New Year, New Start

Hey guys,

First up I hope you all had a brilliant Christmas and New Year!

Second, a massive apology for not blogging more regularly at the end of 2013. Things at university got a little hectic and then before I knew it, it was Christmas! Last week I handed in 3 assignments which are the last for a while now, and combined with no January exams I have some free time! 

I thought I would also tell you all my New Years resolutions. Every year I make them but never stick them out for the whole year, so perhaps by writing them down it will make me!

1) Blog More

Like I said, my blog got very neglected at the end of last year. So this year I'm going to stick at it and write more posts for you all! My aim is to blog once a week (and if you're lucky more!), and publish my post every Monday - a nice way to start your week.

2) Lose Weight, Tone Up & Get Fit

I'm combining these under the one resolution. I restarted my health kick at the end of last year and have lost 5 pounds so far (yay!), but now I aim to lose a further 14 pounds/1 stone. Yes it sounds alot, but I was this weight at the end of Sixth Form (nearly 3 years ago) so I know it's possible. To get there I'm going to increase my exercise and tone up. I've restarted running again, still playing water polo, plus doing other cardio and strength exercises to help. I'm going on tour in April with my university water polo team so want to look and feel better by then.

3) No Takeaways

I'm sure many of you can relate - you've been on a night out, perhaps had 1 drink too many and you find yourself in a takeaway shop. This happened to me far too many times last term, and I need to kick the habit. I had this as a resolution last year when McDonalds became my best friend after a night out. I managed reasonably well, only eating 2 between New Year and the middle of June, but it went very downhill when returning to university in September! I transferred the cost of a McDonalds into a separate account after every night out and saved so much money, so I'm going to do the same this year and use that money to treat myself.

4) Run Another Half Marathon
I ran the Great North Run last September, and dare I say it...enjoyed it! I'm aiming to run it again this year in aid of charity. I ran it in 2 hours 18 minutes last year and am aiming to run it in 2 hours-2 hours 5 minutes.

5) Keep Working Hard At University
Being in my second year now, everything counts towards my final result, so I want to keep working hard and am aiming for a 2:1 at the end of this year (or a 1st if I'm lucky!).

What are your New Years resolutions?

See you next Monday!

Love Alice x

Lifestyle | My Week #1

A new weekly post from me - my week in photos!

12th September - 18th September 2013

1. (Larry) Lucky Lamb birthday cake - my sister's 15th birthday

2. Goodbye Oxfordshire

3. BUPA Great North Run

4. Completed in 2:18:45!

5. Unpacking in my university room

6. First night back out in Newcastle

7. Club Trop

Love Alice x

Quick Hello!

Hey guys,

Sorry for being so rubbish at blogging over the last few weeks, but I thought I'd make this quick post to explain my absence! 

Last Friday I moved back up to Newcastle to my new house ready for my second year of university. My house is so lovely and I'm sharing with 4 other girls this year. Since moving in I've been sorting out my room and meeting up with friends that I haven't seen since June so I haven't had much time to sit down and write a proper blog post.

As well as this I ran the Great North Run on Sunday in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. It peed it rain near enough all day but I actually enjoyed the experience so much. I ran the 13.1 miles in 2:18:45, which was over 10 minutes quicker than my original aim of 2:30 so I was very pleased. I enjoyed it so much that I'm pretty certain I'm going to enter again next year...what am I thinking! If you would like to sponsor me for this run, you can do on my JustGiving page here.

So that's my quick update, but now things have settled down a bit I can sit down and write some proper posts for you all.

Hope you are all well!

Love Alice x

Great North Run

A slightly different post from me today but something I wanted to share on here.

Next month, on the 15th September, I'm running the Great North Run...eek! The Great North Run is a half marathon, so is a 13.1 mile (21.08km) run starting in Newcastle and ending in South Shields. To say I'm nervous is an understatement! I've never been a 'runner', I hated athletics in school, although my only benefit is I've always been quite sporty - I used to swim competitively and enjoyed other sports at school. I started training properly when I came home from university in the middle of June. At the time I could only run 1.8 miles (3km) and was very unfit so I think a few people were questioning my decision to enter! 

I'm running for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity (GOSHCC) which is a brilliant charity here in the UK. They need to raise over £50 million a year to be able to help the many sick children and their families effectively, so this event is an important fundraiser for them. 

I've been training 4 times a week since then and on Monday 26th August I completed a 14.3 mile (23.02km) run in 2h32. Totally unintentional I have to admit, my original route was 13.1 miles, until I got lost in a nearby village and ended up running round for a bit trying to find the right road! This run has made me slightly less nervous, I know I can run the full distance (despite it hurting a bit at the end) but we'll just have to wait and see what happens on race day now. 

My original aim was to complete the run in 2h30, however I have now reduced this to 2h15 which I think I could do, fingers crossed!

If you want to find out more about Great Ormond Street and the brilliant work they do, click HERE

If you want to donate to my JustGiving page (which I would be very grateful for) click HERE 

I have a target of £375 to raise, and I'm very close now!

If you want to follow my running routes/times etc, and other things that are going on in my life, follow me on Twitter HERE

Love Alice x