The Beginnings of Fitness

Happy 2015! Another year, and another flood of people make New Year’s resolutions to get fit.

For me, getting into fitness came naturally. My Dad is a fell runner so I grew up thinking that it was perfectly sane and normal to go out with a headtorch in torrential rain, and run around in a bog in the dark – it is isn’t it?

Growing up with race memorabilia scattered here and there around the house made me eager to try out running, but with some big shoes to fill. There are countless help guides for getting into running, but everyone’s journey is different. For me it took an old copy of Zest magazine to spur me into action. Zest was a London based fitness magazine, which unfortunately has recently been discontinued. Unlike most women’s magazines it was not focused on weight loss and fashion models, but on all round health and peace of mind. The positive vibe of this magazine got me straight into my trainers and out the door.

I had a good baseline of fitness from swimming lessons, so I found myself in a limbo between complete beginner and not feeling good enough to join a club. I saw running on my own as the only way forward. The solitary time with my thoughts, iPod and later on a GPS gave me an outlet I still haven’t managed to replicate.

I find that I have a strange attachment to my running routes. I have cried on them, felt exhilaration on them, and pushed myself to new heights. Revisiting an old route is like calling on an old friend; we have been through so much together.

I would really like to hear from you if you are hoping to get into running, or your story of how you started. Feel free to comment below.

Lycra love x

Food Lycras

My best friend and I have an in joke about the genre of people we like to call ‘food lycras’. I am a food lycra. Essentially this means I have a hearty love for eating food, and that means that I need to spend a lot of time in lycra. ‘Need to’ is perhaps not an accurate phrase. I love exercise. There is nothing more soul-soothing than stretching your legs in the great outdoors and feeling the wind in your face.

A peaceful moment on a recent hill walk up Blencathra.

Recently, however, I have found myself becoming a lot more food than lycra. For the last two years I have been battling with knee pain. I am 20 years old and too young to call it quits. I am starting this blog as a reminder to myself and others to never give up. My interpretation of this common ‘fitspiration’ mantra has changed dramatically in the past two years. At first I tried to run through the pain – mind over matter right? Gradually, with many tears and tantrums along the way, I am learning to listen to my body.

This is my story of discovering my love of all things ‘lycra’ and the learning curve that is coping when they are taken away!