Expaning on my previous post about accessibility features being features for all and not just those that rely on them, I decided to highlight one of the features my sighted friends use.

Setting up VoiceOver to read Kindle books out loud. This is a great feature and one that can make reading a book a breeze. Want to have a book read to you while working at the computer? Commuting on the train? Well this will allow you to do it without purchasing the audiobook! This is the feature I use to read all my books. Without it I frankly wouldn’t be able to read.

This feature has been made far easier with iOS7 too. As the ability to activate VoiceOver and invert colours has been added to Siri. This alone is great for me, now I can pickup my wifes iPhone or indeed anybodys and with a quick Siri command be able to use it. This is great for doing quick things like making a call on someone elses phone, or quickly checking something on the internet. So lets get down to how its done! read more

For the past few months I have been running in maintenance mode. Generally managing to run around the half marathon length at the weekends and a couple of shorted distance runs in the week. However this week saw a foray into the start of an ultra training cycle. I have signed up for next years South Downs Way 50 so need to start the cycle now to get a decent finish.

So this week I had to do something I always like to believe I can but rarely do – the early morning run. I usually start running around 7am but if I am to fit my training in and university it means I have to run closer to 5am. I always tell myself I can do this but when the alarm goes off I switch it off and roll back over. I still did that this week but then after a few minutes thought “No, if I want to train I have to do it in the morning” and managed to yank myself out of bed. read more

In an effort to enhance my employability after leaving university this week I decided to attend a leadership course. I figured it would be a great opportunity to get some face time with leaders from industry and to network. The course was put on by Common Purpose a multinational group that looks at Leadership around the world and the affects on the wider communities. They run a number of leadership courses and the one I attended was for disabled students and sponsored by Santander.

Arriving at the hotel with Ascot I was presented with my first challenge. We had forgotten to bring his food, we had packed the food just not put it in the car. If Ascot ate Pedigree Chum this would have been an easy problem to solve, but he is a delicate sole and eats a very specific food. So specific that it isn’t even for Labradors – No, Ascot believes himself to be a German Shepherd. There is usually a 5 day lead time on ordering his food and it is rarely stocked in shops. So after a quick google we headed to Pets At Home and bought the closest thing we could find. For a week Ascot would have to accept the fact he was a Labrador and forego his special German Shepherd food. read more

When i first began to run I was always of the philosophy I may not be the fittest person around, but I believed in my mental hardiness.  I believed and still do that I can continue to push beyond what I have achieved on any given day.

This hardiness was built on the back of others achievements.  Reading about other runners such as Dean Karnazes inspired me to start down the long road of running long.  Hearing about others achievements inspires me to go outside and see how far I can push.  One of my favourite ever inspirations was by a runner whose name escapes me.  One day someone sent me a link to a youtube video of ultra runners.

The runner spoke of the runners high and that he preferred to explore the low times.  For if he was able to push in the lows the highs would take care of themselves.  There may be a little para-phrasing there but the idea stuck with me.  From that point on I have always tried to explore the difficult running days.  Making sure to manage my emotions when it gets tough and bring the breathing and heart rate in line.  Concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.  This has served me so well and has allowed to to continue to push in a multitude of situations. read more

Even with large amounts of vision loss I have still felt the compulsion to keep on running. After you have been running for a while it seems strange to stop. Having a week or two off begins to feel strange, there is a need to pound the pavement (or rubber matting). Due to the compulsion to keep on running even with large amounts of vision loss I have been sticking with the running. I even managed to compete in a short distance event.

The loss of vision has made a dent on my running though, but in more of an indirect way. Learning to run without a reliance on vision means that when you lose more it doesn’t really affect your ability to perform. But what it does affect is the time I have to run. When I am having to spend more time converting materials, or revising due to a change in vision it eats into the time I have to run. So unfortunately my running takes a hit and I just cant train as hard. While I do still manage to eek out the miles and over the past few months I have been averaging a 30 mile week (way to low for ultra distance!). This however has mainly been on the treadmill. read more

I chose the name of this website to reflect a cycle. My eye condition is degenerative so as time goes on I lose more vision. With each decrease in vision there is an adaptation cycle where I have to relearn how to do complex and simple tasks.

In early May this year I lost a substantial amount of vision. Now considering I had little vision before May this latest change meant a change in most areas of my life. It was also terrible timing, as the end of May was the start of my exam window. This created a substantial problem I had under 4 weeks to learn how to study in a new way and convert all my materials to make them accessible after this latest change.

The only way I could achieve this was to defer 2 exams and sit 2 exams at the end of the month. I created a plan in order to convert all the materials that involved using a couple of support workers. Unfortunately one of the support workers let me down and told me far to late for me to find a replacement. This meant I would enter 1 exam I had revised for and 1 exam I didn’t even have the material to revise from. It was too late to really do anything about it so I just decided to get on with it and make the most of it. I spent the next 2 months converting enormous amounts of material for my next 2 exams. One of them being statistics and the other social psychology. read more

When training for any event or indeed any goal its important to be able to bounce back quickly from a training session.  The quicker you recover the quicker you can be out training and the easier it is to make gains.  As well as the importance on an increase in training the ability to recover fast also has its benefits when you have a family.  When you are dedicating large amounts of time running the roads its important to recover quickly.  As there are not enough hours in the day for a long run and a long recovery.

Ideally I like to get home shower and rest for 30 minutes and be back out with the family.  This can be incredibly tough after a long run as I am just too fatigued.  It takes all my might to drag myself up from the sofa and go out on a family trip.  Now missing out on those moments due to exhaustive training is a tough balance. read more