Bodyform Black Daily Fresh Liner - #Bodyformblacklinerchallenge*

*This post is in collaboration with BodyForm 

Say Hello to the Panty Liner that might just make going to the gym even better.

I was challenged by Bodyform to trail out the NEW and First EVER Black Liner (Why is this only just happening in 2017). They were designed to be discrete in whatever you wear to the gym that might be black leggings or them colourful bright leggings that you just loving running in. I was asked to do a challenge and trial these the next time I exercised. You can read how I get on below. 

Photos taken by Michael Teasdale

Exercise has always been a massive part of my life from such a young age. From 13 years old till I was 18 years old I was on a trampoline 5 days a week training. When I went to college I really got into gym classes and wanting to build my upper body strength (that didn't actually happen) and most recently I got a job that involves me cycling pretty much 24 hours a day. As you can tell exercise has always been a huge part of my life but so have periods.

Photo by Michael Teasdale

When I was younger my trampoline coach was a man and as you can imagine feminine hygiene and periods was not something I wanted to speak to him about but because trampolining was my sport at school and I lived in a leotard most of my life it became a  subject that had to be talked about. I was lucky and had a great female PE teacher who talked to me about everything I needed to know including telling me how empowering periods were.

Photos By Michael Teasdale

When it came to this taboo subject it was subject she was happy to discuss and help me fully understand. I find it strange that it isn't talked about more on the internet and in society but I do know a few ladies and brands that are pushing the boundaries and discussing periods more and more. 

When I was younger I was very keen on using liners when I was training but the one thing I hated was that they were always WHITE, lets just say a white panty liner and a black leotard was never a good look then let alone now. Even when I stopped trampolining I used liners in the gym and they still were white which didn't always look great with my gym wear.

I won't lie when it comes to exercising I alway wear black leggings but I'm adding more colour to my gym wardrobe so when I got a e-mail from BodyForm asking me to be part of the #BodyformBlackLinerChallenge I jumped at the chance because this sounded like something that I needed in my life and Bodyform have always been my go to liner.

Who are Bodyform?

Bodyform are one of the leading feminine protections brands and are focused on helping women feel comfortable and confident. They want women to be able to live life and have nothing hold them back. They offer a range of products including uniquely shaped liners that fit any type of body and are products that actively care for you. 

Why do I love Bodyform?

Bodyform has always been my go to products when it comes to periods and feminine hygiene. When I got older and started buying my own liners I went for the cheapest but learnt very quickly that wasn't the way to do it. Thats when I found out about BodyForm and their large range of products that can be fitted to any individual. It doesn't matter what age, flow, occasion and where you are in your cycle Bodyform will most likely have a product for you. 

What is the #BodyFormBlackLinerChallenge?

BodyForm challenged me to take on their NEW Bodyform Black Daily Fresh Liners which are designed especially designed for black underwear and black leggings. I decided to take on the challenge but try it out twice with two very different types of exercises.

First up was a fitness class at my local gym and lets say I was impressed I felt extremely comfortable and definitely found that they moved well with my body. With exercises ranging from squats to push ups and even a bit of running around the park I felt that I definitely gave these black liners a run for their money and I was extremely happy and comfortable which is always a bonus when your sweating your backside off.

My second test of these black liners was on one of my many bike rides. If you read my last post (here) you will know that recently I've been cycling around 50 miles a week and it pretty much my life. So I needed a product that would be suitable for this and thought that the black liner would fit that job well. Well lets say it really did, I regularly commute to work on my bike so that was the first try out of the day and I didn't know what to expect but to be honest it actually felt great. I arrived at work and felt fresh and because I've never cycled to work and felt comfortable with a liner on for the main reason being is that they didn't stay in place but these did a great job of staying secure throughout two rides that day. 

Both times I've tried these liners I would say that I have never felt so comfortable in myself when exercising with a liner but also they made me not scared to wear my lovely tight leggings to the gym or on many bike rides. 

Overall thoughts on the Bodyform Black Liners?

I would recommend these to anyone. I don't think you even have to use them just for exercising. Remember that gorgeous little black dress you have in your wardrobe that you hate wearing with liners? This is your answer. What about the uncomfortable liners you've been using for years but can't be bothered to switch? It's time to change and I would definitely recommend the Body Form Black Liners.

*All these opinion are my own. 

How buying a bike might have just changed my life for the better.

Bettie @ The Quayside

Have you ever bought something and thought this is going to change my life. Well let's say I didn't think that when I bought my bike, I knew it would make my life a little bit easier but I didn't think it was going to change my life this much. I bought my bike (which I've called Bettie) around about 2 months ago from Halfords in Team Valley and I went with a Carrera Subway 1 Women Hybrid Bike and with my British Cycling Membership card I got an extra 10% of the price. I'm super happy with it and I'm starting to fall more and more in love with cycling. 

