This Girl Can: Jackie's Story to falling in love with Basketball

Hi! 

My name is Jackie and I have the great privilege of writing a guest blog post for Melissa about my favourite sport – BASKETBALL!

I thought that it was such a shock that Melissa asked me because she wants ‘Women in Sport’, I thought she had a made a mistake! I was NEVER one of the sporty girls at school, frequently being on the ‘D’, ‘E’ or even ‘F’ team at school, preferring volunteering to games lessons and even winning a wooden spoon for being the worst at badminton! 

Jackie's women basketball team at university.

However, when I got to university, I thought that nobody knows how rubbish I am at sport, basketball is something I have always wanted to try and it was only about two minutes away from my halls. They advertised it as ‘something anybody of any ability can try’, no need to try out and best of all? It was free. So I thought, why not have a go? 

Much to my delight, basketball was very fun and easy to grasp; the other women were also extremely kind, supportive and welcoming and it was great for both my mental and physical health. Not only was I exercising regularly and becoming fitter, but it also gave me an opportunity to make new friends across subjects and years. It even managed to get me out of my room – something that I always tried to avoid doing at university. 

This Girl Can Social Basketball - Leazes Park

Three years later I moved back to Newcastle and I am now raring to join another club – a big city with two universities and a great city team – how hard could it be?

However, I couldn’t find any that were suitable – either you had to try out (be a certain ability to make the team), or they were too expensive, at the wrong times, exclusive to certain age groups, difficult to get to, just a series of irritating barriers that prevented me from playing.

I knew some people in Newcastle who played basketball and I would sometimes meet up with them to play at a local park but our busy lives often mean these opportunities are few and far between.

When playing on my own at a local court I thought that there might be women around Newcastle who might feel the same as me; who wanted to try a new sport but couldn’t due to some obstacle or that they used to play but couldn’t find an opportunity to do so.

This Girl Can Social Basketball - Leazes Park

I was nominated as a This Girl Can Ambassador through some volunteering for Streetgames and Factory Dance Academy. I had just taken part TGC activities previously, but I thought –why not do something about this?

With the TGC Play Basketball Club I hope to create a fun and social atmosphere where girls and women of any age and ability can come and make new friends, and learn something new or even share tips with each other. It’s free, with no gear or experience needed and easily accessible in the middle of Newcastle City Centre. 

I know that basketball isn’t for everyone but I really recommend you do some sport or exercise, even just 30 minutes a week or walking/cycling/running/jogging/table tennis or football. There are some wonderful local parks with great facilities you can use for free. Bring a friend, get some fresh air, take in the view, get the heart pumping a bit – it’s good for you mentally and physically.

This Girl Can Social Basketball - Leazes Park

Hope this has interested you and if you want to play some basketball - male or female – let me know. Hope to see you at Leazes Park Basketball Court soon!

This Girl Can Play Basketball Club meets every Saturday from 3-4pm at Leazes Park Basketball Court. Just wear some comfortable clothes, bring some water and get ready to have some fun! For more information please join the This Girl Can Play BASKETBALL group on Facebook (here). 

If your interested in trying out basketball, Don't be afraid to join the Facebook page or if you fancy trying out something different why not check out the Active Newcastle Facebook page to see what other This Girl Can activities are happening in Newcastle. If you would like to see other women's only activities happening across Newcastle you can check out Active Newcastle's Website for tones of other activities happening in Newcastle.  

Triathlon is for everyone – My triathlon story

With the launch of This Girl Can happening in February, I wanted to find local women in the North East that empowered what This Girl can is all about and that is when I started talking to Michelle. Michelle to me empowers everything that This Girl Can is about. Below she is going to tell you about triathlon and about how she got involved in the sport. I hope you enjoyed this post.

I am a triathlete. It gave me a massive thrill and sense of achievement to be able to say that when I completed my first event in 2011.

A triathlon is made up of a swim, a cycle and a run. You do all three sports one after another, with no rest.

You may know about it through the Brownlees, brothers Alistair and Jonny who are Olympic medal winners and World Champions for Team GB. They compete at the very highest elite level and push themselves to the limit, but triathlon isn't just a sport for the super fit. It's the fastest growing participation sport in the UK. Anyone can do it - even me.

My triathlon story starts back in 2008, when I began running as part of a bid to get fit and lose some weight. I hated it at first, and couldn't manage more than a few hundred metres without getting out of breath. My first milestone was to be able to run continuously for 20 minutes, and it took me a while of running and walking to work up to that. 

Somewhere along the way I started to enjoy it. Within a year, I went from being unable to run a mile without stopping, to running 13.1 of them on the Great North Run. It was an amazing transformation. I was fitter, slimmer, and more importantly had made a whole new group of friends through running, so I was happier too.

