I'm a runner now

Can you call yourself a runner after one 5 minute run and one 6 minute run? I don't care, I am!

Yesterday morning I awoke and decided instead of staying in my jammies most of the day that I'd chuck my clothes on, get my trainers on and go for a run/jog around the block. I don't know where the urge came from I just felt like I had to do it. So I did.

I lasted 5 minutes and came back home, I was knackered! But I felt great, very positive and quite proud of myself. I think one of the main reasons I haven't done this till now was my anxiety (and depression!) The past few weeks, it has calmed down so much! I think this might be due to the fact that I've accepted I'm doing something to better my body and I have to not let negative thoughts get to me.

It's like getting healthy is my mission and nothing can stop me from that, even my previously crippling anxiety (it got so bad at some stages that I wouldn't leave the house as I'd have panic attacks) and my depression sent me into a pretty dark place as well.

This morning's run proved to me that I'm managing anxiety so much better, I pushed myself an extra minute, which might not seem like that much but when you are 209lbs, believe me, it's a challenge. The extra minute wasn't what did it though, I ran past school kids. Now I don't know about anyone else but my anxiety would literally rocket when I was near school kids. Anxiety combined with bullying when I was younger make for a terrified Alana.

However today, as I saw the kids walking along, I decided that I would not stop running and just walk behind them, ashamed of being out and running (and fat), so I held my head high and sauntered past them. I got such a rush and did panic for a moment but it passed and I felt great. Almost like overcoming a fear.

I'm going to keep running in the morning around my block, and I will encounter kids most mornings as there is a primary and high school at the end of my street but I don't care. I'll one day run past that high school again with my head held high and be proud of myself yet again.

I can do this.

Alex Day helped me win a Kitsound ClockDock

I was just going about my business on April 2nd when I got an email from the lovely Danielle. She is the blog editor of blog.very.co.uk and she was letting me know that I had won their competition to win a Kitsound Clock Dock.

I can't actually remember how I came across the competition if I'm honest, it could have been through Twitter or the freebie sites that email me. Still, I found myself on the post and decided to enter.

To enter the comp, all you had to do was leave a comment saying which song you like to wake up to in the morning. I went with Alex Day's Good Morning Sunshine.

Go on, give it a wee listen, it's bloody marvellous. It puts me in such a good mood, how could you not enjoy waking up to this song! So thanks Alex for creating such a great song!

When I got the email from Danielle, I'll admit, I did let out a wee celebratory 'yay' then returned to the email to give her my address. I thought it would take a good few days to get here but a day and a half later, my cheery postman (seriously, he is the nicest guy!) was chapping on my door with a box for me.

I managed to resist tearing it all open and got some pictures first, but as soon as they were taken, I was like a kid at christmas! I didn't use it as soon as I opened it, just looked at it for a while and decided where I would put it.

I decided to go for a purple Clock Dock, as anyone who knows me will know that purple is my favourite colour. However, I forgot my ipod is purple so I'm kinda wishing I'd gone for a different contrasting colour. Ach well, all the purple!

 

 

So I'm pretty much in love with this Clock Dock. It's amazing! The sound on it is crisp and clear, it goes loud but not loud enough that it distorts the music. I think my favourite thing about it though has to be that if you unplug it at the wall and plug it in again, you don't have to set the time again! It takes the time from your iPod (or iPhone if you have one, I don't) and that automatically appears on the face! I do tend to shuffle speakers about quite a bit, if I'm on a cleaning spree, I'll move my speakers from room to room and tidy away. So that's a very handy feature! It surprised me by being really lightweight, for some reason I expected it to be heavier.

What Kitsound say: 

Introducing the KitSound™ Clock Dock

Combining great sound quality with stylish design, the KS Clock Dock will make the most of your music as well as looking good on your bedside table.

Use and Ornament

The perfect way to get you started in the morning, the Clock Dock's alarm function lets you choose between being awoken by music stored on your iPod or iPhone, by FM radio or by buzzer. Its functionality is further enhanced by the fact that it charges your device ready for the day ahead, and its super-shiny mirrored front proves that image is just as important as practicality.

Other Features

As well as featuring a sleep and snooze button, the blue LCD clock display with backlighting means you'll always be able to read the time, with the added bonus of a dimmer option if you need a darker sleeping environment.

About KitSound

We are craftspeople. We are musicians. We are KitSound™ and we all commit ourselves to achieving one shared goal - bringing people closer to their music. By understanding music we stay true to its craft. Pure, rich, incredible sound. We settle for nothing less.

I'm yet to try all the features on the Clock Dock (the sleep, snooze and alarm) so I might do another post in the future reviewing those.

Have you tried Kitsound products before? What do you think?

 

Obligatory pout!

