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Friday 30 April 2010

2 weeks to go..... my itchy feet will soon feel the tarmac again


well as you all know i have been struggling with ITB syndrome, this has meant over 3 months without being able to run. But good news! i saw my physio yesterday who along with giving me a million more excercises to do (where i will fit them in to my day i have no idea!) she has also said that all being well i will be back to running in 2 weeks! woohoo
now ofcourse this does not mean i will be sally gunnel straight away... its more likely i will be just running a few minutes a day to build up gradually, and believe me i will be listening to all the advice i am given. i aim to run the half marathon again this year and hopefully shave some time off and i can only do this if my ITB stays under control. so a gradual build up it is, first to 5k ready for the triathlons i have planned and then on to the 21 k i need for the marathon. but no problem it will be fine as long as i listen to my body.
i cannot wait to get on that treadmill or out on the road again. i cant believe how much i have missed running. only just over a year ago i would never have even run for the bus.... if i had attempted it i would no doubtedly fall over in a fat sweaty lump and miss the bus anyway! Now i reckon i could beat the bus!
So come on 2 weeks run by so that i too can feel the pleasure of a sunday morning jog or the elation of crossing a finish line... i have missed you my friends.

Wednesday 28 April 2010

working hard... snacking well

we all know that when your having a hard day at work a quick sugar fix from a sweet hot drink or biscuit or even a muffin can be hard to resist. and i for one have many a time relented and given in to the temptation. I often work long unsociable hours unexpectedly which means i fnd myself still at my desk past tea time with a mars bar calling my name.
 Now dont get me wrong, i have learnt my lessons from the past and i certainly dont chow down on chocolate or cakes every day (albeit fat mairi happily would). infact i more often reach for the fruit bowel that sits on my desk, and ofcourse its fine to have a treat now and again.... its all about the balance!

But i have found the soulution... or at least something to help me make a better choice. Its called graze.com... an amazing company who produce healthy snack boxes for a very low price which you can have delivered through your door or even to our office. its full of great things like nuts, seeds, dried and fresh fruit and even a bit of chocolate... yes you heard me right chocolate but in small healthy amounts........ i love it. they are pre portioned and in perfect snacking portions with the rght balance of yum versus healthy.

 i get one a week and put the four treats by my desk for those munchy moments... my latest favourite being cherry infused raisins they are gorgeous!
not only that but these graze boxes help you graze healthily avoiding those sugar highs and lows which lead to unhealthy choices.
check out the web link at the side of my page to get yourself a free box with no commitment but a great step forward to making healthy yet convienient and yummy choices!

so go on treat yourself to something a bit healthy but nice :-)

