New Routines, Nice Runs, Now Relaxing

Life is a series of routines and phases. I'm currently in a phase of starting lots of new things, classes, training, clients and study, all of which takes a bit of getting used to. I'm thankful that I made the decision not to start everything all at once and given my self time and space to get into my new routines. Last week I started a third Back to Fitness course and a "graduates" class, which will be ongoing for as long as there is demand. I have figured out my routine of loading up the car with different kit for different classes and managed not to get stressed out about it. What's even better is that everyone seems to be enjoying the new classes and courses so far!

Back to Fitness "graduates" (and new participants) enjoying post-class refreshments.

Boxing training is still a feature at the moment, with the HIIT sections still being manageable and the boxing element getting more complex. I've been trying to get to grips with slips, rolls and blocks and getting out of the "boxercise" habit of being formulaic and routine with my punches. I'm also trying to teach my partner not to apologise when she makes contact (it's light touch still)!

My running in the past week has been sociable (Green Park 10k), leafy (Tuesday's off road run) and fitted in whenever (Friday's shorter run before heading to London for an evening's eating and entertainment with mum). I took inspiration from my friend Cathy in terms of just getting out there in whatever time is available to run, rather than making excuses. It's worked so far.

One sunny morning

Before my run with Bracknell Forest Runners the week before I'd managed to get my forms signed to apply for a place on a Coach in Running Fitness Course and was delighted to get confirmation of my place by email last week. The course doesn't start until the Autumn but I'm already looking forward to it as it's been hard to find dates that worked with my schedule. I've also been accepted as a Run England Mental Health Ambassador and need to make time to do a bit of work in that area.

So work is busy, training is going well and I've managed to be sociable too; an afternoon coffee and playground date with Cathy and her little boy (seesaws are a great leg workout) being a particular highlight. Oh and let's not forget the marvellous meal at Wahacas in London prior to an especially brilliant dance performance of Jekyll & Hyde at The Old Vic.

So that's life for me at the moment, to some extent same old same old, but all good things. In summary, training looked like this:
Saturday: Boxing Training
Sunday: 6 mile run
Monday: Skipping set & Yoga
Tuesday: 5.3 mile run
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: Boxing Training
Friday: 4.5 mile run

Anything new crept into your schedule lately? Are you organised or a fly by the seat of your pants kinda person?

Berkshire Fitness Scene : Yoga

Yoga. It's not new, it's quite mainstream these days, and you are likely to find a class near you, wherever you live. So why am I including it in my series of posts on the local fitness scene? Because I think too many people write it off too early. Those of us who frequent classes or are part of sports clubs base some of our decision on whether we "click" with the teacher, coach or other members. We try a few before we find the one we like. Yet for some reason, from personal experience anyway, few of us do the same when it comes to yoga. Given that yoga comes in so many forms it seems bizarre that such a high proportion of people try one class with one teacher and give up. And I'm hoping that if you are one of those people, this post will persuade you to have another go.

My first experience of yoga was at University in a vast sports hall with around 50 other people. I was lucky that I gelled with the instructor and I came away with several months of positive experiences. It was only when I tried other yoga classes that I realised not all classes nor instructors are equal. Some I found too slow, some too difficult, the instructor unengaging... but some were great and I've gone back. I tried hot yoga, which I really enjoyed but have found the distance to class prohibative. I'm no yogi. I don't know the differences between the variations. I don't practice at home much. I'm not vegan. I don't meditate (often). I don't go "ommmmmm". But I know what I look for in a class.

I found a local teacher whose classes I really enjoyed, but as my schedule varies week to week so  I found I wasn't always able to make one of his half a dozen classes. As yoga has become more important to me so I've been trying a number of different teachers in my local area with varying success.

Mostly I've been going to Sam Rao's classes. The Saturday and Thursday classes are conveniently located in halls just half a mile away. If I'm prepared to skip parkrun I can go to the early Saturday class which is more challenging, but otherwise I can get to the 10am class after parkrun, which makes for a lovely morning dedicated to me. Sam is a kindly, approachable 70-something gentleman who is fighting fit. He fully believes in the physical health benefits of yoga and often talks about how certain poses should be affecting our internal organs. His adjustments, when he does them, are confidence boosting although his classes are often too large for individuals to get much attention.

Other instructors I've tried include Delmar, whose small classes mean you get a lot of input into what you practice, and Rosie, whose classes, although a little gentle for me, are lovely and welcoming. Paul and Rachel form a bit of a double act for their classes, with one taking the ear and the other making adjustments as necessary. Their classes are at a good intermediate level, although beginner friendly, with a slightly more spiritual element. The hall was beautifully warm (normally I'm armed with layer upon layer) and smelt of incense. Bliss.

