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Hope you have all had a good week. Here is part two of my exam series. Revision techniques very much rely on you as the individual but also on the subjects you are doing. Background: I am doing AQA A-level Biology, AQA A-level Chemistry and OCR MEI A-level Maths. So personally I have a system that I use when revising each topic for every subject. 1. Write out notes This cannot be my only revision technique with subjects that rely heavily on application questions but this initiates my revision and reminds me of the content.
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As I have said on my Instagram recently I am going to have to take a step back from ‘TheKeanBean’ for a few months. My A-levels are fast approaching and I need to focus on getting the grades for medical school, don’t worry I will still post every now again (you won’t miss me too much heehee.) Anyway sorry to start this post on a bit of a down-er. I thought it was about time I reviewed my products from Zone3 before I do another order. With both GCSEs and A-levels just round the corner (sorry to remind everyone) I thought it would be a good time to share how I cope with exam stress and how I revise. I am no expert and everyone has different strategies/coping mechanisms but I thought it might be helpful to share mine. I, like many others put extreme pressure on myself to get the top marks/ grades. Of course this is a good thing but this level of pressure can cause you to stress out unnecessarily. In no way am I saying don’t aim high, not at all! What I am saying is learn how to deal with the stress leading up to exams. So… here are some ways that I find useful to help get out of a ‘stress spiral’ (yes, I just made that phrase up lol). Long time, no post. I am going to be sharing a 3 part blog series with you over the next few weeks talking about athlete mentality from the perspective of training, racing and injury. I decided to write about this because: 1) I felt pretty down about injury as everyone raced at English schools XC. 2) of a discussion with my mum in Sheffield about her Masters (on emotional regulation and mentality in students). I have researched the effects of exercise on the body and emotions associated with exercise in depth for my EPQ but I am no expert in this. I thought it would helpful to share some of my tips and experiences. I am going to start with mentality in training. This is something that I really struggled with a few years ago as I didn’t really have a goal, I just wanted to get better but didn’t know how so I just ran and ran and ran which ultimately led to injury. I haven’t shared a week in training for a while (7 months to be exact) so thought I would! Currently I am coming back from injury and building up my running again after a year of disjointed running. Side note/ mini injury update: I got my MRI results on Tuesday. I have periostitis/ shin splints (inflammation of the membrane surronding a bone) and a bone marrow edema (fluid build up in the bone marrow- I didn’t know this existed either haha) both of which my consultant says are from a stress fracture that was not treated. Symptoms wise my pain levels are very low and the constant pain that was in my tendon has gone!! Anyway this weeks training… I am back to the blog and from my holiday! Whilst I was away I read three books (lying in the sun = perfect opportunity) and I thought it would be a good idea to share my favourite/most inspiring running reads. PS. All the photos are linked to amazon where you can buy the books. I buy them second hand usually. The poll on my story suggested that most of you wanted to hear my honest feelings about a year of injury, those who voted for a recipe, don't worry there is one coming next week ;) This time last year I had raced at Southerns XC and had a disaster the next day. Anyway you have all heard me moan and talk about injury a lot but I thought I would share how I feel about it now, one year on.
So after a few heavy blog posts recently I thought I would do another ‘things I am loving lately’ to catch up and seeing as I haven’t done one since last summer…oops! Life has been very busy recently with Year 13 mock exams and university interviews but it has been so nice to chill and take a break this week, even if I did the dreaded winter cold. The other day when I had ‘ask me a question’ on my Instagram story I was asked by a few people about overtraining. I have written posts relating to overtraining previously but I have never addressed how you can ‘stop’ and my story. *Warning: I open up a lot in this post. I have never opened up about the extent to which I overtrained so this isn’t easy and is quite scary but I want my experiences to help others before it gets out of control. **Also please read the captions of the photos. “What a year 2017 has been, the best yet, so many memories made and lots of achievements.” That is how I started this post last year. I am not going to pretend and say to you that I have the best year but I will say that 2018 has been a whirlwind with many ups and downs. A learning curve.