Monday 26 April 2010

The Marathon saga

Well yesterday was marathon day, true to form my little brother got up got dressed in his running kit with no fear of the day ahead, and a chilled its just a marathon man! outlook. i think sarah and i were more nervous than he was... or he was just being cool and hiding it.
we waved him off at 7am to head down to the south of london where he would be starting, we then headed to central london to pick up my sister (Mrs B).
Once together we headed off to  greenwich and the cutty sark for the 6 mile point to see if we could catch a glimpse of william and cheer him on. soon we got a text message to say he had crossed the start line at 10.04 am... so with a little calculation we reckoned he would be with us just gone 11am. we had 40 mins, but this didnt stop us from balancing on our tip toes the whole time to make sure we didnt miss him... this was quite difficult as it seemed everyone taller than us decided the best spot to stand was right infront of us... much to the annoyment of the mere 5 foot 2 Mrs B. Soon we spotted an empty bench and quickly we invaded it giving us a far better non calf wrenching view of the marathon.... however this then distracted us from our searching for yellow bib white top ( the grament choice of my bro) which was actually suprisingly diffucult and a little stressful, as we constantly wondered if wed missed him, and the many false alarms that we had seen him!
But just as we started to chit chat there he was... running along behind a rhino! go will! he was having a breeze at this point which was great to see.
now we had to get to tower bridge for the half way point! we made our way through a see of people, actually correct that a mud of people to the station only to find they had closed that entrance and we had to make our way back again elbows out back to our oringinal point were a nice policeman told us about a free ferry...we thought why not the cue for the tube was just as insane.
 we started to get a little worried as we didnt think we would make it in time to see will, and this wasnt helped by the man who told us there was only 2 ferrys left and that we wouldnt make it! turned out he was wrong and not too long after we were heading across the water  to canary warf where we had decided to stay to see him at the 15 mile point.
We amazingly got a great view across a bridge but we knew we had to make sure not only that we saw him but that he saw us as this was the point at which he would be starting to hurt, and he would be a little dissapointed that he hadnt seen us at mile 13 where he expected to see us.
many a teagbag, girrafe, wombel and toilet passed below us, but we still hadnt seen will... then all of a sudden there he was still going strong we were so proud, and hollered at the top of our lungs till he looked up, we got a few pics then Mrs B and i ran comically at full pelt across the top of the round about to catch a glimpse of him again, despite nearly face planting into the road due to an extremly slippy marble step we made it incross in time to see him come out of the tunnel.
right time for us to headm for the finish line, get some food (watching a marathon is hungry work), and wait for will to finish. we headed to buckingham palace... the queen was not in, but it was a gorgeous day and we had will on the tracker, 24.2 miles..... then 25 miles.... 25.8 miles.. 26 miles he was so close we were so excited, soon there he was the smile on his face reaching from ear to ear.... and we were so proud!
5 months will has lost 9 stone, raised over £300 for the childrens trust and run a Marathon ! it just shows what can be achieved with a little bit of determination. 
(however be warned loosing weight this quickly must be monitored by your doctor, and the marathon can bring painful consequences... yu should have seen the blisters on wills feet... or should i say the feet on wills blisters!)

Sunday 25 April 2010

A proud day.... marathon BABY!

well its london marathon day and im in london to support my little brother who has in 6 months shed 8 stone and got himself ready for the london marathon in support of the childrens trust!
we have just sent him off all in his running gear and will be heading down to watch him and cheer him on throughout the day... so impressed and proud of my little bro especially as only two years ago he was in intensive care with an intestinal bug which has seen him loose part of his bowel and need to be on drugs for the rest of his life.. but this hasnt stopped him.
you can support him at
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=Will-Eakin.

good luck little bro and we will see u at the finish line with a bottle of bud :-)

Saturday 17 April 2010

Yoga

After my last trip to the physio she suggested i try out yoga.....  now this is not normally something i would have considered.. i just get images of old ladies and hippies lying around flexing their body into positions that are just.... well unatural! not to mention the fact its slow and how on earth could something like that burn any calories.
However i am doing everything my physio says so i can get running fit again as soon as possible so off to yoga it was.
As i headed in there i realised a few of my preconceptions were true... old ladies and hippies abound.. but yet there were many of your average day to day gym folk there too.. so i thought ok here we go.

Now before i knew it i had my head down bum up and heels on the ground in bowing dog i think........
leading into arms back head down and one leg up of the something swan. It was actually quite difficult, but the yoga teacher (apparently a fully fledged yogi master who cant even kill the mosquitos which feasted on him the night before) was very calm and helpful, and i began to strangely enjoy the challenge of getting my body into shapes i never believed possible..... not only that but managing to hold it, and hold my own with the rest of the far more experianced hippies and oldies :-)
During the session i even noticed my heart racing so there were definatly a few calories being burnt in crouching swan hidden doggy :-)
By the end of the 1.5 hours session i was actually very tired but extremly peaceful and positive about the whole experiance. it was very strange but i certainly felt the class was benefiting me and my inner balance, not to mention my outer stability.
All in all i think yoga was good for me, and i will certainly be seeing how the next class goes and if i at all improve my downward dog. And to what effect it may indeed help my nagging leg injuries. My physio will be proud.

