Britain - AnnaTheApple

June 25, 2015

Rants and Raves #14

I don’t have a huge amount to rant about this week. How can you when the weather is so fantastic?? I thought I’d also tie-in some updates from what’s going on with my living situation going forward (sounds rather illicit…but I assure you it’s not that exciting).

Rant: *Sighs* I am so accident-prone it’s ridiculous. I think I’m genuinely lacking in the eye-hand coordination department, especially when I’m rushing around. This is mostly happening in the morning before work; sorting out my breakfast, tidying, and getting my lunch together. I take my own home-popped popcorn to work (I just put kernels into a plastic box, add salt and pepper and then microwave with the lid on until the lid starts opening). In my haste to get the pepper on it I dropped the grinder.

And all those little pepper corns went EVERYWHERE. Alfie thankfully turned his nose up and wandered off. Clearly not his snack of choice!

What was most annoying was this when I was a) already running later and b) had someone coming over to view our house later that day to possibly buy it. GARGH. I had already hoovered and tidied up everywhere but now had to sweep (and bin the peppercorns – what a waste!).

Sometimes speed isn’t the best way forward when you’re late!

Rave: It’s been very busy around here lately with all the house stuff. A few weeks ago we got the ball moving to value the house. They valued it substantially above what we initially paid for it which is MARVELLOUS obviously, but we still needed to get it sold at that price. As the house was a new build when we moved in (3.5 years ago now) it’s still in very good condition. I also regularly clean it so I didn’t have to do anything crazy before people came to view it apart from just general tidying things away to make it look more minimalist and hoovering.

At the same time I needed to look for a flat to move into. Juggling lots of balls from viewings of our house, viewings for my flat, mortgage appointments and solicitors…it’s all fun and games I assure you not.

Long story short, our house went on the market on Friday (my birthday, happy birthday me…). Our first viewing was Monday and they put an offer in for our asking price. Within this time I also found a flat I loved, put an offer on it and got it accepted. WOW. Luckily the guy buying our house is an investor so has no chain his side, and the person I’m buying from is also an investor and I only need to wait two months for the current tenant to move out (I’m buying, not renting). So actually things are looking (finger’s crossed) to go quite smoothly.

AND (this is like an UBER rave) my flat is still within the same area, still close to my gym and even closer to my running club. Fabdiddlytastic.

Rant: The flat is tiny. Really it’s a studio. I call it my Carrie Bradshaw (but smaller) apartment. One bedroom…But it’s well within the budget I have, meaning I can still live quite comfortably and enjoy my current lifestyle, and it’s in a nice, nice area. I looked round two bedroom flats in not so great areas and it just didn’t feel right – plus it added so much time onto my already long commute. The flat in itself is lovely – it’s only three years old, and funnily enough the kitchen is bigger than my current one and it’s just beautiful inside. There’s more than enough storage as well. So despite it being very small, it’s actually perfect for what I need at the moment and my day-to-day life won’t change vastly.

Rave: The day after the Liverpool marathon I had the day off, as did my parents. So we decided to go for a Nando’s and cinema trip to see Jurassic World.

A whole chicken really hit the spot post marathon. Runger? Adequately defeated.

And a whole screening to ourselves for Jurassic World (for about 15 minutes until a few others came in…damn them!)

Rant: Well not really a rant, more of stating the obvious. Jurassic World is not Jurassic Park and is no where close to being as good. It’s good for mindless enjoyment but there was no ‘pizzazz’…no rippling water, no Ian Malcolm, no goose bumps…I could go on but I shan’t bore you (the Empire Jurassic World spoiler special podcast does a great review).

Rave: After reading Claire’s post about her buying colouring books to relax I promptly decided to do the same. During university my friends and I, for a laugh, bought some colouring books as a way to have down time between revision and exams and found it was very addictive and a great way to relax while still being able to chat to each other or watch TV.

I got one from the post office, one from Amazon (called Indian Summer <— not an affiliate link) and some colouring pencils. Honestly, I am fully addicted. In the evening I watch TV while colouring and I’m so relaxed. Normally I’d be on my phone or iPad and wouldn’t really be relaxing my mind. I also wouldn’t be able to concentrate on what was on TV. But with colouring I can now watch TV as well. I even took a book with my on the train. OK people did give me a few funny/curious looks but the time flew by.

Rave: I was in the paper for the Southampton Echo for the Romsey 5 mile Beer race (bit delayed on this one as the race was a good few weeks ago now…). What was nice was that it mentioned me being part of the top three females the previous two years and now finally securing the first place this year (top left paragraph).

Needless to say my parents are very proud 😉 Sorry bragfest over.

Rave: I hate going to London in general and I especially hate going for work, which I had to do for a big meeting on Tuesday (funnily enough I’m going to London again on Saturday to meet some fellow lovely bloggers – but I’m sure this experience will be far better!)

The one saving grace of it being in London was the amazing catering at lunch time.

It was a buffet and there was just so much food. And not a chip or fried food in sight. It was all fresh, good ingredients and lots of vegetables and salad. I sort of went overboard…but then buffets are my weakness. The bottom left sweet potato and lentil curry was VERY nice indeed.