I loved the challenge. I found I enjoyed training for races and then running as fast as I could, chasing better times, and the feeling of the adrenaline rush when I crossed the finish line.

I worked with a personal trainer, Ian from Inspire Fitness who has helped me stay strong and avoid injuries. He did triathlons too, so I went along to watch him and some of my running friends race at the QE2 Park in Ashington. Just like the running community, I saw a bunch of friendly, enthusiastic people, doing something slightly crazy and challenging on a weekend. And I knew then that I had to give it a try.

I took lessons to improve my swimming, cleaned up my old bike and started training. In 2011, I took part in my first triathlon and I loved it so much, that I signed up for another one two weeks later. Since then, I've challenged myself to do triathlons that involve swimming in lakes and the sea, and done longer distance events.

Triathlon is an amazingly inclusive sport. Ordinary people like you and me can race on the same courses as the elites. I’ve swum, biked and run on the same route as the Brownlees in Leeds, and then stuck around afterwards to cheer them on. There’s not many sports that give you that kind of access and experience of being close up to the best.

There's nothing to beat triathlon for a feeling of satisfaction, for the sense of really having achieved something. And because it involves three sports, you get three times the adrenaline rush.

Anyone can give triathlon a go

I am nothing special. I am not particularly fast, or especially fit. I've found triathlon to be very friendly and I encourage anyone to give it a go.

Source

1) What if I can’t swim/I can only do breaststroke?

If you can’t swim, then it's a great skill to learn. It could save your life. Swimming is great exercise and yes, it can be hard to learn, but it’s well worth it.

Most people swim front crawl in a triathlon because it’s faster, but there's no rule to say you can't do breaststroke.

Source

2) I don’t have a road bike

Some people spend a huge amount of money on the latest go faster carbon fibre, streamlined machines that weigh less than a bag of sugar. But you don’t have to. I did my first triathlon on an ancient old mountain bike, that I could only just lift into the car. I do now have a lovely road bike, but any decent working cycle will do. You must have a helmet though - that's in the rules.

Source

3) It’s expensive

Like all sports there’s always a fancy bit of kit, gadget or gizmo that promises to shave seconds off your best time, but ryou only need a few basics of a bike, helmet, running shoes and something that you’re comfortable to wear to swim, bike and run in.

Bear in mind that you'll be getting straight out of the water and onto a bike, so you need to wear something that's comfortable and won't chafe. A pair of lightly padded bike shorts, or specific triathlon shorts is a good buy.

For open water swimming, you may need a wetsuit, but you can often hire these for a day, week or season.

Race entries can cost a bit more than a run, because there's a lot involved in making sure races are safe and well organised. You can get a discount on entries by joining a triathlon club that's affiliated to your National Triathlon organisation.

Here in the North East, VO2 Max Racing, who organise the very best triathlon events I've taken part in, will offer a free entry to one of their events if you volunteer to marshal at another.

Find out more about triathlon events and clubs in the UK:

Triathlon England

Triathlon Scotland

Welsh Triathlon

Triathlon Ireland

4) I’m too fat/too unfit/too old/ I’ll come last

If you feel fat and unfit, what better way to change that than to add some exercise to your lifestyle and start training? Having a goal or event to aim for is a great motivator to get out there. There are short distance triathlons, including novice or super sprint events that are easily achievable with a bit of training.

Don't worry about how you think you'll look. Everyone’s too focused on swim, bike, run to give it a second thought. And if you don’t fancy a tri suit, you can throw on a T-shirt and shorts before the bike.

There are often a great range of age categories at races and some will even award prizes for different age groups, so getting older doesn’t have to mean you’re at a disadvantage.

If you think you’ll be way behind the rest of the field, remember, the only person you’re really competing against is yourself. Even if you do find yourself the last to cross the line, I can guarantee you’ll get a bigger cheer that the speedy person who came through in first place.

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Michelle Nicol is a writer and triathlete. When she’s not swimming, cycling or running, you can find her at www.word-struck.com, and on twitter @I_am_wordstruck

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. 

Newcastle MoRunning 2016 - We Did It!

Yes, you are reading that right we did it. If you read my last post about how I had signed up to do the Mo Running 10K  all in the name of the Movember Foundation. You will know more about what I'm going to talk about.

I thought as it was such a great day that I would tell you all about how it went. 

MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BIT EARLY

As there was quite a few of us doing the run (8 of us) we decided to get there early 2 hours early (or if you want to be really precise 1 hour and 45 minutes). Unfortunately for us, the weather had not been at its best. I think I saw more rainfall in the 2 hours I was waiting than I had in weeks. As we were early it did mean that we got to get our numbers and bags but in the tent already to go. We decided not to do fancy dress but we did go with colorful mustaches (mine lasted only around 15 minutes) and it was perfect opportunity to get some photos. 

Source - We made the highlights page! 

ITS TIME TO GET GOING!

The run was 10K and yes you read that right 10K. I was slightly nervous before the run as I hadn't done any training leading up I just wasn't feeling up for it and had never done a 10K run before. We all agreed that timing wasn't a massive thing (I still wanted to get under 1hr 10 minutes) but it was about having fun and doing something that some of us had never done before. 

So we got to the starting line as were ready to go. With our headphones in, are Runkeeper app all ready to go and then we were off. 

THE ROUTE

If you've done any run or race on the Town Moor you will know the route. It was a pretty simple flat route of Newcastle Town Moor and we did it twice. The route itself I've done a few times but never as a 10K. The first 5k I found to be really easy I even did my best 5k pace but then I got to 6K and my knee started to play up I decided to take it slowly but still kept going. 

When we got to around 7K that was when my right leg really started to play up. I walked for a small period of time but decided to try and power through. I made it to around 9K til I had to stop again. I decided to walk fast and check my app to see what I was doing I saw that I was very close to the 1hr mark and that was when I decided that I really needed to push through the pain and just make it to the end. Which I did and I was really proud when I saw I had done it in 1hr and 58 seconds. Not only did I crush the time I wanted but I showed myself that I could run further than 5K.

CONGRATULATIONS TO US!

How cute is the medal!

Photos taken by @mjteasdale

Photos taken by @mjteasdale

Photos taken by @mjteasdale

After finishing the race I met up with the people who had already finished and we waited for the rest of our friends to finish the race. We all finished under 1hr and 15 minutes which is great. We took lots of great photos with our medals and decided that the PUB was the next place to go. We ended up in the Wylam Brewery which is located within exhibition park and becoming one of my favorite places to go (it has a photo booth why wouldn't you love it). 

I hope you enjoyed reading all about my experience of doing my first 10K and ticking it off my bucket list, I definitely think I pick a good one to start my 10k bug, Thank you to all the supporters that were out on the day and to the lovely ladies that I was running with from the This Girl Can Civic Centre Running Group. 

*Disclaimer: I was given a free race place in return for a blog post.

Exercise, Why do we start?

Everyone has their own reasons why they start something. When it comes to fitness some people find it harder than other to start. I work with young people, middle aged people and even the older generation who all at some point decided that they wanted to get into exercise for their own reasons. Some reasons are more serious than others but they all have one thing in common and that is that they took the first step and did something. Some people far really fit when they're younger and then life gets in the way and it isn’t the main priority of their life but then something clicks and it then because more of a priority.

This post is to show that everyone has their own reasons for starting and that it isn’t straight forward but if you keep trying you’ll get there eventually.

I thought I would start by telling you about how I got into exercise. I started doing sport at a young age I was involved in every sport at school but when I was at university I couldn’t handle juggling doing exercise, having a job and assignments. That was when I stopped doing exercise but unlike most students I lost a lot of weight and my confidence wasn’t what it used to be. I was so underweight that a lot of people got very concerned about my health. I decided that was when I needed to get back into exercise and found tennis. Tennis was my stress release and soon become the sport I would coach as my main sport. I wanted to get fit again because while at university I lost any fitness I had, I had signed up for the Great North Run in 2015 and started running and strength training at the gym. Now I’m slowly putting on weight and my fitness is definitely better.

Some people find the hardest part of getting involved in exercise is the starting point. I’ve run 2 beginners running programs for the past 6 months with over 20 people starting each one. Every one of them starts wanting to make to make it through the 10 weeks but for some that doesn’t happen but it doesn’t stop them trying again just like Shivani and Laura who I’ll talk about that later.

Most people have to try more than one type of exercise to find the one that’s best for them; Helen from Nelly's Cupcakes told me she wanted to get fit so she could keep up with her toddler and be a good/healthy role model for her which is a perfect reason to get fit. She first tried out Zumba which she did enjoy but because of class politics, she started to not enjoy it anymore and decided to try running. She started running and she started alone doing the Couch to 5K and a year later she is still going. If you’re like Helen and find that you’re not enjoying what you’re doing mix it up and try something new you never know you might fall in love with it.

