March, 2013 - AnnaTheApple

March 29, 2013

My running week and a baking success

Hi guys! Hope you’re enjoying the long weekend (if you’re lucky enough to not have to work/study). And would you believe the sun is out? OK it’s still very cold but there is actual sunshine and sunlight coming through the window as I type. Hurrah!

Well this week has flown by (I guess it would do being only four days). But I felt like I’ve done a fair bit. I have finally joined a running club. I found a very local one to me that meet on Tuesday nights. Originally I was sceptical of running clubs because I never run in the evenings. It just isn’t my thing. I like to get up and get it done first thing.

However, the appeal with running with other people was quite tempting. So I joined and went on Tuesday night. It was weird getting back from work and putting my running gear on and going running. I wasn’t used to not having dinner straight away.

The running club meets just over a mile from where I live so I ran there. There were so many people! About 20-30 I think. But I felt like such an outsider as everyone knew each other. We started warming up outside in the car park and it felt a little like a PE/gym lesson with a teacher. This went on for about 10 mins and I was thinking “let’s just run already!” All the faffing around was a bit annoying. Anyway we finally started and we did intervals. Basically the main guy stood a distance away from us and we had to sprint towards him as fast as we could and then jog slowly back. Then he would move further away. It was INTENSE. Hello competitive Anna. It was nice to have that motivation to run fast as I’m sure when I do intervals on my own I don’t push myself that hard! Though there were four guys who were just astounding in their speed. Crazy fast. Then after warming down it was over and I ran home. The next morning my thighs were so painful.

I’m still not wholly convinced as it basically took my entire evening from me and I do prefer running in the morning but it was nice mixing things up and the intervals obviously pushed me hard. Well, I’ll see how it goes I guess.

I made things a bit easier by making dinner in the morning so Ben could still have dinner when he got in and I could just grab something quick when I got back from the club. I made the chicken and apricot lentil thing again which was so good after the running.

Running, in general, this week has been back to normal after recovering from the half marathon this week.

Monday – 5 miles, average pace 7.42min/mile.

Tuesday – running club

Wednesday – I ran with the guys at work during my lunch break and I felt shattered. My legs ached and I was tired. We ran 3 miles, average pace 7.42min/mile.

Thursday – I wasn’t sure about running but Ben persuaded me (yes you read that correctly). The preference of getting the run done Thursday and fully enjoying my lie-in Friday made sense. Also meant I would be rested before my long run Saturday.

Friday – rest

Saturday – 10 mile long run planned.

Sunday – rest

And I’ve been loving my new trainers.

Mizuno Wave Alchemy 12

Because I have over-pronation when I run (my feet roll inwards) I needed trainers with a lot of support to help prevent this from happening as otherwise it ripples up my legs and makes my knee painful because I’m not running properly (my physio tells me!) So with insoles as well I’m sorted. Apart from a MOTHER of a blister when I wore them for the first time on a run, they’ve been brilliant. I’ve had no issues with my knee or my Achilles’ – TOUCH WOOD!!

I meant to post this earlier in the week but never got round to it but I went on a baking frenzy last weekend to bring cakes into work and for Ben’s work for people who sponsored my half marathon. I thought I’d pick a two very simple cupcake recipes to make it easier, but honestly I was baking for HOURS. I did like 6 batches of cupcakes!

And that wasn’t even all of them!

I made a standard chocolate cupcake but with a chunk of dark chocolate in the middle that I poked in just before baking, and I made a vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing and either the sugar balls or sweets stuck on the top.

I am a self-confessed bad baker (see exhibit A) so I am so pleased these actually turned out really well! The only disaster I had was when I was whizzing up the icing sugar and butter to make the frosting with a hand blender the icing went up in a huge puff of icing smoke literally coating everything, including my hair, in a film of sweet dusting. Alfie loved it.

So today is all about chilling and getting the chores done. We’ve got just two episodes left of Game of Thrones, a custom-made pizza from Sainsbury’s (no cheese, extra veg, chicken & BBQ sauce – YES) and maybe some sneaky chocolate…well, it is Easter

Have a great Easter everyone!

What have you got planned for this weekend?

What kind of trainers do you prefer?

Are you/have you been part of a running club?