What are your plans for the weekend? (Yes I know it’s only Thursday…) I’m off to London on Saturday and then doing a 10k race (which I’m racing but not looking forward to – going to be riding the pain train!)

Do you go anywhere exciting for your job? In a previous job the best place I went was Sweden.

Colouring – yes or no? I’m not creative at all so this works well for me as it requires no real skill above what a five year old could do.

June 22, 2015

A reluctant birthday and an almost sub-20 parkrun

It was my birthday on Friday. To be honest, I really wasn’t feeling it.

I went with the attitude that I could ignore it. Going to the gym, going to work and not doing anything Friday night was my aim. Obviously with Facebook you can’t quite hide the fact it’s your birthday and I appreciated all my birthday (and Twitter) ‘happy birthdays’ but other than that I was rather grumpy.

Turning 27 in itself isn’t bad at all, I know that. But I never imagined myself at 27 to be single, selling my marital home and looking for a flat to buy (something for another post!). It’s all rather depressing.

Anyway I was looking forward to parkrun. We were finally on the cricket pitch (fast and flat course only used occasionally). After the marathon on Sunday I took two full days off (I was meant to do yoga Tuesday but got my times wrong). But otherwise during the week I got back to the gym twice for my usual strength training and ran 4.5 miles on Thursday morning. All went well though all week I was just tired.

I really wanted to make a good go at parkrun though as it seemed a perfect opportunity. Generally it seems that the week after a marathon it’s a great time to bust out a good parkrun time. You still have marathon trained legs and as long as you’re not injured you tend to do quite well.

I drank a big cup of coffee in the morning (mistake) and headed to help set-up. The cricket pitch is easy to set-up because it’s just a big circle really.

I felt a lot of pressure on this parkrun and this was furthered when a few other guys from the running club said I should do well today because of the marathon. Arghh!

I’m not made for short, sharp sprints. My body doesn’t like 5ks. The entire time you’re running you’re in pain, your lungs are bursting and your whole body is telling you to stop. Give me a marathon any day! In my personal experience I’ve found that most of the marathon you’re running at a comfortable speed – it’s the mental monotony and the fatigue in your muscles you have to deal with, not the heart racing pain of a 5k (and 10ks – they’re much worse!). It was hard work from the start. It might look like I’m enjoying myself but honestly, they were well timed smiles for the cameras. Most of the time I was wishing it would end. What was also annoying was I had badly timed that coffee and really needed to pee. I had a sudden fear I’d pee myself! We’ve all heard the stories from other runners!! (Spoiler: I did not pee myself).

It was Iwan Thomas’ (400m Olympian and our local celeb) 50th parkrun and he was just ahead of me most of the race pushing a little lad on, giving him good encouragement. My music stopped working on the first lap (my iPhone’s still playing up) so I dropped it to some supporters and tried to use Iwan’s encouragement too 😉

My three goals were:

Beat 20:26 (my Netley Abbey parkrun PB)
Beat 20:16 (my overall parkrun PB and 5k PB)
Get a sub-20

Well by the second mile I knew the sub-20 wasn’t going to happen. I was lagging and just couldn’t keep pushing (the pee fear was also heavy on my mind). In the end I finished 20:06. Honestly I was just glad to stop 😉 I’m very pleased. Two out of three ain’t bad!

While I was chatting to people afterwards and starting to help tidy up I suddenly heard a chorus of “Happy birthday” begin. I turned round and there were loads of people from parkrun and my club singing me happy birthday…holding the most fantastic cake!!

A wonderfully talented lady, Roberta, from the club had baked it (apple flavour of course). It has an apple and a slice of cake on top, and it’s in my favourite colour (purple) with tiny little yellow icing trainers all round the edge. I’m over the moon!

OK so I know I said I wanted to ignore my birthday and felt very sorry for myself…well I was very chuffed. It’s pathetic to curl up in a ball and ignore the happy moments in life and this was certainly very happy and very much appreciated. My smile remained all day long. And I received a card which so many lovely people had signed – I almost cried. I didn’t though thankfully!

After parkrun we headed to the cafe and all indulged in a bit of cake, which tasted INCREDIBLE. I’m glad to say though that I was able to stock up my freezer with a few slices as well. Whew!

I stayed at my parents’ that night and had a very chilled evening (with a takeaway of course). I wanted to run the next morning but had no idea what distance to go for. In my head I thought anywhere between 6-10miles. When I started running though I knew I wasn’t in the right head space. My legs felt very heavy and very tired. Just not right, you know? I’d planned for the two weeks post marathon to be low mileage and recovery so I decided to be sensible and cut it short to 4.7 miles rather than just force the run.

I’m so glad I did. Mentally and certainly physically I need a break for a bit. I have a 10k next weekend that I want to go for but other than that it’s all going to be a bit directionless and chilled for a while, which is perfect.

My dad and me had agreed to postpone Father’s Day and have a joint celebration with my birthday in July as we’ve recently had so many meals out together it seemed sensible to save it for another month. So instead I went out to Winchester again to meet my friend and her lovely fluffy dog, Rain, for some chatting, walking and lunching.

