Lack of food-related constraint - AnnaTheApple

June 20, 2016

Birthday weekend–part 1

And just like that I’m another year older… I turned 28 yesterday. I’d like to think that I’m wiser and have it all figured out but I absolutely don’t. But I’m happy and enjoying life so I’ll take that!

For the Saturday I had a few of my university friends down. Kate and Jamie (I went on holiday last year with them to Orlando) came down earlier so they could join me at parkrun. Now this is a BIG DEAL. This is the couple who laughed at me for going to parkrun when we were on holiday together. They were the least likely out of all my non-running friends to want to do parkrun. But, major kudos to them, they’ve started running and eating better in order to lose a bit of weight and get a bit more healthy. Jamie has lost FIVE STONE and Kate has lost (I think) over two stone. They’ve both also been doing the Couch to 5K programme and Kate had timed it perfectly as to use parkrun for my birthday weekend as her target.

They got to mine just before 8am and we headed down to Lee-On-Solent parkrun. Ordinarily I do Netley but Kate wanted a nice flat course and my dad was going to do Lee as well as my friend, Mat, who was down from Cheltenham for the week so it made sense.

Kate, Jamie, me and Mat

It was a beautifully sunny day. I was a bit worried about my hamstring but I’d done a quick tester run when I walked Alfie in the morning and it held up OK. Not perfect but alright.

I’d planned to take the run nice and slowly and stop if at any point it became bad.

My dad rocking the England shirt

It was quite amusing to see Jamie and Kate’s reaction to parkrun. They tend to run very early in the morning and never with other people. They genuinely thought they’d be about 12 people at parkrun. Jamie said he was shocked that one minute there were a couple of people and then the next there were hundreds. They were literally taken aback by the amount of lycra and colour about.

The start was a little bit hectic I must admit. There was over 300 people and we were all bunched together. It involved a lot of negotiating around people and trying not to trip over anyone else or be tripped up. But eventually it evened out and there was enough space.

I found a nice easy rhythm. I wasn’t pushing it or feeling out of breath and the hamstring felt OK. I was surprised to see I was running around 8 minute miles.

Photo credit: Eileen Bartlett

Lee’s a good course as you can see runners ahead and behind so I could cheer people on and spot people I knew.

Photo credit: Eileen Bartlett

I’d say the hamstring felt 80% OK. It niggled slightly towards the end but there was no pain, just felt uncomfortable. It just annoys me though as it doesn’t make for a great run as I’m constantly thinking about it and not wanting to push myself to go fast because I don’t want to annoy it. But least it was better than it has been! I finished in 24:15 which felt nice and comfortable.

Mat had already finished in a great time of 20:50 so we walked together to walk my dad in. He was power walking the course and desperate to beat his last time of 51:12. He was finding it tough but the tail runner was apparently really good at keeping him going.

Photo credit: Eileen Bartlett

Towards the end, he picked up speed, overtook another guy and sprinted to the finish. Everyone cheered him in and it was lovely.

Photo credit: Eileen Bartlett

And he completed it in 50:16 so almost a minute off his time! He was made up Kate squeaked under her goal of sub-35 by getting 34:57 and Jamie got 33:58. The absolute best part was hearing how much they loved it. Kate and Jamie are now full-on parkrun converts. On the way home they were already planning their next one (depressingly their local one was Little Stoke so now their nearest one is about 20 minutes away). Jamie was already commenting how he felt he could run further when he finished as well. YES!!! Converting my non-running friends one person at a time

We got back to mine, showered and then my friend Shell and her fiancé, Rob, showed up to join the fun. Again, hearing them tell Rob and Shell how good parkrun was just made my day. A year ago there was nothing I could say that would persuade them that running could be enjoyable. People have to find out for themselves.

I had booked my latest favourite restaurant for lunch and we were all pretty excited. After catching up and walking Alfie and Kate’s pug, Doug, we headed to Sadlers in Southampton.

As I’ve mentioned before, Sadlers is THE restaurant for meat (though they also have a strong vegetarian section of the menu too). The last time I went was INCREDIBLE. My friends love BBQ food too so it made sense to go here. I decided to go for the ribs rather than the platter this time as, though the platter is amazing, I was really craving ribs. And they did not disappoint.

