Hackney Half Marathon 2018

What an amazing atmosphere and vibe at the Hackney Half!! I have been running (loosely) since 2008 and taking part in 5km and 10km runs, and so I decided that this year I would challenge myself to a half marathon. It was the first time I tackled this distance of 13.1Miles but had semi trained for it. A couple of weeks ago, I did a 10mile run which was probably the most, with on and off running plus going to the gym. So I felt comfortable in completing the race.

I paid for a place but later on decided that I wanted to raise money for CALM (Preventing male suicide) charity. I was running it alone this time but it wasn't a problem for me, I kept having conversations and psych-ing myself up during the run and just enjoying the support from the crowd. I hi 5'd those who I could and really appreciated the aid stations! This course was tough towards the end, with what felt like a million hills and that was the struggle. But I managed to complete it non stop and feeling comfortable from start to end! A really big thank you to my finance who met me at the finish line and his generous donation to my chosen charity this year!


The results according to chip timings: 2:13:26
Overall Position: 12743 
Gender: 4404 Out of 7134 
Age & Gender (F30-34): 1105 Out of 1759

Splits:
5K      | 09:32min/mi | 00:29:38
10K    | 10:22min/mi | 01:01:50
15K    | 10:27min/mi | 01:34:20
Finish | 10:21min/mi | 02:13:26

Speed 5.89miles/h

Pace 10:11min/miles

Gym: May 2018

I decided to continue another month of gym. I definitely feel stronger and it is quite empowering going to the gym. I have also started to use the squat rack despite it being amongst all these strong, muscly, big men.  

May 2018

01.05.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Squat rack: Just bar (20kg) Squats 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Pull ups (18kg) 10
Dips (9Kg) 10
Pull ups (18kg) 5
Dips (9Kg) 5
Run: 5 mins, 12 incline light jog to walk

03.05.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Overhead press (12.5kg) 5
Squat rack: Just bar (20kg) Squats 5/5/5/5 (+1.25) 5
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Converging shoulder press (9kg) 5/5/5/5/5

06.05.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Squat rack: Just bar (20kg) Squats 5/5 (+1.25) 5/5/5 (+2.5) 5
Pull ups (18kg) 10
Dips (9Kg) 10
Pull ups (9kg) 1 (struggle)
Dips (9Kg) 5
Calf press (73kg) 20/20/20
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5

09.05.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Squat rack: Just bar (20kg) Squats 5 (+2.5) 5/5/5/5
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Pull ups (18kg) 10
Dips (9Kg) 10
Pull ups (18kg) 5
Dips (9Kg) 5

11.05.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Smithing: Just bar (15kg) Squats 5 (+10) 5/5/5/5 (+2.5) 5
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Converging shoulder press (14kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Pull ups (18kg) 10
Dips (9Kg) 10
Pull ups (18kg) 5
Dips (9Kg) 5
Run: Fitness Test: Army: 10.4+ Speed: Score 43. 18:32Mins - 2Miles Non-stop

13.05.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Smithing: Squats (+10kg) 5 (+2.5) 5/5/5 (+2.5) 5/5
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Pull ups (18kg) 10
Dips (9Kg) 10
Pull ups (18kg) 5
Dips (9Kg) 5
Converging shoulder press (14kg) 5/5/5/5/5

Gym: April 2018

I am very surprised at how much stronger I feel since joining the gym last month. I am very proud and shocked at myself for really enjoying going to the gym as well as actually joining a class on my own. I have never quite been a fan of the gym as I always feel there is a cheaper option of running in parks however since going to the gym and overcoming gym anxiety - which, I have learnt is really is all in your head and people really don't care what you do and everyone is just focused on their own exercise! And if they do look at you, it's probably the same reason as you look at others - just to see what new exercises you can do! I really do enjoy going to the gym and feeling stronger both mentally and physically. Just monitoring my own progress feels great!

April 2018

03.04.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Pure Tone (45mins) 
Warm up
Squats, pulsating squats, squat hold (5KGs), jumping jacks
Lunges, lunge hold right, lunge hold left (2.5KGs)
Arms right angle down, arms right angle towards each other, shoulder press, push ups
Arms biceps curl alternate arms, both arms biceps curl rotation, arm pull backs with elbow straight, mountain climbers 
Arm over head extensions, burpees 

05.04.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Squats (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Dips (14kg) 10
Pull ups (23kg) 10
Converging shoulder press (9kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Calf press (66kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Run 0 incline with various speeds for 45 mins 
Total including cool down 50mins for 4.12miles

09.04.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Squats (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Dips (14kg) 10
Pull ups (23kg) 10
Dips (9Kg) 5
Pull ups (18kg) 5
Converging shoulder press (9kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Run: Fitness Test: Army: 10 Speed: Score 33. 19:28Mins - 2Miles

11.04.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
5K Run: Level 3: Varying speeds (Couldn't maintain at 10.1 speed) 
With cool down: 3.4Miles 38:13Mins
Dips (9Kg) 10
Pull ups (18kg) 8
Squats (17.5kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Calf press (66kg) 5
Calf press (93kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Calf press (134kg) 3
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/3/3

16.04.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Squats (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Pull ups (18kg) 10
Dips (9kg) 9
Calf press (73kg) 20/20/20
Leg press (25kg) 5/10/10
Run: 45 mins 0.5 Incline slowly speed increase 7.5speed start 
With cool down: 4.36Miles 50mins

19.04.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Squats (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Pull ups (18kg) 10
Dips (9kg) 10
Run: Fitness Test: Army: 10 Speed: Score 37. 19:06Mins - 2Miles

23.04.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Squats (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Converging shoulder press (9kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Run: 1 incline, start 8 speed 50 min run non-stop 
Total: 4.84miles 55mins

27.04.18 (Pure Gym, Canary Wharf)
Squats Rack (just bar - 20kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead press (15kg) 5/5/5/5/5
Run: Fitness Test: Army: 10.4 Speed: Score 38. 18:59Mins - 2Miles

Milk Train Cafe

Location: Covent Garden, 44 Bedford St, London WC2E
Meal: Unicone special with cloud cotton candy and Matcha ice cream.

Price: Dessert Total: £5.95

The novelty of this place is really trendy and cool, however the actual taste of the ice cream wasn't mind blowing. For that reason, this place only gets a... 

An overall rating 6/10.

Christopher's

Location: Covent Garden, 18 Wellington St, London WC2E 7DD
Meal: Maryland Crab Cake Arugula, Red Pepper Mayo, Tomato Jam (£14), French Toast ( Warm Brioche French Toast Roast Peach, Vanilla Mascarpone & Maple Syrup (£10) & Chocolate Brioche French Toast (Milk or Dark) Vanilla Ice Cream (£12), Hash Browns (£5).

Price: Brunch menu - Total: roughly £46 (Including service charge)

The starter of Crab cakes was absolutely delicious! The only downfall about the starter was that I found a few pieces of hard shell. The taste was on point! For my main, I tried the Warm brioche french toast and that was really good. It was not too sweet and not too heavy and rich which I found the chocolate french toast to be. The Hash browns was probably the worse. While the taste was ok, the presentation wasn't. But I would definitely go back to try the other menus and other foods!

An overall rating 9/10.