After a conversation with Emma on Thursday about her blog post, burning out and listening to your body I thought it would be fitting to do a post on it as it an important topic. The last few weeks I have felt exhausted and unmotivated to train which may be due to end of term parties or the winter cold that everyone seems to have had. I have had many spontaneous rest days and taken training easy, no not because I am being lazy close to Christmas but because I know I needed to rest and let my body recover. I can tell you it pays off! This weekend I felt much stronger after a few weeks of little and easy training and today I smashed out a 4km swim!!! The longest swim I have done since the sponsored 5kms I did in March. You may have read the collab that Emma and I did at the end of the summer focusing on overtraining and rest days. I thought I would talk about the influence of technology on training. Finding the right training routine for you takes time and you have to fail to then succeed. Some people have a heavy training plan and others can’t cope with such heavy training; it all depends on you as an individual and what your body can cope with. I think many of us fall into the trap (myself included) of comparing ourselves to others, this can lead to overtraining, injury and possible mental health problems. Since becoming vegetarian I have tried to make extra effort to ensure that I get the right balance of vitamins and minerals in my body. Unfortunately, when I became vegan I failed to do so; I am sad to say I think it contributed to my injury. Don’t get me wrong, being vegan does not make you at higher risk if you make sure you get all the right nutrients but for me it didn’t work so have gone back to being a vegetarian. I thought I would write a post about the supplements I take as a vegetarian and whilst being injured. Supplements are not cheap so you can’t take them for everything but ensuring you get the balance is essential. So I swear this is the 100th injury update either on the blog or my Instagram so I apologise if you are not a fan of them. Over the last few weeks I have had back to back appointments with new physios, podiatrists and with my GP; some of which were helpful and some very frustrating. Recently I have been loving baked beans on toast for breakfast. The winter mornings are here, when it is dark and cold outside all I want is a warming breakfast (that is where Emma and I don’t agree as she enjoys nice cream and smoothie bowls all year round). I also find that it fills me up much more than other breakfasts #protein. I don’t always have time to make my own baked beans but I thought I would share my smokey baked bean recipe I use, of course it doesn’t have to be eaten for breakfast, you could have it any time of the day or use it as a base for another meal eg: shakshuka. The recipe is super simple:1x 400g tin of haricot beans
Method:
I hope you enjoy if you decide to make them and I apologise for my absence over the past few weeks. Immie <3 Missed out on the Sussex relays this weekend but I have had some super good swim sets recently so I thought I would share them. Tip: wear a swim hat it saves your hair. I never used to wear them as I hate them but with the volume of swimming I do at the moment I have to! Before every set I do a warm of freestyle and after every set I cool down with breaststroke and arm pulling. Do you like Reece’s peanut butter cups? Have you ever tried making them? Today I did for the first time and although I made them quite thick they taste so good; they are literally just chocolate filled with peanut butter. Here are the measurements I used. Ingredients:
Method:
The best part of making these is that you can lick the spoons after haha- who doesn’t love chocolate and peanut butter? Very short blog post this week, been working on my personal statement and school work all weekend… fun :/ Immie <3 Seeing as most of my feed is pancakes at the moment I thought I would share the recipe I use as well as flavour combinations and toppings. I have to say pancakes are one of favourite breakfasts and a go to when there are lots of ripe bananas around. I found a quote on Pinterest which I really liked; "why are breakfast dates not more popular? Forget your 9pm fancy dinner reservation, lets eat pancakes at 9am in our pjs." Base Recipe: These are the ingredients I use every time before I add flavour.
Once blended I may add flavours.
Wait until the oil is super hot before adding the mixture otherwise you don’t get the perfect pancake. I cook 2-3 pancakes at a time (depends how big your frying pan is) and wait for the air bubbles to form before flipping. Toppings: The variety of toppings depends on the flavour of the pancakes but almost always includes some sort of nut butter and fruit.
This is a bit of a random blog post as I have been stumped for ideas at the moment but I hope it gives you some new pancake ideas… pancake day is not very close but hey pancakes all day every day!