I went for something new for lunch this time (even though the Caesar salad was calling me). A delicious goat’s cheese salad.

I must say though…I think I’d have preferred the Caesar!! Though it was tasty, just a little small.

Despite being a grumpy fart before the weekend began, it actually turned out to be a pretty damn good one! Despite my life being a bit upside down right now, I have so many lovely people in my life that remind me that it’s not all doom and gloom. Twenty-seven is a great age to start fresh and enjoy whatever life throws at me!

What do you prefer: short or long distance running?

What’s an essential salad requirement for you? For me it needs to be BIG. Small salads are side dishes, not main meals.

Do you have any local celebs near you? Unsurprisingly, Iwan Thomas did not bring cakes to celebrate his 50th parkrun…

June 18, 2015October 28, 2016

Rock and Roll Liverpool Marathon

Leading up to this race I had had a fantastic training cycle. I’ve never been in such good shape before a marathon before. I had racked up a good number of long runs and running in general has been very good.

Through this cycle I’ve been consistently running faster parkruns, I got a half marathon PB and a five mile PB. I felt pretty good. Apart from my taper panic when my shin/calf niggle came back I was fully prepared and feeling good. The niggle was a problem psychologically though. I fully admit I’m a paranoid runner and part of me honestly wondered if my niggle would blow up during the race and I would have to DNF or limp round. But when I put that worry to one side, without sounding arrogant here, I knew I could do OK barring any uncontrollable factors (because in a marathon nothing is a given).

The morning…

Race morning started at 5am. I’d had a good night sleep and was used to this sort of wake up time so was raring to go. My only one stress and, sorry if this is TMI, but I didn’t have a successful loo visit. I wasn’t too concerned as I knew I had hours before the race to get that sorted.

I made my breakfast (porridge) and we headed off. I ate it en route as I wanted to leave it as late as I feasibly could (though it was still about 6am – four hours before the race).

Oats, chia seeds and almond milk

We stopped at a services about half-way there and I got a coffee. Hilariously the server asked if I was off to play volleyball. I said no a marathon. She looked a bit blank. Ah well.

Anyway we got to Liverpool in more than enough time. In fact we got there at 7am which was a little too early. My dad, a hardcore Liverpool FC fan, suggested we drive to Anfield so he could see the stadium as he wouldn’t get to see it otherwise. In the end it was lucky we arrived so early because it was a nightmare trying to get to the car park we wanted. We parked in Liverpool One shopping centre car park which was right near the start and also near where we were going for lunch afterwards (but it cost £13!). Thankfully though they had nice toilets and my previous situation was amended 😉

At 8am I had a Beet It flapjack to keep me ‘topped up’. I didn’t want to eat too much closer to the race but knew I needed something.

In my ‘volleyball’ gear mid-mouthful

Like normal the only thing I drank that morning was a small Americano. I’m always so worried I’ll need to pee mid-race otherwise.

The weather was chilly but it was humid and ‘close’. I started to panic over what I’d decided to wear for the race. It wasn’t as warm as I thought it would be and instantly felt stupid only wearing a crop-top.

But there was nothing that could be done about it at this point. I kept my layers on though as we walked to the race village. We met up with my grandparents, who had travelled from Llandudno in North Wales, and had a mosey around.

My dad was great at pointing out the different landmarks to me and humorously explaining to me that when I’m running I was to ignore the Everton FC stadium but enjoy running near the Anfield Stadium (of which we had seen that morning) 😉 He wore his Liverpool FC shirt especially for the race.

The half marathon started at 9am so there were loads of runners and supporters heading to the start. I only saw a few other marathoners (wearing green bibs) around as we were so early. But this was great because it meant I found another proper toilet nearby and got to use it twice. I didn’t use a portable loo all day!!The start area was easy to get to and very low key. Having previously done the Paris and Berlin marathons this was SO different. Berlin and Paris were like military operated in order to get into your pen – in Berlin it was VERY strict.

We have yet to find the photo of my dad taking my photo!

Here they were very blasé and there weren’t actual physical pens. Obviously Paris and Berlin are massive races so I guess that makes sense. There were around 2.5k runners for this compared to 40k for Berlin! Your bib number corresponded to the corral area you should be and mine began with a ‘2’ which meant it was quite near the front (when I entered the race I put a faster time than I realistically expected to ensure I could run easily and not have to dodge people). It wasn’t crowded at all and the pacers basically just found the best open spaces they could without regard to the corrals. I positioned myself in front of the 3:30 pacer only because he had such a crowd around him and I didn’t want to use the pacer or get caught up.

Originally my dad and grandparents were going to leave me 30 minutes before but as it was so relaxed we found they could stand next to me (behind the barriers) and actually see me off. This also meant I could remove one layer at a time, acclimatising to the temperature, rather than stand shivering.

Just before the start I saw my friend, Matt, who I knew from the Marathon Talk weekend and Twitter so it was nice to chat to him too (he won a place, lucky him!). We wished each other luck and got ready to start (he scored a nice PB – well done him!).

