"if you are passionate about something, you will always find a way": interview with Trumi founder Camille Meskill + a give-away!!

This post is sponsored by Trumi.

I'm always on the look out for snacks that are easy to keep in the handbag when I'm out and about, and that are healthy and fit into my Almighty Nutrition Plan.  Trumi are a new range of nutritious snacks especially designed for active women and they fit the bill very nicely indeed!  

Trumi was founded by personal trainer and trained actor Camille Meskill, who has been coaching clients in fitness and nutrition for eight years.  The inspiration behind Trumi was to create a delicious and nutritionally rich product with active women in mind.  They contain one of my very favourite things in the world....chia seeds!! Chia seeds, as you know from me spouting on about them, are one of the richest plant sources of protein and omega 3 fatty acid, not to mention absolutely delicious and easy to digest.

Each Trumi bar contains around 4.5g of protein and over 4g of fibre, along with essential nutrients such as magnesium and iron. They're filling too, and a great way to get some protein in.  I've been nibbling on some mid morning after a run if I need a snack - and I've got one stashed in the handbag for those emergency waves of hunger that tend to come out of nowhere when you're training for a big event :)

The bars come in two flavours - Hazelnut Berry and Raspberry Cacao.  They are both packed with chia seeds and almond butter and lots of yummy natural things.  Of the two, and it was a tough call, my favourite is the Hazelnut Berry.  Very moreish, with a lovely Nutella-esque aftertaste (always a good thing!), if you want a yummy but super healthy snack on the go, look no further!  The Hazelnut Berry bars contain dried blueberries, hemp seeds and maca too.  I love maca and use it in just about everything - smoothies, hot chocolate, soups.  Camille's certainly managed to pack heaps of super foods into this little bars!

The bars are also vegan and wheat free.  You can order them online or find them at your local independent health store or yoga studio.

I'm always fascinated to hear what sets people on the path of health, fitness and turning their passion into a business, so I asked Camille to answer a few questions about Trumi and her own journey....

Can you please tell us a little about how you got started on the path of fitness and nutrition?

I actually graduated in performing arts and started working on stage in London. I really felt under pressure to be a certain size and shape but decided that being healthy and fit was more important to me.  I started to work with a personal trainer which ultimately made me realise how much I wanted his job!  Within 6 months I left London for Bristol to study fitness and nutrition.

You seem to have a very holistic approach to training and fitness.  Can you tell us a bit about this, and has it been successful with your clients and in your own life?

I don't believe in diets and am always upfront when clients about this. I think many women, whatever age they are, get themselves into a vicious circle of yo-yo dieting instead of improving their relationship with food. Focusing on lifestyle changes has not only made a difference in my life but with the clients I've worked with too.  Many of us want to give up because it is easier which is why I always encourage clients to look at the bigger picture but also to take each day as it comes.

How did the idea for Trumi come about? 

When I moved back to Wales I knew that I wanted to set up a brand to help and inspire women.  It was in 2011 while taking a short break in the Cotswolds that I decided I would start by making my own natural protein bars.

What has been the process of turning the Trumi idea into a reality?  How have you found it?

Hard work!  But whatever you want to do in life you have to start somewhere and believe in yourself. It has been a long journey but if you are passionate about something you will always find a way.

What are the plans for Trumi in the future?  Are more exciting flavours planned? :)  

I have so many exciting plans! Some I cannot say, but this month I am hoping to launch the new boutique gift box.  I am also currently working on some new t-shirts and tops in time for the yoga show at the end of October.

Do you have a favourite Trumi flavour? 

Raspberry Cacao! I keep them in the car for when I am out and about.

What advice would you give to others wanting to turn their passion into a business? (or what do you wish you had known at the outset?)

Get some advice first from your local authority or business support team and find out what grants are available to you.  And something I wish I had known before I launched Trumi is to take my time, as it is so easy to rush into things when you are so passionate and excited about something!

Apart from Trumi of course (!), what are you most excited about?

When I am not working I love spending time away.  I have a thing about caravans, I love them! I have a huge passion for film and music and continue to do some acting work too. I also love animals and it's my dream to work with elephants one day.

Do you have a mantra or motto that you live by? 

Be happy, healthy and true to myself.

*****

And now it's give-away time!

Camille has very generously offered one lucky Skinny Latte Strikes Back reader a whole box (containing 30 bars) of her Trumi bars.  You'll be sorted for a while!  Here's all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning this great prize:

• Like the Trumi Facebook page  and
• Like the Skinny Latte Strikes Back Facebook page  and 
• Leave a comment on this post on the SLSB Facebook page telling us which Trumi flavour you most like the sound of!

The give-away is open to UK readers only (sorry Oz/NZ/everyone else! I hope to have an international give-away soon!) Entries close 12am UK time, Saturday 1st September 2012.  I will then draw a winner at random!

Good luck to all, and thanks Camille for being a part of SLSB today! :D

has anyone seen my motivation?: the training diaries, week 4

Ugh.  What a week.  It's been a really strange one!  My mojo all but deserted me for the first few days of this week.  I put it down to being a bit over it and in need of a holiday because everything was an effort.  I felt broken, sore and uninspired.  Normally you can't shut me up and word counts mean nothing to me (they're just a suggestion!) but for the last few days words just wouldn't come.  Being in front of a computer screen or a printed page made my head hurt.  All I wanted to do was sleep.

Ordinarily when I feel like this I get furious with myself.  What do you mean you're not motivated?  You've got half marathons to run!  You're running out of time!  Stop being so lazy! is normally what my inner critic starts shouting and then that just goes around and around in my head until the inertia finally seeps into my bones and I have no choice but to stop dead and have wasted a week floating around feeling tired and useless in the meantime.

This time I tried to do something different.  I just sat with it.  I didn't force myself to write blog posts or pitches I wasn't in the mood to write.  I didn't beat myself up if I just did a short run rather than the long one I planned.  I just tried to give myself what I needed.  I let myself sleep in one morning instead of getting up to get my run out of the way like I usually would.  I did lots of yoga.  I ran myself a bath and put lavender oil in it to help my sore muscles relax - and I didn't take anything to read into the bath like I usually would, I made myself just lie there.  I gave myself a foot massage.  I allowed myself just sit and read my book instead of worrying about the millions of things I should be doing instead.

And today I woke up and felt fabulous - like something that had been physically missing for a few days had returned - and have had an amazingly productive day!  Who would have thought that just letting yourself be a bit glum and moody and unproductive but trying to do kind, helpful things for yourself in the meantime for a while would help?  I think we could all do with being a bit easier on ourselves sometimes.  The world really won't end if we just take some time out.  And I think my big thing is realising that I am not a bad person or an unlikeable person or an unsuccessful person if I feel sad/overwhelmed/angry/unmotivated sometimes and admit it.  Nobody is infallible.  You can't be brilliant every day and every day can't be brilliant, as my mate Martin Yelling said.  Doing what you know you need to do is easy when you're motivated.  Doing what you know you need to do when you aren't all that motivated is where the real results happen!

