Sam's Blog

Body Aware and My Larma Scare!

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Since beginning my pursuit of an active life, and in particular through training to run a Marathon, there are many things I have learnt to consider that simply didn’t cross my mind before. The thing that has stuck with me the most though, is the way I have become so much more aware of my body. And I don’t mean in terms of weight, size, shape etc. Although these are things that have certainly changed, and rather pleasingly for the better- far more positively than that is the way that I’ve started to notice and improve my posture.

I’ve never considered myself to have had bad posture, in fact I’ve always been quite proud of a belief that I carried myself rather well.  Until recently that is.  When looking back on those marathon photos, the pride I felt on that day was somewhat overshadowed by the discovery that I in fact carry myself like a larma! Not happy. (more…)

The Naked-Bike-ride: Brighton

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” (Mark Twain)

After seeing the Naked Bike Ride in Brighton a couple of weeks ago, I’d beg to differ with this Mark Twain chap I have to say!  Nearly a thousand people hardly take to the street in nothing but their Birthday Suit without much thought for the influence they might have on society; No, quite the opposite in fact.

The cause of the famously liberal July event actually centres around the contrastingly conservative subject of road safety for cyclists, hence highlighting their vulnerability in such a controversial manner. Whatever way you choose to look at it- it certainly makes you think about the point they’re trying to make.

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What sandal will last all Summer? Birkenstocks

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Mid Summer and already I have worn all my Sandals too much, a dilemma that us British rarely experience.

When choosing summer footwear it’s a given that there are certain factors to consider that don’t even enter the equation for choosing winter footwear. For example, one needs not worry about the ankle-strap/no ankle-strap dilemma when shopping for a pair of boots (and we all know what a conundrum that one is). Nor does winter shoe shopping send us into a ponder over (dare I say it) Thongs! And we all know I’m not talking about underwear here, but instead the ever dreaded yet surprisingly popular style of flip-flop (or FitFlops even) who’s chosen method of attaching sole to foot is via a painfully positioned strap of fabric between your large toe and its closest neighbour. Ouch! (more…)

London to Brighton Bike Ride

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

London to Brighton Bike-ride- done!

Okay, so I can now cross the London to Brighton Bike-ride off my list. Only 54 miles and 9 hours of sheer agony… Lets just say, as I crossed the finish line at 6pm, I thought I may never cycle again!. Leading up to the ride, I had expressed my concerns to a few friends about my lack of training, the fact that I was using a borrowed bike, my incomprehension about the function of gears, and the famously epic uphill climb that is Ditchling Beacon. To which everyone’s response seemed to be the same- if you can run a marathon, you’ll breeze through this! 

Of course, I chose to believe this. And yes, if we were just talking about a matter of fitness here, they were probably right. The thing is, in all my running around trying to sort out borrowing a half-decent bike (my own got stolen a few weeks back), I completely overlooked the issue of practical clothing. As it turns out, cycling gloves shouldn’t only be reserved for the professionals… Lesson learned- gloves= no blisters!

Thinking back over the experience now, from the comfort of an amply cushioned office chair, I’m finding the good bits definitely out-weighed the bad… The scenery was b-e-a-utiful. The down-hills definitely made up for the up-hills. There were at least 20 bacon roll stop points. And the atmosphere was great too. Overall, a really good experience and I’d recommend it to anyone!