The race…

The course isn’t flat though it isn’t crazily hilly either. But having only done flat marathons I knew this would add a bit of uncontrollability to my race plan.

My plan was to run the first 10 miles at just under 8min/miles, which should feel easy. I see it as a way of respecting the distance. Personally, getting in those first miles shouldn’t feel hard otherwise you’re going to blow up later. Every good race I’ve had has started slower and got faster. (This is my personal opinion, other strategies are out there!)

By and large I stuck to it. There were a few sneaky inclines but also some down hills so it felt good. Most of the time I was stopping myself from going faster. Unlike Paris or Berlin, there weren’t swarms of runners around me all the time. I was rarely completely alone but it was sparse. This was actually quite nice. Yes Paris and Berlin are amazing races and feel hugely epic because of how big they are, but it was nice doing a smaller marathon. There seemed less pressure. There were also fewer spectators, but those who were there cheered and shouted with fantastic enthusiasm.

On the first mile I felt chilly but then as I was running it got very warm. I was grateful to have stuck with the crop top…plus in my head it made me feel speedy and elite 😉 Channelling my inner Paula!

Much to my dad’s annoyance I actually didn’t see Anfield – or at least I didn’t notice it, whereas I fully noticed Goodison Stadium. I think this is because we fully ran around Goodison whereas we just ran past Anfield. He was not amused. Stanley park was lovely and scenic, though a little undulating. There was some great live music around the course as well – really fantastic! There was also a great point in the course where you could see the entire city skyline which was amazing.

I could feel my shin/calf but not worryingly so, though I did worry about it. I pushed it to the back of my mind knowing there was nothing I could do but hope it would disappear and not blow up. Spoiler alert: it did disappear after 10 miles. Other than that discomfort, everything else felt good. I felt nice and comfortable, though I was looking forward to my podcast which I would listen to after 10 miles.

I tried to split the marathon into manageable chunks so it wasn’t as insurmountable. My first milestone was 10k just because that’s a significant distance, then eight miles because that’s when I had my first gel. Handily because it was such a smaller race I had given my other two gels to my dad so I only needed to hold on to one until mile 12 where they were going to be. Then they’d give me my other two gels and by mile 13 I would take the second so I really didn’t have to hold too much the entire race.

(Source: Liverpool Echo)

At mile 10 I put the BBC 5 Live film review podcast and was (like a super geek) excited because it had the Jurassic World review (I’m a huge Jurassic Park fan). This helped the monotony of the race as the scenery wasn’t hugely exciting.

What I will say though is Liverpool scenery is really no less exciting at these points than Paris or Berlin really. I mean, there are buildings, some are significant, some aren’t. You’re still running a stupid number of miles. Paris was probably a bit more ‘pretty’ but really it didn’t matter too much to me. What was significantly different was the fact that the supporters were far more enthusiastic and supportive – even though there were less of them. For most of the time I was surrounded by male runners so it was nice to see the supporters get really excited when I passed shouting things like “you go girl!” or “do it for the girls!”. Honestly I lost count how many times people cheered something at me because I was female. I also got called “lass” a lot. This truly made the race for me. It made me feel like an individual, not just one in a huge crowd. I smiled, waved and gave thumbs up all the way around the course.

I knew there was a significant hill around mile 12, but I also knew somewhere afterwards my grandparents and dad would be there. That hill was tough and seemed to go on forever but there were lots of support and a samba band which really helped.

I got to the top and turned the corner and saw my family from afar. Ahh what a sight for sore eyes 🙂 My granddad had my gels and ran with me a little like a relay runner to hand them to me. It was lovely. I told them it was going well and off I went.

My plan for 10-20 miles had been to increase the pace to around 7.45min/miles, but I started to lag a little from 14-18 miles. I find those miles the dead miles. You’re not far enough along to be out of the woods but you’ve still ran quite a way to be tired. The inclines and the heat were taxing me psychologically and physically. I made sure to drink lots on the way round.

My last gel was just after 18 miles. The 18 mile point is great because you run a tiny out and back up Penny Lane and obviously the Beatles’ Penny Lane song was at full volume. It lifted me a little. I just had to get to 20 miles, my next check point.

When I got to 20 miles I switched the podcast to music and went into race mode. The first song was a Linkin Park track (Bleed It Out? I can’t remember now) and it was like a jolt of energy surged through me. Now was the time to increase the pace, let myself go a little. Not too soon though – 10k is still a way to go.

I found myself overtaking people and getting lots of cheers from spectators. I felt fantastic and really got into the music. I tried to smile as much as I could to trick myself into thinking there was no effort or fatigue. My soundtrack was pushing me along and I felt confident. A line of traffic was on one side of the road as we ran along it and I waved and smiled at people in their cars and some of them tooted their horns or shouted out the window – it was great!

Around mile 22 we turned to go along the river front and found the wind blowing against us. Ahh this was tough. Mentally I was in a great place but physically it was hard work. My watch seemed to be completely out from the mile markers now as well. I reckon going through all the parks and tall buildings messed with the satellites. I couldn’t take what it was telling me for certain so I just ran on feel ignoring it completely, just waiting for each new mile marker.