Anyway, I didn't want this to be a downer post - I just wanted to be honest and let you guys know that I don't have an unlimited supply of motivation, I do have my low days - sometimes a string of them all together!  And despite my rather lacklustre and unmotivated week, I think I still did ok :)

The road runs have been excellent and I have been really noticing that I'm faster on the second half of a big run, which is a huge improvement.  I did 10k on Sunday on the roads and the first 5k was shocking - so shocking I almost turned around and went home!  But then some kind of magic kicked in around 6k and the rest of the run was great, apart from pulling my right shoulder.  I have been trying not to drink as much on my runs (after last week's needing to pop in to the pub to use the loo!) so I carried a full drink bottle most of the run, which was surprisingly heavy and weighed my right wrist down a lot.  Eventually I had to switch it to the left hand because the shoulder was playing up.  Some stretches helped and I managed to get home in one piece!  Since then I've done heaps of yoga and been careful not to move suddenly and it's been fine.

Interval training continues to go well.  I did a short run with some strides and knee lifts yesterday.  I am so much faster with the strides, which I think is down to both the increased fitness thanks to the trail training and more awareness of my arm movements after observing the Olympic athletes!  Knee lifts were a bit tough but I really need to work at getting my legs higher to increase speed.

Trail running is still great fun - today was in the rain and I was there at 8am so I had the entire parkland to myself!  I nearly fell over about ten times because of the mud but my newly activated core strength helped keep me upright.  I noticed I was about 60 seconds faster at the halfway point....was it the slipping and sliding, who knows?  I really love running in the rain.  And the hills were a lot easier this week too, thanks to reader Em's wonderful tip - she advised that instead of looking at the top of the hill, only look at the horizon.  It really has made a difference!

The only thing I'm concerned about with the trail runs at this stage is how bloody slow I am!  I concentrate on rhythm and try to watch where I'm going which admittedly slows me down a little but according to my tracker if I run like this in the race I'll be lucky if I do a half marathon in three hours!  Admittedly the GPS drops out a lot while I'm up on the trails so that's some comfort.  And my time for 5k on the roads is what I was doing when I was training for the marathon, and yet according to the app on my phone I'm covering about 8k in an hour on the trails.  It's bugging me and even though I'm seeing some improvements in my times and fitness on the trails I'm not sure what to do.

Core and strength training is an area where I've noticed a huge improvement.  Not only did I avoid the mud of doom on the trail run today (!) but it's taking longer for the burn to set in with my usual set of tricep dips!  I also did the "Fire" practice of my Shiva Rea DVD (the hardcore one!) and in the prostration push-up sequences I used to only manage about 6 - now I'm doing 10!  Overall I feel very strong and more toned than I did a few weeks ago.

The yoga poses I'm most enjoying at the moment are Bow and Pigeon, and anything that stretches the hips!

Bow pose, courtesy of Yoga Journal

I'm also noticing the benefits of my eating plan which admittedly has not been stuck to quite as strictly this week (!) but avoiding sugar where possible and trying to eat clean and get my body into fat burning mode seems to be having the desired effect.  All my clothes feel looser.  My jeans fit better than they have for ages!  But training your body to burn what you already have stored is a lot harder than fuelling yourself up before a run and just burning that off.  When you're burning off fat rather than sugar on a 10k run it really does burn!  For those who are curious this is a typical day on plan:

Breakfast (well brunch!) on Sunday

Before training: Water and, if it's cold, a cup of tea
Breakfast:  Gluten free porridge with yoghurt and fruit or two eggs with mushrooms, spinach, baked beans and gluten free toast or smoothie made with protein recovery powder, fresh fruit and soy milk + coffee with soy milk  
Snack (if wanted): Fruit (usually grapes or an apple) or a chia seed bar or yoghurt or rice cakes
Lunch: Baked sweet potato with hummus and salad or lentil and vegetable soup with gluten free toast or pasta and vegetables or eggs if I didn't have them for breakfast + green tea
Dinner: Small portion of stir-fried tofu and vegetables or soup or veggie burger and salad
Snack: Herbal tea and fruit

On Fridays and Sundays we usually have a drink, so I'll let myself have a beer or some wine on those evenings.  I also let myself have some sweet treats on Sundays.  It's not all that different to how I try to eat anyway - I've just been mindful of portion sizes and not allowing myself to load up on a second helping just because I'm training.  It seems to be working!

Now that I've written it all down, my week hasn't been all that bad!  I think it's just been keeping on top of my low moods that has been the challenge.  A change of scene will do me the world of good and I'm so, so happy that Tom and I are having a little holiday soon, it really can't have come at a better time.  But with now only 3 weeks until the trail half marathon (gulp!) I'll still be training (like I did on our honeymoon!!) so there'll be another training diary to regale you with soon :D

Hope you're having a lovely week and stay tuned for a FAB give-away tomorrow!! xx

monday mantra

Image courtesy of thingsweforget.blogspot.com

This one is a timely reminder for me that it's never too late.  Never stop hoping, never stop striving, never think it's too late to have another crack at something.  I hope you are inspired to take a chance today :D  

up and running, the podcast!

My guests for this podcast don't need much of an introduction as I'm sure you've heard of them! Inspirational writer Shauna Reid (author of The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl) and expert running coach Julia Jones, two friends who are the proprietors of Up and Running, revolutionary online running courses for women.

Since their launch in early 2011, Shauna and Julia have helped hundreds of women all over the world cross all kinds of finishing lines and take their lives to a new level through learning to run.  Up and Running offers a unique online coaching experience for a 5k, a 10k and a half marathon, with the 5k and 10k being a group course and the half marathon being self paced.

In addition to the coaching, you get loads of materials in the form of training guides, inspirational videos and stories via a members only blog written by Shauna and Julia, and lots of interactive support through the member forums.  It's an awesome way to learn to run or to take your running to the next level.  Julia also helped me train for the London Marathon last year and I can attest that 1) she really knows what she's talking about and 2) she gets results!!

In this podcast, Shauna and Julia share the story of how Up and Running came about, the challenges and joys of running an online business, and what prospective runners can expect from their online coaching experience.   Julia also answers some SLSB reader questions about running - how to start again after a few months off, running with a pram, running with a back injury and how to get your body into fat burning mode while training for a long distance race.  If you like running chat, or if you've ever wanted to know how to outrun the zombies (!), you'll love this podcast!

You can listen to our chat here:

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Or download it to your computer

Or get it in iTunes

I really enjoyed putting this podcast together (with the help of my amazing audio genius husband Tom!) and Shauna and Julia are just such passionate, inspiring and fabulous women whom I feel truly honoured to know.  I hope this episode inspires you to get out there and get running, or if you have an idea or a dream simmering away maybe you'll be inspired to take a leap of faith and give it shot, like Shauna and Julia did.  Thanks again ladies for being such great guests :)   

If you would like to know more about Up and Running all the details are on their website.  The autumn 5k and 10k courses start soon!

Have a happy and inspiring Thursday xx

PS: You could also WIN a place on an Up and Running course of your choice over at Shauna's blog, check it out!

Images in this post used courtesy of dietgirl.org/upandrunningonline.org

will run for beer: the training diaries, week 3

It was so gloriously sticky and hot here on Sunday that Tom and I could think of nothing better than to hang out in the garden of a local pub, frosty cold beer in hand.  Actually, that morning, when it was already 25 degrees at 9am, I had headed out for a road 10k and desperately needed the loo at 7k.  I have a no toilet stop record for all my races but for some reason I just couldn't hang on for the next 3k...due to the heat I'd had a lot of water before I headed out.  So I stopped in a pub to use their facilities (after going to the train station first and finding their toilets locked and bolted, meh!) and promised them I'd come back for a beer later on!  I'm a woman of my word :D  Landlords, runners really appreciate being able to use your loos!

