Every pair of running trainers I have owned apart from one pair of Brooks have been ASICS trainers. I’ve used ASICS Shoefinder to find every single pair including my current pair

ASICS trainers have carried me through numerous runs, races, Parkruns and 3 marathons! And (touch wood) without injury!

ASICS Shoefinder is an online questionnaire on the website which helps you find the perfect trainer for your running needs. As someone who loves a good trainer but it is a bit clueless this is perfect for me!

Shoefinder finds your perfect shoe in 4 steps: Gender, running goal, pronation and the longest distance you will run in the shoe

I’ve paid with my own money for every one of my trainers and have found ASICS Shoefinder to be the best use of my money and time over the years to find the best trainer for me

I’ve run 2 of my 3 marathons on my own completely with no one that had gone there to support me but Brighton Marathon 2022 was my ‘secret’ marathon

By ‘secret’ I mean that I didn’t share on social media that I was training for or doing this marathon. I didn’t even tell my family until the day before the race ( which they guessed because they knew I was going to Brighton and the realised they marathon was on the weekend).

I wanted to make sure that I enjoyed running and more importantly marathon running for the right reasons- for myself. It was hard doing it by myself for myself but it was also brilliant!

Brighton Marathon was a hard marathon for me but it showed me that I love marathon running and I can definitely do it on my own! Although that’s not to say that support adds a whole of a lot!

5k is a distance I’m familiar with, being a runner, but swimming it felt like a whole different ball game. I’ve been trying to teach myself to front crawl and this distance was my first big test!

I’ve been training hard over the past few weeks but it has just been weeks that I’ve been attempting front crawl. I tried this distance in the pool to see whether I might be ready to try an open water swim event in September. It was between a 1.5k distance or 5k. My heart wanted to do the 5k but I needed to prove to myself I could do it first

Fuelled by a Yorkshire pudding wrap and a dream I set to it. I only did 6 breastroke warm up laps and the rest was front crawl. Probably very sloppy front crawl but still front crawl

It was a spontaneous plan so I had no water or fuel during the swim but felt fine during and after. I kept up the technique and felt fine with the breathing, doing my best to relax into the stroke. In the end it didn’t feel that long although there were certainly points that I wondered what I was doing

I am so proud of this achievement even if I am probably a ‘slow’ swimmer with less than brilliant technique. It’ll be a whole different challenge in open water with sighting and temperature but I’m willing to rise to it!

Chicago is a massive marathon, one of the marathon majors and my first international marathon. My previous marathons had been in the UK, London and Brighton, and had been well trained for. Chicago marathon 2022 for me was my least prepared marathon.

I was on the precipice of moving from South England to North England and moving jobs. Dedicating more time to picking up extra shifts and less time to training was one of my biggest mistakes. I’ve also found from now completing 2 autumn marathons that training in summer is not my forte. My English and Scottish blood don’t deal well with heat. Realising I needed to fit in my 20 mile training run I did it the Sunday before the marathon.

So I wasn’t starting on the right foot already. I travelled the nine hour journey from London to Chicago and was ready to go. I was there in good time and close in location in my hostel. I’ve been lucky with my race days for marathons and Chicago was no different. The day was beautiful, calm and not too sunny(though I was happy for my hat). The famous Windy City was not windy that day and I was glad.

We started off and everything was going smoothly and it continued that way until Mile 14. At mile 14 my body decided the lack of training I’d done would kick in and my glute decided to ache. I continued on hoping it was my posture getting lazy but it persisted. With my head not in it, I was not willing to get injured. As an average runner who won’t be breaking any records I decided I just wanted to finish. I just had to be a fast enough walker to beat the finish time where they would pack up the course. After all I hadn’t come all this way not to complete this marathon. I walked as fast as I could whilst every so often trying a jog and finding my glute still not cooperating. I made it and got that iconic medal.

After half arsing the training for multiple factors the marathon repaid me by allowing me to complete it half arsed(with a minor stress injury to my glute which resolved with rest). I knew I should never underestimate the marathon but it certainly put me in my place in Chicago.