March 27, 2013

Busy times and a new addition – WIAW

Whoops, I apologise for the delay between posts. Things have been crazy busy! I have some very exciting news (which I will get to shortly), a weekend catch-up with What I ate Wednesday. Whew, better get started.

Friday night Ben and me decided to treat ourselves to a take-away Indian meal. Honestly, I was so excited about it. We haven’t had one in ages. We have a lovely local Indian restaurant/take-away and it’s just brilliant. I had a starter of chicken tandoori:

Yum! This is basically a piece of chicken covered with yogurt and spices and cooked in the clay tandoor oven.

I then had a chicken tikka main (which is essentially very similar to my starter but chunks of chicken rather than an actual leg etc. – what can I say, I love this meal!). I had it with the ludicrously coloured yogurt side-sauce it comes with.

I had both starter and main with the salad garnish you get free with the starter and an onion salad as well. I love the onion salads but it pretty much kills any romance haha. Normally I don’t have any poppadums but I really fancied them so stole a fair few from Ben (Alfie loves them too…I know this is naughty!). We then watched Argo. Brilliant film, such a good story. But SO tense.

Saturday morning we got up early and Ben went for a 6 mile run and I went for a 9 mile run (we ran separately as we had different routes and different paces). The weather was pretty rubbish: cold and wet. And unfortunately on mile 3 when turning round a corner I slipped straight over and landed on the side of my thigh. Seriously painful. A woman passing her car stopped and helped me. She was very nice and offered to drive me home but I told her it was fine. She warned me not to run anymore…She clearly doesn’t understand the running mentality. I’m a third of the way in! No backing out now. I did have a bit of a rest but then carried on. What was great was as I fell I stopped my Garmin – runner’s mentality again haha.

Yeah so carrying on running was a bit painful but my own fault obviously for continuing so what can you do!

After the run I showered and made my usual breakfast of oatmeal and almond milk. So good after a run.

Then I was on fire and cleaned the bathrooms, hoovered, did the washing, ironed, put away laundry, and then walked Alfie. Super Anna! I then crashed haha.

For lunch I made a yummy sweet potato soup based on THIS recipe. It was lovely and warming and quite spicy. I used chickpeas instead of black beans though. And I sadly used all my nutritional yeast up *sobs*. It was another annoying meal that required grating sweet potato though.

Then Ben and I collapsed onto the sofa and watched three episodes back-to-back of Game of Thrones series 2. AMAZING.

For dinner I tried another new recipe. Prepare yourself, because this is something amazing.

Chicken Parmigiana (based on THIS recipe) serves 2

2 chicken breast
1 egg, beaten
40g breadcrumbs
40g parmesan, grated (split into half)
Garlic clove, diced
1/2 can passata/chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
½ ball light mozzarella, torn

– Mix 20g of the parmesan with the breadcrums.

– Dip the chicken in the egg, and then the breadcrumb mixture to coat the chicken (I double-dunked back in the egg and breadcrumbs to ensure maximum yumminess).

– Grill the chicken on both sides until golden and crispy.

– While the chicken is grilling, fry the garlic in a saucepan, then add the passata with the sugar and oregano until bubbling.

– In a shallow baking dish, add the chicken and the pour over the passata, place the torn mozzarella over the chicken and around it, then dust everything with the remaining parmesan (the pièce de résistance). Grill for 5 mins (until all is melted and gooey like the photo).

This was phenomenally tasty. The best part was when I served it Ben he had no idea really what it was apart from being a ‘cheesy tomato chicken thing’ (this is how I sold it to him). He had no idea the chicken was breaded. He said it literally made the meal and was possibly the best meal I’d ever made. These are CRAZY words. I almost cried

Sunday was supposed to be a relaxed day but something exciting happened that no one was expecting so soon…

My sister gave birth, six weeks early, to little Megan. It was always planned that Rachel would have a planned caesarean because of the baby’s position, but this was to be closer to the due date. So obviously this was quite a surprise for everyone, mainly the now very proud parents. She’s a little on the small side (as to be expected) but she is very well and so is Rachel thankfully.

She’s currently going to be spending the next two weeks in hospital just to make sure everything is perfect and then she can go home and join her sister, Ellie.

