ArthurD's Health and Money Saving Blog

Adverts and affiliate links appear on this page. If you use the link to buy the product you won’t pay any extra, you may even pay less, and I may get a commission. Further details of adverts and affiliate links can be found here . Exercise - How practical is it to do what the NHS recommends?  The NHS recommends that adults should take at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, but how practical is this? Especially if you have the school run, followed by work, followed by another school run. While, somehow, also having to fit in essentials such as shopping, eating, and sleeping. The health benefits of exercise are clear. It can reduce blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and other illnesses. It can also improve your mental health. So exercise is important. The more exercise that you take, the better you will look and feel. A report in the British Journal of Sports Medicine analysed nearly 200 large studies. They estimated that if everyone in the studies ...

Adverts and affiliate links appear on this page. If you use the link to buy the product you won’t pay any extra, you may even pay less, and I may get a commission. Further details of adverts and affiliate links can be found  here . Tracker Watches - which would I buy? When I first started running 40 years ago I bought a Casio watch that was also a stopwatch. This was the best that you could hope for at the time. Nowadays fitness trackers are capable of so much more than timing your run. As well as measuring time taken, they measure the distance that you have run and calculate your pace and calories used. They can also measure your heart rate and even monitor your sleep patterns. If you are just starting running,  at some point you will decide that you want a fitness tracker to track your progress.  Which one would I buy? Fitness Trackers are not created equal. They vary in what they can do and how accurate they are. This is reflected in the price. My first fitness tracker...

Adverts and affiliate links appear on this page. If you use the link to buy the product you won’t pay any extra, you may even pay less, and I may get a commission. Further details of adverts and affiliate links can be found  here . From Cardiac Ablation to the Great North Run (September update) On 15/7/20 the organisers of the Great North Run announced that this year’s run has been cancelled because of the COVID19 pandemic.  I now have a guaranteed place in next year’s race. In order to continue to increase my fitness I need a target to aim for. I have therefore decided that I will run 13.1 miles, the distance of the Great North Run, on 13 September 2020, the day that the Great North Run was to have been run.  Start of original post I started running in 1982. I was aged 26 and decided to run a marathon. I was quite fit through competing in other sports and it took me three months to get fit enough to complete the Mersey Marathon. Over the next four years I completed 10 ma...

Adverts and affiliate links appear on this page. If you use the link to buy the product you won’t pay any extra, you may even pay less, and I may get a commission. Further details of adverts and affiliate links can be found  here .

Adverts and affiliate links appear on this page. If you use the link to buy the product you won’t pay any extra, you may even pay less, and I may get a commission. Further details of adverts and affiliate links can be found here . The Long and Winding Road - or what I have learned from 40 years of running. Why I started running  My particular long and winding road started in June 1982. The local independent radio station, started advertising for the Mersey Marathon. 1981 had seen the start of mass participation long distance running in England with the first London Marathon in March and The Great North Run in June.  Now fundraisers for the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital saw a road race as a means to raise funds and so organised the first Mersey Marathon to be run on 24 September 1982.  When I heard the advert I said to a colleague in work that I would like to run in it. He said that I would never be able to do it. That made me determined that I would do it. There are many ...