I expected to see my dad sometime around mile 22 but as I kept running and running along this long stretch of path along the water it was clear he wasn’t there. This path seemed to go on forever! When I got to mile 23 I attempted to work out the maths of what time I could get if I ran 8min/miles to the finish. A PB was a certainty at this point but how much sub-3:30 could I manage? My brain hurt thinking about it.

I kept pushing and finally we moved slightly off the waterfront (mile 25?) and I saw him on the road. He cheered me on and I remember shouting “I’d like to stop now please!”. I just kept thinking “8 minutes or less till I finish”. Then back to the waterfront again with the wind.

As I saw the finish ahead I surged forward. I had overtaken a number of people and ran down the finishing straight on my own. Now bear with me, allow me to have my self-indulgent moment…I imagined myself to be like Jo Pavey finishing a race, to the crowds cheering me. The only thing to kill the moment somewhat was an incredibly painful stitch in my side. It was agony! But I tried to smile and not grimace as I ran across the finish line – the announcer person saying “and she’s smiling – she certainly does have something to smile about with that time!” which was lovely.

I remember walking and feeling very dizzy and tired, and the stitch still there. But then a medal was given to me and I saw my grandparents and all was right again. It was so lovely to see friendly faces so soon after finishing!

Two different men came up to me, one thanking me (I have no idea what for!) and shook my hand, and the other said I had a great finish. Always nice to hear 🙂

I then had to head into the Echo Arena and collect my goodie bag and T-shirt.

I found someone to take a photo of me (and I returned the favour to them) and grabbed a banana, a Lucozade, the bag and my T-shirt. They had extra small!!! I was so chuffed as I was convinced it would be another T-shirt that wouldn’t fit me.

Then like a bad joke we had to walk up the steps to get out. I saw lots of people just sat down but I wanted to get outside to see my family. Those steps, I mean, come on people!

I would like to thank the Liverpool marathon for having such a great coloured T-shirt as it matched perfectly with my headband 😉

I was sore, tired and needed water as I was so thirsty but otherwise I was OK. I sat down and just smiled. My dad appeared a few minutes later (remember he was at mile 25) looking slightly harassed and sweaty, bless him (at that point he’d walked almost 30,000 steps!) He asked how I did and, do you know, I wasn’t even sure! I knew I’d gotten sub 3:30 (my goal) but the exact time I didn’t know. I checked my watch and was just so pleased!

Official results

17th female!! I’m over the moon 🙂

We headed (slowly) back to the shopping area and it was like I was walking on a cloud of happiness (a painful cloud, but happy nonetheless). I wasn’t limping, my calf/shin felt fine, I just felt general fatigue and muscle soreness.

I was going to head back to the car to change but decided I couldn’t be bothered so we headed to the restaurant of choice for the post-marathon meal.

Of course it would be Jamie’s Italian 😉 It was the obvious choice and close to the finish and our car (fate). We’d pre-booked the week before to avoid disappointment as well. It was quite busy so this was a smart move. I had a quick wash of my hands, arm and face in the bathroom and started to feel human again.

I don’t even look at the menu anymore, I already know what to have: Turkey Milanese. As I have a Gold Member’s card we got a little bruschetta starter as well for free. Very tasty: mozzarella, basil, sundried tomatoes and bread. We also shared between us polenta chips and ‘funky’ (herby) chips.

For pudding I had my usual brownie with caramelised popcorn and vanilla ice cream. Ahh heaven. I’d say refuelling was absolutely spot on – eating all this about an hour after finishing was perfect. NO HEADACHE!!!!

And then it was time to say goodbye to part of my super support crew. My grandparents were awesome support and it was lovely to see them and for them to see me run (they’re very sport-focused). I’m so grateful they came to watch!

Then into the car for a delightful four hour drive home.

My dad listened to some football, I watched Downton Abbey on my iPad – perfect!

The take away…

Training for a marathon makes recovering from a marathon easier. Who’d have thought, eh? 😉

This race was fantastic. The organisation, the course, the support, the goodie bag, the medal…all really good.

Lots of High5 goodies and the medal glitters!

My only two disappointments were that I couldn’t really smash (relative term here) the pace out more than I tried on those last four miles because of that damn wind. But I didn’t feel like it sucked my spirit as some windy races have done. I still felt in the zone and in control, to some extent. And (apart from the stitch) I felt awesome.

The second disappointment was hearing a rather lukewarm review of Jurassic World…

Have you ever done a Rock and Roll race before? It was great to have so many live bands/music round the course.

How quickly do you refuel after a hard race/workout?

Has a race ever sorted a niggle/injury out for you? My niggle seems to have disappeared (for now)! I haven’t run on it yet though…

**I feel cheeky stealing and including the official photos in this post without paying for them. I know I’ve done it before in other posts but I’m having a change of morals. If you’re interested you can look at them HERE on the website**

June 17, 2015

Hanley parkrun and pre-Liverpool marathon recap

Ahh what a weekend!! I will be doing a full recap post on the Liverpool marathon very soon so bear with me.