Helen wasn’t the only person I spoke to that wanted to get fit because of their kids Pixie from Fashion Voyeur wanted to get fit because she has a severely autistic son and wanted to get fit so she could give him the best life but also so that she could handle anything that he threw at her. She first started with Barre but now does a large range of exercises including boxing and roller derby. Pixie went on to tell me that exercise has become a coping mechanism for her as for her ‘its pure escapism.’ Pixie has become to love exercise so much she became an This Girl Can ambassador in 2015 along with 100’s of other women across the country.

From talking to a people I work with a lot of them get involved in exercise because they want to lose weight. Shivani Malhorta from Cloud in a Teacup told me how she had always been an overweight adult and after trying to get fit on a number of occasions decided that last year was the year to get serious and started the gym in June. At first, she hated it but she kept going, she started off cycling, walking on a treadmill and doing a few minutes on a cross trainer, she started off really slow but she’s kept going and now she is doing HIIT workouts and weights. For her, it’s not about being skinny it about feeling healthy and strong. Shivani has lost 4.5 stone (give her a round applause because that’s amazing) in weight but she has seen a huge change in her body shape because of the exercise she is doing and that has given her a lot more confidence. 

Laura Dawson from Elle Blonde was another amazing lady that started off being a big lady and decided she wanted to change that, she took herself to the gym and for her, that was when it clicked. She lost 4 stones in a matter of months (I’ve seen her in person and she looks amazing) and that was where her healthy obsession began. Laura had horrendous depression two years ago and refused to go on medication and one night after a few too many drinks signed up to do the biggest half marathon in the North East. After training and running further, she discovered that her depression got better.

After I left university I really got into research about how exercise could have a good effect on people’s mental health. I know myself that when I feel low that going out and doing some sort of exercise I feel always feel good after.

So when Kayleigh Lindstedt from I Dream of Coco told me how she suffered from mild anxiety and she started running as a way to clear her head as well as keep herself fit. She has even signed up to do the Great North Run which is a half marathon (Good Luck Kayleigh). Holly Olivia Stephenson from Bisous, Holly Olivia (http://bisoushollyolivia.blogspot.co.uk/) was another lady that started exercising to help reduce anxiety and depression. Holly decided that she wanted to work on her upper body which now she doesn’t have to cover up in warmer weather and has helped to improve her confidence. Like many other people, she tried swimming, running and cycling but fell in love with body weight exercises and hula hooping.

When Andy Hooper from Here Come the Hoopers told me how he got involved in exercise because he wanted to use it as a way of socialising. Alan recruited the dads from his estate after his wife Catherine had decided to recruit the mams from the estate to do a couch to 5K together. After running for a few weeks Alan decided to do the Disneyland Half Marathon in September.

I’ve used these stories with a hope that these might inspire someone to want to exercise or keep some people already exercising motivated. Writing this post is making me want to go out and go for a run and I hope it has inspired you.

I hope you like this post I have. I have loved writing this and can’t thank the bloggers in this post enough for telling me their stories. If you like these types of post please leave me a comment below.

Why not tell me your reasons for getting involved in exercise?

The Songs That Just Keep You Going.

Photo Taken by Nicole Marshall

It was International Women's Day on Tuesday and last saturday Active Newcastle held there first This Girl Can Awards evening which was all about inspiring and making women feel empowered by other women. For the event I had to put together a list of songs together that women got empowered by or that motivated them to take part in exercise. I thought that the playlist would make a great blog post and here it is. The list below is full of different songs that a lot of women will related to for different reasons and some of these are my favourite songs to listen to.  

Jess Gylnne - Don't be so hard on yourself

Heather Small - Proud

Alicia Keys - Girl on fire

Alicia Keys - A woman's worth

Lady Gaga - Born this way

Glee - Survivor & I will survive

Ellie Goulding - Army

Chaka Khan - I'm every woman

Jordin Sparks - I am women

Britney Spears - Stronger

Little Mix - Salute

Sara Bareilles - Brave

Kelly Clarkson - Stronger

Florence and The Machine - Dog days are over

Florence and The Machine - Shake it out

Colbie Caillat - Try

Selena Gomez - Who says

Katy Perry - Love Me

Aretha Franklin & Annie Lennox - Sisters are doing it for themselves

Demi Lovato - Confident

Jessie J - Flashlight

Rachel Platten - Fight song

Calvin Harris - Let's Go (ft Ne-Yo)

Katy Perry - Roar

David Guetta - Titanium (ft. Sia)

Taylor Swift - Shake it off

Leona Lewis - Fire under my feet

This is becoming one of my favourite playlists to listen to while pretty much doing everything.  In the gym its motivates me to keep going and even walking to work it get my head ready for the day. 

Why not tell me what your favourite motivationals are or what songs make you feel empowered?