With such a wide range of apps available to help track, monitor, motivate and make the best of your fitness regime or diet plan, I thought I would pull together a review of some of the best available from my personal experience.

Nike + Running – Free

One of my first running apps and probably one of my favorites, tracks your runs whether on the treadmill or streets. The records and PB elements are fantastic, showing off your Nike + colour level and progression. I love the motivational words from top athletes when you finish your work out, however some people may find this a bit cheesy. My favorite feature of the app is the one button power song, set these up with your play list on your phone and when you are hitting a “wall” press the “power button” to get the boost you need.

Strava Running and Cycling – GPS Run and Ride Tracker - Free

Track your runs and rides and get key stats for example, distance, pace, speed, elevation and calories burned. There is also a premium subscriber service which offers features that help you to train more effectively and set mileage or time based goals.

Calorie/KJ Counter PRO by MyNetDiary - with Food Diary  for Diet and Weight Loss - £2.99

Calorie counter and weight loss programme tool, brilliantly recognises over 200 brands including restaurants and main stream supermarkets. A wealth of stats and information that is beautifully presented for those number and graph addicts, like myself without being overwhelming. Fantastic community support as well.

Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by My Fitness Pal – Free

Touted as the fastest and easiest to use calorie counter for iOS, this app tracks all major nutrients. It has an extensive food database, with the ability to scan barcodes and you can even import recipes! There is also a built in step tracker. One of my favourite elements is that it links with your fitness devices like your Garmin, Fitbit, Jawbone.

Buddhify – Mindfulness & Meditation for Modern Life - £3.99

OK so strictly speaking not an exercise app, but it is great for the health and wellbeing of your mind. Mindfulness is a concept that is becoming ever popular with evidence that in can reduce stress and improves wellbeing and this beautifully designed app is the top of the class. The different mediation sessions work for all parts of daily life from taking a short break at work to going to sleep. If you think meditation is too hippy for you, give this app a try! 

Going back to my earlier post on motivation, one of the key elements for me in ensuring I stay focussed during my solo training are my playlists. Music is a great motivator and gives you a boost when those legs start to ache and your breathing gets harder.

I have many different ones and I categorise them due to time length to correspond with the distances I train for 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon training. This makes them easy to upload and crack on.

Playlists change and morph and can depend on your sporting activity or a particular time in your life, some tracks will always remain a “power song” and help pull you through that I can’t go on anymore (as my mum always told me, there is no such word as cant!) I have had some songs that have been in my iPod for years.

Old Favourites

New Additions

Power Songs

The notion of a power song is an interesting one, for me, it’s that track that gives you goosebumps and can act as an energy injection when you need it the most, a bit like a mental carbo gel!  

What’s your favourite tracks to keep you going and make you push harder to complete your training?

I have always enjoyed running, from a youngster I remember endless summers of running around with the other kids in my area. Throughout school I loved sports days and when I moved to senior school I started running for the county. My particular speciality was the 800m, 1500m and the third leg of the 4x100m relay, (I remember this specifically as this part of the “track” was uphill on the grassy bank).  Leaving school I stopped running, purely through being involved with other sports, swimming being one of the main ones. During the last few years of University, I remember seeing a group of ladies out jogging and thinking I wanted to try running again, I shortly after signed up to a Race for Life 5k run in Bath taking place in 2 months. I embarked on training, initially having to follow a self-devised run/walk programme; I didn’t run with a sports watch, specialist kit or trainers! I turned up looking like the most unlikely runner there ever was, but I was delighted to complete it in just over 24 minutes and since then I can say I haven’t looked back. I have completed numerous 5 and 10K, half-marathon and 4 marathons.

There is nothing like taking part in a race and it is the pinnacle of all the hard work and training that you put yourself through, the hours of dedication and emotional downs are forgotten in those moments. I love running, but even I have times when pushing myself to put my trainers on after a long day at work or on a wet and cold evening is a challenge to say the least. In my opinion everyone suffers from motivational dips, no matter what your athletic level, times when all you want to do is slump on the sofa, eat chocolate and drink wine. Sometimes indeed, this is what you should do! After all what good is training like a demon if you can’t kick back and enjoy yourself, over training can also leave you with very negative side effects and make you prone to injury, it is all about balance. Sometimes you need to take a break from events. I have really enjoyed the past few weeks of not actually having anything to aim for, to get back to basics and enjoy what I do, the feeling of freedom and deciding I want to run for me and no other purpose.  However, sometimes you do have to pull yourself out of that rut and that can be the million dollar question, “how can I motivate myself”. One of my most tried and tested tips is to say to yourself that you will go out and if you don’t feel good after 10 minutes, you will turn around and go home. 99.9% of the time, after 10 minutes, you are into the swing of it, the endorphins are in full flow and you want to keep going. I still think that after a day in the office, putting on some music and getting out into the fresh air is unbeatable and energising! It’s often a misnomer that exercise drains you of energy; in fact it has been proven that this is not the case. If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to run or take any form of exercise that floats your boat for a month and see if you still feel this way!

Another great ploy is to change your running routine, whether that’s a route (run it in reverse), if you are a gym runner, run outside (and the opposite if you are a road or trail runner), or run with a friend. Having someone to talk to can make the time pass in a flash and distract your mind from what the body is doing!! I used to be a purely solo runner, but now really enjoy the runs where I have company. If this fails then treat yourself to some new kit, or reward yourself that after (x target) you will get some new kit. I also find picking up an old copy of Runners World can be great motivation.

If this fails, then know after you have completed that run or exercise, that cookie you are about to demolish or glass of wine you are about to guzzle.. That’s “free calories” J  Now that always works for me!! 

Sat during in a lull during the office activities and started thinking about tonight’s Pampered Chef party that I am going to. I love cooking, baking has got to be my favourite but all types of cooking bring me joy. I got into the Pampered Chef products through Mel who just told me how “awesome” they were, ever the sceptic the proof had to be through experimenting. I held my own party earlier this year and proceeded to purchase enough stuff, along with my fellow party attendees to fill half a dozen boxes that filled floor to ceiling in the cottage. I was asked, “how much stuff did you buy?!” before reassuring a rather worried Dave that I had received everyone’s orders and not just my own!

Since then I haven’t looked back, OK, so the products are not cheap but Oh My Goodness are they life changing! My current favorite is using some of the classic stoneware in particularly the medium round stone. It’s so versatile, can use it for so many items, roast potatoes and pizza are the obvious choice but my favorite use of it is to create the below recipe. I have modified it to use cooked chicken and I have also used bacon and/or ham to add a contrast. I have found adding slightly more mayo and Dijon mustard and omitting the celery is a clear winner. Served with a green salad (mixed leaves, rocket, fresh coriander, pumpkin seeds, olives, cucumber, spring onion combined with the juice of a fresh lime) really sets it off.

I wonder what I will end up purchasing tonight…? I somehow expect that there will be a direct correlation to how much sauvignon blanc is consumed at the same time.