London Baby!

well im finally here... down in london after a small train trip... on which sheamus helped me with some anatomy revision....and getting nervous about starting my course tomorrow!

However im also so excited about the things i will learn and the people im going to meet... maybe they are all just as insane as me! I cant believe its actually here and that i am actually just about to start my personal trainer course.... again who would have thought that someone like fat mairi could turn away from the cakes and head into the fast lane :-P

ive also just been out on a 3 mile run with my little brother (who is kindly putting me up fo the duration of the course) heading out along the canal and through victoria park... it was pretty nice and my knee seems to have held up, but is nagging a little so i will stick with this distance for a while till it stops complaining.

hopefully if i can get up to around 4 miles in the next week or so, i will actually be able to run along the canal to the course each morning as its only about 3.5 miles and means i will miss the rush hour madness which i am not looking forwards to at all!

but hey ho.. here we go. im off to spend the day in the park for a parks festival to relax before the madness begins... look out world here i come.

Woohoo New Legs

well as you all know i have just recently started running again.... well jogging and for just a few minutes at a time :-)
But yesterday i went out for a slightly longer jog with a friend...... 3k no knee pain (well not while i was running) then a little walk followed by another 1k jog .....wehey! god i have missed it and it seems so far so good ...touch something woody (fumbles around and finds a small wooded pencil grabbing it quickly)
Unfortunatly as i havent run for so long albeit my legs seem to be taking the reintroduction to running fairly well my lungs are not!... i have kept fit, but it seems the loss of running has had a severe effect and its going to take me some time to convince my lungs that running really is fun :-) there was a little bit of screaming coming from the lung area they were not happy.... but soon i will whip them back into shape.

so the new plan is up 1k in distance every week with at least 2 runs at that distance each week for 6 weeks. After this time if all is well and the lungs and knees have settled i will up it by 1.5 k each week for 6 weeks which will get me to 18k just befopre the half marathon setting me up for a good injury free run :-)
oooh i do like a good plan :-) bring on the next few weeks and my new legs :-)
(shussssssssssh lungs you will learn to love running again)

Ball week is officially over..... now to conquer the world

Well this week has been hectic, i made it to the gym only once..... but i spent more than 80 hours working much of which involved heavy lifting, tractor driving (yes tractor driving the only way to get much of the stock and equipment to the grand marquee... one of my now many talents), decorating, being a make shift maintenence girl, electrician, and general all round organiser! but i loved it.. the ball went amazingly, i even wore a little black dress. And i managed to eat fairly well dispite the hectic days and long hours even resisting the free chocolate fountain.
Now i am so looking forwards to heading back into the gym..... im also really excited because i have now recieved my final info and exceptance letter  for my personal trainer course! i start in 2 weeks and i cannot wait! Finally i will gain the experiance, knowledge and qualifications to enable me to help  others who are in the situation i was in. If i can motivate just a handful of people to a happier healthier more balanced life... my work will be done :-)

Where has my sunshine gone?

we all have bad days and good ones...... i must admit im having a bit of a rough time at the moment! i know crazy huh and we all thought i was invinsible lol....
i think i will always have to battle my evil little inner monkey, and the last few months being unable to run have not helped. i still train 4-5 times a week, but ive missed my running. Ive noticed the naughty snacks creeping back in... i can see it hapening but sometimes its just to hard to resist and you think theres always tomorrow!... well there is always tomorrow but if i want to see lots of them i need to rein my evil little monkey in.
the good news is im now running again... well jogging and only a few minutes at a time while i build up my leg strength, but its given me the light at the end of the tunnel. ive gotta admit work has been tough recently and im now hitting one of the hardest weeks of the year where my training routine will thoroughly be upset and the food on the run more of a frequent occurance. however ive stocked up m fridge at work with fruit and i intend to have a good long session in the gym tomorrow (possibly the only chance i will get this week).
i guess what im tryng to say today is we all have hard weeks, but when you have been overweight like me, its so important not to let them get the better of you.. as its a slippery slope which is easily fallen on. so take stock, dont feel guilty, and prepare the best you can for whats to come. i may not train much this week, but i will be running round like a looney at work and as long as i try to make the best food choices i can this week, i can make up some gym time next week. and i know my sunshine will return...... i may have had a hard few weeks and made a few bad choices but im aware of them enough now to stop it becoming a snowball effect. I even bought myself a new animal top this week a SIZE 14 woohoo.... i love it and its perfect for summer, fat mairi will not win because the new more balanced mairi is now in da house :-)

