Gin is good for you!

Which Gin shall I have today?

So I've just returned from a fantastic Holiday in the beautiful Brecon Beacons in Wales. Now usually when we venture on holiday in this country we tend to have non stop rain, but this time we had glorious sunshine all week. In fact, on one particular day it was hotter in Wales than in Southern spain where my mum now lives! Just goes to show you don't always have to fly half way around the world for glorious weather - although I do think we were exceptionally lucky. Now whilst on holiday I continued with my summer training of outdoor yoga, 4 mile runs along the canal and obviously lots and lots of walking. On the food front I did allow myself some treats; a good glass of Rose wine, a very decadent chocolate pudding, but most of all lots and lots of gin. Now gin is the drink for runners so I've been told and this is why:

Brecon Gin - my holiday favourite

Gin is a superfood!

OK so that’s not strictly true, but gin is made from juniper berries, which are packed with antioxidants and come with a multitude of health benefits, making it a super drink by default! Juniper berries help to neutralise free radicals in the body which eventually lead to the development of diseases like cancer, arthritis and cardiovascular disease. The little purple berry has also been linked to fighting infection, helping to prevent heart disease, improve blood circulation and even prevent kidney and liver disease. Originally used as herbal medicine as far back as the Middle Ages, gin has so many health benefits it’s a wonder they don’t serve it at first aid stations on race days.

Gin keeps you youthful

Hard liquor is not normally associated with a youthful complexion, but the antioxidants found in juniper berries have been linked to maintaining healthy, youthful skin by fighting wrinkles, promoting cell regeneration and reducing inflammation. Juniper berries are also rich in flavonoids which are great for preventing heart disease and improving your blood circulation as you age, promoting youth and beauty all the way. I just need to make sure I don’t start adding gin to my morning smoothie! 

Gin is low in calories

As spirits go, at 97 calories per shot gin is one of the more conservative tipples when it comes to your waistline. Juniper berries are also said to increase the number of enzymes that break down food and aid digestion thanks to the diuretic effect of the little fruits, meaning you’ll feel less bloated the more you sip on the good stuff. However, gin’s favourite accompaniment tonic water tends to be fairly calorific, so slim line all the way for me and only a little dash or better still, I'll be really rock ’n’ roll and drink my gin neat.

A little tipple after training!

Gin is good for bone health

Perfect for weary runners, a good gin is said to relieve achy joints and even gout. The high alcohol content coupled with magical juniper berries also works as an effective treatment for chronic pain and inflammation associated with arthritis.  

So there you have it, Gin Gin Gin all the way to cure all those aches and pains after training and with so many varieties around these days I think I can safely say this little tipple is one drink I'm not going to get bored with and it will help with my training (sort of) - make mine a double!

Brecon Beacons holiday snap

  

My next official race is the British 10K in Westminster on Sunday 9th July.

297 Days to Go until the 2018 London Marathon
Remember to visit my Virgin Money Giving Page to read my full story

Pilates for posture

1950's posture lesson

Years of being slumped over an office desk, slouching on the sofa and even crossing your legs when sitting down are all big no no’s when it comes to having good posture.  What does this have to do with running I hear you ask? Good posture is vital for running. By slightly leaning forward, which is my problem at the moment, will result in long term lower back pain. So basically, if I improve my posture this will help my running by staying injury free and longer distances should be more comfortable. Yay! So instead of walking round the house with a book on my head (does that really work?) I've booked myself on a beginners pilates course.

Everyone has heard of Pilates and Yoga.  Yoga is more stretching based whereas pilates is a body-conditioning routine designed to increase physical endurance, flexibility, posture, coordination, and core strength. It involves focused controlled movements training muscles to become stronger - BUT ONLY IF YOU DO IT CORRECTLY.

Now I have participated in pilate classes before at my local gym. But you know how it is, the class is always full and you end up straining over tops of heads to see what the instructor is doing and by the time you have copied the pose she has moved onto something else. I’ve never really known if my poses were correct, but as no improvement to either posture or core strength has been seen I think we can safely say the hours that I have spent at these classes have most probably been a waste of time. 

So instead of just turning up at a random class my six week beginners class started last Wednesday evening in a local school hall with a group of ladies of all different ages but beginners just like myself. Now a friend did tell me that he made the mistake of eating before a pilates lesson and with the slow movements and controlled breathing ending up bottom burping throughout the whole lesson! So, not wanting to make a bad impression on my new classmates I took heed to that advice and didn't eat before my evening session. This, however, just resulted in a slightly different problem to my bottom burping friend which a few of my classmates also joined in with. Our tummies were screaming "feed me" so for a good few minutes when we were supposed to be concentrating on our breathing there was a chorus of loud gurgling rumbling of tummies practically all at the same time. It did make me giggle - I didn’t realise pilates could be so noisy!