So Ben and I went to visit them on Sunday after dashing quickly into town to buy some pressies. And then we got to see mum and baby. Rachel was understandably very tired and Megan was fast asleep. But I did get to rest my hand, very gently, on her back. We couldn’t hold her as she needs to be kept as germ-free as possible. But it was just a beautiful experience. I’m always so awe-struck by how tiny and delicate and soft new borns are (I’ve only seen two – Ellie & Megan). And my sister is literally made to be a mum – she fits so naturally into the role.

How very exciting! Big congratulations to Rachel and Nick, my brother-in-law

Do you have any little ones in your family? Our family is very small so Ellie and Megan are the only ‘little people’ we have.

Have you ever fallen when running? It was more embarrassing than anything, but I do have a HUGE bruise on my leg now. I guess that’s one good thing that it’s still trouser weather.

What’s your favourite take-away/take-out?

March 22, 2013

One Lovely Blog Award

TGI Friday, am I right? Ohh yes.

This week has been quite tiring I must say. The first half of the week my legs were aching like crazy from the weekend race and I was just generally tired. I made sure I took it relatively easy on the running front. I ran a 3 mile easy run on Tuesday (PAINFUL, very painful), 5 miles more normal run on Thursday (getting back into my groove which felt nice) and then this morning I went for a 2 mile run with Ben (helping him do intervals).

Ben is really keen on getting back into running and I couldn’t be more pleased. His whole attitude has changed; he’s excited about runs, he’s keen to get into shape and he’s quite upbeat about it all. Even while giving up alcohol! I don’t drink at all to be honest (occasionally a gin and tonic now and then) but Ben does like his wine. He doesn’t drink stupid amounts by any stretch of the imagination but it is his way of relaxing at the weekend. Hopefully he won’t find it too hard this weekend!

Anyway, the very lovely Meghan nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award! I’m very flattered and pleased. I love Meghan’s blog and really recommend, if you haven’t already, to go and check it out.

The rules are that I share 7 random things about myself and then nominate 7 other bloggers. So let’s get going!

1) I sweep our kitchen floor every morning and every evening. It’s obsessive I know, but it really, really annoys me when I walk bare feet and can feel crumbs on the floor. Also I think Alfie is out to make me crazy because when he eats his kibble he doesn’t eat it over his bowl, but crunches it in the middle of the kitchen and leaves a whole load of crumbs on the floor. It drives me mad.

2) Though I’m sure Ben is wholly unaware of this, in my mind we are having a ‘bathroom product paraphernalia’ war that has been raging (in my mind) for weeks. He leaves his hair gel out every single morning and I put it away every single morning.

3) I passed the time during the half-marathon by checking out other runners. This sounds weird I know, but looking at other runners and what they were wearing (especially the ladies) was a good way to stop myself getting bored. I’d be like “Oooh I like her leggings…” or “he has a cool running belt”.

4) I don’t mind watching scary films as long as they’re not gory. Any scenes of mutilation or torture and I’m outta there. Give me floating ghosts and creaky floorboards any day. I love Game of Thrones but why do they have to make it so violent and painful?? It was bad enough reading it in the book, but seeing it is so much worse.

5) I used to get really bad night terrors when I was younger so much so I had to have my sister sleep in my room on our camp bed. I made her pack that thing away and tidy her stuff out of my room every morning though. How mean was I??

6) I avoid my neighbours. They’re so chatty and nosey. I swear they watch at the window for me to walk past before leaping out of their door to catch me for a stupidly long catch-up. Invariably I’m about to walk Alfie and Alfie is just shooting them the Death Stare the entire time as he wants to actually get going. Ben and I have been known to hide from them at times.

7) I’m not a baby person. Like at all. Don’t get me wrong, I love my little niece, Ellie, to pieces but any other babies or small children? Nope. I have no maternal instinct whatsoever. Good luck, Ben

And the 7 lovely and brilliant bloggers I nominate are:

Maria @ Running Cupcake

Chelsea @ Chelsea Eats Treats

Sara @ Nourish and Flourish

Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes

Laura @ Keeping Healthy Getting Stylish

Ffion @ Raspberries and Chocolates

Eleanor @ Eating Like a Horse

Obviously there are so many more I could have nominated but these are some of my favourites

Name something random about yourself? It’s actually quite hard! I don’t think I’m as unique as I’d like to be!