Getting back into my groove with running and uncharacteristically hot UK weather means summer is needed. ASICS had a sale on their website of some kit I’ve had my eye on for ages so let’s have a look (Disclaimer: I have bought all these pieces with my own money)

Core ASICS Logo Sports Bra in Sky Indigo (Medium)

I’m planning to wear this sports bra on its own when it’s hot and all year round under tops. It’s so comfy. It feels secure and supportive but still stretchy. They have other colours that I might look at as well in time

Marathon Tank in Amethyst (Medium)

I’ll be honest this tank is not my usual style but really grabbed my attention. I love the colours and fit. It’s flowy but holds a really good shape. I can’t wait to race in it!

Road 2 in 1 5.5 inch Short

This was the one thing I bought that wasn’t in the sale. This year is the summer of shorts and I think these are perfect. Not too tight but still supportive. I love the stretchy waistband that doesn’t hold too tight on the hips. The 2 in 1 aspect means you don’t need to worry about riding up when your running. So excited to embrace these for the summer of shorts

Race High Waist Tight

Last but not least are these high waisted leggings. I purchased a pair of the black and been obsessed ever since. I struggle to wear other leggings so when I saw the sale I knew I had to get another colour. They are in my opinion the perfect leggings. High waisted without being too tight anywhere! Love them!

All in all I’m so happy with all my purchases from the sale and excited that I can mix and match them all together! ASICS is an amazing brand in all that it does and make gorgeous, long lasting kit!

Cheering the first Rob Burrows Leeds Marathon might be one of the best running experiences I’ve had (and I’ve run many races including 3 marathons).

I woke up early ready to cheer my best friend in her first marathon. Here’s some of the things I did to make it a fantastic experience:

🧡Get a good cheering spot by showing up early- I was at a rugby club on a wall next to a Radio Leeds stand which provided a lot of entertainment

🧡Make a good (easy to hold) sign to motivate everyone

🧡Cheer for everyone! Fun story: when my Dad cheered my first marathon he didn’t realise this and waited 4hrs just to cheer for one person. While this is lovely, it’s good to share the cheering

🧡Bring drinks and snacks- you’ll forget yourself when you’re cheering runners. It was an especially hot day so I’m glad I remembered this

🧡Stay from first to last! The inspiration and enjoyment to be had with every runner!

🧡If it’s a hot day (like it was for the Leeds marathon) don’t forget sun cream and hat

It’s so exciting to watch people achieving their marathon dreams so I can’t wait to cheer more races!

I finished my preceptorship going from Band 5 to Band 6 Midwife in 11 months. Preceptorships differ in different hospital trusts. I moved from the hospital I trained at to another one. I will write a blog about preceptorship and what mine entailed but this is about things I learnt from this 11 months.

1. Suturing becomes the new 40 normal deliveries

As anyone in Midwifery knows as a student a really big focus is achieving facilitating 40 normal deliveries. Some people achieve this quickly due to opportunity and some people it takes much longer. Opportunity to suture is similar. I spent my 1st 6 months on a postnatal so obviously…no suturing. Then once I rotated to delivery suite it felt like I was constantly either having instrumentals/c-sections or normal deliveries with intact perineums. All great and vital experience but no opportunity for suturing. Using models by the charity Beyond Bea really helped with my suturing technique outside of work. I also got in touch with a practice development Midwife to go through the theory on a model. As with 40 babies though, opportunity will eventually arise. Keep on top of theory and technique and when the opportunity does come you’ll be on it.

2. If you feel like a student again sometimes again…that’s normal!

Especially at the start you basically are a student Midwife and the jump to Band 5 is a big step. When I started on delivery suite I was 6 months qualified and I had never felt more like a student. Every so often in a new experience you might still feel like a student. That’s why maternity is a team. If you need help then ask and if you feel like a student that’s fine and normal.

You need to challenge yourself to develop

Preceptorship and Band 5 is a perfect time to challenge yourself. There will be gaps in experience from training. I’m still working on a lot of my gaps-never even seen a water birth! Choosing opportunities out of your comfort zone is super scary but is invaluable. Be brave and challenge yourself.