I'm had recommendations for classes by Claire Foster and Lynn Waters, amongst others and they're on my list to try should I get the chance. Most of these instructors trained with the same lady yet they are very different in their styles. What is particularly lovely about all of these instructors is that they form a sort of group. Buy a booklet of tickets from one and you can redeem at classes with any of them, particularly great of someone like me!

So if you have tried yoga before and thought you didn't get on with it, I encourage you to try a different teacher. Of course I've only mentioned classes local to me, but a cursory internet search will throw up plenty near you, either independent teachers of those at a local gym or leisure centre.

Are you a yogi? Did it take you a while to find a teacher you liked?

Event Review : Gloanna 2014

When you take part in as many events as I seem to it's nice to come across something a little different. Indeed that tends to be how I decide whether or not to enter things these days... is it a bit special? Gloanna is an event that falls into that category, for me. I took part last year with Anita and enjoyed it so much that I decided to enter again this year, this time with my mum.

Pre-run selfie

For the uninitiated, Gloanna is an event held in Battersea Park that consists of an untimed 5k run preceeded by a shot of prosecco, followed by a 45 minute yoga class, more prosecco, a sushi brunch, a massage if you're lucky enough to get a slot and rounded off with a goody bag to take away. They now have events in London and New York and this year have Sweaty Betty on board as a sponsor (or as my dad refers to them, "Frizzy Lizzy"... I prefer "Perspiring Elizabeth"). It's not cheap, at £41 for early bird with one glass of prosecco or £43 for two (if you were a very late entry you'd be paying £68/70 for the privilege), but I was swayed by the "experience" factor. As some folks on twitter pointed out, with parkrun and various free yoga sessions available in London you could buy a full bottle of prosecco, go hang out with your besties and save a stack load... but that's not the point for me.

Mum and I arrived at the park in good time and managed to avoid the worst of the rain. Bag drop was straightforward (lovely to see Bangs there helping out) and we had time to have a nose around before a very fun warm up and the start of our wave. Shot of prosecco knocked back and we were off! It was a joy to run without worrying about time and to run with my mum in an environment where she felt comfortable. We chatted to a few girls on the way round (I was persuading them to try a triathlon), danced through bubbles and got high fives from the police constables present. I wish I'd carried my phone to take pictures.

After the run we were handed some Vita Coco and had time to grab our yoga mats for the class which was mildly challenging but perfect for stretching out. I think we ended up having two helpings of Whey Hey and snaffled a couple of extra Bounce balls and Vita Coco's each as well as our lunch and prosecco. Basically we had a really lovely morning and some quality mother/daughter time. We didn't feel rushed at any point and felt really relaxed by the time we set off for home, apart from the moment when I realised I'd left my yoga mat against a tree and had to sprint back for it.

Lovely as our morning was, there are still things about the event that could do with being ironed out. During registration not only could you choose your start time (choice of three rather than two this year) but also choose one or two glasses of fizz and which level of yoga class you wanted to take part in. Only the start time was confirmed in the pre-event information and I'd completely forgotten about the other choices. As such when it came to claiming the fizz we couldn't remember whether we'd paid for one or two glasses. We were kindly given two anyway but that could perhaps have been resolved with a different wristband, or tokens included in the race pack. Apparently you could buy more prosecco on the day as well but we weren't made aware of this at the time and in any case we were rather put off by the very fierce girl behind the prosecco bar who reprimanded us for taking things at the wrong time.

Again with the yoga, I couldn't remember what level I'd signed up to but I didn't see any information on the day about different levels, the tents weren't labelled and we didn't know what time the classes started. We weren't allowed to collect our goody bags until we were about to leave but it wasn't explained to us why... turns out they take your wristband so you're unable to collect brunch or bags after that point.

But lots of plus points too! The DJ was very good and the food was lovely. There was lots of free Whey Hey protein icecream (I fancy having a try at creating something similar at home), Vita Coco coconut water (the new Latte one is LUSH) and Bounce Balls to be had. The goody bags were lovely and contained an event specific very in a choice of colours and sizes, a water bottle and pair of socks in a lovely bag all courtesy of Sweaty Betty. I did note that the price tags had been left on things so it did feel as though we got our money's worth.

I would still be tempted to do this again next year, despite the flaws I felt existed, and think it would be a great event for beginner runners to build confidence... if they can afford it.

Berkshire Fitness Scene : Power Yoga

Running and yoga often seem to go hand in hand. As one of many runners who are guilty of not stretching as much as they probably should, doing yoga means I do at least some maintenance to stop things going "ping". It's also good for strength, flexibility and, for me anyway, general well being.