The Challenge Begins

Last year i conquered my first half marathon, now i loved it, (not at the time - i cried towards the end) BUT FINISHING WAS AMAZING.
now i did a none too shabby 2 hrs 33 mins, and for someone who was many stone heavier and hadnt run at all till 6 months earlier this wasnt bad.
well as some of you already know im doing the same half marathon again... hopefully a bit faster and with less tears :-)
Luckily for me i have been invited by Shape up Notts (see link at side) to be part of their marathon team, not only will they pay for it but i also get a load of free new balance running kit too woop woop. I am running with them as they found my story inspiring and hope that it will continue to inspire others just as i do.

so i got home from work and there was a parcel note for me ( i love getting parcels its so exciting)... off i went to collect and excitedly rushed home to try it all on.

i love it all matching capri's, t-shirt, running jacket and Trainers, and couldnt wait to use it... even the trainers match a lovely pair with pink trim. I have yet to run in them but as i have now had the go ahead from my physio today to start running again next week i am raring to go!

Look out robin hood half... here i come!

Having Fun and enjoying my new body

Well as you all know the days of Fat mairi who was 21.5 stone and at a peak a size 26-28 are fading away and ultra fit and happy mairi is appearing. I am sorry to you all that i havent blogged recently but i have had a manic but thoroughly enjoyable and exciting couple of weeks.

Recently it was my best friends 30th! he decided on a heros and villans theme..... now i agonized for ages about what i could go as until someone suggested lara croft to me. Initially i thought no... i cant pull that of (fat mairi was wispering away in my head saying id look fat, people would stare... and not in a good way!)... but i carried on, and began to think why not.... ill go shopping see what i can get and how it looks and if its awful rethink.

Now i have never worn short shorts in my life... except for maybe when i was 5, so the thought of doing this was ultra scary but luckily being summer i had plenty to choose from and finally found a pair of brown short shorts and a black T which i could accessorize. of to the changing room i went... all i could think was nah this wont look very good ill have to think of something else. but i put the shorts and T on and took a look in the mirror!

WOW is all i could think, i can pull this off, and actually i look pretty damn good, nope scratch that pretty damn HOT!

I think this was the first time since loosing the weight that i really believed it, im not ultra skinny im a size 14-16 but i feel i fit my skin, and im starting to fit it pretty well!

i never want to be a size 10 or even 0, and i think anyone who trys for that is setting unrealistic goals (unless your under 5 feet), but a happy 12-14 where you can still enjoy moderate treats... why the hell  not! (please remember everyone has their own body proportions and i am not slating anyone who is naturally thin, but saying that people should be happy with whatever their size as long as they are healthy).

So not only did i head out to the party feeling sexy for the first time in years, i also got a few wolf wistles (of the authentic kind) and had an amazing night with my friends without feeling self concious.

i am truly beginning to love my body :-)

dispite the ruts and pitfalls ....just keep on riding!

Bank holiday sunday..... now most are lazing about, doing a few errands and having a bevy. Me im up and getting my bike gear ready for a trip out. As much as i would love to spend the day lazing in a pub the triathlons i have planned are not far away, and if im to do the iron man 70.3 next year i need a good set of bike legs..... and believe me i dont have them yet.

i decided to try out some of nottinghams cycle routes today, thinking this would be much nicer and easier than braving my life out on the nottingham roads! ive had a near squished bus experiance before which i am not keen to repeat!

today though in the typical blighty style of our fair country despite being May it was pretty cold and miserable outside, and although i know i need to get out on my bike more the weather wasnt making it very easy. but i got my stuff together planned a route and headed out.

now this is where i begin to smile i had a few miles of road to tackle before hitting the bike lanes, and i remember how much i love the ease at which you can pick up speed on a road bike. and being sunday the roads werent too busy so i could enjoy the rush of zipping down the streets.

soon i joined the embankment and had a pleasant trip onlong the river narrowly missing some pigeons who decided to fly as close as they possibly could to my head!

but soon the bike route had dissapeared... to who knew were and i was faced with carrying my bike up some stairs (not too much of an issue, road bikes are light but it was annoying none the less)

soon i rejoined the route only to spend the next half of the route dodging raised tarmac ruts and potholes! i began to realise cycle routes were not made with thought to the road bike user who with no suspention feels every rut and dimple let alone the sysmic holes i was encountering. the road would have been safer!

however i pushed on and after meeting a colleague out at work for a quick chat, i headed back to join the river route..... here i realised it was indeed a good day.

why you may ask? well as i turned the corner i joined the most scenic rive path and suddenly my ride (even if it was still a little bumpy) was becoming more enjoyable. and as a plus the path down here (despite being slightly gravel topped) was far more smooth and suddenly i could get a good pace up again. yes i had to dodge a few ducks, and duck under a few canal bridges but it was so worth it! and i made it home after a couple of hours feeling refreshed and thoroughly suprised that the may bank holiday weather hadnt rained on me!

so despite the ruts, potholes and manic pigeons.... it was so worth keeping on riding (a bit like life!)