4. Moving trusts is hard but worth it!

Moving trusts from where I trained to where I did my preceptorship was a great move for me. It was definitely a harsh transition as everything was so completely different but the people were so so supportive. Moving isn’t always an option for everyone but if you are tempted but nervous I would urge you to give it a go. Preceptorship is a great time to stay for a bit and then you always have the option to move once you’re Band 6. Moving was one of my biggest challenges and definitely one of my best decisions.

5. Practicing on your own is so much fun!

Training with Midwives and studying is invaluable but having continuous assessment means practice can be quite stressful. When you’re autonomous you’ve got the support of a team but you can make your own decisions. You can build your own relationships with families where you are the lead and it can be so rewarding. Making that leap to Band 5 and Band 6 is so fun because it can mean you have more opportunities to directly impact families

I ran the London Marathon for Tommys Baby Charity in 2021 and loved it! I wanted to share why running for Team Tommys might be something you’d like to do too💜

What is Tommy’s?

Tommys baby charity is the biggest baby loss charity in the UK. It was started in St Thomas’ hospital in London. They lead research into prematurity,miscarriage and stillbirth. They have amazing clinics in Manchester, London and Edinburgh. They help so many people with their vital research and also provide information for women with lower risk pregnancies.

Why did I run for Team Tommy’s?

I applied to run for Tommy’s when I was in my second year of my Midwifery degree. I saw the desperate need for more research into baby loss and wanted to develop my newfound hobby of running

Applying and the requirements

So now I’d figured out I wanted to run for them I had to apply. Tommys have an application process on their website and I wrote about why I wanted to run for them. Tommys have a few fundraising places for races and the required fundraising amount for London Marathon was £2000 (pretty much the standard fundraising amount for charities for this race). They emailed to offer me a place and off to fundraising I went

Raising £2000

I’ll go into my top tips for fundraising in a later blog but I’ll stick with my Tommys specific fundraising here. I did your typical asking of people and bake sales. I found supermarket fundraising was one of my favourite experiences of the process. People were able to talk to me about their experiences with baby loss which was very moving and cemented my love of Tommys. I got in touch with baby loss parents to offer a star with their babies name to be attached to my running jersey so they could run London Marathon with me which was lovely. Many other Tommys runners did memory miles. Tommys was amazing with offering advice and equipment for fundraising ,e.g. banners, shirts and fundraising pots. I ended up raising £2570 for Tommys and I’m so proud of what that money will do

Running the Marathon

Now came to running London Marathon and if you want to hear more about that I’ve got a race recap on this blog. I knew I was going to see Tommys cheer stands at mile 13/14 and mile 21/22. These cheer stands were amazing and full of people with pom poms and cheering. There was even a photographer(see picture above). Just running round the course and people seeing my jersey and cheering ‘Go Team Tommys’ was such an energiser. There would normally be a meet up before and after the race in non-COVID times. I got to see quite a few other Tommys runners round the course.

Why should you run for Team Tommys

💜They are an amazing charity supporting vital work that changes lives

💜You don’t have to run a marathon in London. They offer many races to fundraise for all over the country

💜There’s no feeling like it!

I started my London marathon journey in 2019 and due to COVID have completed in October 2021. This has been an epic journey and I would like to share my experience

The journey

As a 3rd year student Midwife I decided I wanted to do something with my newfound hobby of running. My friend had mentioned the possibility of the London Marathon and after a sleepless night of deliberating I decided: Yes I was going to do this! I found Tommy’s baby charity shared a cause I was very passionate about(which I will cover in more detail in a later blog). I read many training books and started training. I went through most of a training cycle before the April 2020 marathon was cancelled. I started my latest cycle as a qualified Midwife in Oxford.

The start

At the start I happened to meet another Iona(a much speedier one) and an amazing woman called Felicity. Felicity was running for Diabetes UK and we ran the first 6 miles together. I believe she made my race by helping me keep pace which I managed to keep consistent for the rest of the race. We parted ways as she went to a porta loo but she was a very special part of my experience. I kept steady for those first 13 miles and felt amazing. I couldn’t believe I felt so glad as I made it past Cutty Sark and then to Tower Bridge. The support on the route was unreal. It was like constant entertainment with bagpipes, speakers and relentless encouragement round every corner.