I’ll be honest, at first I still didn’t know what I was doing and whether what I was doing was correct. But this was a small group and the instructor came round to each of us and made small adjustments to make sure we were in the correct position, checking with each of us to make sure we understood the movement before moving on. I think there was still a few of us that just agreed "oh yes that make sense" when actually you're thinking I’ve got no idea what’s going on here, but at least here my moves were being monitored. I think it will take some time before it all becomes natural, but I am now much more conscious that my tailbone is pointing down and my head is held high. Watch this space and I’ll let you know how it goes. Hopefully I’ll soon be walking like an A-list movie star on the red carpet with an elegant straight back rather than the hunchback of Notre Dame. And you never know, I might just start walking round the house with a book on my head as well just for the fun of it.

Balancing the book

Richmond Park - #london10mile

5 mile mark

Sunday 4th June 2017 saw the first ever closed road 10 mile race at Richmond Park. Richmond only closes its roads for sporting events three times a year and this #london10mile is the only time this year the roads were closed for a running event so I felt very privileged to be part of it. Now apart from the usual at any race event - delayed start, not enough loos - there was an emotional start as the whole race village paid tribute to those injured and killed at London Bridge and Borough Market the evening before. It was questionable whether the race was still going ahead after these atrocities, but in true London spirit the race organisers distributed an email at 7am confirming the race was on!

Now I have never been to Richmond Park, which was one of the reasons why I signed up. I couldn't think of a better way to see it then to run round a 10 mile course and boy it didn't disappoint. Such a beautiful park and a Royal one to boot. As soon as we entered I noticed Deer Do Do and realised that unlike its smaller Greenwich Park sister, the deer here are not enclosed and can basically gallop wherever they like. On my run I discovered some very interesting facts about the park; home to 650 wild deer, over 130,000 trees many of which are over 500 years old, 144 species of birds, 1,350 species of beetle living within the park, but one of the most interesting facts that we were furnished with whilst running round was that Henry VIII stood in Richmond Park in 1536 to watch a rocket fired from the Tower of London which signalled that Anne Boleyn had been executed for treason. Absolutely loved reading all these facts as I was hot footing it along it's hilly course. To improve my running technique I've decided to stop listening to any music. This way I can concentrate on my posture and more importantly listen to my footfall and make sure that I don't become to flat footed which has been my problem in the past and experienced some bad foot ligament injuries. So the distraction of reading facts was great. Maybe more race organisers should do this!

Now I mentioned hills. I have been doing hill training in preparation for this race, but I just felt we were constantly running on an incline with some pretty steep ones thrown in for good measure. It was a tough course and such a relief around mile 7 to finally run down a hill. It was fairly hot as well and I don't normally fare very well in the heat. To make sure I kept hydrated I ran with a water bottle and took small sips of water as and when I felt I needed it but also grabbed the cups of water being handed out at the water stations. I can't stand trying to drink out of a cup as basically you have to stop running. How can you run and drink from a cup at the same time? Sorry but that's impossible. And then you try and drink as quick as possible so you end up burping as you're running along. Not very ladylike but hey ho.

I can thoroughly recommend this course and if you're not comfortable with the full half marathon this is a nice step up from a 10k. More 10 mile races please! It was a great day in a beautiful park with fantastic spectator support cheering you on and fortunately for us runners no wild deer felt the need to join in. Now, injuries are a bit of a problem for me and I am trying to address this, but I was suffering from a bit of metatarsal injury whereby my physiotherapist actually thought it could be a stress fracture. I ignored her advice and decided to still run (stupid I know) and finished in under 90 minutes - 88 minutes and 19 secs to be precise and finished within the top 16% of women runners. I'm very pleased with that.

And my foot actually feels much better since the run!

My dog loved the park as well!

My medal

Hello and Welcome

Royal Parks Half Marathon done! 

My name is Tina and for some stupid crazy reason I will be running in the Virgin London Marathon on 22 April 2018. On this blog I will detail my training progress, all the highs, most probably lots of lows, and lots and lots of WHY THE HELL AM I DOING THIS.  I aim to keep this blog lighthearted and entertaining but am looking for serious advice and tips on not just running but strength training and nutrition. Competitively I have only ever ran in 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathon's. So adding another 13.1 miles on to my normal distance sends shivers down my spine. There is obviously a serious reason for my taking part in this prestigious of marathon's. I will be supporting Tommy's charity who fund research into the causes of miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth. Did you know that one in four women lose a baby during pregnancy and birth. Please visit my Virgin Money Giving page for my full story and details of how to donate. Thank you and happy reading, hopefully from your favourite armchair with a cup of tea and a hobnob biscuit.