HUGE chunks of meaty ribs on top of chips, salad, coleslaw and cornbread. I didn’t even touch the chips. There was just too much meat (which, by the way, is not an issue).

So tasty. Shell and Rob also went with the ribs and Jamie and Kate shared the platter.

Ridiculously (and foolishly) Shell, Rob and I ordered sides as well. Shell and Rob went for some pulled pork and I went for some chicken wings and we ordered the bourbon BBQ sauce to go alongside. (Greed took over sanity here as you can probably tell…).

Yeah I didn’t even touch those wings. There was just far too much going on my plate. And, amazingly for me, I couldn’t finish the ribs. I was beaten! Everyone was. Happily Kate and Jamie said I could take their leftovers home so I took a swan of shame back with me.

Needless to say my freezer is now joyfully stocked with some smoked turkey, gammon, wings, hot link sausages and pulled pork. Happy days!

As we sat there afterwards chatting and basically recovering from the meal, the waitress appeared with a cake with lit candles and they all started singing happy birthday to me. It was such a surprise and so lovely!

Action shot

To be honest, I think the last thing we all wanted was a slice of chocolate cake. But you gotta take one for the team right??

The chocolate cupcakes on top were filled with delicious buttercream. We were literally DONE after having a slice.

We spent a long time at my flat just laying around chatting and digesting. We probably could have napped! It was such a great day. And to top it off they got me some super cool Superdry workout gear.

Because what else would you buy me?? So, an absolutely perfect Saturday.

What is your perfect way to spend your birthday?

Have you converted any non-runners to runners?

What’s your perfect birthday gift?

May 9, 2016

The best meal of my life?

This weekend was one of those weekends that was just great from start to finish. It probably helped that the weather was just fantastic. It felt like summer on the South Coast!

My mum was away so my dad and me decided to have some dad-daughter time and make the most my mum not being there. To that effect we went to a restaurant we knew she would hate and saw a film we knew she wouldn’t enjoy.

But first parkrun. The day before my local parkrun, Netley Abbey, had posted on their Facebook page that they needed someone to assist a partially sighted runner round the course. The runner was aiming for 8min/miles and they didn’t need someone with experience as a guide. I thought, why not? I wasn’t aiming on blasting a parkrun so 8 minute miles sounded good. I signed myself up. And then proceeded to feel ridiculously nervous. What if I was rubbish? What if I tripped him up? What if…what if…

The next morning I headed to help set parkrun up WITHOUT my coat (hurrah!). It was nice to be back at parkrun after three weeks off so there was lots of catching up to do. And the sunshine was an added bonus. We were on the cricket pitch course which I was quite happy about because it meant easier in terms of guiding, and you do five laps so it’s relatively simple.

Unfortunately though Southampton parkrun had been cancelled due to a race so a lot of people decided to come to Netley. This meant it was very busy. I met the partially sighted runner, a lovely guy named Khalid, and he briefed me what I should do. He had a short piece of string for us both to hold onto. Verbal cues were ideal but if something appeared in front of him suddenly then I should grab him and move him rather than waste time telling him.

I donned an enormous high-vis vest and got ready to go. He suggested we start right at the front as it would be easier for people to overtake us then us to try and navigate around people. I felt quite nervous stood right at the front with all the fast people but it made sense.

This was one of the hardest parkruns I’ve done. Physically it was absolutely fine, but mentally I was concentrating very hard. I had to look ahead the whole time to prepare for what was coming – any downhills, holes in the ground, twigs, turns – and also what was directly in front of us, such as people.

I would say things like, “a downhill approaching in 3, 2, 1” which worked well as it gave him time to prepare. There aren’t any big downhills on the cricket pitch course thankfully but there are small declines which you could lose your footing on. And obviously four turns as well as some veering on and off grass to paths.

