10 good things that happened in 2016

2016 was a bit of a rubbish year, many celebrities died, we had the whole Brexit problem (it's ok I'm moving north if Scotland goes independent) and I feel like sometimes I live in a society that isn't understanding of others. There is hope for 2017 I think but I thought I would start 2017 with a post about 10 good things that happened to me in 2016. This is a carry on from my 18 things I've learned in 2016 post if you haven't read that one you should. Here are 10 good things that happened in 2016:

1. I helped organise the first This Girl Can award evening in Newcastle. 

I was really lucky and got asked to help organise Newcastle's first This Girl Can award evening after being an ambassador for over a year I couldn't have been more excited to help. It was a great event with over 200 women all there to support each other for the work they had done in their community.

2. I got my first real job.

When I say real job I mean a job that is related to my degree. In April I became Newcastle's Ping Activity Officer, my job involves me looking after table tennis across Newcastle and developing a free program across the city. I love it, I've had my moments with it but I think I've found my feet and can't wait to start 2017 program. 

Me and my colleagues at the launch of Ping in Newcastle

3. I passed my driving test the first time and I got my first car.

This was a big step for me in June I passed my driving test and got my first ever car. Driving for me was more of a necessity than a pleasure. I have a love/hate relationship with cars I'm on to my second car after my first one decided to break 2 weeks after buying it and as I'm writing this my second car is in the garage after breaking down. Who knows I might have a better year when it comes to cars in 2017 but I do like driving and I'm glad I've done it now. 

4. I got lots of amazing blogging opportunities.

I was a lucky girl this year with the number of opportunities I got through blogging. I was able to go to the Mineral House at the Crowne Plaza to do a review of the spa. I've been to a number of ElleFluence event that the lovely Laura runs for Northeast blogger and who I must say is an amazing lady. I've been sent amazing products to try out including some Adidas products from Blacks and even got to trail out anytime fitness in Gateshead.

5. I tried out 2 new fitness classes.

This year I got to try out 2 very different types of fitness classes. The first one was a trampette fitness class that was run by the lovely Nicki at Great Park Community Centre and the other was the Extreme Air class at Newcastle's new Trampoline centre. 

6.  I started going to church.

2016 was about learning and this year I learned that I needed to do things for myself. For around a year, i had been thinking about going to church but I didn't go because I felt that people around me would think differently of me. In August I watched one of Louise's (Sprinkle of Glitter) video about religion and how she had taken the step towards becoming a Christian. I think that was what helped me take the leap and about a month later I took my first step into the church and Christianity, I went to a 4:30 pm service and I never turned back. I've started to find what I was looking for and I think its helped to make me a better person. I even finished a 7-week course called Christianity explored which was a massive help for me, I'm excited to see what my next step is. 

7. I ran my first 10K 

One of the many opportunities, I got this year included the chance to run the Mo run. I talked all year about how I wanted to run at least one 10k this year and I did. You can ready about it here.

8. I went on my first ever winter holiday to Poland.

This was 1 of the main highlights this year. I had never been on a holiday abroad in Winter and I was really excited when my sister agrees to go to Wroclaw with me. It was amazing, I'm in the middle of putting a photo diary together so keep an eye out for that in 2017.

9. I ran my fastest 5K with a personal best of 27.57

The 10th December just before Christmas I ran my fastest ever 5k at Newcastle's Parkrun. I was going for around a 30 minutes finish after not being able to get below that. I somehow was able to not be far behind the 28 minutes pacer and absolutely trashed my last personal best by a whole 2 minutes. I felt that this was one of my biggest achievements this year.

10. I met Mr. M. 

If you've read my 18 things I've learned in 2016 you will know that I was very lucky and met Mr. M. I'm not going to go into loads of details about him because I want to try and keep some things private, that might chance later on but for now I like our little private bubble. What I will say tho is that meeting him was definitely one of the highlights in 2016. We already have quite a few plans for 2017 which I'm definitely looking forward to. 

It's strange because I thought I would find it really hard to write this post hard as I thought that actually not much good had happened to me in 2016 but it shows that even the littlest of things can make you happy. 

Adidas Women's Terrex Agravic Boost GORE-TEX Shoe*

I decided in the summer that I wanted to adventure more out of my comfort zone when it came to running. The first thing I thought was changing my location; I’ve ran the same maybe 3-mile route from my house for maybe the last year but without transport, I found it hard to find new and exciting routes. Then I got a car in June and decided that I wanted to go further a field and started trail running. 

I was a very lucky lady because Blacks the outdoor retailer offered me the opportunity to review a pair of the Adidas Women's Terrex Agravic Boost GORE-TEX Shoe. 

‘Same iconic Boost™ midsole, sleek new profile; the exclusive Agravic from Adidas is their next generation Boost running shoe which delivers uncompromised, endless energy on the trail’

As you can see from the description from their website these shoes sounded just what I needed for my transition into trail running.

When I received the trainers the first thing I noticed was the sole of the shoe. The Terrex trainers have a Continental Rubber sole which helps to deliver exceptional grip which is great for keeping your strides stable and controlled. The grips on the sole are deeper than your regular trainer which again gives you the stable stride and also is great in wet conditions. As we know a lot of trails have an uneven surface which is why people like going trail running but giving your feet a stable grip and platform is always  important, which is what you get with these shoes.

I knew that the trainers that I normally would run in weren't going to be good enough for running out on the trails as they didn't offer enough support around the ankle. I was pleased when I tried on the Terrex that they came up around the ankle just enough to give my ankles the support they needed but not to high.

 What I have found when I’ve been running in these trainers is that they do weigh more than my regular trainers, they weigh around 285g and because the trainers have GORE-TEX membrane which provides complete waterproof protection but still keeps that shoes breathable. You can't expect something with all this waterproof technology to be light as a feather.  The waterproof technology like I said encourages breathability which helps to keep the feet cool and dry which I find great when you’re out running in the rain which living in the north happens a lot you can get wet a lot.

I did find at first it very hard to run with these shoes on because of the weight of them. My regular trainers are Nike Frees so are basically the total opposite of the Adidas Women's Terrex Agravic Boost GORE-TEX Shoe. I found after a couple of short runs my legs started to get used to the weight of the shoes and now find them very comfortable to run in. The shoes are very well made as they can deal with all weathers with the shoes still looking in very good condition even after the amount of running I have done over the past 5/6 months.

I would definitely recommend this type of shoe if you are looking to invest in some shoes that are specially made for trail running. They are normally retail at £110 but at the moment are reduced to £88 which I think is a bargain.

These trainers would also be a great present for anyone that is interested in running trails or interested in walking in the countryside.  

To go along with this post I will be sharing my favourite trail route across Newcastle and Gateshead. Keep an eye out for that post coming next week. 

*hese trainers were gifted to me from Blacks but all view are my own and not influenced by anyone.