Daily Diet....

How did you enjoy October 1st 20% VAT increase on all sports nutrition? On this day I looked in store at my usual brand and size and wow £79.99 !! Oh my days. I cannot justify that!! Even after a successful 2012 Olympics where I’m pretty sure many have got off from their sofa taken up some sort of sport /exercise? So why hinder those now prepared to work hard and participate in sport thus, looking after their health at the same time?? Anyway…. Feeling on top of my game in my new Newton’s, running stronger and lighter on my feet how can I next improve my running? How about the fuel I put in my body? I’m sure it’s not a case of drinking a protein shake because the advertising says it’s the best thing since sliced bread? I’m not nutritional expert and sure, if I visited one I’d get a nasty surprise. What one body requires maybe another would not? What advice one person is given may not work for another.

I seemed to have an on going battle with the constant carb intake I have been advised to keep on top off just to give me energy to run long distances. It appeared know matter how long I ran, however many times of the week my weight stayed the same or even went up how can this be possible and I honestly feel cant be the only one in this same situation?

I’ve decided to make a few changes. I cannot afford amount of nutrition now that health shops are going to charge me. OK this is a good thing as surely I have to look for more natural and healthier methods.

1) Smoothies - Damn easy 5 a day in on go. Chuck everything in, blend down in one. Quite filling too

2) I work shifts do I need a dinner in the evening? Or is that an old habit…. Eating too late for the food to not digest and get stored in my fat cells

3) Breakfast as always, then I am snacking though the day. What with?  Anything small and light that will fill me up until I next want to eat

Due to the power of Twitter and the best tweets, I’ve received from Karen and Claire I have turned to baking Protein cookies, brownies and flapjacks. Helpful because I have a nut allergy so a lot of products in store contain nuts! Sooo if I turn to making these same products without the ingredients that will kill me, surely, that is healthier for me? also If I can ditch the bread and eat more fruit and Vegetables I’m determined my PB’s Will come down and as Aly Dixon says “Aspiring to be the best I can be”

The Queen Of Sheffield

Having failed to purchase a single Olympic 2012 ticket I couldn’t help but show a sense of determination or insanity and head out at the crack of dawn on the  day of the Olympic parade to cheer home Team GB. Armed with running fitness magazine, a freshly charged camera and a few snacks (no drinks as I didn’t want to drink away, get the urge for a loo break and hop from one leg to the other not wanting to lose my place at the front of the barrier) I was out my front door at 04:30 and plotted up outside St Pauls Cathedral by 06:00 ready to shout and cheer at #ourgreatestteam.

 

By the time a few other people arrived to along the route to become my new neighbours it wasn’t long before we started to talk about our favourite moment of the Olympics and confirm what we had been told within the media as to which number float our favourite athlete’s would be standing on. “Mo Farrah will be on number 1, Super Jess would be on float number 2 and so on…

I managed to pass the time by and before I knew it the parade had started and with camera in hand time I leaned on the barrier ready, ready to snap away capturing pictures of our nation’s new heroes……. This was where lady luck took over. Yes the floats were passing by but as I stood on the right hand side of the road, Team GB members tried to greet the crowd by moving from both sides of the float. To my dismay Float 2 passed by with Jessica standing on the far side of the float and out of camera view. I absolutely rolled my eyes to the heavens as I … could.. not…believe it!!

Sir Chris Hoy

Mo Farah

Victoria Pendleton

Greg Rutherford

Tom Daley

Louis Smith

Alistair Brownlee

 

OK this one missed athlete out of a team of many but i managed to take pictures of some of the remaining TeamGB members (only a handful for your viewing) but it was great to see Jessica announce she was releasing an autobiography. I wonder if she’ll do a book signing at the time of its release? Well what do you know November 9^th 13:00 at Waterstone’s, Canary wharf…. I looked to the sky and said praise the lord! Time to book the day off work! to be told… NO! I can’t have the day off as no one can cover my shift……. WTF!! Perhaps you don’t understand… This isn’t some piss poor excuse I really would like to meet the Jessica Ennis. She’s here on my doorstep (again) and my boss is telling me I can’t have the day off?? As you can imagine I was sooooo pissed off!! The only agreement I could come too was take half a day and go back into work after I got my book signed because no way! Am I missing this appointment!

As far as I was concerned this was an Olympic Parade round 2, this book signing is going tobe popular. I made the same plans as before. 1) Fully charged camera 2) A copy of running fitness magazine 3) snacks for the morning. No drinks! 4) Drop the girls off to school then head on up to Canary Wharf (Yeah Baby). So with my bag packed the night before I got ready early Friday morning with a smile on my face. I even splashed on my favourite aftershave, headed out on the school run, kicking my daughters over the line of the school gates before heading to London.