So, training for my 3 in 3 weeks continues!  Here's what I've been up to.....

Trail runs
I've stepped it up a notch with the trail runs.  For the last week I've been concentrating on getting into a good rhythm on the trails, which seems to be working well. It has got easier and yet it hasn't, if that makes sense.  I'm managing to run on the trails for about 30-40 minutes before needing a short walk break (which is a huge improvement - it was 15 minutes 3 weeks ago!) but when everything starts going uphill I just get so out of breath so quickly. I'm possibly trying to go up them too fast - my strategy with hills has always been to go fast to get them out of the way!

Keeping my strides small, as Coach Julia suggested, is definitely helping, both with getting into a good rhythm and also avoiding the rabbit holes, dips, rocks and other things you encounter on the trails!  I'm getting better at avoiding the stinging nettles too.  Yesterday was my first day of not getting stung!  Last week I was not so lucky...ouch!

Once I've got to to the top of Heartbreak Hill, I take a break and do tricep dips on a bench with this view:

    
I really, really enjoy the trail running - mostly for the change of scenery and that for the most part there's hardly anyone else there!  I work hard but it's a very meditative experience even though you have to be a bit more aware of your surroundings and can't completely switch off as you would if you were on a flat stretch of road.  I love the earthy, grounding smell of the trails, particularly this past week with it being so muggy, the woods had a pungent almost jungle-like smell.  Not the same as the peppery smell of gum leaves but still fun and uplifting to immerse yourself in.

On Friday's trail run I will be out there for 2 x 40 minute runs plus stretching and hill work!

Road runs
Compared to the trails, my road runs are quite straightforward and I'm amazed at the difference!  Today's run was a recovery of sorts after yesterday's trail run, so I just did 5k and then 10 x 100m strides.  But the 5k, which I'd normally plod through, I did at probably 80% of my threshold pace - I felt a lot faster and stronger than I usually do first thing in the morning.  And the strides were incredible!  I'm still channelling my inner Olympian here and I've been more conscious of using my arms in my speed work since watching all those superstars in the athletics a few weeks ago, and it has really made a difference.  I flew through the strides this morning!  Normally around 5 of the 10 I start feeling exhausted and take a lot longer than the specified 30 seconds to recover between each one.  Today I didn't start getting tired until number 9!

So it is apparent that the trail running, as unfit as I sometimes feel as I negotiate another incline or another pebbly path, is improving my fitness overall and the difference in my road running is quite remarkable!  But having said that, it's still not easy.  Every time I've got out there recently I've thought...."why did you want to do this again?!"  But then I'll push through that and by the end of the run I'm high on endorphins and hungry for the next time.  It's so weird!

Kit
The purple t-shirt and black racer back top I got from Zalando have been my main running tops as it's been so warm...and they stay so dry even when I can feel the sweat stinging my eyes!  My shoes are holding up well on the trails but I'm wondering if I need some special trail shoes?  Anyone got any ideas/recommendations?

Fuel
I'm fuelling a bit differently this time around to try and get some fat loss happening.  Instead of loading up on carbs and tucking a packet of sports beans into my arm band, I'm just heading out on these runs having had a cup of tea and lots of water. I'm finding that while I'm tired afterwards I'm perfectly able to do these runs without needing to load up as I used to.  For short runs, I just have water afterwards and then eat my next meal as planned, maybe some fruit or a rice cake if I'm hungry.  For the longer runs (10k plus) I take a sports drink (that I make up from a powder) to have during and then recover afterwards with lots of water and some fruit and yoghurt:

I'm loving fruit and yoghurt at the moment, it's all I want to eat!!  Grapes and apples especially.  The weather has been so lovely so we've mostly had salads as the star of dinner these last few days.  I'll put some recipes up soon for some of the things I've made, they've been really delicious.  Still going on the whole gluten free thing too (apart from the beer!)  In fact, I made my first loaf of gluten free bread today and it is magnificent:

Tomorrow is my rest day so there will be yoga and probably a light walk.  Then up early for my massive trail session on Friday!

Stay tuned for Week 4 :)

Are you training for something at the moment?  How are you going with it?

PS: New podcast tomorrow!!!

avoiding sports injuries

© Byronwmoore | Stock Free Images &Dreamstime Stock Photos

This post is sponsored by AXA PPP healthcare.

Have you ever had a sports injury?

I have only had two brief experiences with injury: the first was a few days after my first half marathon in 2009 when I was struck down with what I could only ascertain was runner's knee.  It lasted about a week and I wasn't able to run or walk very well either - for someone who was used to getting everywhere under her own steam this was frustrating to say the least!  My friend the GP taught me an exercise which I still do now, and three years, one marathon and  four half marathons (plus all the training!) later, I haven't had runner's knee since.  The second was a freak injury that I got after walking in bad shoes the day before the 10k Tom and I ran together last year.   I was able to do the race the next day, it was literally a 24 hour thing....but those 24 hours were very stressful!

I've heard so many stories of fellow athletes getting injured and being out of action for months at a time....and my heart has just broken for them.  I can't imagine how hard it must be to not be able to do something you love doing and when you're an energetic person used to living a very active life it must be so frustrating!  I know I've been very lucky but I also think it's down to these five things that I've actively done since long distance running has become a huge part of my life:

1.  Always warm up.
Start your runs at warm up pace - I sometimes find this hard and strike out a bit early, but I know what warm up pace feels like and force my body back to that rhythm for the first few songs on the iPod.  Save the power songs for later in the run!  Also, don't stretch at the start of the run, stretch once you've warmed up.

2.  Take three rest days a week.
I train four days a week, with a rest day in between except Sunday and Monday.  This works for me, allows me to have a drink on Friday nights (!) and Sunday is always a long run and Monday is a speed/intervals session.  On rest days I do yoga (see point 4).

3. Learn how to do pistol (one legged) squats.
These (or my version!) helped me recover from runner's knee and regular practice of them has ensured it has stayed away!

4.  Do yoga.
Yoga is the most perfect compliment to running I can think of. It gets all those sore muscles nicely stretched out!

5.  Listen to your body.
It's important to get to know your own body, which will come with time and experience, the longer you spend in your sport.  You will get to know the difference between discomfort because you are pushing yourself and pain because something is wrong.

If you ever are injured, it's important to get it managed by a professional ASAP, particularly if you want to have a speedy recovery.  AXA PPP healthcare are having another of their excellent expert chats this Thursday to offer help and advice to people of all fitness levels on the prevention and treatment of sport injuries, e.g. shin splints, sore knees, aching joints, cartilage tears.  If you have any burning questions about injuries, here's your chance!

The expert web discussion will take place on Thursday 23 August from 3pm-5pm UK time, here.  It's completely free and you can join in live on the day or ask your questions beforehand on Facebook and Twitter.

Health expert and GP Dr Alasdair Wright will be available to answer questions on sports injuries.  Dr Wright has a special interest in health and fitness having also been a national team tennis player and coach.

You can also catch up on the questions and answers after the live chat and check out many healthy living guides in the be healthy section of the AXA PPP website, including warm up guides and and this guide on sports injuries.

I have two questions for the expert, the first on behalf of my keen-to-run-again husband, is: what is the best way to avoid shin splints?  And I personally would like to know what other exercises can I do to strengthen my knees as occasionally, despite my regular pistol squats and yoga, I get a few niggles.  Is it a question of improving my running technique, perhaps?