What’s your favourite genre of movie to watch? Mine is a gripping story, like Erin Brockovich, or a romantic comedy classic, like Four Weddings and a Funeral or When Harry Met Sally.

Do you like stuff put away like me, or left out for easy access like Ben? I’m all for keeping things minimalistic and tidy!

Have a wonderful weekend

March 20, 2013

A bits and bobs post

Firstly, thank you for all your kind words about Sunday’s half marathon. It made my day I’ve literally been floating along with happiness since then. What was also nice was everyone at work was so lovely about it and there was a lot of banter as there were about four other guys from work who did it too (I beat all but one! One guy did it in 1hour 36mins wowza).

This week has been crazy busy. And what makes it worse is I think I’m one day ahead…Friday is going to be painful. Because of the half marathon on Sunday it’s just skewed my perception of the week as the race took the entire day and I was so tired afterwards it didn’t feel like a proper weekend!

Anyway it’s Wednesday so we’re not too far off from the weekend. And it’s What I ate Wednesday link up.

I’ll show you a random selection of eats as it’s been a bit of a random week.

Breakfast is the standard oatmeal with almond milk. No changes there I’m afraid. Still as satisfying.

Lunch this week has been a mixture of my usual salads as I’ve missed them and they’re also so easy to throw together the night before (whereas my sandwiches don’t tend to be as nice if I make them the night before). I tend to make two lots of salads at the same time on Sunday night and then that means I can have a more relaxed mornings. Monday morning I was shattered and didn’t set my alarm till 7am which was heaven (usually I get up anywhere from 5.45 to 6.15am).

And with this I have a fruit salad with Greek yogurt and a Babybel.

But! This morning because I’m off to Cambridge (a two hour journey) a bit later for a FIFTEEN MINUTE presentation I didn’t know what was going to happen with lunch. I couldn’t realistically bring in a massive box of salad and I don’t know if I can buy lunch there or en route. And I’m not sure we’ll even get a proper time for lunch so I basically packed a stupid amount of snacks that I can discreetly eat at any point.

This is rye bread with peanut butter smeared onto it which I’ve sandwiched together. A bit more discreet than a ‘proper’ sandwich I hope…and I’ve got a Babybel, a packet of Snack a Jacks, an apple and these:

Which I got in my swag bag from the half marathon.

I think I’m sorted!! I hate not knowing what’s happening with lunch and like to be prepared.

Dinners have been a lot more interesting. On Monday night Ben and me had one of our usual easy go-to meals: salad with grilled halloumi. Normally I roast a lot of veggies to go with this to make it more filling (butternut squash, sweet potato, zucchini, peppers, etc.) But I had the leftovers from that side salad I had at Jamie’s Italian on Sunday that needed using up.

It’s basically bulgur wheat and quinoa mix. Ben looked extremely sceptical about it. I had to convince him it was basically like couscous. And…he loved it! In fact he’s requested I attempt to recreate it. Win!

Last night I tried my hand at moussaka again (which I got wrong in the previous post by saying moussaka is usually made with pasta – it’s actually potato. Apologies, I should have done my research!)

This time though as I wanted a more quick mid-week meal, I left out the eggplant as that’s what took ages last time (salting, frying etc.). I basically just fried a small onion, lean beef mince, crumbled in a beef stock cube, added Worcestershire sauce, passata and herbs and let it reduce a bit while I made the top sauce. This was using one egg, a good few dollops of Greek yogurt and a tablespoon of parmesan. I put the mince mixture in an oven dish and poured the sauce on top and then grilled for about 10 mins. Perfect!

I did miss the eggplant but it was still very yummy and definitely filled me up nicely.

In terms of running. My legs have been aching hugely since Sunday. I was hobbling like an old lady on Monday. On Tuesday though I thought I’d venture out for a very easy run just to shake myself out. Plus, I am pleased to say that Ben has been inspired to get back into running! So we went out together and I stuck with him the entire time to force myself from not trying to go too fast (though I doubt I could have as it was so tough). So we kept at a nice 10min/mile pace for 3 miles.

