I'm at a place called Vertigo.

I'm all too aware that the next Hell and Back race is happening in November but I'm sad to say I won't be taking part. After doing the first one I did in January I imagined myself doing them all but unfortunately stuff doesn't always work out like that. I would love love love to be doing it but I've been looking to relocate to Belfast the last few months and with job interviews and the constant travelling up and down and the likes it just means I haven't had the time to get my head around doing the next race. I'm happy to say I've been offered a job in Belfast and it starts in a couple of weeks so it means I wouldn't be able to take the time off to do it either, what with being a new employee and all that. I'm aware the trying to move and the job offer doesn't make up for my lack of training for it though. Running has fallen to the waste side since I've been living at home. There's no real reason, I just haven't been arsed. Running is a pain in that once you don't do it one week it's harder and harder to convince yourself to go the next and the vicious cycle continues. Although I have been running away on the treadmill, I'll do the odd 5km/10km and sprints so the fitness is still there. When I get up to Belfast, which is looking like it'll be pretty soon, I know I'll go running all the time. I need a city to explore when I'm running, new little streets to go down just cos I want to, with different faces and things to see all the time. I can't stand the monotony of running around the country roads where I live, some people would much prefer the calm and serene that the country offers but it's just not me.

There I am having great craic

Another reason for not being able to train properly is I've been diagnosed with vertigo (see what I did with the title ... yeah.... yeah?!), which means I've been nauseas, dizzy, very tired and getting bad headaches a lot of the time. Vertigo is basically an imbalance in the ear. It's very interesting actually, in the ear lies calcium crystals and they're knocked out of place by sudden movements like bending down, lying down, getting up, turning your head left or right, pretty much anything you do on a daily bloody basis now that I think about it. And when these movements happens the dislodged crystals float like little bastards in to the inner ear making you feel terrible. It had been going on for a few months and I was finally told after a few doctor appointments that that is more than likely what it is. I thought I had anaemia of some sort but the symptoms were all very spontaneous, sometimes I would feel them all at once and sometimes one at a time. I really didn't have a clue what was going on but I'm so relieved that I know what it is now. I'm on medication for it and only after a few days I feel completely back to myself again, hence the actually writing a blog entry! It's only a short course of medication but hopefully after taking them there'll be some improvement. There's no cure or anything so I just have to kind of hope it's clears up.

Even though I've felt like fainting and sleeping pretty much constantly the last 3 months, I've still managed to do a lot of weight training. I've been getting really into squatting, deadlifting and the bench press. I've definitely gotten stronger and I'm seeing a bit more definition in places which is always nice. I used to wince picking up the 12kg dumb bells but now they're light which feels pretty good! I've started to ask people in the gym if they think my form is okay while I squat because I still feel a bit self conscious doing it, as if people are looking at me and thinking I'm doing it wrong, but so far so good! My goal is to squat 60kg. I started on 20kg, then 30kg, and now I'm on 40kg. I do 3-6 reps and 3 sets so I might actually be able to squat once with the 60kg but I'm not gonna push it too hard just yet. I'm gonna build everything up slowly because it's in my nature to just push forward as much as possible and in the past I have gotten way too many injuries as a result of this. For the deadlift, I think I'm doing about 30kg. And once again I'm just doing 4-6 reps and 3-4 sets. I was told last summer I wasn't flexible enough to deadlift but I think I've improved on that since. I have gotten a pair of weightlifting shoes so I'm closer to the ground and from what I can see my feet are in the right position and don't lift off the ground. I try my best to make sure I have the best form as possible, I watch videos on my phone beforehand and read little instructions I have and make sure to constantly look in the mirror to make sure my back is straight and to check myself out obviously. My next post will be about all the proper forms and the different articles and diagrams that I have collected to make sure you know you're doing the exercises right.

Regardless of all this, I have big plans concerning my role in health and fitness in the coming months. I plan on doing my personal training cert within the next year. I have half of the money saved for it and once I start the job I can start working on the other half. I can't wait to have a client or two, it's always something I've wanted to do. The PT cert is only the beginning though, I want to get the masters in Public Health, maybe in England, and continue on with as many courses to improve my knowledge as possible. For now though I'm just trying to live a little while still remaining pretty fit. I have nothing definite in the pipeline but it's still a huge priority in my life to remain strong and healthy. I've said it before that I want to race a half marathon and to be honest I had hoped I would have had it done by now! But the next race I'd like to do is a halfer anyway so when I'm up in Belfast and settled and training regularly I'll start looking for a race I can take part in and blog about because that's what I really love doing. I'm going to look for a magazine or website that I could submit work to soon, would be very nice to get published. Christ, this was much much longer than anticipated! I felt I needed to explain my absence and hopefully I did so! I have loads of plans for this blog and for myself. I have literally hundreds of ideas and half written posts that I need to get cracking on. Anyway thanks for continuing to read and I will be blogging much more regularly and I will write about lots of wonderful things that won't bore the arse of ya!