What about you?  Any tales of injury and recovery to tell? :)

monday mantra

Another Oprah-inspired Monday Mantra - I originally thought it was her who had spouted this little bit of wisdom, but it was actually a guest on one of her shows.  Jill Bolte Taylor is a brain scientist who suffered a stroke sixteen years ago, aged 37 and an important part of her recovery was the energy of the people around her.  Her brain injury made her more perceptive to people's energy and it taught her a lot about how people present themselves and the effect, conscious or not, that someone's energy can have on another person, on their environment and in the wider world.  Energy can't be faked.  People often aren't aware of the power their energy, positive and negative, has on others.  Hence, Jill started asking people to take responsibility for the energy they brought into her space while she was recovering (you can see more here) and she has maintained that standard for her life ever since.  A simple concept, but a very powerful one.

I think if these monday mantras have a theme, it would probably be that it's up to us.  It's up to us to make the life we want.  We have to take responsibility.  We all have the power to keep from wallowing in emotions that don't serve us well.  We all have the power to choose what energy we put out there.  We all have the power to choose what we focus on.

For example, on Friday morning I got some really exciting and promising news which thrilled me to my core and then, within half an hour, I also got some really, really shitty news that toppled me off the high I was on.  I was furious.  Hurt, angry and utterly, utterly furious.  I felt like I would combust with rage at the injustice of the situation.  I had expected better, heck I deserved better, I said indignantly to myself as I paced up and down.  But then after about ten minutes of feeling like crap, it hit me.  What the hell was I doing?  I had had some wonderful news earlier in the day....and I was going to forget about that, ignore that potential, because of a situation that hadn't gone the way I had hoped and that I couldn't change? 

So I decided to focus on the exciting and promising news instead.  And, surprise surprise, I had a much better and more productive day for it.  There was a residual sting from the shitty stuff, admittedly, but I felt so much more powerful by shifting my energy towards the things that would serve me, that would uplift me, that would move me forward.

It's not easy to do, and nor am I saying it's the correct response to every negative situation - I just find it a more helpful way of being.  Being positive, or choosing to focus on the positive, doesn't mean you're out of touch with reality, it just means you're taking responsibility for the energy in your life.  Taking time out to grieve a major disappointment, a blow to the heart or a serious loss....that's different.  That's not the stuff I'm talking about.  I mean the small things - small blows, small hurts, small disappointments that in a year's time aren't going to matter that much - that aren't ideal but certainly aren't worth wasting a day of your life wallowing in when there's so much to be grateful for and proud of.  Sadness, sorrow and disappointment are a part of life, even a happy life.

In addition to taking responsibility for your own energy, you have to take responsibility for the energy you allow in to your life.  There are a lot of people out there who don't take responsibility for their energy and there is only so much of this you can allow in your life if you're going to keep reaching, striving and becoming the person you want and need to be.  A couple of years ago I decided I had had enough of toxic people because, for some reason, I seemed to keep attracting them, despite all the positive steps I had taken to become my authentic self! There was obviously still something in me that I needed to work on (the chronic people pleasing, wanting to be seen as a "nice" person) but I think most of all it was me needing to grow a bloody backbone, stand up for myself and take responsibility for what I was allowing into my life as well as what I was putting out there myself.  Realising that I was allowed to want to only associate with people who enhanced the quality of my life was an incredibly profound thing, and it changed my life for the better.  Having high standards for the company you keep is one of the highest acts of self love there is.

In fact, to go off on a little tangent (just for something different, ha ha), I get just as many emails from people who are thinking about leaving or have just left their marriage/long term relationship as I do from people wanting to lose weight and get fit.  They ask me how did I cope and how did I recover from my divorce and find love again....and my answer to them is "I learned to love myself."  And usually that advice turns people off because they think it's such a cliché.  I did too, once upon a time.  When I heard the phrase "loving yourself" I used to think it meant taking yourself "out on dates", buying yourself flowers and investing in a vibrator.  Those are all great things to do as a newly single person but actually what it means, from a healing and an authentic living point of view, is taking all the love that is inside you, all the kindness, support and care that you would normally reserve for others (others whom you want to love you), all the energy that you would put into making someone else's life happy, and give it to yourself so that you can start to go through life with confidence and trust that you can create the life you want and deserve without relying on anyone else to do it for you.  It isn't easy - I had to go to counselling for years to learn how to do it - but taking responsibility for your life never is.  But the peace and the empowerment that comes with it is completely worth it.

When you learn to be completely happy in your own company you can just be yourself around people instead of trying to impress them and you can enjoy other people for who they really are as well without expecting anything from them in return.  And that is when you tend to meet the right people, your people - be they friends, lovers or a future spouse.  Well, that's certainly how my experience went anyway!  It's different for everyone of course but I think that being comfortable, happy and confident in your own company makes you a much better friend and partner.

Anyway, there was a point to sharing that little insight, and it's that taking responsibility for the energy you put out there and also the energy you allow yourself to be surrounded by will go a long, long way to making your life a happy, deep, true and satisfying one.  Energy is all around us.  It reflects who we are, what we believe about ourselves, our actions, our thinking.  For every action, there is a reaction.  Your energy also draws people in to you, to reflect who you are and what you're putting out there.  If you don't like what is being attracted and reflected to you....maybe you need to change it.  And don't be afraid to.  It will radically transform your life!

So today, I invite you to be conscious of the energy you bring to a space or situation, and the energy you surround yourself with.  Is it good energy?  If not, why not?  


*****

What is Monday Mantra?
I love inspirational quotes and about seven years ago, when I had no motivation, no direction and no idea how to make my life what I wanted it to be, I read something that changed everything. It was a small quote in a magazine, from the Australian marathon runner Pat Farmer. He said “if you really want to do something, in your heart of hearts, you will find a way. But if you don’t really want to do something, you will always find an excuse.”
It was so fantastic….and made so much sense. It became my mantra. It still is.

Now, through my various trawls through the internet, I see many things that catch my eye and fire me up, and I want to share these with you. So I put them all together and post one a week. Something that I think is worth sharing, something that I think is good to be reminded of.  Something that might just be for you what that Pat Farmer quote was for me.

how to make your own body scrub

This post is sponsored by Floral and Hardy.

As most of you would know, I love plants and gardens.  I don’t know if I am a gardener though, per se.  I do try.  I borrow books from the library about “easy” gardening but immediately get lost when a chapter descends into soil pH levels, hybrids, pollination….I do not have a good enough grasp of the science I think you need to be a good gardener.  Perhaps I am an “aspiring gardener”? ;)

But I love to grow herbs.  They are the low maintenance/aspiring gardener’s best friend as they are almost impossible to screw up – plant, water and pick seems to be all you need to do!  I grow rosemary, bay (the two trees are the ones that were on the main table at our wedding reception, still going two years later) and parsley.  One day I hope to have a greenhouse like my father-in-law does, which smells rich and earthy with tomatoes, coriander and basil.  For now I keep my small patch of earth going as best I can and I’m sure when I eventually have a large garden to myself one day I’ll want to call in the professionals as garden design is not my forte!

Herbs have such practical uses too – as well as eating them, you can use them in home remedies and beauty products, something I am a huge fan of.  Lots of beauty products are easy to make yourself, particular the more high end things like body scrubs.  I use them a lot as exfoliation is a big part of my beauty regime when in training because it’s a good way to avoid chafing.  I don't tend to chafe all that much (probably thanks to the exfoliation regime!) but when I do I get it under my arms after a long run.  I find that exfoliating my whole body at least once a week tends to make it an occasional thing rather than a frequent one.  And it makes my skin glow too!