Ben has decided to give up alcohol for the next 8 weeks and to get back into running as we’ve both signed up for a 10k race in May (in 8 weeks time). I’m so proud of him! It’ll be lovely to do a race together as it’ll be nice to talk to someone after the race specifically about different parts that you know they’ll have experienced, you know?

My next run will be tomorrow and I’m just going to see how I feel. I don’t want to push myself and be silly as I need to recover properly, but at the same time I’m desperate to get back out and run again. So easy pace, no more than 5 miles.

And that’s all I’ve got. Like I said, it’s all a bit busy and crazy with work which isn’t ideal as I just wanted an easy week this week! But such is life.

Hope you have a great week!

Do you run/workout with your partner?

What do you do if you don’t know what’s happening with lunch at work? I think I’ve over-prepared!

March 18, 2013

Reading Half-Marathon

**I warn you now this might be a bit of a lengthy post**

I survived my first half marathon! It was brilliant Here’s my recap. I’ve tried not to ramble on too much…

So on Friday I had my last physio appointment. This was really good as she gave my leg muscles a good (albeit painful) massage and also used ultra-sound on my Achilles which was just brilliant. Definitely worth the money I think! And a perfect way to prepare for Sunday.

Saturday I had a busy day of trying to get all the housework done and sorting bits and pieces out as we knew we wouldn’t have Sunday because of the race. I also did a very relaxed and easy 2 mile run to just shake myself out. It was horrific though as it was so wet and windy. This was a bit worrying as I didn’t mind any weather as long as it wasn’t windy. And Saturday was like gail-force winds.

Saturday night Ben and I had a ‘make-your-own’ pizza from Sainsbury’s. I had a thin and crispy vegetable feast without cheese…with added chicken (I’m not a big fan of melted cheese). When the guy behind the counter had made it he said to me “you might need to cook it for a bit longer than the directions say as there are so many toppings”. Haha I should have been embarrassed but I wasn’t.

Before I cooked it I put some BBQ sauce over it. Let me tell you, this was AMAZING. Perfect carb-loading dinner.

I had an early night and surprisingly fell asleep very quickly.

Sunday morning we woke up early (6.30am…on a Sunday), I walked Alfie, had breakfast (my regular oatmeal – what else?) and a black coffee. Ben’s mum and my mum arrived to drive with us and we were on our way. [Unfortunately my dad couldn’t make it as he’d been called into work – this was quite sad as, apart from Ben, he’s one of my biggest supporters]

Because I was so worried I’d lose my head and run like an idiot for the first half of the race and thereby kill myself for the second I wrote down the times I wanted to hit for each mile on my hand to try and focus myself.

This way I could keep looking at what pace I should be aiming for. Basically I aimed at increasing the speed as the race went along, leaving myself a bit of energy for a speedy finish.

We got to Reading and hung about in the race village for a fair amount of time. At this point the rain hadn’t quite kicked in but it was cold.

Then it started really raining. Possibly the worst part of the day was taking off my big coat and handing it to Ben so I could then go and stand in the racing pen to wait for it to begin. I was FREEZING. We all had to stand and wait for around 15 mins before the race began in the tipping rain. Everyone was jumping around like lunatics trying to keep warm.

And then we were off!

It was such an effort to keep my pace at 8.20 for the first mile because the majority of people were starting quite fast so it felt very unnatural to hold myself back. My inner competitiveness was screaming at me. But I didn’t want to start too quickly and poop myself out right at the beginning.

I saw Ben and the mums during the first mile so it was nice to wave to them at the beginning. Miles 1-4 zoomed by. They felt very easy and relaxed. It was just so nice to be running with so many people.

I had my music in and it was great to just look around and watch other people and see the spectators cheering us on. So many people watched us run, it was really lovely. Especially considering the weather! I kept having to check my pace though as I felt myself wanting to zoom off.

At mile 5 I increased my pace as planned. I still felt very good and was quite happy with how things were going.

Saw some interesting costumes!

The course was relatively flat, except for about three hills that were quite substantial. But they were fine, I just found a rhythm, looked down and ploughed on. If I look up when running hills then I lose my motivation because I think “Jeeze am I not there yet?”

