Mantra for Monday no. 75

I. DID. IT!!   I completed my Tough Mudder...... smiling faces all round :-)

What surprises me most was that I'm not too sore afterwards...winner!  Ok, well my knees were pretty painful yesterday and I wrapped packs of peas round them for a few hours, but that was expected since I am prone to pain in my knees and there was an awful lot of trail running!! But where is the muscle soreness?...nowhere to be seen!

I'm so glad I achieved it. For me the mental challenge was the biggest feat I had to overcome, swathes of self doubt crept in right up until the day itself. In terms of fitness I was more than ready (most apparent in hindsight which has given me a big confidence boost) and if I'm honest I didn't find too many of the obstacles as physically challenging as I was anticipating....see how much I over analyse and big things up to epic proportions in my mind!!

Anyway, for giggles, here is a short video shot of me trying to climb 'Everest' the slippery half pipe wall...bear in mind I had just run 12 miles and 20 obstacles when this was shot... see the gritted teeth...then the splat....oh so so close ;-)

What is a Mantra for Monday?

Silent Sunday no.75

What is my Silent Sunday ?

Food for fitness... the training mentality!

It’s now less than two weeks till my Tough Mudder event.  To say I’m terrified is probably an understatement!  

Reality hit me even more so this last weekend as I took a trip to the seaside...

...Not your typical seaside visit!

Swimming in ‘freezing’ (ok well pretty cold) murky sea water and running a few miles along the beach in ankle deep water to train with water resistance, running with wet feet and getting cold.

It was not nice. Though I was glad I did it as it gave me peace of mind that my feet could cope with being wet and gritty...my trusty Fivefingers were comfy throughout.

My mum and cousins made sandcastles on the beach with the kids and 'buried' the dog whilst they waited for me.... a slight contrast!

My posts over these next two weeks may take an ever cleaner twist to my usual as I need to focus in on fuelling and hydrating my body more intensely.  Even though the recipes I post are all pretty healthy, they don’t always contain the proportions of proteins/fats/carbs and 'training fuels' that i’m aiming for right now and more than that, when i’m in recipe testing mode I can sometimes eat quite a lot! Particularly if I make a large batch of something or there are experiments that have gone wrong and are not blog worthy (but not ‘wrong’ enough for the bin).

Right now, I need to get completely focussed.

I have a few recipes that I have made but not yet posted, so not everything will necessarily be super clean :-)

Here is a sneak preview to forthcoming recipes...

For now, a few more photos and links to a few of my favourite Fit-Foods for fuel and endurance!

creamy quinoa porridge

chocolate boost mousse

Super green smoothie

Chia soft serve

Lentil and peanut dip

PB&J no bake bars

Just in case you'd like to sponsor me for my Tough Mudder challenge, here is the link to the team I am part of, all sponsorship is in aid of Help For Heroes. :-)

Mantra for Monday no. 66

I’ve done something pretty stupid...or maybe pretty awesome? It depends upon your point of view...I’m punching for the latter!

I needed a challenge.

I needed a challenge for a few reasons, as I discovered during my lent ‘6-weeek to 6-pack challenge’ that pushing myself without a real life tangible goal in mind and a real team of people to kick me into touch and keep me on track and accountable was harder than I had thought. I have questioned whether this made me weak. Possibly? But it also made me more determined to find a way through my struggles.

That determination is my strength.

This is my answer.

I have signed up for the Tough Mudder Challenge in just 8 weeks time, alongside an amazing team of people who have also signed up and I know won’t let me doubt myself or quit. It will be a huge physical and mental challenge as I am terrified of many of the obstacles, most notably the electric shocks and freezing waters.

But i’m in and there is no backing down now. The harder the challenge, the sweeter the victory. I know it will be worth it.

What is a Mantra for Monday?