So when Floral & Hardy contemporary garden design asked me to come up with a natural beauty recipe that included ingredients you can grow in your garden, a body scrub was the first thing that came to mind as they are so easy and cheap to make at home yourself.  All you need is oil, salt or sugar, and some “flavourings” and off you go!

My body scrub features mint and chamomile – two plants that are very easy to grow in an English garden.  They both have excellent therapeutic qualities which make them ideal for a home beauty product.  Mint is a stimulating smell so ideal if you want to feel alert and refreshed; it is also known to help with muscular aches and pains.  Chamomile tempers the mint by introducing some calmative and anti-inflammatory properties.  It is also excellent as a relaxant and good for muscular aches and pains.  Perfect for the long distance runner!

A bonus – you can also make a beautiful homemade herbal tea out of them to drink after you’ve given yourself your beauty treatment.  Mint and chamomile is one of my favourite herbal tea combinations so I had a feeling a body scrub would be just as good!

Mint and chamomile body scrub

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup finely chopped (or smashed in a pestle and mortar) dried chamomile flowers
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
5 drops lavender essential oil
1 large jar or empty body butter container, to mix and store


1.  Gather your dry ingredients – mint leaves, chamomile flowers and sugar and place in the container you’re going to store the scrub in.  Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly.

You can use salt or sugar for this scrub – an ordinary table salt or sugar would work fine.  I chose dark brown sugar because from what I read it was a good idea to use it if you have sensitive skin as it's softer.  If you want something more gritty use salt.

2.  Get your oil ready – you can use olive oil, baby oil, almond oil, even vegetable oil.  I used an unscented bath oil which is a blend of sunflower, apricot kernel and wheat germ oils.  The rule of thumb when making a body scrub is to use 1 part oil to 2 parts sugar or salt.  So in this case, I used 2/3 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup of oil (the mint leaves and chamomile flowers added a little bulk but not much).

3.  Mix it all together.  To add a final touch to the symphony of divine smells, I added 5 drops of lavender oil.  You could use any oil you like but I love lavender (which you can also grow easily in the garden).  I think a citrus oil would have worked very well here too with the mint and chamomile.

4.  Use the scrub with an exfoliation mitt or gloves.  Step into the bath, put your mitt or gloves on, a scoop of the scrub in your hands and get to work!  Spend extra time on the elbows, knees and feet, and on any problem areas (in my case, under the arms).  You’ll feel like you’re in a fancy spa, the smell is amazing!

5.  Rinse off when you’re done and then pat dry.  Your skin should feel soft and moisturised.  You should smell nice too!

The scrub will keep well for a week or two – to prolong its life you could keep it in the fridge but I haven’t found that necessary so far.  It’s such a gorgeous and refreshing smell.  I think the aromas have deepened and intensified as the days have worn on….the only chore is cleaning the bath after I’m done!

What are your favourite herbal combinations? Have you tried making your own beauty products before?

fifty shades of grey: the verdict and some alternatives

So, I read it.

It was ok.  Perhaps not as awful as some people told me it was, but I think it's the subject matter rather than the quality of the writing that has helped it achieve the status it has.  But I suppose that's the thing about culture, you never really know what might strike a chord or spark a blaze at a particular time.

While it is tempting for me to tear into Fifty Shades of Grey, I don't really want to (too much!), mostly because a lot of other people already have, and in a far more eloquent and hilarious manner than I could.  But also I just want to give my opinion, rather than a criticism.  Fifty Shades author E.L James has said that this book, and the others that followed it, are "my mid life crisis, writ large....all my fantasies in there, and that's it."  So if we're looking at what the author intended, which I think is very important, if this is just a fantasy then I think she has mostly succeeded.  Fifty Shades is not a realistic book, at all.  I think most women would have run a mile from Christian Grey the minute he started mentioning S&M, let alone handed you a contract spelling out all of his terms and conditions of the arrangement, including specifying workouts with a personal trainer four times a week, a strict diet and no masturbation.  So many times over the book's 514 pages Ana asks "should I run?" and every time I thought FUCK YES! RUN! RUN AWAY NOW!!

A few reviews I read voiced the concern that impressionable young women, particularly teenagers, might read it without the benefits of experience and wisdom and think that Ana and Christian's abusive (him) and submissive (her) relationship is cool or sexy or something they should try out for themselves.  I must admit that thought crossed my mind too.  Horrifyingly, there were a few aspects of Ana's character that reminded me a little of myself ten years ago - ie, very very naïve.  And I know when I was properly single for the first time I fell under the spell of several inappropriate people, men who were good looking and powerful and knew it.  All those adventures (nothing like Fifty Shades though, I hasten to add!) led to the gaining of hard-won wisdom, something I'm grateful for now, but mostly I look back at that time and laugh! :)  As a 31 year old woman I did not find the character of Christian Grey appealing in the slightest.  But I could see (only just) why a naïve, inexperienced 21 year old whose knowledge of men extends to Alec d'Urberville and Angel Clare might.

So, my verdict is....it was ok.  It was a bit of fun that I occasionally rolled my eyes at.  Nothing more. I am not interested at all in reading the next two books - I just don't care enough about what happens to them!  A lot of things grated on me and irritated me.  There were a lot of clichés and a lot of repetition.  I will be happy if I never hear the words "inner goddess" or "Holy Moses" ever again!   I didn't think it was particularly well written, sexy or exciting.  It was just interesting to see what all the fuss was about.

As a piece of fantasy, however, it kind of worked.  So I hope that's how people read it, as a fantasy.  Something that doesn't have to be consistent, or make sense, or have any bearing in the real world, just a piece of pure escapism. But as a lover of words and a trained editor I find it hard to escape into a piece of writing that is riddled with inconsistencies and unlikeable characters....hence I will continue to escape elsewhere!

If you can suspend your disbelief, ignore the lack of editing and resist the urge to slap Ana Steele yourself, maybe you'll like it!  The questions it raises about sexual politics will ensure we haven't heard the last of it, certainly not for the time being.

For much funnier reviews of Fifty Shades than I could ever write, check these out for a laugh:

http://redlemonade.blogspot.ch/

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340987215

BUT if you want erotic fiction that is beautifully written and incredibly sexy to read, stories that are not just about sex but about human nature, interaction and life, may I recommend the following:

The Bride Stripped Bare by Nikki Gemmell

Originally published under the name "Anonymous", this book really did shake up the landscape of erotic fiction by women over the last decade.  It is a raw, honest, compelling, relatable and thoughtful meditation on female sexuality and marriage.  Nikki Gemmell's writing is like poetry, so fearless and original.  She was very quickly outed as the anonymous author of the book, and her reasoning behind it was that she felt that if she knew her name was going to be attached to it she wouldn't have been able to write the book the way she had, fearlessly and without inhibitions.  That amuses me, given how people have reacted to Fifty Shades of Grey which is far more graphic and coarse than this.  I think Gemmell's tone, and choice of the second person narrative, creates a real intimacy with the reader and narrator that Fifty Shades just doesn't have, and hence it perhaps feels more revelatory, more close to the bone.  It's exquisite and heartbreaking, and remained with me long after I finished it. I've not read Gemmell's latest, With My Body, yet but I plan to.