 I arrived at Waterstone’s at 09:00 and dreaded turning the corning to the queuing area wondering how many people were there before me. I was handed ticket number forty one and was informed of a list of do’s and don’ts. At this point I met “Nikki” an athletics fan, track competitor, running encyclopaedia of knowledge who helped make the time go by ever so quickly. Her only downside was the fact she was a Gooner!!  (Booo)

With the morning going by the queue behind grew slowly but by the time Jess arrived… *cough* Late… the queue stretched back out of sight but at a guess over two hundred people. In front the media had arrived with their gigantic camera’s and lens’s and lunchtime called and many city folk came out for their lunch and know doubt suddenly decided to take an extended lunch break.

As the queue moved forward Waterstone’s staff again made the rules clear. No touching Jessica, Have your book open and ready for her to sign, No extended requests to whoever no pictures posing next to her, yadda, yadda, yadda. Nkiki then asked what am I going to say to her?... …… Damn It, you know what? I really don’t know? I love you… no,no, no too stalkerish. Well done for winning gold. Tsk she’s probably heard that a million times. I started to panic now but should I have worried? Hell no this is Jessica! A genuine person who was damn easy to talk too like we’ve been friends for years. My book was dedicated to my girls and she asked if they were interested in athletics and I was pleased to say that they were. I wanted to ask so many more questions but, conscious of Waterstone’s restrictions they placed on queuing fans, it was time to move aside for the next person to have their precious book signed too.

Just ever so slightly chuffed, with my book now signed I safely tucked it in my ruck sack I took a quick look around glaring off anyone who thinks they might take a chance and nick this now priceless book off me. I then proceeded to push my way to the front of the roped off area and to practice my photography clicking away trying to capture for my own photography portfolio Jessica again bringing a smile to hundreds of people within this shopping area.

    

Do I stand firmly in the corner of Team Ennis? I sure do! Will I be voting for her in this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the year? I sure will…. Has she a chance in winning??… (sucks in air….shaking head) I’m not fully confident about that. …. Probably not a book makers front runner to do so. The great people from “Sheffield” reminded us that they alone won more Olympic 2012 gold medals than the whole of “Australia” managed to do! (Which is quite funny considering they dislike us Poms) However I am very proud to say…. I have actually met one of their Olympic Champions.

All Hail Queen Jessica Ennis.

Rejected from VLM Ballot

Boooooo!!

Rejected from the 2013 VLM Ballot time for Plan B..…

But seriously! What an absolutely HIDEOUS jacket to send out to non-successful applicants. As if the bad news of Elvis wasn’t enough, Virgin go rub salt in the wounds with a cheap and nasty jacket like this. Good lord above, I bet couldn’t even sell this jacket at a Boot sale for 50 Pence.

Come on Virgin be fair??

My Love Romance with Newton Trainers .... Is Back ON!!

I am sure I have said this before but I really must get more into a habit of writing on this Blogg. I have done loads of running since my last update and …. And … even though I had a horrid time switching from being a classic heel striker I have changed my running style to forefoot and back to using Newton trainers again. Boy have I fallen in love with these again oh my days! An avid fan in watching Newton YouTube videos online and I listen and learn to their running form Fridays full of tips and advice

I suppose I have religiously used a foam roller every night. I have paid for a sports massage at least once a month so I have been I keeping on top of looking after my body. Of course, in my running style if I were to be assessed maybe, I have picked up one or two bad habits along the way but looking after my body was priority number one. With no tight or sore spots there was nothing left but to lace up and head out and run.

These trainers are so, so light on my feet and IF you like, a light shoe you would be well happy with these. They are so light you won’t know they’re on your feet. Just think at mile 23 of a marathon with your legs knackered, would you really want to lift heavy legs….and heavy trainers. Personally, I do not! With these slippers on the forward angle of the shoe of course will be a shock to the system. In fact, the backs of your legs, but this is understandable if you’ve had bad running form for years? It’s the time needed to adjust to this style so you can run in them. For me this transition has taken over a year! And a painful year too. But looking at other athletes and faster athletes 9/10 forefoot strike #fact so surely this is the way to run and for the better?

I started with the concord 10K in June. My first race since the London Marathon. I took a month off from running after this, which left 2-3 weeks race prep for this 10K. Of course, training was never going to be a max out effort as I cautiously introduced running back into my system. This would be an appearance run for my running club and I had such a laid-back attitude. Whatever time I finish I will be happy with, especially as this was 6 miles in my Sir Isaac Newton’s. Four miles in and I could feel the ache returning in my calf muscles but finished the race 40mins 12secs. Initially I moaned to myself about the 12 seconds but hey finished this race in my Newton’s.

With this 10K over with, I upped my training slowly to half marathon distance as my local half marathon is in Dartford and as a local, I feel obliged to run it. Those who have run this course know this is a hilly half marathon with mile 10 an absolute killer! (Gore Road) However, 1Hr 31mins later I finished and fully satisfied in race trim my legs did not complain about my footwear. Surely, a sign I am getting there…