Immie <3 Since I have been back at school for a week now and am beginning to settle back into routine I thought I would write a post about successfully balancing school work, training and other extra-curricular activities. I was inspired by Teenrunnerblog’s post last week and I think it is an important topic. Sixth Form As the 15th of October (my UCAS form for university has to be in for the 15/10/18 because I am applying for medicine) approaches, my to do list is getting shorter as I am frantically trying to get things done and out the way so I don’t have to panic on the 14th of October haha. I have done my medical school admissions test (UKCAT) which is the biggest relief (those who know, know), I have finally finished looking round universities too which although is exciting it is pretty tiring; yesterday I visited Cardiff and really liked it but Nottingham is still my top choice by far! I also need to finish off my personal statement. I have just gone into Year 13 so as well as UCAS applications I also have more content to learn which isn’t exactly easy going. Time Management I think this is the most important part of being able to balance school, training and a social life. It is important to have time to relax because constant studying will lead to burn out just like constant training with no recovery leads to burn out. I rely on TO-DO LISTS; they are a life saver and there is a certain level of satisfaction when you can tick the task off. Personally I use a diary where I write down everything I need to do that day which includes: training, homework, saxophone practice, rehab exercises, dog walks, work hours and anything else that may need doing. I also find that having to do lists help me from procrastinating (which I am very prone to doing) as I have a focus and can prioritise what NEEDS doing. Similar to what Ellen said in her post, not every day goes to plan, I don’t always get everything done and may spend more time on my phone that I probably should but you cannot just work ,work work ! I find it hard to come straight home from school and get on with my homework so end up scrolling through Instagram, this is ok but you have to be cautious of the time because hours can go by before you actually start your homework. Training
This is something that I have had to change this year due to injury and as annoying as being injured is, I have learnt so much inc. how to train efficiently. Last year I would go for a run during my frees at school or straight after school but as exams are this year I want to use my frees for study which means training before school if I don’t have form or training in the evening; I actually quite like training in the evening, especially swimming but I don’t think I will be able to cycle in the evenings for much longer as the daylight hours reduce! I think that training in the evening clears your head after a hard day at college/work/school and allows you to relax before you start again the next day. To fit in training during a busy week I tend to do shorter sessions at a higher intensity. For example instead of going for a long ride I will half the distance and increase the pace with sprint efforts or go to the gym and do a session on the Wattbike. Try and plan your training at the weekend before the week starts so you know what you will be doing rather than being indecisive on the day. However if you are exhausted after a long day, don’t go a push yourself over the limit, modify! Listen to your body! Everyone at my work says to me how do I fit it all in and honestly I don’t know but I think the best way to go about balancing everything is managing your time and listening to your body! A mini insight into my hectic schedule but I hope it gives you some ideas. P.S I have struggling with blog post ideas so please comment or head to my insta if you have some ideas! Immie <3 I haven’t shared a recipe for a while and I have actually had some requests for more, specifically raw cakes/ desserts so I decided to share my banoffee pie recipe with you. Banoffee pie is an English dessert typically made of bananas (no kidding ahha), cream, caramel/toffee on a biscuit base. I have adapted the typical recipe to make it raw and vegan using nuts and dates. Ingredients: 100g of cashews 100g of pecans (I used a mix of pecans and walnuts because I didn't have enough) 220g of pitted dates 200g of crushed vegan biscuits 2 tbsp of cocoa powder 1 tbsp of vanilla extract 2 ripe bananas (I used 3 pretty tiny bananas) Hi everyone! I’m Emma, and for those of you that don’t know I’m the blogger behind Fruits and Routes. This week Immy and I wanted to share a 2-part collaboration about overtraining and rest days, especially in terms of running. It’s a topic that we both feel very strongly about and don’t think is covered enough in training. Make sure to check out part 1 of this collaboration – “Overtraining” – which Immy has written and is up on my blog now! What do I mean by a rest day? Obviously, I don’t want to come across as patronising, but I think that everyone has something different in mind when they come across the term “rest day”. For me, it is usually on a Friday and is a day where I do no sport whatsoever. I know some people’s rest days involve core workouts/ spins/ yoga/ a recovery run or swim, but for me, this defeats the point of a rest day. I’m not necessarily criticising these alternative forms of rest days, but I do want to stress the idea that you shouldn’t feel guilty for not doing a form of sport on a daily basis. Breaking out of the sport addiction cycle One of the hardest things about a rest day can sometimes be taking the first