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H Lawrence

There's a reason why this book was banned and people who dared to read it wrapped the cover in thick brown paper!  Written in 1928 and banned in Britain until the 1960s, it's a saucy, thrilling, sensual and very poetic read which I studied at university and have never forgotten.

Anything by Anais Nin

I discovered the journals of Anais Nin when I was about fifteen.  Discovering her and her work changed my life.  There is so much I could write about this woman, and indeed I've tried, but to be a woman writing erotica in a time when erotica was not in the mainstream and definitely not written by or for women, shows what a brave and resourceful soul she was, and also how much things have changed and how, despite everything, I think the dialogue about the popularity of Fifty Shades is a good thing.

But this was the late 1930s and no one would publish her work so Anais bought a second hand letter press and hauled it on to the subway to her office, where she proceeded to set the type by hand and then print copies of her book herself.  She challenged every single notion about what women writers should be and what sort of writing they should produce.  Her work, while powerful and erotic, is about characters, interactions and relationships too.  I heartily recommend "Fire" from A Journal of Love, A Spy in The House of Love, Delta of Venus, Henry and June....any of them really.  Her diaries are also excellent, and I really want to read A Woman Speaks as well.

Lace by Shirley Conran

Probably the first "naughty" book I ever read which has just been re-released (coincidence?) as "the scandalous classic that defined an era".  I haven't read it probably since I was 15, I wonder if I'd find it as racy and scandalous now - I certainly did at the time!  A very glamorous and decadent book indeed, with quite a few kinky twists (well, they were very kinky to a 13 year old!  I seem to remember something about a goldfish).

Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson

This is a gorgeous book, so beautifully written. A genderless lover is engaged in an affair with a married woman and the situation becomes complex and confusing for both lovers.  It's very erotic but also very philosophical as well.  It's almost about being in love with being in love, exploring the very nature and capacity of human beings to love, what it all means.  It's not just about sex, it's about beauty, about commitment, about fidelity, about life.  People are not simple, and love is not simple, and I love how this novel meditates on those ideas.  I want to read it again and again.

“What kills love? Only this: Neglect. Not to see you when you stand before me. Not to think of you in the little things. Not to make the road wide for you, the table spread for you. To choose you out of habit not desire, to pass the flower seller without a thought. To leave the dishes unwashed, the bed unmade, to ignore you in the mornings, make use of you at night. To crave another while pecking your cheek. To say your name without hearing it, to assume it is mine to call.”

 - from Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson

I can only dream of writing like that.

I think something we can be pleased with about the Fifty Shades frenzy is that it's got people talking about erotica written by and for women.  Considering how many really GOOD examples of it are out there, this can only be a positive thing.  There have been scathing reviews about how this sort of book sets feminism back...well, maybe, if you choose to see it that way.  But when I think about what writers like Anais Nin put up with, fought for and fearlessly brought about, the fact we can now have public debates and discussions about erotica, about sex and sexuality, about boundaries, about what it means to write about these things; to have a piece of erotic fiction written by a woman be as popular as Fifty Shades of Grey has been; that women can write these things and not have to remain in the shadows any more....I think this is all very, very positive indeed.

And you might be wondering....yes, I wrote a few erotic scenes for my own novel.  It was fun!  At first I was worried they were a bit lame but the people who've read it so far have told me otherwise, so.....hmmm!  I might just ask my parents and grandmother to skip those chapters if it eventually makes it into print!  I don't think I'll be trying to rival E.L James as an erotic fiction writer any time soon but....never say never ;)

Have you read Fifty Shades of Grey, or any of my favourite alternative reads?  What do you think?

the training diaries: weeks 1 & 2

Well, training for three half marathons in three weeks (or Project Insanity) has begun in earnest!!

For those not in the know, this is the race schedule:

1. Helly Hansen Beauty and The Beast Half Marathon, Henley-on-Thames - 22/09/2012
2. Ikano Robin Hood Half Marathon, Nottingham - 30/09/2012
3. The Royal Parks Half Marathon, London - 07/10/2012

The first one on the list is the one that will definitely be the most challenging as it's a trail half marathon - run completely on windy dirt tracks, with a hill (The Beast!) every 4 miles!!

All of my races so far, and hence my training, have been done on roads (with the occasional dirt path in Battersea Park, Richmond Park or through a field round here) so this new challenge has required me to step up and get back to nature.  Luckily my current area of residence has ample tracks and trails for me to avail myself of so, off I went to tackle Week 1 of training with gusto...

This is the flat bit!

I was very motivated to get out there and train after watching the brilliant women's Olympic triathlon on the Saturday morning.  It wasn't the winners I kept in my mind while training, surprisingly, but sixth place getter Kiwi athlete Andrea Hewitt who, to my mind, had the most incredible race and ran most of the run leg solo.  She looked so strong!  I couldn't get the image out of my head and it definitely helped during the tougher moments of this run.

Tough training tip 1: pretend you're in the Olympics.

I did about 5km on the trails which included windy and bumpy paths, dodging cows who graze on the land up there, and then a giant hill.  I found myself completely out of breath and aching so I had to intersperse the run with walking, something I haven't had to do for ages which started all the "you're so unfit!" thoughts, which was annoying!

Then I started going downhill towards the roads to run the 6 or so kilometres home:

When I finally got to the bottom I started running again along straight flat roads and all of a sudden the aches were gone and this was easy!!  My fitness hadn't deserted me after all.  I loved the next 2km, I felt like I was flying.  But then I had to do a bit of "run until you reach that pole then walk for 60 seconds" trick but it was ok.  Overall I felt strong and confident that if I keep going this will get easier.

I've also started ending runs with tricep dips and push ups like I used to do and I'm noticing some muscle definition! (as did my sister on Skype this morning, ha ha!)

My recovery runs between the trail training sessions tend to be 40-50 minutes on road, with a set of 10 x 100m strides in the middle.  I am doing yoga on my rest days which is also helping with the muscle definition!  You might remember me mentioning this yoga DVD to you:

I've upgraded to doing the "Fire" sequence which has lots of push ups!  I also try and spend a few minutes after each run in Downward Dog because it is such a good stretch for the calves and legs.  Pigeon is also excellent for stretching the thighs and opening the hips!

I swear yoga is the reason I (touch wood) have avoided injury for the last few years.

Tough training tip 2: do yoga on your rest days.

Week 2 started with another trail training run which I decided to step up a notch - not only would I do a trail run I would do hill intervals!!

I'm really not being a wuss.....this hill is a lot steeper than it looks!

I really worked the abs and the arms on the hill intervals to try and take the pressure off the legs, which were BURNING.  Youch.

I ran back to the monument (all on an incline!) and then power walked downhill to the road, then ran 6km home.  Apart from feeling very thirsty and hot and wishing it would rain (!) it went pretty well.  Covered a bit over 12km all up.

Today I did a recovery run of 30 minutes and a bit of yoga.  Tomorrow will be all yoga and then a 60 minute trail run (all trail!) with hill intervals on Thursday.

Having spoken to my coach Julia today and picked up a few tips from her for multi-terrain training, this is what I'll be bearing in mind on Thursday:

Tough training tip 3: concentrate more on rhythm than speed.

Tough training tip 4:  keep your strides small.

I'm basically following the marathon training plan which Julia wrote for me last year because it is a proven regime to build up my aerobic fitness very quickly which, let's face it, with my first race only 5 weeks away, I need to do!

