is right. I don't have to live off salad leaves and steer clear of carbs. I can eat healthily and heartily as long as I am willing to focus on exercise rather than starvation. It seems obvious but this was a big realisation for me having opted for diets over exercise terrified of looking unfeminine and "ripped".

So now that I have had my epiphany and am determined to be fit not thin I won't be so terrified of the extra helping of pasta after a particularly gruelling run.

How do you chart your progress?

A change is as good as a rest

Today finally felt like summer had arrived - I woke up at 7am to the sun shining and bright blue skies. I couldn't wait to pull on my trainers and just get out there for a quiet sunday morning canal run.

Unfortunately, my body had other ideas. I was aiming for a leisurely 10miler but by mile 3 I was struggling, hot, tired and running low on water (which is unlike me as I tend to run for an hour before needing a drink) I was close to quitting and getting the bus home.

Taking a detour through Mile End Park in order to make my way home I saw the stepped hill and opted for three sets of squat jumps to the top with walking lunges back down. Then some leg strength exercises. I then did three Kenyan Hill sprints before making the 1.5mile run home.

Instead of being disappointed that I didn't get the miles under my belt I was feeling tired and had that pleasant aching in my thighs.

So, my new philosophy is that when I feel like I can't do the length of run planned I can only cut it short with a good workout in the middle then, and only then, will I have earnt the right to bail.

Afterall, a change is as good as a rest!

My dirty little secret...

At the end of the week Rosie wrote a post for the High Tea Cast: "Running out of patience - why twitter hates runners". And it made me think about the reactions I have had from the world of twitter since beginning running and posting about this on social media.

I love twitter. I love baking. I love eating. I love vintage clothes. I love running. And I also tweet about all of these things... a lot. However, I am, increasingly feeling guilty about posting about running and the increasing frequency I tweet about running. But the truth is that as running becomes a larger part of my life it is inevitable that this will come across on social media.

I have lost followers and I have gained followers, none of this matters to me. What has surprised me though are some of the comments I get from some of my real life friends to these posts - a lot of them are supportive whilst others openly ridicule my tweets about running. This saddens me. I actively keep running posts, on the whole, off of my Facebook page as I don't feel that is a space where people want to be bombarded but twitter is designed for stream of consciousness, regular updates on the minutiae of life.

However, for all of the horrible comments and lost followers I get for every running post I put up there are more positive comments and new, better followers. Just this week I put out a post looking for recommendations on running arm bands for phones and within seconds I got lots of people offering suggestions and their thoughts, suggesting websites and where to get the best deal. There are some great ladies that I have met through twitter who post congratulatory comments on running posts, who ask me how its going, who empathise with me when an injury is getting me down and who share the guilt of a missed run.

For all of those friendships I happily accept the horrible comments and that is why I won't let running become my dirty little secret.

Shout out to the wonderful @AmIReallyRunnin and @ChiltonDiva who both spread twitter love by being truly fantastic and supportive women!

If you fancy following my twitter and aren't turned off by the odd running update you can do so here: @x_JazzyM_x

Fitness Freak Rave Up

What happens when you mix 90's club classics, glow sticks and a dance routine? Well on Wednesday night I found out at the Fitness Freak Rave Up!

Fitness Freak is an amazing resource for finding your local exercise classes from yoga to hula. For two nights this week they hosted four Fitness Freak Rave Ups - dance workouts with a strength session to 90's classics for an hour in the tunnels under Waterloo.

I am not one for dance exercise classes - I am uncoordinated and have the memory of a goldfish. In fact I normally stay clear of them... for everyone else's sake as well as my own... but the lure of 90's music and glow sticks meant that I was signing up without a moments hesitation. And it was worth it!

The tunnels are known for hosting a variety of weird and wonderful pop up events and stood surrounded by graffiti and street art with groups of people dressed in their best neon I was beyond excited. On entering the tunnels the music was pumping and we were guided to a room full of boxes and after hesitantly relinquishing all of my worldly belongings I ventured, glowsticks in hand, into the main room.

Huge neon and UV prints decorated the walls and free UV body paint got everyone in a raving mood way before the class officially began. The class itself was fun, energetic and sweaty with a variety of moves repeated to different tracks increasing in speed. Even I was able to follow the routine and doing it with glowsticks in the dark meant that even when I didn't quite get it right no one was able to notice (apart from the poor soul whose foot I trampled!)

I was surprised by a good strength session in the middle with squats and lunges meaning that by the end my legs were feeling like lead and I felt like I had properly worked out which is something I haven't experienced in similar dance exercise classes.

The evening finished up with a good stretch and some Vita Coco which is fast becoming my favourite post workout treat!

All in all, I really enjoyed the class and am almost a dance exercise class convert... as long as it is in the dark... with UV... and I can sing "THERE'S NO LIMIT" at the top of my voice...