What I will say for now is that it went really well and I enjoyed it a lot! I got a PB and my shin/calf niggle held out fabulously. In fact, and I absolutely have no understanding of this, it felt better the day after the marathon than it did leading up. WHAT IS THAT ABOUT!? I do have a slight sneaking suspicion that in my usual pre-marathon panic and general fear of injury that I might have foam rolled and ~~poked~~ self-massaged the area in question too much. I’m not one of those “sit tight and it will go away” type people…I have to prod, poke and foam roll. I’m wondering if the high mileage from the previous week made it slightly grumpy and then I pushed it over the edge in my panic? I suppose the real test will be when I get back to running again.

In overall terms though, I feel pretty good! I’m tired obviously and my muscles ached a lot afterwards but my quads, which for my previous two marathons have been SO achy and sore, are absolutely fine. Sitting down and walking afterwards and the day after were all fine. In fact, I even ran up some stairs on Tuesday. Apparently training properly seems to help with recovery…? 😉

Anyway I’ll roll back to the days before. On Friday after work my dad and me drove up to Stoke-On-Trent. This is around a 3.5 hours car journey. Though we stopped for some food half-way. I try and encourage my dad to eat healthily pretty much most of the time…some could describe me as a bit of a nag but I like to say “Health Coach” 😉 As he was driving all the way I thought a KFC treat would be alright so I turned off my nag alarm. I went for a Subway turkey salad which I added pre-cooked pesto chicken from Waitrose and some luminous beetroot dip.

This was SO good and chocka full of tasty toppings. I was stuffed!!

We got to my granddad’s around 8.30pm and he welcomed us in with a lovely cup of tea.

I love my granddad’s tea. I have no idea why it’s so good but it’s just so refreshing. He is one of those people who literally makes about 10 cups of tea throughout the day. He’d also prepared some meringue nests dipped in chocolate with some chocolate strawberries as well. Perfect! We caught up and then watched TFIF and I felt very relaxed and content. I even stayed up until 10.30pm! Madness eh?

The next morning I’d planned to do the local Hanley parkrun. It was literally a five minute drive from my granddad’s so it meant quite a nice lie-in. I was worried though as my shin/calf was still not right. It was feeling better, but still not 100%. I wanted to do the parkrun though as I had to know what I was in for on Sunday, good or bad.

After doing some investigation on Twitter I’d found that the course profile was ‘challenging’. Well I wasn’t going for a good time anyway as this was just supposed to be a nice shakeout run and testing the waters. My dad drove me down and stayed to support.

As I’ve said before, my dad loves to watch my races. He’s very proud of my running and he loves supporting. He ‘gets’ it. He understands my love for it and the intricacies involved in pacing, training, injuries etc. more than a lay person (probably because I talk so much about to him!). Before a race, he’ll talks ‘strategy’ with me and ask what paces I’m aiming for so he knows when I’ll come by and the goal I’m aiming for. He also, bless him, will always point out someone he thinks looks speedy or I should watch out for (even when I say I’m not racing!!). He’s a proud dad and loves being involved. And I love him being there of course! And it’s great because he’ll always tell me funny or interesting stories of what he’s seen while he’s been supporting – always interesting to hear the perspective of a supporter!

Back to parkrun…It was raining but it wasn’t cold. The Hanley parkrun guys were so friendly and welcoming. We all stood under the shelter of a bandstand and I chatted away to some other parkrunners. As a tourist we went off with the group of other tourists and first-timers to hear about the course. Yes it was fairly hilly.

There wasn’t a huge amount of people (140 people) so I started near the front. I just wanted to run comfortably and see how it went. As we started I got swept up in the race mentality but I looked at my watch and saw 6.30min/miles and thought “don’t be stupid”. As I slowed down four ladies pulled off ahead. I squashed any competitive need I had to try and follow them and reminded myself severely that I had a marathon the next day.The course was lovely and scenic, going round a pond with lots of ducks and geese walking around and it was a mix of tarmac and grass. It was very pleasant and the temperature was perfect. Yes there were hills but there were also down hills so actually it wasn’t bad at all.

There was a young girl in front of me and as we passed a man he yelled at her “come on! There aren’t many more girls ahead!”. It wasn’t a supportive cheer, it was an instruction and I felt bad for the young girl (11-14 category). Come on, it’s parkrun for God’s sake!

In the end I overtook all but one girl and got 22:20. She was really fast (and another 11-14 category – speedy young ladies!!). I know I wasn’t supposed to be racing but it was nice to come second and I felt very comfortable and not massively out of breath.

Test driving my new running skirt from Fabletics

The shin/calf did niggle slightly during the run but, again, no pain, no gait change, just an awareness and tightness. It didn’t feel any worse after running. I felt a bit calmer. I vowed to not touch it the entire day and sleep in compression socks that evening.