Another thing I am aiming for with my training and racing this time around is some fat loss which I hope will make me speedier and improve my performance.  I want to take off some of the "book bulge" which, although I have been assured endlessly to the contrary, I think I accumulated over June and early July when I bunkered down to get the damn thing finished!

Racing and long distance running is an important part of my life and I really want to keep improving.  Hence my diet is getting a small overhaul as well to see if it will make a difference to my performance.  As I already eat very well, and don't drink anywhere near as much as I used to (!), I wasn't sure where to make any changes but I think it's mostly portion size that needs looking at (it's so easy to justify bigger portions or second helpings when you're doing training like this!), but also the types of food I'm eating as well.  My mate Chris the Lucozade sports scientist has recommended eating more high soluble fibre foods, such as:

• Apple 
• Cooked Kidney Beans 
• Cooked Lentils 
• Raw Oat Bran 
• Banana
• Legumes 
• Peas 
• Soy beans 
• Broccoli 
• Carrots 
• Oranges
• Pear (with the skin) 
• Strawberries 
• Oatmeal 
• Oats 
• Barley 
• Citrus Fruits 
• Chickpeas
• Apricots 
• Dates 
• Prunes 
• Raisins 
• Flaxseed 
• Beets
• Grapes 
• Peaches 
• Prunes 
• Quinces
• Rye 
• Sesame seeds

A diet high in soluble fibre has been found to decrease the rate of visceral fat (stomach / mid-section fat tissue) accumulation so should help with the fat loss goal.  I bought bags of chick peas and soy beans to soak at the weekend!

Coach Julia has also recommended cutting down on sugar (which my diet is already pretty low in) and also getting my body into fat burning mode by bulking up breakfast and making my other meals during the day smaller. From all the advice I've been given and what I've read, "eating clean" seems to be the overriding principle.  I must stress this isn't about losing weight per se but about losing fat.  I do still have a bit of it ;)  It's mostly an experiment to see if it improves things.  

The thing is I know I could just do what I did last time, for my most recent half marathon and the marathon, where I eat very well but carb load like a mofo, treat myself to things after races and pretty much eat as normal but can justify larger portions because I'm burning it all off.  That would be fine. That's what I know.  But it's important to me to keep improving at this whole running thing.  I do it for me, for my mental and physical health, for my longevity and for enjoyment, but I like having something to aim for too.  It's just about trying to step it up a notch really and see what comes of it.  I'm already feeling the benefits of the last two weeks of eating very well thanks to the gluten free challenge and I'm keen to continue feeling this way, which is nourished, energetic and glowing!  Will changing the diet as I've described improve things even more?  Let's find out......

It feels nice to be working towards a small fat loss goal without all the emotions that were attached to my last weight loss attempt.  It's all about performance this time.  I'm thinking like an athlete! (again, watching so much of the Olympics has fired me up!)  I soooo want to get a sub 2 hour half marathon one day!

Next Tuesday I'll give you another training diary and let you know how it's all going :)

******

PS: The next podcast is in production!  Today I interviewed my coach Julia Jones and my pal Shauna Reid who are the dynamic duo behind Up and Running online running courses for women.  I got off the call absolutely buzzing!  I'm really excited to share this one with you, so stay tuned......

monday mantra

No, indeed we can't, Oprah.  Wise words.  I sometimes wonder where I might be had I decided to remain what I was, all those years ago.  I had lost my way in every sense of the word and every time I looked at my life or in the mirror I wanted to cry with rage because I knew it wasn't who I truly was or what I needed to be.  I blamed my job, I blamed bureaucracy, I blamed my finances, I blamed the economy, I blamed lack of opportunity, I blamed feeling obligated to the wants and wishes of others - I was willing to point the finger at everything except myself because myself was something that was actually within my control to change, to start acting differently, to start demanding more from myself and from life.  That would mean having to stop being what I was (defeatist, a bit lazy, undisciplined, a bit entitled, completely unassertive) and start acting more like what I wanted to be.  It would mean change.

Change is hard.  Change is uncomfortable.  Change is risky.  But if the alternative means staying in a life that isn't working for you, in habits and beliefs that aren't serving your highest good and preventing you from the being the best you you can be, and more to the point choosing to stay there......I know what I'd rather have!  Even if things don't work out the way you think they will, or if it takes longer to achieve a goal than you think, something will have changed.  Something will be different.

Many light-bulbs have gone off for me in the course of my healthy living journey but the ones at the beginning were incredibly profound.  Perhaps it is only now with hindsight that I can appreciate just what a huge leap I was taking.  All I knew was that a voice that had spoken up every now and then over the course of my early twenties had now started screaming.  This isn't who you are.

And you know what?  As my excuses slowly fell away, I began to realise that the life I was in was the result of choices I had made freely.  No one had held a gun to my head and told me to get married at twenty, get saddled with a mortgage and take a corporate job I hated.  Nor had anybody forced me to cope with the unhappiness by trying to eat it all away.  It was all my choice.  They were choices I admittedly had made for all the wrong reasons; I made them in naivety, out of fear, out of what they looked like to the outside world.  Finally I realised that my unhappy life, overweight body included, had all been my choice.

And if I stayed in it?  Well, that too would be my choice.  And that was something I really couldn't bear the thought of.

I get how scary it is when you know that things need to change but you feel paralysed when it comes to actually doing anything about it.  It's easier to keep going as you are than to change things.  If it were easy, everyone would do it and there would be no need for rambling reflections such as the one I'm writing now :)

And not everyone's life needs as major an overhaul as mine did.  And sometimes you need to grow up, knuckle down, pay your dues and compromise on a few things - because that's life.

But when you get to a certain point where you truly believe that the life you are living does not have the real you living in it.....things need to change.  You will never become what you need to be by remaining what you are.  You might feel safe and keep other people happy, but you're not going to get what you really want.

Speaking for myself, I have never regretted change.  The biggest, scariest, most profound changes in my life, as full on as they were at the time, made me the happiest I have ever been and no doubt have led me to where I am now.  Change is my friend.  I welcome it.  I trust I will always go where I need to be and everything will unfold as it is meant to.  I work hard for certain outcomes but I try not to force things.  I like being a work in progress.  And if things aren't turning out as I planned or hoped, I change things.    

It's so easy to get caught up in your mistakes and regrets in life, often to the detriment of your happiness in the present.  Move forward.  Change things.  If you're aren't happy you're entitled to do something about it.  It isn't selfish.  It's the highest act of self love there is.  Be brave enough to shake things up a little.  It doesn't have to be anything drastic, just start small.  You could take a step to being your best self simply by buying an alarm clock (if you're anything like me!) or by going for a walk after work instead of flopping on the couch.  Keep those habits going and they evolve into bigger, more dynamic actions.  Your life will begin to unplug and flow forward.

Either way, you are in control.  You're in the driver's seat.  It's your life.  Is it everything you want it to be?  

Added later:  Carol, a lovely reader on Twitter, told me that after last night's Olympic closing ceremony she has started thinking about where she might be/wants to be by the time the Rio 2016 Games come around.  I think that's a wonderful time-frame in which to set and achieve some long term goals.  So why not join us and get out a journal or a piece of paper and write where you want to be by the time the Olympic torch is lit in Rio in four years time?  Be as bold and daring as you want.  Get it out and read it again and again.  Make it happen! :) 

*****

What is Monday Mantra?
I love inspirational quotes and about seven years ago, when I had no motivation, no direction and no idea how to make my life what I wanted it to be, I read something that changed everything. It was a small quote in a magazine, from the Australian marathon runner Pat Farmer. He said “if you really want to do something, in your heart of hearts, you will find a way. But if you don’t really want to do something, you will always find an excuse.”
It was so fantastic….and made so much sense. It became my mantra. It still is.