I first remember doing yoga at University in a vast sports hall. Our slightly plump, silver-haired instructor was called Dorothy and to this day she's the best instructor I've had. I've dabbled in other classes over the years but never gone back to it regularly. I'm yet to try hot yoga but Body Balance has been an on-off part of my regime. There are lots of yoga classes in my neck of the woods but a "Power Yoga" class at Reading Sports Park caught my eye so I thought I'd give it a go. The class description said I was in for one hour of "physical, dynamic yoga, heating up the body, toning and cleansing." so I expected lots of movement, maybe some challenging poses and to feel as though I'd really worked.

Unfortunately I was disappointed. The studio itself was nice enough, with mirrors and room for 20 people. The instructor didn't introduce herself, ask if any one was new or had any injuries, and adjusted people without asking if it was ok to touch them. Little things but if I'd had no previous experience I'd have been really put off by that. I normally make a point of introducing myself to the instructor if I'm taking a class for the first time but I didn't get a chance. The class itself was fairly standard too. Some variations of sun salutations, lots of downward dogs, a couple of balances, some warrior poses and stretches rounded off with 5 minutes of relaxation. I felt worked but not challenged. Few options for different abilities were given and I certainly didn't get warm.

I'm glad I went, it certainly did me good, but I would rather do the Body Balance classes included in the price my gym membership than pay £7.50 for a class like that. The search for an exciting local yoga class will continue!

Was that an entire week? Seriously?

Friday! Again! It keeps on happening doesn't it? I'm not really sure where all my time has vanished to this week, although reading back over my post gives me some idea.

Last Saturday was absolutely brilliant. I went to the very first Run Mummy Run social up in London to put some faces to the twitter handles and Facebook names. I was pretty nervous about it because I didn't really know anyone, I'd been a bit of a lurker on the Facebook page and of course I'm not a mum, so I felt a bit of a fraud, but it's not exclusively for mums. The whole thing was started by Leanne who wanted a way to find people to run with who were similarly constrained by partner's working hours and childcare. The group is incredibly supportive and contrary to my expectation we all talked about running rather than children. I met some truly amazing ladies, listened to some very interesting talks and got a fab goodybag. It was a really fun day and I feel so much more a part of the community now. There's talk of entering a run or two with some of the ladies near to me like the Knacker Cracker and the Bracknell Half Marathon.

However if I'm going to do things like that I need to start running a bit more. It's been a week since I last ran, at my PT session, on the treadmill. I had all good intentions this week but it's been cold and dark and, on some days, very wet, and I've been a wuss. I even gave up circuits in favour of a free cinema ticket on Tuesday and skipped circuits and Body Balance yesterday in order to get some study in. I did get to Urban Rebound again on Wednesday though, and was grateful to find it was a fair bit easier second time around and on an empty stomach. I did a half hour of hula hooping this morning, walked the dogs at lunch and have my PT session after work so I've at least done something active this week.

I'll be active over the weekend too. I'm going to the Write This Run conference at the Running Show on Saturday at Sandown Park. There's a whole host of fantastic speakers including Bangs and a Bun, the opportunity to chat to some fellow bloggers and do a bit of networking over a glass of wine after either a group run or a yoga class. I cannot wait! I'm going to opt for the yoga as I'm running the Running Show 10k on Sunday. My conference ticket includes entrance to the show on both days as well as the 10k but as I won't get a chance to look around on the Saturday I'm looking forward to doing that on the Sunday, either side of the race. Bit nervous about the race given my current activity levels and the temperature out there but I'm sure I'll get round and can thaw out over a planned coffee with a friend in the afternoon.

I spent a few happy hours last Sunday doing what I like to call a "veg box cook", making some big batches of soup and snacks to have during the week, planning my meals and making sure I'm making best use of everything to avoid waste. I find a great deal of happiness in those sorts of tasks. I bought a book for my Nutrition and Weight Management course which was recommended to me by a fellow student; Carbs & Cals. It's really aimed at people with diabetes but I can see it's going to be pretty useful for judging portion sizes and working out nutrition content of meals. I'm in week three of the Nutrition and Weight Management course but have managed to get ahead a bit and am now on the material for week four. I hope to keep things that way, as it's all too easy to fall behind. I'm also keeping up with The Mind is Flat course… I'm in week three of that too.

I've finally finished writing all my articles on Soy Protein for The Protein Works and they're available here for you to read if you so wish. It was fun having a writing assignment and hopefully I'll get to do a bit more of that in the future but for now I'm kept busy enough.

Finally this week I shall leave you with a picture that I found especially inspiring… puts pay to the argument that lifting weights makes you bulky. If it's good enough for Marilyn, it's good enough for me. Rock on lady!

Green Tomatoes and Session Plans

Hello, how are you? That's a lovely outfit you have on. Have I told you lately how much I appreciate you? Well I do so thanks for stopping by to read my ramblings.