Without a doubt the hardest part was people. I was surprised they didn’t mention about Khalid in the race briefing, but on reflection I don’t think that would be fair on him. He just wants a normal run after all, rather than be made to feel ‘special’ or centre of attention. However it was hard on the five laps because you’re doing a lot of overtaking of people all the time or being overtaken yourself. And it was very busy. I would do a lot of shouting ahead to people to say what side we were overtaking or in some cases, when people were oblivious or wearing headphones, I had to push past them or physically move them as there was just no time if they didn’t hear me yell. Many people were fine and very apologetic once they saw Khalid but some people gave me such boggy looks. They did later apologise but it was a bit hard to take initially and I was feeling very stressed. I don’t like to be rude or for people to think I’m rude but I didn’t want Khalid to bump into people or trip.

It made me realise how annoying headphones can be to other people. I too like to wear headphones when running. However I can’t remember the last time I wore them for parkrun. It made me feel very isolated. I love how social parkrun is and wearing headphones shuts you out from that. I’ve recently bought some Aftershokz headphones which don’t cover your ear but work on vibrating through your head (“bone technology”; yes it does sound weird!) so you can still hear regular external sounds because your ears are free. Obviously sound quality of the music/podcast isn’t as good but when I’m running on my own along roads it’s far safer and I feel far more aware of my surroundings (incidentally some races that previously banned headphones allow these headphones now). But anyway, I digress. Wearing headphones isn’t a cardinal sin or make you any less of a runner, but it did make me see it from another perspective.

We finished in one piece, me with a time of 23:48 and Khalid just before me. He seemed happy so I felt relieved it went well! I then enjoyed a nice cold slush puppy-style drink sitting outside the cafe with some running club friends. Perfection!

Later I met up with my dad and we headed to a new-to-me restaurant, Sadler’s in Southampton. I’d only heard about this place the day before from my friend’s Instagram picture. As soon as I saw his picture I was like, “I must go there IMMEDIATELY”. I knew it would be a place my dad would love but my mum wouldn’t. Basically it’s a BBQ restaurant (my favourite food). We had a table for 4pm as we had the cinema booked for early evening. It was quite quiet which was nice! And our waitress was just amazing.

Their menu is basically just BBQ food. There are no starters, just main meaty numbers. It does have a vegetarian section as well though. We decided to push the boat out and share a Bears’ Grill sharing platter. Let me just talk you through this. On the board you get: two smoked turkey breasts, four chicken wings, four chorizo pork sausages, four ribs tips, three smoked gammon pieces, a mound of pulled pork, two chunks of cornbread, more chips than you can believe, coleslaw and a side salad.

I had also cheekily asked the waitress if there was any chance to add a small portion of the St. Louis ribs to the platter as, you know me, I love ribs and I’d heard the ribs were the business. She said normally they don’t as they come as there own separate meal but she’d have a word with the chef. She came back and said she could add two for a fiver. SOLD.

That is the face of someone who has died and gone to heaven. It was absolutely delicious. Special mention goes to the turkey. Normally quite a dry meat but it was really moist and tasty. The ribs were obviously incredible – and MASSIVE. The wings were so good. I mean it was all good. I couldn’t touch the sausages though as by that point I was at risk of turning a very good experience into a very bad experience. I think I had one chip! My logic was to enjoy the main bits rather than fill up on something I could have anytime anywhere. Five star meal.

My dad enjoyed it too – we were both just in a bubble of happiness. Though I think if we went again he’d go for steak as he’s more of a beef man and it was all pork, turkey and chicken. For once I was defeated. We just couldn’t eat anymore. Filling up on protein is so different to carbs. After a while you can go back to carbs and nibble a bit more but with protein, when you’re full you are FULL.

I think we did a good job! I think we left most of the chips, cornbread, coleslaw, one and a half sausages, a piece of gammon and a whole load of pulled pork. I asked to take the leftover meat home and the waitress said she’d wrap it up in a “swan of shame”.

Oof! I was so full. We did a bit of walking before the cinema thankfully to let things go down. We had some time before the cinema so we walked around West Quay for a bit. I think my dad wanted a nap but I needed to move!!