Now, through my various trawls through the internet, I see many things that catch my eye and fire me up, and I want to share these with you. So I put them all together and post one a week. Something that I think is worth sharing, something that I think is good to be reminded of.  Something that might just be for you what that Pat Farmer quote was for me.

sunday catch up!

Happy Sunday!  How have you been?

I've just been trying to wrap up the past week and prepare for this one.....I feel like I did heaps but I probably didn't!!  It's mostly been getting back into the swing of training for not two halfs in two weeks, but three in three weeks!!

Yes, I found out last week that I'd won myself a spot in the Ikano Robin Hood Half Marathon....which happened to fall on the weekend between the Helly Hansen Beauty and the Beast and the Royal Parks Foundation Half!

I've wanted to do Robin Hood since I read about Maria's Robin Hood Adventure challenge last year so I'm really stoked to have got in....starting to question my sanity.....but stoked all the same!!

And when I think about it, when I was training for the Big M I was doing the equivalent of a half pretty much every weekend anyway....so perhaps it's not so crazy!  I've even started thinking "well, I'll be so fit, maybe I should look for a marathon to do in October...."......we'll bring you more on that story as it develops.

Of course now that I've started trail training, as the Beauty and the Beast is a trail half marathon, I'm questioning whether I'm fit enough to do anything!  It's so different training this way!  I'm going to start my first of what will be a regular training diary this week, so I'll go into a lot more detail about the training I'm doing and how I'm going with it, but let's just say there's a lot of work for me to do and it's going to get me out of my comfort zone big time!  Today I did a bit over 12km all up, which was about 5km at the national trust parkland (hills, trails, no cows to dodge today though!) and then 7km home on roads.  I was utterly shattered afterwards.  But I kept telling myself as I hobbled along the bumpy windy trails "if you keep this up, in a few weeks you'll be flying through here!" and given what I've proven I can do in the last year I don't doubt it....I just need to keep showing up and doing the work :)

I'm sad the Olympics is coming to an end tonight - I have absolutely loved it!  We even went into the city on Friday to catch some of the action:

London has an amazing energy at the moment - we loved being there and soaking up the atmosphere!

I'm still going with gluten free as well - apart from Friday night at a party where I had some beer and lots of bread based things, but I noticed the effect very quickly! - and have discovered some really delicious new favourite things!  One of them is fresh chickpea pasta:

It's made from ground chickpeas rather than flour and has such a nice nutty and savoury taste.  This brand was Dell'Ugo and I found it at Waitrose quite by accident....I love happy discoveries like that :)  I've made it both with roast vegetables and as above which was a version of the vegemite spaghetti, but with Marmite instead.  If you love chickpeas, you'll love this pasta!

I also found some Genius pita breads on sale at the local Tesco when doing the weekly shop and couldn't resist - I got two flavours, tomato and herb and garlic and chilli.  Both were divine but I think we liked the tomato and herb best:

I'm also enjoying all the lovely summer fruit:

I hope you had a happy, delicious stimulating week (and weekend!) as well :)

Who's watching the closing ceremony tonight?!  It might be another 1am bedtime!

refreshing my running wardrobe + a give-away!

Me in one of my new tops!

This post is sponsored by Zalando.

Seven years ago, if anyone had told me that running and yoga gear would make up 50% of my wardrobe today I think I would have died laughing (clothes that are too old/daggy make up the other 50%, ha ha!).

Workout gear is actually wonderful to wear, and not just when working out.  Everything is comfortable, mostly shows off the figure to the best advantage (!) and when I put on my capris and top of choice to go for a run, it feels like armour.  Some days I will wear one of my running tops and leggings around the house – no excuse for not doing my end-of-day yoga then – and I have lots of souvenir t-shirts from races I have participated in over the years.  My marathon finisher’s t-shirt is so big I’ve used it as a nightshirt!

But the thing with wearing it all so much is it gets a bit….worn out!  And one of my top tips for getting out of a workout rut is investing in some new gear to make you feel sparkly and motivated to get out there and show it off!  There’s nothing like having something fresh and new to try out to get you lacing up your shoes or rolling out the mat.  With something new I can indulge my fantasies that I look far more graceful when I run/do yoga than I actually do!

The lovely folks at Zalando very kindly offered me a £25 voucher to try out some of their range of sportswear – and with their recent fantastic sale I picked up a few bargains!  I decided to expand my range of running and yoga tops, with a variety of all different kinds of weather!

Zalando Sports Top – Black 

If you want to feel like an Olympian, this is the top!  In fact, when I put it on Tom said to me “you look like one of the women we watched this morning!” (we were watching the triathlon….and I wish!) I ran 11km in this top and even got caught in a downpour for the last 2km, and the top didn’t get soaked.  It was still relatively dry when I got back inside.  Very impressive!

I really love racer back tops – I have them in lots of colours and I’m delighted to finally have a black one in the collection.  Having every size from XS to L, I have come to the conclusion that M is the best size for me – not clingy but not loose either.  The Zalando website had some very helpful purchasing advice for this item, where other customers had recommended buying this top in a bigger size.  This was very useful to know!  So I bought this one in L.  Good choice, it’s a perfect fit.

Zalando Sports T-Shirt – Purple

I don’t tend to run or do yoga in t-shirts, but this one is so comfy and such a pretty colour!  I’ve even worn it out and about with my favourite grey shorts.

Zalando Sports Long Sleeve Top – Pink

I think this one is my favourite of the lot!  It’s so comfy and bright and girly!  I ran in it a few mornings ago and it will definitely be a winner for the cooler weather (I got a bit hot in it!). I love how soft and silky it feels too.

All of these items were Zalando’s own brand of sportswear, but they also carry lots of other brand names including Reebok and adidas.  I found this range incredibly good value for money.  And they look fantastic!

I’m normally not a fan of ordering clothes online but it’s incredibly easy to both find what you’re looking for and to make an informed decision about an item because they provide a lot of details. As well as recommendations about fit, there is detail about the breathability of the fabric, what sport the item is ideal for and washing instructions.  There are lots of photos too, and Zalando offer free delivery and free returns too so the price of the item is the price you pay!

I am very happy with my selections and foresee many happy runs and yoga practices in them.  Thank you Zalando!

And now it's give-away time!

Zalando are very kindly offering one lucky UK based Skinny Latte Strikes Back fan a £25 voucher to get themselves some brand spanking new workout gear!  If you’ve been inspired watching the Olympics as I have, this is your chance to kit yourself out!

Here’s all you have to do to win!

1.  Like the Skinny Latte Strikes Back Facebook page (if you haven’t already!)

2.  Like the Zalando International Facebook page

3.  On the SLSB Facebook page, leave a comment telling me what you’d use your £25 voucher on!

The give-away is for UK readers only (sorry international friends!) and closes midday on Thursday 9th August.  The winner will then be drawn at random and sent their voucher code via email to spend on whatever goodies they like!

Good luck!

Clothing images used in this post courtesy of Zalando. Pictures of me are by...me.