So what's new? Well I've been desperate to join a team for the Adidas Thunder Run but to no avail. I've had my first session of PT on my new programme, skipped Body Pump (lazy), went to Body Balance (felt strong), walked the dogs twice (more on that another time) and have a plan to go to parkrun for the second week on the trot tomorrow. This week I have also mostly been eating green tomato cake and writing session plan after session plan for my Gym Instructor assessment next weekend. I'm almost all done and will spend the next week looking like a loon as I practice teaching various stretches and exercises to someone who isn't there... resulting in talking to and possibly shouting at myself as I get the timings and names muddled up AGAIN. It'll be fine. It'll be fine. It will. Probably.

I made the cake because my mum had a surplus of green tomatoes after the plants died and we couldn't bear to waste them. It is addictive. I probably ate half of it in the last four days. I also made chutney but that has to mature for a while. I've also started to get a veg box again so have had no excuse not to eat healthily. The only challenge has been trying to eat things before they go off while not eating the same thing for three days in a row and eating larger portions than usual. I'm failing on that count at the moment. Batches of soup would be the order of the day if I had space to freeze them.

My new PT session is pretty good. I'm doing half an hour of intervals on the treadmill followed by chest press, shoulder press, lat pull down and leg press rounded off by abs work. I'm starting doing 3 sets starting with a manageable weight for 10 reps then increasing it by 5kg for 8 reps and again for 6 reps. It's HARD and I feel like a real weakling but I have to start somewhere and I'm desperate to see the weight increase so I'll persevere. I'm going to try and repeat the programme outside of the PT session but probably not this week as I'm focusing on my assessment.

Next week I'm all over the shop but plan to try out a Group Kick class, get to the gym once and do Body Balance again. I won't be able to fit in a parkrun before my assessment on Saturday 26th but I'll probably go for a run after, either to burn off excitable energy if I pass or to clear my mind if I don't.

Gloanna Yoga Run

One of the best ways I can think of to start a weekend is with a run in a park with friends, some lovely food and some prosecco. It just so happens that I spent last Saturday morning doing exactly that at the Gloanna Yoga Run in Battersea Park. Just a heads up, I will be using the word "lovely" quite a lot in this post.

Gloanna was set up by a chap called Paul in order to provide a community experience type of event for people like his girlfriend, who would go run, do a yoga class and grab something healthy to eat every Saturday without fail but with more human interaction. And a very fine job he's done of it too. I'd heard such great things about the first event, I signed up for second event as soon as I heard about it, and then talked Anita into joining me.

It's too early for all this

When you sign up to the event you get to choose a start time. I think there were three starts at 9am, 9:30am and 10am. As I am not a London dweller I chose 9:30 as that didn't mean getting up too horrifically early. A coffee on the train was very welcome though. On arrival at the park there are little signs to guide you in to the event village. It all felt very intimate and lovely with lots of ladies milling around chatting and the first group of runners going through a warm up. The event was female-dominated, unsurprisingly given the activities on offer, but I did spot a few fellas there too. 

We queued up to collect our race packs, consisting of a lovely and tasteful pale grey (cotton) event t-shirt and our running bib which featured our names (in the form GLOVIKKI or GLOANITA) instead of a number. This was not a timed event, the idea was to have fun and be sociable. Bags deposited and we were free to explore. The village was set up under a thick tree canopy which helped to shelter us from the persistent drizzle and there were two large gazebos set up a little way off to house the yoga classes (beginners and intermediates), one either side of a DJ tent. I don't actually remember hearing much of the music but it was lovely to know it was there. 

After trying our hands at some hula hooping we did our warm up, toasted each other with a shot of prosecco (or two) and set off on our run. It was a two lap course around the park, with super-cheery marshals who high fived us at every opportunity. Anita even got a full on hug from one chap! We didn't time ourselves but ran at the limits of "the speed of chat" and were grateful for the vitacoco at the finish line. The previous yoga class was still going on so we took the opportunity to grab a goody bag with water, banana and pot of watermelon, a bounce ball, a full sized glass of fizz and a tub of Whey Hey protein ice cream which was delicious when I finally got it to thaw enough to get a spoon into it! We both opted to have a free head neck and back massage and in doing so missed the start of the yoga class. It was a pity because it looked great, and we probably could have joined in but we were getting cold and I had another event to get to so we picked up a sushi pack (seriously everything was gorgeous and delicious and lovely) and headed off. 

Relaxing with a massage

It was the most enjoyable event I've done in ages. Ok the baggage area could have done with being a little more organised, a few more hands to dish out the race packs would have negated the need for the 9:30 starters to be pulled to the front of the queue and a hot drinks stand would have been welcome given the weather but we both agreed it was fab and I'm keeping my eyes out for the next one. Paul sent out a lovely email yesterday with a couple of discount codes, a survey and an apology the the things he felt hasn't gone so well, which just added to the personal tone of the event really. The next one won't be until 2014 but you can bet I'll be signing up again.