We then saw Demolition, the new Jake Gyllenhaal film. I’d seen a trailer and it looked quite funny in a weird idiosyncratic way. It was that or Jungle Book and we didn’t really fancy it.

Source

The film was very strange but I really enjoyed it. The music was great and Jake Gyllenhaal was superb. Strange but good. The screening was completely empty as well until right before the film began when a couple joined us. They literally had seats next to us. Surely you’d choose seats somewhere else?

I enjoyed a HUGE diet coke – I was so thirsty after that meal – and just settled back in a nice comfortable state of contentment.

I had a rubbish night’s sleep though as I was still quite full and there was a garden party happening across the road that was so loud. It went on really late – and there’s something so awful about drunken girls ‘singing’. Moan over. It was also really warm. So not a great sleep! The next morning I had planned to run three miles, then run Alton 10 miles, which I did two years ago. More on that in another post!

What was the best meal of your life so far?

Do you prefer to fill up on protein or carbs?

What was the last film you saw?

May 4, 2016

Post-Boston Marathon and Cape Cod

Just to follow-up my Boston posts, I’ll quick recap of post-marathon and the fun my mum and me had in Cape Cod (every time I type this I want to say Cape Town…not Africa, Anna, AMERICA).

After finishing the marathon and chilling for a bit in Starbucks we grabbed a bit of lunch…

The world’s biggest salad; it had everything in there from feta to chicken to beetroot to broccoli. It’s what I was absolutely craving. Big indulgences would come later when my stomach felt more up to it.

After this we made the long walk back to the harbour to catch the water taxi back to the hotel. My legs felt tired but generally OK which I was pleased with (though my hamstring was very tight). As we were walking so many random people congratulated me – and people who hadn’t even been near the race. From older people to teenagers, everyone had a kind word for me.

As I was only wrapped up in a foil blanket over my shorts and vest I was starting to get very cold. I had such a craving for a hot drink that we stopped in another Starbucks on the way back (a takeaway decaf, more just something warm for me to drink than anything). As I stood in line with my mum the woman behind leaned over us and said “this one’s on me” and handed the barista the money. I was shocked. She said “you’ve earnt it, amazing job”. It was such a nice thing to do!

As we continued on our way I was still clutching the goodie bag I’d received, which was packed full of really random food, like a bread roll, a protein drink, crisps and other snacks. I knew I wouldn’t need any of it and it felt like such a waste throwing it away. A homeless woman congratulated me and it made me think. I asked her if she wanted some of my snacks from my goodie bag and she was over the moon. I gave a few more items to another equally chuffed homeless person and my mum promptly burst into tears saying “I’ve raised a good’un!”. Bless her.

My finisher’s top and medal

That evening we ate in the hotel restaurant again because honestly the thought of going anywhere else just didn’t appeal. I once again had chicken wings, this time with a delicious blue cheese dip and a cheese sharing platter with my mum.

Yes I’m wearing my medal, and I wasn’t the only one!

The next morning we checked out of the hotel, picked up our rental car and drove down to Cape Cod. We stopped half-way at Plymouth to break the journey up a bit (it was about two hours). I knew there was Plymouth Rock to see so though it might be a nice place to have a look around. It was really windy and quite cold though.

We actually randomly stumbled upon the rock and were, well, a little disappointed as it was very small and not much to it. We moseyed about for a while and then decided we’d carry on. Plymouth was a little bit dull I must say (though we were in the off-season I hasten to add).

We arrived in Hyannis, Cape Cod, a it later and checked into our hotel.

The main street with restaurants, shops and also the harbour and beach were only a short walk away which was handy. At this point we were quite hungry. And lo and behold, a restaurant so perfectly fitting to my post-marathon runger… a Brazilian rodizio all-you-can-eat. Hello, heaven.

There was a huge salad bar which I used to load up my plates with salad and veggie – let’s not weigh myself down with unnecessary carbs after all! And the waiters came round with all different types of meat to carve for you. It was delicious. My mum even enjoyed herself (it’s not really her thing but she indulged me in my post-marathon haze). My only sadness was the lack of ribs *sobs*.

