Team RAAMIN4Charity are getting ready to Race Across America!

Race Across America (RAAM) is known for being one of the toughest ultra cycling events in the World. It involves non-stop cycling coast to coast across America. The route is 3,000 miles long with 170,000 ft of climbing; our team is targeting a place on the podium, which means we’re aiming to finish the race in under 6 days.

When I say ‘we’ I mean Dan (@DanielOJello), Phil (@Tobebythesea), Tom (@CERacing) and a fourth cyclist who is yet to be selected. Me and the others… We’ll be driving support vehicles and doing everything else in between.

The group of us have named ourselves RAAMIN 4 CHARITY (@Raamin4Charity) and our website can be found here.

Our nominated charities are Great Ormond Street Hospital given the fantastic care they gave a nephew of one of the riders and Aplastic Anaemia Trust for the research they undertake in trying to better understand this rare blood condition, which one of the teams suffers from.

Posted by allisonloosley

Setting an affirmation

A little delayed but, Happy New Year!

Around this time last year I wrote a Goal Setting post with all my exciting plans for 2015.

And what a year 2015 was — I learnt how to swim, it was my first year racing triathlon and I created Live Loosley. Whirlwind! I’ve literally intimidated myself for setting 2016 goals… I haven’t a clue what to aim for that could top last year.

Even though I’m not big on setting New Year’s Resolutions or the whole ‘new year, new you’ thing, I do feel the need to roughly map out my year so I have an idea of the months to come… what races/travels/experiences spark my interest and how I can make the most of a refreshed holiday allowance at work.

So far, my 2016 plans are very up in the air… and I’m not going to lie, it makes me a little uneasy! I’m a planner… I love plans… yet, I have no set plans.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to write about as my first post of the year… I felt an obligation to write something about goal setting and plans for 2016 but I’m still working mine out and it’s OK if you are too. Goals can be set anytime of the year and should be readjusted as you learn more about achieving them.

This weekend I thought to myself, how about setting an affirmation? And it’s really helped me come to terms with my current ‘no plan’ status.

Posted by allisonloosley

Berlin Half Marathon

Daylight savings in Autumn 2014, the clocks fall back and we have an extra hour in our day. My roommate Kailee and I decide to make the most of this extra hour by signing up for the Berlin Half Marathon, which our friend Ash planned on racing. Little did we know we’d lose that hour literally the day before racing, when Spring daylight savings came around…

We flew out to Berlin last weekend and raced our first half marathon ever.

Posted by allisonloosley

What have I just done? Officially registered for a Half Ironman

I’ve taken three days off of training because of this chest cough I’ve got. Today is day 3 and lets just say, I’m getting a little restless. The weather has been absolutely stunning and it is killing me being stuck indoors, so I figured I better put this downtime to good use…

Since I decided my major goal this year would be to complete a middle distance triathlon (2km swim, 90km bike and a 21km run), I have had my eye on a specific race that interests me. I’ve never done triathlon before so it’s taken me a while to muster up enough courage to even think about actually signing up for a middle distance race. I guess this whole restless thing was my tipping point!

Any second thoughts? YUP – many!

But… here we go…I’ve signed up for it!! OMG, WHAT HAVE I DONE?!

Posted by allisonloosley

Get your om back

This Sweaty Betty om yoga vest top has arrived at such a perfect time! I have been slacking lately on setting aside time to stretch… this coupled with ramping up my training sessions for Triathlon has caused some stiffness and discomfort. I really do need to prioritise recovery — this was just the motivation I needed to keep on top of it.

Thanks Sweaty Betty for the perfect #healthieselfie give away!

OOoooooommmmmmmm

Posted by allisonloosley

Take the risk… Try something new

I have made some pretty bold and scary goals for myself this year. One being starting a healthy living blog and the second being training for Triathlon. At such a high-level, both are extrememly intimidating and overwhelming.

A willingness to take risks is ingrained in my approach to life… but it doesn’t make the action of taking risks any less scary!

I am shifting from simply living a healthy lifestyle to documenting it in a way that is helpful and inspiring; and for Triathlon, I am shifting from just running to also swimming and cycling

Do something scary. Take a risk and try something you suck at, or something you’ve been avoiding.

Posted by allisonloosley

Cycling in the Winter

I haven’t been out on my bike much this winter… mainly due to frosty roads and a busy schedule.

In the winter months, it is key to leave yourself enough time to set off late in the morning (when it warms up and the frost clears away). I clearly got too comfortable with all the warm long days the UK Summer and Autumn have to offer… as a result, I didn’t give myself enough time in the day to fit both a bike ride in the morning and something social in the afternoon.

Clear your schedule – enjoy the sleep in – and plan something social for the evenings instead!

Yesterday, Dan and I got away for a nice ride and ended up at Gail’s Artisan Bakery in St. John’s Wood. We had a lovely croissant and espresso just before heading home — a perfect start to getting back in the habit of cycling on the weekends.

Role on next weekend!

Posted by allisonloosley

Time to get back into the swing of things

It’s January 3rd.. about that time to get back into the swing of things. The holidays are over, and a new working week approaches (the sad truth!).

Let’s get outside and start breaking all the bad habits we so happily took on board over the holidays.

Remember that feeling you get when you’re out on a run… the fresh air, the mind space… and then the feeling of accomplishment when your workout is finished… Something that over indulging in turkey, sweets and mulled wine doesn’t necessarily offer!

Now is the time. Join me and start the process of finding your healthy routine again.

Posted by allisonloosley

Goal Setting

I have a lot of exciting goals this year — I honestly can’t even wait to start working towards each and every one of them. I’m listing them here to make myself accountable and to remind myself why I set these goals in the first place. When I get in the thick of things, I’ll reference this post to keep myself focused and energized.

Here they are…

Posted by allisonloosley

Why I disagree with the notion of setting a New Year’s resolution

I am a true believer in setting goals… But I’m not a big fan of setting only one goal for an entire year… Why? Well, they are harder to track and easier to let things slip. The notion of a New Years resolution is amazing and I’m all for it in a sense, but it’s difficult to set a realistic goal that is achievable yet still challenging and have it last for an entire year.

So what’s my approach? Check out these five simple steps to setting and executing your goals:

Posted by allisonloosley

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