step. As someone who has suffered from an eating disorder and acute exercise addiction, I know from personal experience that it is tough. Extremely tough. It might sound odd to some of you, but exercise can transition from a passion to an obsession very quickly. Even though I’m now recovered from my eating disorder, I still regularly have days where I feel obliged to do a form of sport even if I don’t actually want to. I do believe though that having at least one rest day a week is essential (for me) to recover and continue to improve as an athlete. When you first have a rest day after a prolonged period without one, it definitely feels odd. Something feels missing from your life, and the day suddenly stretches out before you. I used to feel awful, as though I were lazy, and would definitely get what I call EWS (exercise withdrawal symptoms). However, if you just push through this initial phase it eventually becomes a lot easier. I now love my Friday Rest Days as much as I love my long runs, and this is an important balance to strike in my opinion. The benefits of rest days I’m by no means an expert or a qualified professional, but on a personal level I’ve found that rest days have greatly increased my performance in racing and training. Before, training would feel like an obligation and I’d feel like a “failure” for not doing it. But whilst doing it, I never particularly enjoyed it. It became repetitive, monotonous and uninspiring, especially as my times got slower. Without rest days, training almost becomes counterproductive and it feels as though none of your hard work pays off. One of the reasons why I often have a rest day on a Friday is because it’s the day before the majority of my XC or track races, meaning my legs feel fresh on race day. Different things work for different people, but rest days are definitely one of my top tips for improving as a runner (controversial I know!) Introducing your first rest day
If you’re someone who, like me, can really struggle with the concept of a rest day, then these are some tips that have helped me reconcile myself to them.
Emma ♥♥ ________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you Emma for writing this post on such an important topic. Hope you all enjoyed reading it. Please head over to Emma's blog to read my blog post on Overtraining. I apologise for my lack of blog posts recently, being away at weekends means I have been unable to upload. I was planning on posting a recipe today but after a poll on my Instagram it was clear that an injury update was more popular. January 28th = The day after SEAA Championships. I tried to go for a run and it was an absolute disaster I was in so much pain and had to come home. At this point I had no idea what was wrong, the pain was spread up my shin; I suspected it was shin splints. (I have already written a blog posts on this so if you haven't heard the story head over to the blog). So since my last post I seem to... A few people have asked for my typical week of training. Due to my injury my training has been all over the place since January but it has been for the best I think, I have found new ways to cross train and as you all know, found my love for triathlon which means incorporating all three disciplines into my training each week. I don’t really have a set training plan each week, many aspects are the same but some days I do what I feel like, for example if my ankle is a bit sore I won’t risk running on it or if I am tired I won’t push myself to do speed work or a super long session. I am not quite sure how to write this blog post without making it super long or boring. This trip was organised by our school and the charity Grassroots of which I think we are all eternally grateful for; it has been an unforgettable experience. On the 11th of July at 06:30 24 of us and 4 teachers left for Gatwick airport. We had a 3.5 hour flight to Istanbul, 2 hour wait, 7 hour flight to Dar Es Salaam, 4 hour wait, 1.5 hour flight to Mbeya. We finally arrived at the Karibuni centre (where we would be staying for the week) completely exhausted. We chilled for a bit before our first trip to the Grassroots centre. The walk there is something I will never forget; children came running out of school shouting and screaming mzungo (white person in Swahili) with excitement, they held our hands all the way to the centre where more children met us. Day 1 in Mbeya: We began the morning by visiting a secondary school. We attended a chemistry class where we had the chance to take part and talk to the children there; they learn in English which is very impressive so we could have a proper conversation with them. Most of them wanted to be a pilot, doctor, architect or engineer. When we arrived back at the Grassroots centre we played with the children before lunch. This is when I met my gal Maggie who I played with everyday whilst we were there. Nearly everyone made a strong bond with a child whilst we were there which made it even harder to say goodbye at the end of the week. After a 5* lunch of rice, beans and banana which we had every day with the odd variation of plantain, fruit or avocado too we headed off to our first feeding programme. This programme is run by Grassroots for the sponsored children, we helped the team with washing hands, serving food and washing up. The best part of this was seeing the joy and excitement on the children’s faces when they received their food. Day 2 in Mbeya: Started the day at the Grassroots centre playing with the children, Maggie came running up to me and I am still amazed at how good her English was. She taught me some Swahili, counted to 