Meal Plan - 30/04/13 - 05/05/13

Hey Guys, 

lets be honest except for my post 2 weeks back, I've been very quiet for the last 2-3 months. I didn't stop writing because I wasn't enjoying it or because I felt like I wasn't getting a positive response, its really just been a case of me burning myself out. I'd started a new job after being unemployed for a couple of months, and on top of that I was running 2/3 nights a week, playing hockey 2 nights a week and also trying to keep up with my other interests. It's unsurprising that it all got a little too much and stuff started to give.

Butter Chicken Curry

Brighton Marathon 2013

Hey..... Its been a while.....

So as a lot of you will have been aware I ran the Brighton Marathon last Sunday for Barnardos. This is one of the hardest things that I have ever done so I thought I'd get back onto blogging and go through how I felt leading up to the day and how the run went itself!

Worth running for

Review - Garmin Forerunner 10

Continuing with my running related posts, I've decided to do a review on my fairly recently bought Garmin Forerunner 10. I'm not doing this post because I'm getting a bit obsessed with running (though I may well be becoming a bit obsessed......) I'm doing this review because I really do love my Garmin, I wouldn't think of going out for a run without it, and I'd love to convince you to get one as it will do nothing but good!

What does it do?

Well, those of you familiar with Garmin as a brand will know that they deal with GPS devices, so basically this is a substitute for using your phone to track your results, but it differs in function and how it is used to give you a different end result.

I've mentioned many times before that I love to break my runs down into stats, so I knew that I'd enjoy this product as soon as I knew what it could do. It works in the same way as the GPS on your phone, it tracks your movement giving you a distance covered in your preferred unit (km or mile) and records your time for that run, and then uses this to work out average pace. This is where things get a bit different though, unlike with your phone, the information can be easily accessed during your run, so all you need to do is glance down at your wrist to see your pace / time / distance and also calories burned.

On top of these stats you can also use some of the additional features such as the auto pause that will automatically stop your timer when your movement stops, or alternatively you can pause with just the click of a button. There is also a virtual pace mode which you can set up for when you run a route that you have done before, which allows you to race against yourself, so to speak. The ease of being able to look at your current pace while on the go is great as it lets you know if you are over or under exerting yourself on your run, which is especially useful when you are training with a certain pace in mind!

All of the information from your run can then be uploaded onto your computer and viewed through Garmin Connect where you can really scrutinise the details of your activity!

How well does it Integrate with related things?

From the information you are given with the watch it seems to be designed to be used with Garmin Connect, which is the program / website that gives you all of the information about your runs. I find that the program itself contains some really great information from your runs but isn't the most user friendly, though it does give you some cool little options like being able to manually set personal records (If you have ever recorded 99m of a 100m and hit your best 100m then you will appreciate why I like this) as well recording PRs for set distances.

Various bits of Info from Garmin Connect

What is great though is that the lovely people at Strava have made their website Garmin friendly. Instead of using the Strava app on your phone, you can just upload the information from your Garmin straight onto the Strava website, giving you all of the information you can get off the  Garmin Connect page in a much more user friendly format. All of the benefits from Strava are transferred to your Garmin as a result so when you run through a segment, you can still compete against other runners with your times!

A couple of days ago Garmin released the app version of Garmin connect which is great for following your friends activities and also looking at your stats!

How much does it cost?

Garmins don't come cheap, and as far as I can tell this is probably the cheapest, I managed to pick mine up for £89.00 from Amazon, and I think this was the cheapest price you can get for it. Some of the other running Garmins can range up to about £300.00 with the cycling versions being even more expensive!

Data cable and charger!

It may sound a bit expensive considering it is really just a way of avoiding bringing your phone out on a run with you and having quicker access to your stats, but I'm still glad I shelled out for it. If anything I'm a bit gutted I didn't go for a more expensive one and get a few more features!

Is it worth getting?

Yes.

I really really love my Garmin and it really does make me want to go out an run more, and anyone who looks at the feed about my runs will notice that the amount of runs I have done recently has shot up (except for the last week due to a sore knee and other commitments!).

Loading times can vary!

I'm not going to just tell you about all the things I like about this watch, It is worth pointing out some of the flaws. The GPS is not as good as you will find on your phone, you may have to wait for a minute outside to catch signal (many people will leave their watch outside before a run just to get signal) which can be a problem when you are going on a group run and can't stop to get a signal! The battery life also isn't terrific but is more then enough for a couple of long runs, so it isn't really a watch to wear every day! The only other real downside is the inability to attach a heart rate monitor so you can get some more in depth stats!

I'd consider this watch a beginners Garmin so anyone who wants to get serious with their running and has £90 spare should really consider investing in one of these!

Meal Plan 10/02/13 - 16/02/13

Right, got off my arse and put this up on time this week. I've had a half decent week workout wise, didn't get as many runs in as I'd like though I did manage to play 2 games of hockey. All of the running on concrete seems to be taking its toll as I have had a couple of knee problems this week, nothing a bit of rest won't help cure and as I write this I'm feeling okay, but I may or may not have another rest day tomorrow (I'll see how I feel!).

