My Life My Words

crossfit Reading? Hope you don't mind me asking, do you mean Reading in the UK, like Reading in Berkshire or am I off the mark completely...?

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:32:46 +0100

Yep. I was born and bread in Tilehurst before I moved to New York in December.

My good friend and fellow Reebok Crossfit Reading athlete Becky...

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:22:06 +0100

My good friend and fellow Reebok Crossfit Reading athlete Becky just finished 21st in the European Regional

So proud of her and she has only been crossfitting for 12 months. Watch this space next year!

Flashback Friday Front and centre ‘95 and my Hockey team...

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:17:22 +0100

Flashback Friday

Front and centre ‘95 and my Hockey team had just won the British Junior Championships and were heading for the Europeans in Switzerland.

I have been looking for photos of when I used to play Hockey for a few weeks and then suddenly I got an email contains this photo. I don’t think I had ever been in a newspaper before but I remember my Grandma being incredibly proud and had it on her fridge for years. I cannot believe it was almost 20 years ago now!

Bruins @ Rangers Game 4 I Just Got Tickets!!! :)

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:14:59 +0100

Bruins @ Rangers Game 4

I Just Got Tickets!!! :)

Text chats with mother during the FA Cup final. I love how much...

Sat, 11 May 2013 19:12:14 +0100

Text chats with mother during the FA Cup final. I love how much she loves her football.

Passion

London in colour in 1927! The BBC didn’t start...

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:54:20 +0100

London in colour in 1927!

The BBC didn’t start broadcasting in colour until 40 years later and its amazing to see the tallest buildings at the time are now over shadowed by steel and glass monoliths.

Simply takes my breath away at how much London has changed and yet its hardly changed at all.

Back Problems

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:31:00 +0100

For no apparent reason I woke up with chronic back pain again on Sunday. What started out as irritable stiffness soon turned in to all out back spasms by Wednesday morning.

This isn’t the first time I have had this and as some of you may well know the first thing that people like to point the finger at is the type of exercise I do.

This time it was nothing more than sleeping in a funny position.

I went to see a movement specialist on Tuesday who was horrified at my lack of hip mobility and said that he is sure that 98% of my back issues come from this problem. So I’m having my first session with him today.

I also went to see a Chiropractor yesterday who basically couldn’t do anything for me - so he referred me a specialist who practices Trigger Point Injection therapy. Basically this involves injecting the site of the muscle in spasm with injections of saline and Novocaine.

I had approximately 50-60 injections into my lower back and butt. I was going to count but I gave up after the second injection. This process basically induces a relaxation of the muscle which feels like when you get a twitchy eye (but in your bum and legs).

The relief was almost immediate and it felt like I was melting into the table I was laying on. I have woken up with more soreness and this is most likely due to bruising around the spine from the muscle contractions during the spasm - almost like the feeling you get after a heavy cramp. Sometimes it takes a few days to get the full feeling back.

Tonight I am seeing the movement specialist again tonight followed by the Chiropractor again on Friday along with more Chiropractor and Injections next Wednesday.

My main goal of this is to become more flexible in my hips and to relieve the pressure that this tightness puts on my back. The other things I need to look into are Yoga (I did it once before and quite enjoyed it) and stretching both in the morning and in the evening. I now need to learn what type of stretches I need to do, how long for and then I can start thinking about working out again.

My walk to work this morning was nothing short of eventful. My...

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:15:21 +0100

My walk to work this morning was nothing short of eventful. My back has been sore since Sunday so where as people were running to the subway station to avoid the rain I was waddling along like I had shit myself.

The umbrella I was using was crap and decided to only keep half of me dry.

Fitblr shirts

Thu, 02 May 2013 15:11:00 +0100

A few people have asked where I got my fitblr T-Shirt from since I posted my last photo and I have to be honest I made it myself. I was running through Central Park and there were so many other runners and I thought to myself.

“I wonder if he/she has a tumblr and if they are a fitblr or runblr”

Anyway seeing as people were asking I put some of spreadshirt if you want to get one.

click here

I thought they would look quite cool during races for both runners and spectators.

Anna’s post reminded me of this…....

Thu, 02 May 2013 14:54:05 +0100

Anna’s post reminded me of this….

thisfearlesslife

What I’ve learned — lesson 6: The 20 Commandments of Runner’s Etiquette

Thou shalt honor thy body and keep it fed; do not forsaketh carbohydrates but enjoy them and rejoice in thy ever-increasing metabolism.

Thou shalt not line up in a corral in which ye cannot keep up.

Thou shalt move to the side of the road/trail before halting abruptly to avoid collisions.

Thou shalt not covet thy fellow runners PR’s.

Thou shalt acknowledge waves, greetings, nods, and good morrow’s when passing other runners.

Thou shalt run with awareness at night, for lo! Lurkers may creep when nobody is watching.

Thou shalt invest in good running shoes. Do not be deceived by what is popular.