100 and can do the ABC faster than I can! We spent the day going to feeding programmes around the area and then finished off the day at the Grassroots centre learning some Tanzanian dance which was super fun. Day 3 in Mbeya: Rushing to church for a 10:00 start. We were welcomed by various dances and songs by different groups. The sense of community was overwhelming (even if we couldn’t understand much of the service) and I can definitely say that they love to worship after the 3.5hour service (by far the longest service I have ever attended). During the service there was various collections, one of which was for us, I think we all struggled with this because we know how little they have and how much we have but after a discussion in the evening it could be seen as maintaining their dignity. Trip to the market to get some Tanzanian football shirts ready for the England Vs Tanzania football and netball games that we were taking part in later. We came away with a double win #itscominghome. It was super fun to take part in the netball and it is fair to say it got dirty and competitive. After the netball we watched the boys perform very well in the football, also bringing home the win! Day 4 in Mbeya: The next three days were a carousel of visits, jobs and activities. My group started off with the milk programme which was for the younger children. We also gave each of the children a bobble hat and seeing their excitement on their faces was lovely, they all shouted “kofia, kofia” which means hat in Swahili. The rest of the morning was spent delivering eggs to families with a child with HIV. This was heartbreaking and really hit home because HIV is such a big killer in Tanzania. After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening registering children into the Grassroots programme. A group of my friends and I did the weights and heights of the children for their form. This was actually quite scary because some of the children were very malnourished. Day 5 in Mbeya: Second day of the carousel and we were off to the zoo. We took and group of children from the programme with us, they absolutely loved it! I spent the day with one little girl who was super cool. When we went to the snake enclosure she told me the story about why she hates snakes now. When she was younger a snake grabbed her around the ankles whilst she was outside with her family, luckily her mum rescued her before it bit her. This was sad and scary because although in England some people say they are afraid of snakes she had experienced something that has made her fear snakes. Whilst the children played in the playground we watched a snake kill and eat a hare, this was horrible but it is how the animals survive. Day 6 in Mbeya: Last day of the carousel and last day in Mbeya!! We were on chicken duty for our last morning. Bumpy ride into rural Mbeya which was gorgeous. Stopped off to watch a cow being milked (I had never seen this before) but it was sad to see how malnourished the cows were. Onto the chicken farm where we saw a chicken being dispatched (killed) before collecting our chickens to deliver in the village. A bumpy route with a chicken on your lap called for an interesting ride back into the town. Our last feeding programme before heading to a gig at the grassroots centre by one of the guys who had been with us all week (shoutout to Gwakisa). Time to say goodbye to all the children! I think this was the hardest part of the trip, especially because we had made some good friendships with the children and we will most probably never see them again or know how they are getting on. I think this really got to me in the evening and it is fair to say I got a bit emotional. Day 7:
05:00 wake up read to leave at 05:30 for the airport. The next two days were going to be spent on the beach in Dar Es Salaam reflecting on the week and our experiences. When we arrived at the beach I think we were all pretty blown away with how gorgous it was: the bright blue indian ocean, cabanas and exetensive sandy beach; it is fair to say we were all very excited. We spent the rest of the day in the sea and sunbathing before dinner and reflection on the week. Day 8: 06:15 wake up to watch the sunrise on the beach with the group. Some of us went in the sea too whilst the sun rose; I think this was a moment I won’t forget! Delicious breakfast after our swim: fresh fruit platter, followed by a cooked breakfast! Suitcases packed and out the room for 10:30am, we stowed the suitcases away for the day as we weren’t leaving for the airport until 10:30pm. Amazing day with an amazing group! I spent the majority of the day in the sea along with some sunbathing and reading. I don’t think I would have changed anything about the trip (unfortunately we didn’t have time but it would’ve been amazing to be able to visit the hospital. I think it would’ve been shocking and heart breaking but it would be reality that we need to be exposed to.) Even though we only got back two days ago I am missing it so much. I cannot explain how much I learnt from the trip, along with the friendships made with both the children and our group. I wish we could do it all over again! Swahili phrases learnt: Habari za asubuhi = good morning Jambo/mambo = hi Habari = hello/ how are you? Jina lako nani = what is your name? Jina langu ni… = my name is… Asante = thank you Asante sana = thank you very much |
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RACE RECAPS TRAINING BESIDES RUNNING SELF CARE BACK TO SCHOOL OVERTRAINING THINGS I AM LOVING LATELY TRIATHLON NEW YEAR Month/year
August 2023
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