OK, I don’t want to rub it in…but I haven’t been at work today! I’ve had the day off! Hurrah! And I had a very lovely day indeed with my mum and mother-in-law. We bought Groupon vouchers ages ago for a spa day. Ooh-err!
We went to a local hotel which was all rather posh and lovely.
And indulged in a bit of a pampering. We had a neck, shoulders and back massage, and a facial. Oh it was divine. It lasted for so long and then we could mosey about in lovely thick robes (though it was a tad hot in them considering the weather). We went in the pool and Jacuzzi (well, I just sat in the Jacuzzi) and then had a lovely salad for lunch in the gardens.
I went for marinated chicken with sundried tomatoes and rock. So good.
Does anyone else find it awkward having a treatment? I’m always so self-conscious. And about the most stupid stuff…like what should I be wearing under my robe? Should I be in just my knickers, should I be in my bikini? And then when she’s actually massaging me I start over-thinking…should I be talking to her? I hope my back is a normal back…Should I be complimenting her technique? Jeeze I never know. So I just stayed silent. Better to say silent then say something stupid!
Well, despite my ridiculous over-thinking anxieties, it was wonderful. We had a lovely morning/afternoon.
Just looking back at the week, on Wednesday night Ben and me headed to a league run with our running club called the RR10 league (do other people have that??). Basically all the running clubs in our area compete in a set of 10 races at different locations. It’s not based on time but rather actual place you finish.
Because I never manage to get home in time from work I haven’t made any others except for Wednesday night which was really close to home.
I was feeling a bit nervous as my hip/knee has been giving me a bit of grief again (*wails in frustration*). I’ve found I have hip bursitis. Joy of joys. Basically my hips flares up a bit when it’s tight and it causes a bit of discomfort in my hip and knee. All I really can do is use lots of ice, stretching and strengthening of my hips.
So I was going to take this run as just a fairly standard run. Not too easy but not going like lightening. The race was off-road and apparently 4.8 miles.
As we started the first mile was quite slow anyway as it was single file through a corn field. You couldn’t overtake which was so frustrating. But I thought this was ideal really as it stopped me from sprinting.
Then the next couple of miles were OK. We came out of the corn field and I could speed it up a tad and get past some people.
I’ve been wearing a knee thing to just give a bit of extra support
Towards the end of mile three we hit a steady incline and it got rough. I felt like my legs were like lead and I was tired. I literally felt like I had no energy.
Then mile four was another loop of the bloody incline. I found myself despairing by looking at my Garmin but I literally could do nothing about it. Anyway at like 4.5 miles I was thinking “excellent, almost there”.
We hit mile 5 and I was thinking “ermm, where’s the finish then?”. Some marshals shouted we were almost there and I decided to give it my all. I mean we were at 5.1 miles, it must be round that corner right?
I got round that corner and no finish line was in sight. I lost my speed and motivation. Finally I saw the finish and practically crawled across it. Really not fun.
Man it was tough. I came twelfth girl though (whoop whoop). Considering the first mile was pants as I got stuck behind so many people (as did everyone I guess) and I’m still having issues with my leg I think that’s great 
I went home and had a lovely ice bath and whipped on the compression socks. I still have an irrational fear of my compression socks since the dreaded cramp incident the other week…Ben has to help me now. Haha.
And I also want to share with you guys these great snacks I’ve been sent for review. The lovely Jemma over at Celery and Cupcakes got me involved and I was more than happy to try these bad boys as I’d heard good things about them.
They’re called Garbanzo snacks and have only been around since 2011but the fan-base is expanding! Basically they’re roasted chickpeas and they have a pretty clean ingredient’s list: GM-free, no additives and no preservatives. And they’re high in fibre so help keep you full.
And they taste really good. They’re satisfyingly crunchy and the flavours are great (my favourite is the Thai sweet chilli).
And the best part? The serving sizes are huge for 88 calories!!
This, my friends, is only half a portion! I decided to drag them out for as long as possible as I was addicted and only had three bags. Really, really good.
***Thanks to Jemma, I can offer you guys 20% extra if you decide to purchase any of the snacks from their website. Basically the discount is two packets free of charge for every order. Just type in GARB/02 in the notes section of the shopping cart.***
And that’s it from me! We’ve got Parkrun tomorrow and then the dreaded New Forest 10 miler. I may not survive due to dehydration, so thanks for reading guys. I’ll miss you! 
What treatment would you have a spa? I’m all about massages. It feels SO good.
Have you suffered from any injuries?
What snacks can’t you get enough of?
Yuuum those snacks look so good!
They were so tasty. Really want more though!
Nice job on the run, well done!
Hope your 10 miler goes OK tomorrow- it is going to be so hot. My cough has not gone yet and it is a bit chesty so I am hoping it goes by tomorrow as I really don’t want to miss my 10k.
I have never had a “treatment” like that, but I did have some sports massages, luckily the lady doing them was very chatty (she had to pull out of her marathon training due to injury) so it wasn’t that awkward, although it was weird at times- I know what you mean about wondering what to say.
Hope you’re run when well too! Chesty coughs are so annoying. They seem to take so long to go away.
You should definitely try having a spa treatment. It’s world’s away from a sports massage haha. Although I think I prefer the sports massage as you know it’s actually achieving something rather than just being relaxing.
Soooo jealous of your spa day!! That’s what we did for my bachelorette party. I only had 3 ladies in my bridal shower, so it was easy to do. We spent the whole day at this spa that has a huge pool and mud thing then we paid for massages and got all lathered up in the “grotto” SO fun!
Wow sounds like a perfect bachelorette party!! I’ve always wanted to do one of those mud things, they look amazing. Quite fun to get all muddy and know it’s actually helping you.
Your spa day sounds absolutely HEAVENLY!! Massage, facial, Jacuzzi time, and a delicious salad (sundried tomatoes make my heart go pitter-patter), enjoyed in the gardens? Umm, yes please! I’m so glad you, your mom and mother-in-law enjoyed yourselves – very much deserved. 🙂 Oh, and by the way, I do the same with Groupon vouchers –I’ll buy one, and then completely forget about it until I receive a reminder email a few weeks before it expires. Whoops!
Oh girl, I’m so sorry to hear about the hip bursitis diagnosis. Hopefully doing some extra hip exercises (and becoming best friends with ice) will do the trick. Considering the pain, you should feel *fantastic* about your strong finish in Wednesday’s race! Whoop! You’re a rockstar!
Mmm the chickpea snacks sound delicious, and I love that they’re portable (and healthy!). I’m not sure they’re available in the US, but we have a similar brand called The Good Bean, which I love!
Hope you had a lovely weekend, my dear! Happy Monday! xoxo <3
Honestly, it was a perfect treat for the day off. So lovely. We all felt so relaxed afterwards.
Yeah I think I’ve seen that version of the chickpea thing on people’s blogs and I’ve always been curious to try them so I was so glad to try our version over here.
Hope you’re having a good week 🙂
Great job on the run!! I can’t believe how speedy you are these days. Maybe you should change your blog name to Anna the Speed Demon haha. I’m also super jealous of your spa day- it sounds like so much fun! Although I think I would be just like you and over-analyze everything haha!
Haha I love that nickname!