Saturday 10 April 2010

Training isnt all about the gym, classes or PT's


Dont you just love a little bit of sunshine... nothing better to get you up, out and happy. Indeed is is true that sunshine actually does make you happy by improving levels of chemicals in your brain.
Any how the sun is definatly a good vibe for me.... walking home from the gym this morning i decided to get out in the garden and tackle all those overgrown slabs, the dead tree and generaly have a good tidy of the garden.
 The great outdoors wether its your garden or a park.. is a great way to burn a few extra calories. You dont have to be in a gym or have your own trainer to loose weight... i have just finished 3.5 hours pulling, pushing, squating, lifting and generally getting a bit manual in he garden.  Believe me no machine in the gym has me working as hard as the dead tree in the corner of our yard did... i must have spent 1 hour just breaking and pulling that down... it is definatly the most stubbourn dead tree i have ever known, i also discovered the tree bites! i am now covered in bruises scratches and splinters lol. Its so good for the soul though... its like a good spring clean of the garden, and after all my huffing, puffing and lugging round the yard im very chuffed with my achievement.
so if there are any of you out there who are wondering how to get a little more active but are too afraid of the gym, just get out in your garden and have a bit of spring clean... it will do you and your garden the world of good. and if you havent got your own.. help a friend :-)

Friday 9 April 2010

It's a Deep Burn!

When you first start training for whatever reason it may be... either to tone up, increase your fitness, or loose a little  of the excess (or in my case A LOT) you expect there to be a bit of pain and aching muscles involved. Some people will get put off in just their few sessions because of this (please dont be). And i for one remember the many times i was unable to walk down stairs without resorting to sliding down on my bum or roll out of bed without considerable time being taken to try to assume the least painful method! I even remember one time when my gluts (bum) was so sore on one side that i couldnt get into my car properly and had to try to sit only on the other side (extremly difficult whilst driving and not recommended!).... much to the ammusement of my so called friends!
However if you manage to push through this - which i highly recommend you do - the BURN becomes a little less each time and you soon find it takes a lot for you to get the same degree of Burn. i now get the occassional minor ache but nothing in comparison to the early days unless i have a big routine change and work hard on something i havent done before or for a while.
However this is where i made my mistake... i jokingly said to my trainer whilst training yesterday morning that it had been a while since he had managed to make me feel the burn to which he joyously replied we will fix that! Many one legged squats, squats, straight legged dead lifts, and one legged planks later i was feeling pretty beasted, and my bed was certainly a joyous place to be last nite...... But then the morning came... and oh my god i could FEEL THE BURN! my thighs feel like they have been run over by an elephant.... each step comes with its own cry for redemption and stairs are yet again my biggest nemesis! everytime i squat down to pick something up (and im trying to limit the times i need to do this!) i feel like my legs have bought a one way ticket and arent going to be able to make the return journey back up to standing!
But do you know what... i love it.... i wont be going to the gym today as my aching muscles need a day to recover. But its strange to think that the fact im hurting means i have done some good, and given my body a change in tempo to keep it on its toes. Yes one day you too will yearn for the feeling of the burn and be happy with the aching steps down the stairs and the comical effort you put into getting up or down.
The burn is my friend but one that i am happy to have just occassional visits with as it reminds me im alive and kicking :-)
p.s Thank You Toby for my ass whooping

Wednesday 7 April 2010

My Training Buddy Returns!

 Training sessions without my buddy are just arent the same... but when my buddy is there the session has a whole new dimension,  and new energy, especially when eye of the tiger begins!
yup you have guessed it my buddy is my pink ipod shuffle. The other day i was distraught to discover it he was no longer working... possibly due to the recent training session in the pouring rain which im fairly sure didnt agree too much with his little electric circuits! Try as i might no matter how many times i charged it, turned it off and on, held buttons down, or shook him he did not ressurect!...
Gutted i didnt really have the pennies to go out and buy a new one so i just resorted to sulking for a bit ......what would i do without pendulum, lulu and my Bass rutten mixed martial arts tracks just to mention a few.
 But then  realised i couldnt bare to be without it, so began to see if i could get it fixed by dear old apple... and to my surprise discovered my little shuffle was still under warrenty YIPEEE so just a short phone call later i had a new buddy on the way.
And today Finally i have my faithful training buddy back, woohoo, it was straight to the pc to download my gym tracks and then packed and ready for my trip to the gym after work!
ooooh i do love it when you have a good sweat on and your fav tunes are blasting in your ears. I cant wait to get out running again with my buddy, hopefully at tomorrows physio session i will get a better idea of when i can begin to put running back into my routine.. i miss it so much (wow cant quite believe im saying that). Fat mairi is truely gone.