I've listed 6 ways that buying a bike has changed my life and some of these are things I wouldn't have expected to happen. Some of these reasons are practical and some of them are more personal but all positive. 

1. INCREASING MY FITNESS

Before I bought my bike around 2 months ago, I would say that I wasn't at my fittest at all. I had lost interest in the gym and wasn't running because my knee couldn't handle the impact. When I got my new job I started cycling and I'm sure I hated most of it and was telling myself I hated it and that it wasn't helping my knee at all. That changed after I eventually bought my bike, after about a month I started to really see a difference in my fitness and in my knee. I wasn't just using my bike for my led bike rides but I was using it to commute to and from work and to meeting. I actually started to notice a different in my knee and my cardio fitness has improved massively, I went from doing less than 3 mile runs to do up to 50 miles on my bike.

2. SPENDING TIME OUTSIDE AND SEEING THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY

Everyone told me seeing the world on your bike was one of the best way to see the world and I have to say that seeing Newcastle on my bike has made me fall in love with Newcastle more. I've always been a lover of my home city but going to places like Tyneside Country Park and Wylam on my bike has made me fall in love even more. 

The best part of owning my bike is that I get to see more of Newcastle. I set a challenge on my personal Instagram (here) to take a picture of my bike in a different location every month but I really got into taking picture of my bike in different locations that I started an Instagram just for my bike. If you fancy checking it out and given it a follow I would be extremely grateful (https://www.instagram.com/melissasbikejourney/)

Bettie Down Ouseburn near The Tyne Bar

3. SAVING THE PENNIES

When I bought my bike I knew I wanted to try and save some money and I knew I could do this through commuting to work on my bike instead of on the bus. For the first couple of weeks I really struggled, I'm not the best morning person and being organised in the morning remembering everything for my bike wasn't working but I'm starting to be more organised the night before and commuting atlas 3 days out of 5. 

Since the beginning of August I've most likely saved around £48 in around 3 week which for me is great as I'm shocking at saving so I'm hoping this is will help me save more.

4. MEETING NEW PEOPLE + CONNECTING WITH DIFFERENT PEOPLE

Leading around 4 bike rides it kind of guarantees that I'm going to meet new people but I didn't think I would meet so many great people. I work with people of all ages and abilities and I love seeing them achieve the distance we do on the ride and even progressing from our absolute beginners rides to our social rides. 

Bettie @ The Cycle Hub

5. GIVING MYSELF SOME ME TIME

What I've learnt the most from having a bike is that, when you ride a bike you do a lot of thinking on your own. My favourite time on my bike is when I commute, its the time I'm all alone with my headphones in and its the 20 or 40 minute ride home or to work where the world just passes by and I am alone in my own world (but obviously watching the traffic). On the way to work it's time for me to plan what I need to do when I get in the office and on the way home its time for me to just relax and pace myself. 

6. GIVING ME SOME GOALS TO HIT + IMPRESSING MYSELF EVERY TIME

I stopped setting goals for myself while I was running because I was failing a lot but when I started cycling I didn't set specific goals but I was using the app Strava to track my milage. When I first started cycling on my own bike I would do on average around 25 miles a week but now I'm can cycle anywhere between 55 miles to 90 miles a week. I don't specific goals but I might set a goal of commute more then 3 days a week or reach 60 miles over the week or even I want to reach over 200 miles in 1 month. 

I never used Strava til I got my bike so had no idea how it worked but I think what I've loved the most is the trophy section and finishing a route and seeing if I've got a new personal record or maybe I've moved up a leader board. At the moment I'm number 1 for females this year on the leaderboard for the section 'Scotswood Road Track - Westward'. I've learnt that its more about impressing myself with what I do rather then setting goals and failing all the time. 


As you can see there many things that I'm extremely thankful for when it comes to my bike. I've started to enjoy exercising again and I've fallen back in love with Instagram again. I'm going to be putting a review of my bike up on my blog soon so keep you eyes open for that. 

Do you have anywhere you think I should head in the North East with my bike? If you have any advice for a new cyclist please leave a comment below as I love hearing from you guys. 

The best laid plans of mice and men... MR. M'S JOURNEY TO THE 2017 GREAT NORTH RUN

In January Mr M wrote his first blog in a 4 part mini series all about his journey to the BIG Great North Run in September. Here is his 2nd instalment including a number of different experiences at a variety of races over the past 6 months. Keep reading to see how he is getting on. 

Remember the chest infection I was suffering from at the time of writing my first blog post? Well that lingered on for ages, to the extent that I didn't feel well enough to go out for my first run of 2017 until February 18^th (a park run). Eight days later I completed the 5k Stroke Association Resolution Run with a still recovering chest and an ankle I'd rolled in footy training earlier that week. I was just relieved to cross the line.