After getting back to my granddad’s, showering and having breakfast we had the day to kill. My dad and me decided to do a bit of shopping and he wanted to show me some old haunts from his childhood. My granddad stayed at home, happy to see us later when we returned (he doesn’t go out a huge deal). Hilariously he gave us a map to take with us so we “wouldn’t get lost”. We took it with us but didn’t mention the fact that my dad’s car has a built-in Sat Nav or that my dad, having grown up there, knew the area quite well. Bless him!

After moseying about some shops we headed to Mow Cop Castle, which is right on the border between Cheshire and Staffordshire. It’s a ‘folly’ dating back to 1754. I didn’t know what a folly was but apparently it’s when people have too much money and build something pretty but fairly useless 😉

My dad and me joked somewhat wryly that it would be a bit of a disaster if I twisted my ankle or fell over on our little excursion! Thankfully we both made it up and down in one piece.

The views were magnificent! We also later learned (after Googling) that there were some pretty amazing runs people did around the area (and up to the castle itself) and there’s a Mow Cop running club!

Then we headed for lunch. We found a lovely little pub nearby that was just about to stop serving food but we managed to squeeze in just in time (it was after 2pm). I had an EPIC cold meats salad.

It came with roast beef, turkey and ham with stuffing. It was so tasty and filling!

Don’t worry I made sure my evening meal was carbtastic with a standard pizza. My granddad had these cheap (86p!) pizzas he gets from Sainsbury’s which he then tops with a whole host of different ingredients. This is definitely my style of cooking! He also made a great mini-salad for me as he knows my love of vegetables.

I made sure to drink lots of fluid (with nuun) throughout the day, especially as I was concerned of how warm it was going to be. It said 86% humidity on the weather forecast!

Then it was time to just relax. We weren’t going to see my granddad the next morning as we were driving to Liverpool ridiculously early and then going straight back to Southampton from the race, so we said our goodbyes before going to bed. My alarm was set for 5am…ouch. But the race began at 10am and it would take around an hour to get there. I would need a coffee stop and we needed to get to the parking area before the 8am road closures…so 5am it had to be!

…And the race recap will be along in another post I’m afraid!

What do you do the day before a big race?

Have you ever seen/heard some un-parkrun spirited behaviour from anyone before at a parkrun?

How far have you had to travel (within your country) to a race/event before?

June 8, 2015October 28, 2016

Romsey 5 Mile Beer Race

This weekend was pretty awesome! (<—I really hope I can be saying a similar sentence next week after my marathon…).

My university friends came down to see me on Saturday for my birthday, which is on the 19th. One of them popped down on the Friday night because she was coming straight from work in London (that crazy girl commutes from London to Brighton in the week…that’s a lot of trains!) I picked her up from the station and we indulged in a lovely evening of Indian take-away and the film Pride. I heartily recommend Pride. It’s such a good film with some truly lovely moving moments and is very funny.

In an awkward state of events I needed to do my last long run on the Saturday morning rather than the Sunday as I had the Romsey 5 Mile Beer Race (more on that later). So I planned on driving to parkrun early and doing seven miles beforehand, doing parkrun and then zooming back home. The other girls were arriving around 10.30am which gave me just enough time. They all know how running mad I am so it was fine thankfully.

The pre-run felt alright but wasn’t amazing. I felt a bit “bleurgh” and *wshipers* my shin that I had issues with last year has ever so slightly started niggling a tiny bit during my runs that week. It would be ironic that an injury springs up literally the week before my marathon. BUT like I said, it was ever so slight and more of a tightness than anything. I was only worried because I was scared it was going to develop into something further. To be honest, it’s highly likely that the previous high mileage weeks I’ve done made it grumble and the fact that my shoes are getting older. So I swapped them for my new ones (exact same version) and foam rolled and stretched a lot.

Anyway I got to parkrun in good time and continued a similar pace, enjoying running with people and the lovely sunshine.

Photo credit: Kookie51

I literally had to grab a token, get it scanned and race back to the car and head home straight away.

Photo credit: Kookie51

I felt bad for leaving my friend at my house, but we’re very close and she knew to make herself at home.

I got showered, dressed and breakfasted all in time for the other two friends to arrive. It’s always nice seeing them as we just slot back into place like old times and have a good old giggle. They bought me some lovely birthday presents. One of my friends works at Superdry (as part of the audit/accounting bit…or something) and gets 50% off clothes or 70% off in the sample shop!! I got a very nice gilet (<— not an affiliated link!) and T-shirt. SOO chuffed as usually I avoid Superdry as it’s ridiculously expensive.

We decided to have afternoon tea for lunch. We did try my favourite tearoom, Elsie’s, but it was rammed so we went to my second favourite in Lee-On-Solent, The Tea Rooms.

It was delicious. I got roast chicken sandwiches, a fruit scone and a slice of red velvet cake. It does make me slightly concerned that I have absolutely no problem polishing off my afternoon tea while the other girls seemed to struggle…I guess my sweet tolerance has also enjoyed marathon training!

Later we enjoyed a nice walk through Manor Farm with Alfie.

It was a lovely, lovely day. And then we said farewell and I thoroughly depressed myself by watching The Lovely Bones. A good but morbid watch (the book is better though).