Thou shalt remember the rest day, and keep it holy. It is most beauteous.

Thou shalt not forget to hydrate, for your body will betray you with dehydration.

Thou shalt not be invincible and run through aches and pains/ignore injuries.

Thou shalt show mercy unto thy fellow runners, and not blow snot rockets without looking first.

Thou shalt run against traffic, or surely thou will perish.

Thou shalt not throw cups at the feet of runners behind you.

Thou shalt pay attention to traffic before crossing streets.

Thou shalt commit adultery with other forms of exercise; biking, hiking, elliptical and swimming shall heal thy tired muscles.

Thou shalt thank the volunteers, and honor them with praise.

Thou shalt not be an elitist jerk. If ye run, ye are a runner.

Thou shalt not litter thy fuel trash.

Thou shalt bequeath thy wealth of knowledge to newer runners, for the experienced man is wise.

Thou shalt enjoy thyself. If running givest thy soul grief, thou shalt rethink the path of exercise and maybe take up zumba.

What say you, good gentles/ladies?

I caved and got the Fitbit One yesterday. It was waiting for me...

Thu, 02 May 2013 14:01:36 +0100

I caved and got the Fitbit One yesterday. It was waiting for me when I got home from work so I used it last night to go for a 5k run around Central Park and a walk along riverside park with Laura, who is in town this week.

So this represents 5:30pm - 9:30pm yesterday.

I’m interested to see what a full days usage looks like. Although I woke up late and had to get the Subway to work this morning so I’m already missing out on a mile or so walk for my target today.

Trying to hold off buying a Fitbit until the new Fitbit Flex...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:46:30 +0100

Trying to hold off buying a Fitbit until the new Fitbit Flex comes out in a month.

Can people who use fitbit tell me what they think?

Cooling off on my roof terrace after a 10k around central park....

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:15:00 +0100

Cooling off on my roof terrace after a 10k around central park. My first 10k run this side of the new year and what a nice day to run around the park.

10k in 1:05

My pace was slow but it was just nice to get out and run again.

Throwback Thursday. Summer 1998 and 2 girls at my school managed...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:09:00 +0100

Throwback Thursday.

Summer 1998 and 2 girls at my school managed to persuade me to let them loose with some hair dye we found in a cleaning cupboard.

I had my first ever job interview the next day, my mum was livid and I remember the hairdresser telling me that I was lucky I didn’t burn my scalp due to the concentration on peroxide in the dye.

I told the person interviewing me that I was in a school production of The Rocky Horror Show. They believed me and I got the job. And this began a 10 year stint as a realtor.

xpltvdeleted: yogawarriornyc: I’m not sure what happened...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:44:57 +0100

xpltvdeleted:

yogawarriornyc:

I’m not sure what happened here.

One minute I was in my seat in section 410. The next minute I was down at field level with these guys. 10 beers in and Mets fans for about 3 hours, you’d have thought these two yokels had grown up around the corner from Shea Stadium.

I’ll say one thing for them, they know how to do baseball right!

I have a strange feeling….one I haven’t felt before.

It’s kind of a mixture of pride and embarrassment.

Either way: GO BASEBALL!

Last night I went to my first Baseball game and thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so that I have got tickets to see the Mets on Friday and Sunday this week.

Seeing the Mets win in the 10th from a ‘Walk off, Grand Slam, Homerun’ (I think they called it) was the perfect end to my first game.

So i missed Bob yesterday by 15 minutes apparently… but...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:27:41 +0100

So i missed Bob yesterday by 15 minutes apparently…

but here is a nice photo with him and some of the 4:30pm guys.

Strength WOD

4x3 Front squat at 85% of 1RM = 185lb

Conditioning WOD

20 minuets of

1st minute - 1 squat & 1 Pull up
2nd minute - 2 squats & 2 Pull ups
3rd minute - 3 squats & 3 Pull ups
4…
5….
etc

I got to the 13th round before I had to reset. My hands are ruined today and stung like buggary in the shower this morning.

That’s…. That’s my gym! I wonder if he will...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:29:26 +0100

That’s…. That’s my gym! I wonder if he will still be there for the 6:30 class

Woke up to find my street has been turned into the Amazing...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:22:33 +0100

Woke up to find my street has been turned into the Amazing Spider-Man 2 set.

New York Red Bulls 4 - 1 New England Revolution We had a...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 02:31:00 +0100

New York Red Bulls 4 - 1 New England Revolution

We had a tumblr night out at the Red Bulls game tonight and it was nice to see a team winning for once. As a Reading FC fan this is a rare occurrence.

All in all New York won, we drank beer. All is good.

My run for Boston

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:39:10 +0100

I went and joined Chris and Jess for a run around Central Park not only was this my run for Boston it was also my first run since January!

I’m so glad to be back out there. It was hard work and my Sinus gave my some pain after the first mile and a half but it has been much better than it has been.

2.75 miles in 24:52. Slow and steady.