Tara, Michael, Oscar (the dog), Emma and Sarah

That was the feeling when I crossed the line of the Freeman Fun Run in April. I'd only managed to run 20km total since the Resolution Run and this was a last minute entry when Melissa had to withdraw. Suffice to say going out for an Italian and drinking plenty of house wine the night before, combined with the temperature on the day and a sadistic route which climbed out of Jesmond Dene did not make it the most fun of runs. I did, however, cross the line in 7^th place overall which is quite an achievement and one I doubt I'll ever match!

Freeman Run - Alison, Ay, Sarah, Emma, Michael + Oscar (the dog)

As April went on I built up the combined running/cycling distance (111.6 km) cycling to my new job or running in the lighter evenings after work. The regular footy season got under way with weekly training and matches to and with my first 10k  (Sunderland 10k) of the year on May 7^th things were looking good, with the slight exception I was going to spend the first 3 days of that week in Amsterdam with some of the lads from footy...

Suffice to say the beer to exercise ratio of that week swayed wholly to the former. Despite my lack of preparation it still felt good to assemble on the start line of a major, mass participation running event again and when we set off it was pure fun swarming through the streets of my home city and crossing the Wearmouth Bridge (twice!) The week caught up with me pretty quickly though and I was suffering before I'd run 3km. Fortunately, and unusually for a 10k, there were 4 water stations along the route so that helped in some respects.

Since I started running I've found I always have something left for the finishing straight and this was no exception. I'd pulled out my headphones after crossing the Wearmouth Bridge on the return so I could take in the atmosphere and this combined with seeing the race clock approaching the 50 minute mark prompted me to kick extremely hard to get over the line before it. I had forgotten I hadn't crossed the start line for a good minute at the start and so was very, very happy with my chip time of 48:55, a mere 19 seconds slower than my personal best!

The following  weeks were a bit of a whirlwind as Melissa and me moved into our new flat and then jetted of to Vienna for a week (keep your eyes peeled for her posts on our holiday - here & here). Whilst I didn't clock up many km running before my next 10k I did get out on the bike a lot more, especially with the HSBC UK City Ride Newcastle taking place at the beginning of July. I clocked up a combined total of 163 km between the Sunderland 10k and arriving at the start of the Great North 10k.

 I felt much better prepared for the Great North 10k than the Sunderland City 10k, even if I had played a game of Aussie Rules the day before. As with the Freeman Fun Run it was another warm day and had there not been a water station at the start line I would definitely have struggled more than I did.

Michael, Tara, Emma, Tracey, Sarah and Kat

I got off to a good start and where I normally find I have to overtake several people within the first few km as I find a comfortable pace I had managed to position myself so that I didn't have to weave around slower runners.

As with the Sunderland 10k I seemed to be blowing quite early on and so the water at 4.5 km was a relief. IT's reassuring when on a route like this you hit the point it turns back on itself and it allowed me to take the SIS gel I had been saving for the second half of the course. I could've done with saving some of the water as it left my mouth surprisingly dry!

By the time I hit the base of the 'Slog of the Tyne' I didn't feel like I had much left in the legs and it took a lot of willpower to not slow to a walk at any point in the last 2 km, especially when climbing the 'Slog on the Tyne' itself. Once we were back onto the roads I realised it wasn't far at all to the finish line in Gateshead Stadium, and it was an incredible experience running through the gates and onto the track of the stadium with the crowds in the stand cheering runners on towards that finish line. As I rounded the track onto the finishing straight I opened up the taps even if it left me feeling like I was close to collapsing after crossing the line. I think I finished the bottle of water in the finisher's pack before putting the hard earned medal around my neck!

I hadn't given much thought to my finishing time as I knew how much I felt I was struggling. Melissa had been tracking my run using the official app and when she told me I had crossed the line in 48:33 I was delighted: it was a new PB by 3 seconds!

I'd been putting off any proper training for the Great North Run until after the Great North 10k so where do I go from here?

On Wednesday I've got the Durham City Run 10k (a last minute sign up) and then a two month break until the Gateshead Trail 10k. I've also signed up for the Great North 5k this year to accompany  Melissa. The pace will be slower for me so it'll be a nice warm-up for the GNR the following day. It'll be the first time we'll run the full course and cross the line of a run together so I'm looking forward to that.

The footy season draws to a close in a fortnight (with us playing in the Plate Final for a second year running!) which frees up my Saturdays and I can realistically can start doing weekly 'long' runs of 10 km building up to half marathon distance and maybe a bit more. I will also try run from work a couple of nights a week which is a distance just over 6 km and the majority of which is uphill. Hopefully all of this should leave me sufficiently prepared when I come to assemble on the central motorway on September 10^th.

My next blog post should come in late August as I reach the final weeks of training for the GNR.