 I just had to try out that mirrored display. Don't judge me!

*I wasn't asked to write this post up, I won this competition fair and square and all opinions are my own.

Book haul

I'm taking full advantage of the fact that my friend Muj has loaned me her laptop and I'm getting this post out. If you follow me on Twitter (@alana_mullen) you would have seen me harping on about The Works having a sale.

The Works is "Britain's No.1 Discount Book Store" I can't think of American stores similar to this, but basically, it's cheap books! I've grown up going to The Works, it was a staple when staying with my granny at weekends. New colouring books, new diaries then as I got older, more and more books. (I'm pretty sure my Penguin Classics Collection was from The Works)

I digress! I've now 'popped in' 3 or 4 times and each time I've come away with at least one book! Well, one of the times I came away with one book, every other time it has been more! What can I say I love books.

Now I feel I should put a wee warning here before you read on, do not have a heart attack at the prices, like I said, this was (and still is for another 5 weeks) a MEGA sale. I believe it's just the Falkirk branch holding this sale but other Works will always have sales on at some point, go have a rummage!

 

These are my non-recipe books that I picked up. From top left clockwise we have Running Made Easy, Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salad, How To Clean Absolutely Everything (The Right Way, The Lazy Way, The Green Way) and The Savvy Shopper.

All 4 of these books were... drumroll please, 25p each. That's right, all 4 for £1! To put it into even more perspective, the RRPs for these 4 are as following (top left clockwise again) £9.99, £9.99 £7.99 £8.99

I've already stated reading Running Made Easy, preparation for my Race For Life on June 9th, you can sponsor me here  if you're feeling generous, and as I keep saying, if you live nearby, come down and cheer me on! I've also started reading The Savvy Shopper which is quite the eye opener, I'm learning lots of new things. 

Outwith the books I'm writing about here, I'm also reading Foley Is Good by Mick Foley (8 days till I meet him again!) and Book 1 of A Song Of Fire and Ice. I'll be starting Kate Mosse's Labyrinth soon as well (Muj and I watched the tv adaptation then she told me she had the book and has loaned me it) What can I say, I love to read! Anyways, back to the books in question!

 

I saw these Easy Everyday books and though they would be ideal! There were others from the collection that I went back to get another day to finish the collection but they were gone, it's what I get for not snapping them all up, I'm pretty sure all of Falkirk knows about this sale, as well as my Twitter followers and Facebook friends! 

Like the last bundle, these were 25p each, I can't find an RRP on either of them but both have stickers on the front cover saying £4.99 Another great saving! Looking at the back of the books, the other titles are Family, Italian, Indian, Salads, British, Pasta, Simple and Desserts, I'd love to get them all and have the whole collection but I probably won't find them in The Works again during this sale. Won't stop me trying of course!

 

Next bundle we have Real Fast Food by Nigel Slater, Eating & Cheating by Gill Holcombe and Eat Well With Nell by Nell Nelson.

Not much to say about these yet as I haven't started reading them, think I'm set with the ones above for now! I will say though, I really like the covers on the first two books, the designs and patterns are what drew me to the books in the first place!

Eat Well With Nell was only 24p and the other two 25p. RRPs left clockwise again are £8.99 £12.99 and £14.99 Those savings are just mounting up!!

The next (and last) 3 books were too big to picture together and so I've had to do them seperately.

 

How much fun does this one look! Catchy title, which I love, nice bright cover, I can't wait to jump into this one and try out the recipes!

This one cost 50p with an RRP of £16.99 

 

This is the most expensive books out of the 12 I got, it came in at a whopping £1.99, which isn't that much but on a previous visit, I think I got 5 or 6 books for the same price! Still, I love it. It's split into three sections horizontally so you can just flip the pages and bam, 3 course meal in front of you! I'll definitely have fun with this one, chances are I'll take this one round the supermarket to get ingredients with.

As I said it cost £1.99 and the RRP is 14.99

The last book I got is for some reason refusing to upload and so I've had to google an image of it (grrr technology!)

Found on Google Images

This was the first book I bought when I found out about this sale, it's also the only visit I've had so far where I've only bought 1 book!

I actually couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this, a big heavy cookbook, thousands of pages, I dreaded looking at the price but thought I'd chance it anyway.

It was 25p. That's right, PENCE! With an RRP of £25 I'd say this is possibly the best bargain I've ever found. And I love a bargain (Ta mammy)

I love the look of this book, it reminds me of the kind of book your mum or gran might have, big and sturdy, filled to the brim with delicious recipes. 

And so we have come to the end of my book haul, if you've actually read this whole post then congratulations! I didn't think I would actually write this much but I suppose when it comes to books, I just can't help myself!

What are you reading just now? Have you read any of the books I've mentioned above?