Running on Clean

Woohoo! Nicola at Running on Clean has nominated me for the Liebster Award. Thank you, Nicola! Please check out her blog where she posts about health and fitness. Nicola is a fellow Girls Gone Sporty Ambassador and member of #TeamStellar!

What is a Liebster Award?

It is basically a form of recognition from fellow bloggers. Once you have been nominated you have to answer 10 questions from your original nominator and go on to nominate another 10 bloggers yourself.

Here are the rules:

1.) You must link back to the person who nominated you
2.) You must answer the 10 Liebster questions given to you by the nominee before you
3.) You must pick 10 bloggers to be nominated for the award (with a small following)
4.) You must create 10 questions for your nominees
5.) You must go to their blogs and notify the nominees

So, here are my answers to Nicola’s questions:

1. How did you start your fitness journey?

   That’s a tough question to answer… I had dance lessons from when I was 5 until I was 21, but I was never especially fit and healthy. I was ‘up a year’ at school, so I was a year younger (and hence smaller) than all of my classmates, so I struggled to keep up with them when it came to sports, which made me feel disheartened. When I was 20, I took up gymnastics and absolutely loved it. I used to train several times a week, including for six hours on Sundays. When I was nearly 30, I took up karate, so that I could do a sport with my husband. I also took up running to increase my fitness levels and it’s gone from there.

2. Why did you start your blog?

   I wanted to document my five-year challenge – I intend to complete an iron-distance triathlon before I’m 40. I thought that writing down my goals in a public way may make me feel more accountable.

3. What activities/sports are you most passionate about and what do you gain from doing them?

   I love doing yoga as it’s very calming and gives me an opportunity to relax and de-stress. I also love running, although I’m finding the pressure of competition a bit much at the moment as I’m failing to reach my own targets.

4. Who is your fitness inspiration?

   I’m a great admirer of Paula Radcliffe and Mo Farah. I also think Chrissie Wellington is an inspirational woman.`

5. Do you meal prep? If so, when and do you have any tips?

   I tend to do all of my meal prep in the evening. Cooking in bulk (curries/chillies/pasta meals that serve six), means that I don’t have to cook every evening. I know that I each much more healthily when I plan ahead. When my evening meal is cooking, I make my lunch for the next day, which is always a salad (usually with 40g smoked cheese, but sometimes with hummus or chickpeas). I also try to weigh out my porridge for the following day’s breakfast.

6. What is your go-to breakfast recipe?

   It’s always 30g oats, but with various extras. One of my current favourites is ground almonds, dried apricots and some vanilla extract. I don’t drink milk, so I always make it with water. 2 minutes in the microwave and it’s done 🙂

7. Finish the sentence. When I’m not running I’m…

   Swimming/cycling/working/sleeping/eating/blogging!

8. Imagine this, you are on a self-directed race and get lost. You find yourself beside a lake with no one else around. What do you do?

   I rarely run with a phone, so I wouldn’t be able to call for help, so I guess it depends on how remote the location is. If I haven’t run far, I might retrace my footsteps to a place that I recognise, or if I’m feeling confident, I might run around the lake looking for signs of where I should go.

9. List your top 2 short and long-term goals

   My top 2 short-term goals are to rest and heal my sprained wrist and shoulder and to follow the plan my coach has designed so that I start regaining my fitness.
   My top 2 long-term goals are to complete Challenge Weymouth 70.3 and to finish an iron-distance triathlon.

10. What do you enjoy most about blogging?

    I enjoy connecting with other people and also receiving feedback from others. I really appreciate that people are willing to spend their time reading what I’ve written. On a personal level, my blog reminds me that however slow it may seem, I am making progress towards my goal.

Here are my 10 questions:

1. How would you summarise what your blog is about?
2. What tips would you give to anyone thinking about starting to blog?
3. Which of your blog posts has generated the most discussion and why?
4. What challenges/races/events have you got lined up for 2014?
5. What has been your greatest achievement in life?
6. Over the next year, what skill do you hope to master?
7. What is your favourite gadget and why?
8. What’s the furthest from home you’ve travelled for a sporting event?
9. Describe your philosophy for life in a six-word sentence…
10. What is the most important advice that you can give to readers?

…and even more importantly, here are my 10 nominated blogs:

1.  Heather at The Tri Road
2. Marc at Run, Hemingway, Run
3. Danielle at Damn, Girl, That’s a lot of Fattitude!
4. Leanne at Leanne Nalani
5. Fat Guy 2 Tri Guy
6. Erica at Chronicles of a SAHM
7. Mike at Fat, Bearded & Tattooed Cyclist
8. Stephanie at My life sucks, I think I’ll become a triathlete
9. 2 Cups ‘N Run [no longer available, 2018]
10. Chris at Or Die Trying [no longer available, 2018]

I previously received the Liebster Award back in March – here are my answers from then: https://fatgirltoironman.co.uk/2014/03/01/liebster-award/