The next morning was time for one of my favourite local races of the year, the Romsey 5 Mile Beer Race. I’ve done this race twice before and I love it. The course is undulating and tough but it’s a pleasant route through country roads and the Romsey Road Runners, who organise the race, are so friendly and supportive. It’s always a good day. And you get a free beer and slice of cake afterwards. So yeah it’s pretty good!

My parents came to pick me up and my mum said why didn’t we take Alfie too as they could look after him and it was so sunny and lovely. What a great idea as otherwise Alfie would be home alone for the morning and it was lovely having his furriness there with us.

We arrived in good time and saw lots of people from my running club. The running club was fairly split that day as there was a popular 10k (flat and fast) going on as well somewhere else. I love the beer race even if the course is hard work and would much prefer to do that race than the flatter 10k which, let’s be honest, had no cake offering. Plus the pressures of a flat 10k are just not what I want right now before my marathon!

(Photo credit to Sheryl James)

I honestly had no idea what to do for this race. It’s a week before my marathon but it’s only five miles. My shin felt pretty alright after my foam rolling so I wasn’t too worried about that (but obviously I did worry because hi I’m Anna and always injured). The last time I did this race I wasn’t in great shape and was coming back from a hip niggle, and the time before that I did really well as I was right in a good phase of fast running and PB’ing.

I also knew if I did push it there could be a chance to place well. Previously I’ve achieved second and third place, respectively, out of the females. I took the pressure off by just wanting to enjoy it, seeing how I felt and not smashing myself to bits because Liverpool is the goal race.

Just before the start I needed another pee and the loos had a long queue. So as part of my warm-up run I ran down a country lane to see if there were any good bushes. I turned around a corner and found a lot of stinging nettles…hmm. There was a couple walking away from me a distance away but no one else around. I thought if I was super fast I could quickly just pee on the side of the verge, away from the nettles, but potentially in full view of anyone who appeared. Mid-pee I heard the sound of a man running up the road to my corner, I yelled out panicked “Stop!! Wait there!” and, as a fellow runner, he knew what was going on and yelled that he wouldn’t come round. When I’d finished and came round the corner I thanked him profusely. He laughed and said he was trying to find somewhere too.

We lined up and then off we went. I got into a good rhythm and found myself with the other lead ladies.

(Photo credit to Paul Hammond)

I honestly felt comfortable 95% of this race. I just seemed to find a good speed. There were several hills but also good down hills as well. I managed to overtake a lady at around mile two and pushed on. As I came up to some marshals a while later they shouted that I was the first lady. I didn’t realise! I thought there was at least another lady ahead. This resolved me to maintain the lead. I think maintaining a lead is harder than gaining one as you have no real control and can’t see where the others are or know if they’re going to suddenly out-sprint you later. It’s mentally tough.

My pace was really good for me but I didn’t feel flat-out. I remember how I felt in the previous years where it was a pain train the entire time. Last year I almost considered just pretending I was sick so I could stop running (pathetic, yes) as I found it so hard. It felt very good to know I was in better shape. A good confidence boost for the marathon!

I didn’t even miss not having music (it’s not allowed as the roads aren’t closed). I just focused on my running and gave myself milestones. It honestly just felt good.

(Photo credit to Paul Hammond)

At four miles I still felt good. I kept pushing and got to the end bit where you have to run around a cricket pitch before the finish (somewhat soul-destroying). With everyone cheering I pushed harder and that’s when I felt the pain train happen.

(Photo credit to Paul Hammond)

I somehow managed to smile for the camera and then got round the corner for the sprint finish.

(Photo credit to Paul Hammond)

My time was 33:43 (a PB by almost 40 seconds) and first lady. Finally I’d managed to get the first lady position on my third attempt!

(Bit of Strava geeking out…comparing my race to the other two)

I wasn’t completed destroyed after the race either which was great! Just a bit pooped.

Alfie had a great time as well, though he barely noticed me when I ran past him despite me shouting to him. That’s love for you! Obviously I got my cake ASAP (a slice of moist ginger cake) and got my dad his well-deserved beer.

My parents were fantastic supporters, as were the running club. It was just such a great day.

It’s definitely more of an overall love for the event than simply the race itself, you know?

I got two beer tankards as my prizes (first lady overall and first senior lady) and took a couple more slices of cake home for the freezer (gluten-free brownie and lemon sponge). You only get one cake token but if you donate money at the end (once everyone has had their slice) you can get more. And my mum was happy as I gave her a cake token someone else had given me…apparently I’m known as a cake monster or something…? My dad also got another beer as well. So everyone was pretty happy!

Overall I’m over the moon with this race. I felt good, my shin feels fine (though I’m considering just cross-training this week to be certain. Or am I being paranoid!?) and I feel like I’m back to where I was.

Romsey beer race, I’ll definitely aim to be there next year!

Three years of the beer race!

How was your weekend?

Do you have a race you always go back to?

Beer after a race, yes or no? I’m not a beer fan in general so it was a no for me (much to my dad’s delight).