TheDarkestStar87 Member

I second that, first mile or two is the hardest. I've done 2 Half Marathons now and during both I spent the first two miles thinking "what have I DONE signing up for this madness??" and then loving the remaining 11 (well.. remaining 9 and then just running on pure "I'm gonna do this" stubbornness). Stick with the programme…

Did my long run this morning, now enjoying the sunshine with some fro-yo. Bliss:glasses:

Count me in as well please. Not quite sure how much I got to lose in lbs but I think it's around 40... I'm 26 and currently live in the UK.

Gentle stretches straight after the race, ice and massages. You can combine the latter two by filling up a water bottle and sticking it in the freezer. As others suggested, potassium is great post run recovery food, I also find magnesium helps. Wait for about 24 hours before applying the deep heat spray, (the same company…

I'm from Germany, albeit about as far away from the part you 're going to as one can get. Just giving you the heads up about using English; it's almost universally the first foreign language taught in schools and continental Europe take their languages far more seriously than any English-speaking country I've lived in.…

Shredded lettuce and carrot mixed with homous. Throw in a quartered falafel or two if that's not filling enough. I use this as Pitta bread filling but I'm sure it'll work in a sandwich. If you 're going veggie, try shredded quorn pieces mashed with avocado and some finely chopped red peppers. Sprinkle some lemon juice over…

Either boredom or stress for me. I have been known to practically inhale a big "perfect for sharing" size bag of crisps in one morning at work if things are particularly bad... Also TOM usually makes me crave sweet stuff like there's o tomorrow. Not ideal if you have a family history of diabetes.

A lot of people wear old jumpers or even binbags just before the start of a race to keep warm while waiting around. Stuff that can be discarded easily and that you won't miss.

Layers, layers and more layers. But don't forget that you'll get pretty warm once you get going so don't overdo it. A good tight baselayer under your usual gear (you can get them quite cheaply, mine cost about 15 quid) can be enough depending on the conditions, otherwise a thermal overlayer should do the trick. (with me…

I'm the same, I tend to do my morning runs on an empty stomach otherwise I just feel bloated but at the weekend I have a nice breakfast and give it an hour or so to go down and then go for a run. I think it also depends on the workout you're doing. Wouldn't try to run a marathon on an empty stomach, but 2-3 miles is ok.…

It's certainly possible to maintain without counting. That doesn't mean you have a free pass to go back to your old ways though - you'll just end up where you started. If you are mindful of the things you learnt on your journey about healthy eating/lifestyle and as long as you don't forget these (and step on the scales…

My instructor always says it's frequency that matters, not duration, so I'd say go for short but more regular sessions. If you have a smartphone/tablet, have a browse of what apps are around, there are some good ones that are relatively cheap and have videos and explanations for each of the poses and will calculate you a…

I did a C25K almost three years ago now, and it definately worked. Word of warning though: You'll probably get hooked once you see and feel all the benefits of it and after a few races, PBs may become a bit of an obsession :wink: . I ran my first half marathon last year and toying with the idea of a full one next year

We actually had a guy like #9 in my old gym. Took about 10mins breaks between sets to play around on his phone. The thing is missing the (usually teenage and ultra-skinny) girls who will bounce around on the gym balls gossiping for 15 mins, then do 5 half-hearted crunches and then say "wow, that was a good workout today,…

I used to get that a lot, I find that magnesium tablets made it go away, haven't had one niggle in 6 months

I've only been back a couple of half-hearted days (the x-mas chocolate and other sweets are still flying around), today is going to be my last pig-put day before getting back into the swing of things properly in the New Year. Boyfriend got off work earlier than anticipated as well, so we're starting the drinks early :-)

I didn't get an invite either... :-(

I signed up for my first 5k about 6 months in advance. My problem actually was that once I finished my C25k I got slack with my training. So once you finished that training maybe find another plan that starts off where this one finishes. Also, you don't need to do the plan you have in the 8 week timeframe, if you find a…

I'd like to join as well My 3 things: 1. Do every single one of my scheduled runs 2. Stay under my calorie goal every day 3. No chocolate (that's gonna be the hard one...)

Count me in, I need something to keep me cycling to work in this weather and I'm starting my half marathon training, that should add up to enough :-)

I was looking for a good little challenge to get me back into the swing of things, count me in

I had carrot and sweet potato soup today, flavoured with some chilli and garlic and I made some coriander and cashew nut pesto to drizzle over it. Love soup at this time of the year, nothing's better when you come in from the freezing cold outside.

I like stewing some berries for about 2-3 mins until the juices come out and have those with a dollop of yoghurt on my crumpets. Frozen berries work well too at this time of year. Edit due to silly auto correct thinking I eat trumpets...

Welcome back! I've just come back myself after about 6 months off. Stupidly, I was thinking I could maintain my weight loss without the discipline of logging everything... it soon crept back up. Trying to stick to it for good this time, I'm currently in the process of setting little milestones throughout the year so I'll…

Well done, you look fab, what a brilliant transformation! (And I want to steal your outfit, you totally rock)

I'd like to join as well, last challenge I was in seems to be fizzing out...

Muscles are heavier than fat, so yes, it's normal for the scales to go up a bit. Try measuring yourself for a second reference, it'll most likely show that you toned up and lost inches even if the scales don't budge.

I picked my goal weight based on my pre-uni weight but I'm actually reconsidering now because all the exercise I have been doing has toned me up to an extend where I am actually relatively happy with how I look compared to the flabbier me 6 months ago. I don't think the number should be set in stone, if one day you look at…

3 mile walk today

I love shock absorber bras, they practically defy gravity and they're super durable. I'm a 36C and run 4 times a week between 30 and 60 mins.