The shops are full of mince pies and Christmas sweets and have been since early September. I project outraged feelings of “commercialist nightmare!” and “Christmas should be celebrated in December!”, but the reality is I’ve been thinking about what to ask Santa for since about May. So, what am I going to be grovelling for… read full entry »

Whether we like it or not, we all of us have an “identity”. It’s made up of things like gender, sexuality and social class, and is influenced by family, our peers, the media we consume and so on. We can portray our identity in different ways with the clothes we wear, the tattoos we choose… read full entry »

My attempts at maintaining my strength and fitness this year have been indisputably more consistent (and as a result, visible in my overall health and weight). I’ve been wanting to write more about what I get up to, but didn’t want to make this blog fitness-focused; it is supposed to be more general/personal than that…. read full entry »

There seems to be some sort of cosmic force that dictates that all of my taekwon-do gradings must happen when I’m feeling least equipped to deal with it. Previously this has meant doing gradings on the verge of a hormone-induced panic attack, or with illness or injury. Last night was no exception, with a heavy… read full entry »

If you check out my workout logs on the regular, you may have seen the moan at the top of last week’s chest & triceps session: Today’s workout SUCKED BALLS. Everything felt too heavy, I couldn’t hit my usual amount of reps, bleargh. Period due in 5, 4, 3… Which, if you don’t have periods,… read full entry »

Hello, and welcome. If you’re reading this, you’re here at my brand new blog and latest project: StrongMum.com Wanting to share more of my fitness escapades but not wanting to bore the less-fit readers of my main personal blog, I decided to experiment. I created a basic layout and have been happily blogging to myself… read full entry »

I officially finished my cut with Renaissance Periodization on Friday last week, ending it a few days short of the full 12 weeks (I had a weekend of gluttony planned). I ended the cut at roughly 143lbs, having started at 158lbs, giving a total of 15lbs loss. With an increase in all lifts except bench, and… read full entry »

I signed up for the Lake Vrynwy Half Marathon, celebrating its 30th birthday this year, after a conversation with a fellow website geek & runner Dave McCourt at Shropgeek’s Rebellion #15 back in May. I’d heard a lot about the race previously, and Dave confirmed that it was mostly flat and a good course for a… read full entry »

I have simple needs when it comes to working out. I am not the sort of person that trucks up with an over-stuffed gym bag full of gadgets and gear… in fact, I don’t even have a gym bag. I wear whichever leggings are at the top of the clean washing pile, with any random… read full entry »

I first came across the idea of silicone wedding rings for “active people” on Instagram — of course — about 6 months ago. It seemed like a good idea; having to to take off my wedding and engagement rings when working out (with weights specifically) for safety and comfort is a bit of a pain in… read full entry »