Eggs, great for any meal

Meal Plan - 03/02/13 - 09/02/13

Well this is embarrassing.... This may well be the latest that I have uploaded a meal plan for the week. It may seem a bit pointless to be posting this with only 2 days remaining but I think it is important to show that while I have been too busy to post this that I am still doing it.

Nutrition in Exercise

A couple of months ago I did a post on how the body makes energy which is a bit of a prelude to this post on how you should fuel yourself when you work out. This is a bit of a generalised view on nutrition as it can vary from sport to sport as you may find that you have different needs, but as a rough guide it is fairly thorough!

Smoothies are a great Pre exercise snack

Meal Plan 27/01/13 - 02/01813

The weather has taken it's toll on my health this week, I've always found that if I can't exercise I also struggle to eat well. Its strange I know, I guess I'm a sort of an all or nothing kind of person in this respect. When I workout I feel great and I feel motivated to eat well, but when I know I can't I sort fell like: "one take out pizza isn't going to kill me!". I'm not going act like last week was that bad for eating, I just know that I had a couple of bad meals and I ate more chocolate then I would have liked.

Healthy, delicious and easy to make

The Brighton Marathon

I know I've been going on about running quite a lot lately, but I'm going to have to talk about it again. One of the things that I've always wanted to do is run a marathon, and for the last 2 years I've been saying that I plan on doing the Wolverhampton marathon, but I never even sign up. Last year I only thought about doing it 2 weeks before the event, and the year before I got too excited too early and kept putting off signing up and training until it eventually became too late again!

Meal Plan 20/01/13 - 26/01/13

So I've had a quite week blog wise, I'm going to blame the weather on this one. While you would think that being forced to stay inside would actually make me want to write more, it has kind of had the opposite effect. I've not been able to exercise at all last week (except 1 night of hockey) because of all the snow we've had, luckily I managed to get 1 last run before the snow hit last week.

Home made chicken tikka masala

Meal Plan 13/01/13 - 19/01/13

In terms of food and fitness last week was good, scratch that it was great! I ate well and worked hard, I probably went a bit too far in the CV direction, doing 4 sessions of high intensity CV to only 1 weights session. Though in all honesty I needed it, and after turning up to our hockey game to find we have no subs and being in a team that probably wasn't close to peak fitness I'm glad I did it. I reached half time and I don't think I'd been out of breath once, not to say I didn't work hard, I worked really hard, I just felt very fit.

Looks rough, tastes Nice

App Review - Strava

Back in November I posted a review of the Nike+ running app, this was purely because it was the only running app I'd ever really used. I'm a little older and a little more experienced now and I'm glad to say I've seen more of the world and some more apps that are knocking around. Strangely I didn't come across Strava by deciding to go for a run and try something different or because I was having a look through the app store on my iPhone. 

Supplements - A Guide to Drugs in Sport - Part 1

So I went for my second run with Wolverhampton and Bilston running club last night, it's took me ages to give it a second go, mainly due to not being keen for a heavy workout, and because my trainers haven't been great and I thought I'd break my leg when it turned a bit icy for a couple of weeks! 

1-3 and 8-9 were warm up and warm downs!

Meal Plan 06/01/13 - 12/01/13

I don't want to sound like someone who is Anti-Christmas or New year, but I couldn't be happier that the festive period is well and truly finished and our tree has been packed away. Don't get me wrong I love the celebrations, but trying to do anything becomes so much more difficult, especially eating well.

I love a bit of fruit!

I struggle to keep my eating clean not only because of the big days but because of lots of my family being born at this time of year (me included). But now that it's over and I've seen my last buffet / birthday cake I can get on the road to nutritional recovery! I'm pleased to say that I managed to get a good bit of exercise last week despite declaring New year's eve and day as a complete write off. I think a big swim, 2 good weights sessions and a hockey game (a satisfying 9-0 drubbing of our local rivals), is a good start to getting fit again and I feel noticeably lighter and healthier.

Muscle Groups - The Shoulder Part 1

Moving on from the chest towards the arms are your shoulders, I was planning on talking about these with the arms but there is far too much going on there for just one post so I decided to split it into 3 parts; Shoulder, upper arm and lower arm

The Anatomy:

You can split the shoulder muscles into 6 key muscles spreading from the back to the top of the arms, though they may not appear equal they all have an important role to play in the movement of the arm.

New Year, New Intentions.

Happy New Year Everyone!

It's the start of a new year so its time to look forward about what we want to do in the future. I don't usually bother with new years resolutions, but this year I've decided to make an exception as I think the start of a year can be the motivation I need to do something good for myself.

Running Parachute

I'm not going to be doing any vague or overly ambitious things like try to 'eat healthier' or 'give up chocolate' as these are either too hard to judge or are too difficult and unrealistic. I think a better approach is to set smaller obtainable targets. Anyone will tell you that you can't suddenly just change who you are, which is why those sort of resolutions are always doomed to end in failure.