A Little Life Update / Summer ’19

Well, hello peeps! It’s been a few months… and a bit since my Spring Life Update back in May. Although I feel like nothing has been going on in my life because of the D word, there really has been… So grab an iced coffee to get you through the unprecedented British heat, and a magnum ice cream (I’m currently obsessed) and let’s do some catching up… in no particular order…

The Dissertation Update

Incase you’ve not been around these pages too long, the D word is referring to my MSc dissertation. It’s due in September 2019 and I have all the timetables to help me keep on track. I don’t think it’s gonna be an easy breezy few weeks but I’ve worked so damn hard up to this point that I can’t give up now. But, I am soooo ready for it to be over and done with. I’ve booked a hotel in Exmouth for a few days with my mum post dissertation, I also have a week booked in Cyprus for early October for a much needed sunshine break!

Nominated for Health Blogger of the Year 2019

Oooo this was exciting news to hear. I got nominated as Health Blogger of the Year 2019 in the HBC awards! Apparently, the bloggers with the most votes in each category get automatically nominated for this one.. whoop! Huge Thank You to whoever voted for me… I didn’t even know there was the ability to nominate or else I would have been asking nicely haha! Sadly, if I don’t win this overall award, I’m not in the running for the Fitness blog category which is a bummer, but great to be recognised for my little contribution to the online world!

I also managed to keep my #5 ranking in the Vuelio Top 10 Fitness & Exercise Blogs which was great news. Vuelio have also announced a change in format to their annual blog awards so I’m sitting tight to hear if I have made it into the shortlist again for Best Health & Fitness Blog. Cross those fingers for me, yeah?!

Back End Blog Updates

On the subject of the blog, I’ve been enjoying working on some back-end stuff to improve my site. When I finish my studies I think I will be looking to change my template to allow me some functionality that I have sketched out in the back of my Passion Planner.

Until then, I’ve been updating old blog posts (like the Passion Planner one I linked just above!) and tidying up the back end ready for the switchover. You know how much I love Pinterest too… I went to a couple events with them recently. One was about using Pinterest for Wedding businesses for which I was on the panel chatting about how I have been using their new format Story Pins and then one was the launch of Story Pins themselves. I’ve been making a massive effort with Pinterest since January and although it was paying off, it has really started to pay off over the last couple of months. I have lots of tips here on the blog but I think I will prob write one of those “how I increased my blog traffic by 3000% using Pinterest” blog posts soon!

OH! And this here lil blog turned 7 years old in July! It kinda came and went with very little acknowledgement because, y’know, dissertation. So let’s pencil in some celebrations for 2020?!

On The Bike…

I shared with you in May how I had become a Liv Cycling UK Ambassador back in Jan / Feb time and since then I’ve been trying to do my bit! I also trained up as a Breeze Champion… the British Cycling volunteer programme for leading women’s rides which was a great fit for what I’m trying to do in the world of cycling.

Cycling is a fascinating sport. There is so much technical jargon that you can get bogged down in and I am by no means an expert. However, I do enjoy learning some bits and sharing here on the blog. I discovered that Mallorca was the place to go for a cycling holiday so I spent ages doing my research to write it all up in a guide as a resource. I also shared some tips and experience on planning long rides, getting ready for the cyclocross season and riding clipped in.

I also started leading Breeze / Liv rides at the end of July. The schedule has been a bit all over the place while I try to find routes but come the end of August, September will be planned already. If you’re nearby Loughton, Essex check out the Train With Elle page where all my upcoming rides are listed. If you’re a Brand reading this and you want to sponsor our coffee or brunch head over to the same page for the button to do that (and Thank You in advance – leave a message with your donation or drop me an email!).

What’s Coming Up?

So, less than a month till I get my freedom back! haha! …and prob time to either get back on the ball re freelance work (bills don’t pay themselves) or potentially find a job. Less adulting please.

Other than that, I’ve got the HBC Awards ceremony in September, I’ve registered for my first cyclocross race of the season in September too, October is my birthday month and I’m also now signed up for the only event I’ve wanted to do for the past two years this October… more on that coming soon! So the end of September and October are sorted… come at me with the adventures for November and beyond!

How’s your Summer and Autumn panning out?!

Elle