The British 10k, July 12th 2015

This year I will be running the The British 10k in London on Sunday 12th July. I will be running this for a charity which means a lot to me at the moment, Mesothelioma UK.

In November 2013, my dad was diagnosed with a type of cancer called Mesothelioma. This kind of cancer is caused by exposure to asbestos. There is currently no cure for Mesothelioma, however, because my dad was so healthy otherwise, he was offered surgery as part of a trial. He underwent this surgery in January last year. After that he had to have various rounds of chemo and checkups. He seemed to be doing well and we even managed to spend some time in Malta in July. Just before Christmas, he was told he would be getting a break from chemo and that the cancer seemed to be in remission which was the best Christmas present I could have asked for. Of course, as there is currently no cure, we knew that eventually it would come back, but given the circumstances at the time, we'd hoped this meant he would be with us for a good amount of time. Unfortunately, just a few weeks later he was back in hospital, as the cancer had spread to the other side of his chest. He had some small surgical procedures and we hoped that this would help. A little time later my mum and dad headed to the hospital for a checkup, I was on my way to meet them there. At this point my dad was finding it hard to breathe and walk certain distances, which wasn't a good sign. On my way there, my mum told me to let me know when I was there so I could meet her, which didn't fill me with much confidence. When I arrived, she told me the worst news I could have hoped for. My dad had only been given a few weeks to live. I don't think I'd truly ever felt heartbreak in my life, until that moment. The physical and emotional pain was overwhelming. The diagnosis was right and sadly on 10th March this year, my dad passed away. The weeks leading up to that moment were the worst in all my life. Nobody should ever have to watch a loved one deteriorate so quickly in front of their eyes. It's still so hard for me to get my head around and doesn't feel real at all.

That is why this year I will be running 10k for Mesothelioma UK, in hope to help fund finding a cure for this evil disease.

My dad knew I wanted to do this before he passed and was so proud of me. There is no way I will be letting him down! Though it may not be a physical presence, I know he will be there with me on the day.

I began my training this week after not having run for such a long time! I managed to do 6.8k (4.23mi) in 59 mins. I know that with him on my mind, I'll be able to push myself to the 10k point.

My target to raise is £1000 and I'm currently just under the halfway mark. Thank you to everyone that has donated so far, and to those that would like to donate, you can do so on my justgiving page, thank you <3 --  https://www.justgiving.com/mikaela10k

I will be updating this blog with training logs and such, if anyone has any good running tips, please do get in touch! Thanks!!!

Thank you for taking the time to read one of my more personal posts. xxx

Tattoo Break Done!

So I've been out of action in terms of exercise for a couple of weeks due to getting three new tattoos (ouch). They're also all on my legs, so not at all ideal to be doing a lot of physical activity. 

The first two tattoos are on my calves do after a few days of healing, I started doing some yoga videos on youtube. Yoga with Adrienne was my chosen channel. I much prefer yoga classes than doing it at home but I wanted to feel like I was doing something at least! 

I then got my thigh tattooed and with the other two still a bit sore and itchy, I definitely didn't want to be moving around too much. I haven't even been doing the home yoga videos. I feel pretty sorry for my legs at the moment! 

I'm at the final healing stages of the calf tattoos now and my thigh is no longer painful and is getting there. I will start exercising again in the next couple of days which I'm super excited about. 

I will be starting a training schedule now in preparation for my 10k run in July (which I still have yet to do an in-depth post about - but will) - I am raising money for Mesothelioma UK, you can sponsor me here if you wish - https://www.justgiving.com/mikaela10k 

I have also started a new Bootea teatox challenge. This time it's the 28 days! I'm hoping with the re-start of my exercise and training, that I will see some difference in myself with this longer amount of time. 

Posts should now resume on a more regular basis, so watch this space :) - xx

p.s, tattoos can be seen on my instagram page @mikaelaxmk for anyone interested! x

Feeling Blue :(

Today was one of the lowest days I've had in a while. My head felt weird and muddy and I just felt aggravated and angry for a lot of the day. This made me feel even more stressed than usual and I ended up just bursting into tears at random intervals.

As horrible as the day was, it made me realise what a difference eating well and exercising can make. For the last three days I've eaten so badly and not exercised. This was due to my leaving do at work, my anniversary yesterday and just an overall glum day today.

Tonight I'd had enough and felt like I had to do something, if not to just get the anger out! I used the site 'Fitness Blender' for the first time the other day and managed to get a really good home workout out of it. I opted for the same tonight, but different videos. I've posted a photo below of the four activities I did. Two were cardio based and the other two were yoga/stretching. They have a whole library of different workouts for different things, I would definitely recommend having a look.

Half way through the cardio I pulled a muscle in my groin which was hideous! This is why I opted for the two stretching exercises to conclude -- (A hot muscle soak bath has also eased the pain a tad).

I managed to burn 581 calories which surprised me for a home workout. It means that I will definitely  be doing more and feeling like I'm getting an adequate workout in when I can't get out.

I finished the day food-wise with some sweet potato chunks and scrambled egg and spinach.

The last few days have taught me a valuable lesson about the correlation between eating well and feeling good. It will definitely be something I will use as inspiration to carry on being a good egg!

I'm getting tattooed tomorrow and next Friday, meaning exercising will be at a minimum, but I will be trying to do what I can and eating right!

I finished my teatox two days ago as well and overall lost 5lbs. I will be continuing on with it from next week with a 28 day one this time.

Back to the clean eating!
xx

Yoga!

So last year I tried a couple of Hatha yoga classes and really enjoyed them. I never really had the time to go regularly and always ended up putting it off.

I never really thought I was the type of person who would enjoy Yoga. I always thought I wasn't really good enough to do it or flexible enough, but after trying it once, I loved it!

Last week I decided to head back to Yoga Place E2 in Bethnal Green to give it another go and maybe try to get back into it more often. I went with my sister, and as we've been under a lot of stress lately, I thought it would be a good idea to bring a little calm and tranquility back into our lives.

Yoga Place E2 is pretty hidden away on Bethnal Green Road, just a few minutes from Bethnal Green station. It doesn't look too relaxing on first inspection right on the main road, but once inside, you're transported into a bubble of calm. Shoes off and into an inviting reception area where tea and biscuits are on offer, all anxiety about trying something new is gone!

We attended the class of the lovely Trudi, who instructed the first class I'd done. We got our mats ready and sat waiting for the class to begin (we got there a tad early). Just sitting in the room with the lovely scents of the oil burning was enough to get me into the zone.

The class was an hour long and I didn't do too badly. I felt amazing afterwards and slightly achy. The very important aspect of breathing is something that takes some getting used to, it's definitely something I need to improve! I want to try and go as much as possible, once a week in between days of gym classes probably. I may even try and get into some home practice, but that's always hard when you have pets!

Although my fitness goal at the moment is to lose weight, I really want to try and make sure my core, balance, flexibility and mental fitness is just as on point and improving. I'm hoping that adding yoga to my routine more often will help overall with everything.

I'll update with progress! - Namaste :) xx