Mile 14-22

You might be thinking this a big distance to be recapping over but I knew my Dad was at mile 22 so in my mind I wasn’t aiming for 26 miles I was aiming for 22+4. This was the most difficult part for me as I was sticking in there. At mile 14 I tried to take a gel which I had used in training but it was making me feel sick suddenly so had as much as I could and then carried on. I kept steady until mile 19 where I decked it. By that I mean I fell very dramatically looking like I was going down a water slip slide straight onto my knees. I was fine just embarrassed and clumsy. I had a lucozade gel at mile 20 provided at aid stations which hit the spot. I ran next to several costumed people with my favourite being a man with a giant teddy bear strapped to his back running for a children’s hospital charity. When I asked how he was and he said the bear might end up on the train tracks after the marathon.

Mile 22-26.2

I made it to my Dad for a hug and some ribena. I only had 4 miles to go and started a run/walk. During my walks I would check in with other runners especially ones looking like they were struggling and saving themselves for the end. As we went along the Embankment seeing London Eye and that corner into Westminster it started to sink in: I was going to do this! The last mile was amazing. I still felt good and each landmark energised me even more. When I turned onto the Mall it was shorter than I managed so I went for it. I couldn’t believe it when I crossed the finish line. All that time and hard work had paid.

The Aftermath

I never imagined I could feel so good running 26.2 miles! No injuries and hardly any pain cave. I definitely felt mentally strong throughout. I had a wee cry after I crossed the finish line thinking about what I’d just achieved.

What I will say if you want to run a marathon and more importantly if you want to support a charity: Do it! I’m not a runner with natural talent or speed but you don’t need to be. You need a base of decent fitness, strong mind and desire to do it. I would recommend it to anyone!

Whilst training for the London Marathon, I started cross training with a bit of pool swimming. I’ve always enjoyed swimming but never been a strong swimmer. After lockdown I heard inspirational stories of people trying open water swimming. I figured I could swap my pool swimming for open water swimming. And if I was doing that consistently I might as well sign up to… Swim Serpentine 2021

Where to start

It seemed a big challenge to undertake especially since I’m not a strong swimmer in the pool to start. I read a lot of blogs and articles but really there are things you need to know for safety and then you can start. The swim race recommended a wetsuit(this was the biggest expense by far and not a must)so I decided I’d do all my swims in that. I also got a tow float for safety(you can get one that fits valuables in as well).

Gaining confidence

I decided after doing a bit of research to do an introduction to open swimming at London Royal Victoria Docks. It was around an hour and a half with one instructor and three of us learning(this might be based on the timing of my course). It was all about tips and gaining confidence in the open water. I would highly recommend!

Training plan

Swim Serpentine was a big race for me but not my goal race(London Marathon). I had to decide how much time I could dedicate to it. I trained for 12 weeks and 2x swims a week. That consisted of a 30 min swim and a long swim each week. I would usually to run to and from the lake I would swim in to fit around training. A training will look different for everyone. It’s important to note as well that I was just aiming to finish

Finding the lake

A pivotal moment in my training (and probably my life) was finding my local lake. It’s 3 miles away from my house and I would run to it. It wasn’t the clearest water and there was plenty of underwater plants but it was perfect! Swimming a real outlet for me and the beauty of it really grounded me. And quite importantly( for a tight Northener like me) it was a public lake near a park so no paying.

The big race!

Swim Serpentine is a swim festival in London Hyde Park’s Serpentine. You’re not usually allowed to swim in the Serpentine but this was a special occasion. There are many distances: 500m, 1 mile, 2 miles and 6 miles. I went for 2 miles which was 2x around the lake. There were loads of people and I was definitely amongst the slower swimmers. I was able to talk to other swimmers and soak in the atmosphere. I couldn’t believe what I had achieved!

If you ever want to start open water swimming there’s always a place to start. You’re capable of more than you know! If I can do it you probably can as well