There were loads of water stations about which was a bit of a minefield, especially when they were like bags of water that squirted all over the place. I didn’t go for any water but I almost got hit by jets of water several times haha. As if I wasn’t wet enough!

I can’t remember what mile it was (maybe 6?) but we went under a bridge and there were drums playing by a band which was brilliant. Really livened things up and kept us motivated. It was nice as well because people shouted my name as I had it on my vest. At first it felt weird because I was like “I don’t know you!” but it was a great motivator. And little kids wanting high fives – that was cool!

Mile 7 went really quickly because this was where Ben and the mums were aiming to be to wave and hand me a drink (I’d made my own drink from half water, half pure orange juice and a little bit of salt). So I spent a lot of time looking out for them which passed the time. I finally saw them and gave Ben my gloves, he gave me the drink and then we had a quick smooch (ahh the romance) and I ran off.

I thought I’d struggle around 8-9 as it’s a bit of a funny mileage as you’ve ran quite far but you’re still quite far away. But I was fine. I felt very comfortable and happy. Though it started raining again which wasn’t amazing.

Because of how the course twisted, Ben and the mums could get to mile 10 before I did so they hurried there to wave again and Ben got a photo of me.

Yep that’s a manic smile I’m wearing there.

And then from mile 10 I was ready to kick a bit more into a faster pace. When I got to mile 12 that’s when I had to dig a bit deeper to keep going. When I saw the sign for ‘400m to go’ I let rip a bit more and it got painful. We got into the Madejski stadium and BAM it finished. It was over. I couldn’t believe it.

The feelings of absolutely happiness were so overwhelming. I felt like I could fly. I saw someone from work who was also running it and I went over to him to chat and I was just bursting with joy. I just needed someone to talk to and bounce good vibes off of.

And how did I do in terms of timing? My official chip time was 1 hour 41 minutes and 19 seconds. And my Garmin breakdown:

Almost a perfect negative split! I’m so proud of myself for being sensible. Honestly, I don’t know what it was…the crowds, the other runners, the vibes, the adrenaline…but the race just felt good. I only struggled on the last mile – and even that just required a bit more focus and mental motivation. I am so pleased.

On a random point, the funniest thing was seeing the steam rise of the runners at the end. Lovely

I eventually found Ben, my mum and Ben’s mum (at this point I was once again FREEZING).

They were cold and wet as well – I felt so bad that they had to stand in the rain for me, but very grateful for their support. We headed back to the car and then had to wait about 50 mins for the car park to open to let us (and seventy five million other cars) out. We blasted the car with heat and we eventually got a bit warmer and dryer. I managed to get out of my clothes and into my spare dry clothes inside the car without revealing myself to the world or my family (a lot of help from Ben holding up his jumper haha).

Then the cars started moving. This was stressful. There was just no order, cars were everywhere.

They look like parked cars in the photo, but they’re actually creating their own queues. It’s just not British!!! Queue jumping is not socially acceptable, people!!

Anyway, we FINALLY got out and headed for lunch. By the time we arrived it was 2.30 (I finished the race at 11.45). I was ready to eat my arm at this point.

We got parked and got out of the car. My legs were so painful and achy I almost fell over! But we got to Jamie’s Italian and got a table (despite being so late for our reserved time!)

Straight away we ordered hot drinks. You know when you’re warm but you’re not really warm inside? That’s how we felt, if that makes sense. I ordered a peppermint tea which I can tell you tasted pretty darn good at this point.

Can you guess what I had for main? Turkey Milanese, which I’ve now had four times…embarrassing really but nothing sounded better.

I ordered a quinoa and bulgur wheat salad on the side as well.

The turkey went down very well but I couldn’t make a dent on the side; it was HUGE. You know when you go from being really hungry to being very full in a short period of time? Well it didn’t make me feel amazing, but I got it packed up to take home with me.

This smile pretty much never left my face.

Then we walked (I hobbled) back to the car and went home. After having the best shower in the world, there seemed only one outfit appropriate to wear at this point:

A onesie with my medal. Obviously

And needless to say my legs are fairly painful today. I almost fell over getting up this morning.

In a nutshell: I loved the half marathon and I’m definitely doing another.

Have you done a half marathon before?

What’s your favourite race distance?

Are you a proud owner of a onesie?