Needless to say dinner wasn’t necessary. But we did go out for a nice drink in a local bar. Originally I was just going to have a diet Coke but my mum ordered a margarita and I saw you could have it iced, like a Slush Puppy, so I decided to go for it.

I don’t usually drink that much at all. I don’t hugely enjoy it – though I do like the odd Prosecco or G&T. But it’s rare. Anyway the alcoholic Slush Puppy was delicious and went down a treat.

In fact, it went down a little too well. I found it very drinkable because of all the ice and found that over half-way through it I was feeling a little drunk. Seriously. How much of a light-weight am I! My mum found it ever so amusing. I was off in my own little tipsy world giggling over nothing. My mum couldn’t drink her non-iced margarita as it was too strong and though I had a few sips of hers (I think that’s it in the photo above) I declined to finish it otherwise she’d have been carrying me home! It was a fun evening though.

The rest of our time in Cape Cod was spent driving to different towns and places and basically just chilling. Things were a lot more relaxed than they were in Boston, especially with no longer having an impending marathon hanging over us. We went to Provincetown, the furthest point of Cape Cod, which had lots of quirky shops. We also spent some time in Chatham, which my mum adored (lots of linen clothing and home décor shops) where the only interesting shop I found for me was a chocolate shop (easily pleased). But it was very pretty and peaceful.

I unashamedly spent $10 on a bag of ‘misfit’ chocolates, which I then promptly munched through as my mum went in yet another linen shop.

One day we went to Falmouth where we had some delicious cake and tea in an American tea-room. Though it was delicious, it was a very odd setting. I think they were trying to get the whole British tea-room vibe going but it just seemed a little strange with the décor and it being almost a restaurant. I don’t think it translated well.

The cakes however did translate perfectly into being TASTY. I had lemon and my mum had carrot. All the about that icing (frosting!).

We then headed over to Martha’s Vineyard on the ferry.

It was such a beautiful sunny day we were very lucky! Martha’s Vineyard is a small island off of Cape Cod and for movie geeks like myself, the home to Jaws. Though sadly I didn’t get to see the famous Jaws bridge as it was just too far out. We had a lovely time regardless, going into the shops, having an iced coffee (Boston seems to go mad for iced coffees, they were everywhere) and seeing all the beautiful “gingerbread” houses.

It’s basically a large collection of summer houses that people can live in when they go on holiday. But as it was the off-season there was no one living there and it was very quiet and actually quite eerie. It was like a mini village of ghost houses. It kind of put us at unease! But pretty nonetheless.

Anyway, we had a fantastic time in Cape Cod. It was the perfect place to chill out after the busyness of the marathon and the hubbub of the city. I ate lots, walked lots and shopped lots. It was such a great holiday. Sadly I found no ribs at all, but I did eat chicken wings no less than FIVE times.

Not even all the chicken wings I ate

They were just so tasty. America definitely does them right! And I found more cake, of course and the biggest side of sweet potato fries I’ve ever seen at the Cheesecake Factory (our last meal before we flew back) – an entire large bowl of them! Even I couldn’t finish them.

I loved spending the time with my mum – neither of us wanted to kill the other one so that’s a bonus

And now life is back to reality…

Have you ever been to Cape Cod?

What food do you love to have on holiday?

Are you a beach or city lover?

April 26, 2016

Boston Marathon Expo and the days before

Where do I even start?? [Warning: long post alert] So I’m back from Boston. I got back Saturday morning (about 2am Boston time, 7am UK time). Saturday was a tough day staying awake! The flight time was only around 6.5 hours so it’s not fully overnight. But anyway, I’m back and feeling more human (just). I haven’t finished my race recap of Boston yet so that’ll come (hopefully) towards the end of this week. So for now I’ll recap the days leading up to it.

My mum and me flew to Boston Friday early afternoon. I watched two films (Spotlight and The Big Short – both really good. Spotlight was especially interesting as it’s set in Boston). I do love long-haul flights for their movies!

Flight selfie

We arrived in the afternoon Boston time (Boston is 5 hours behind the UK). We were staying in the Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor. I’d booked through the Boston Marathon so got a discounted price and as it was connected to the marathon the hotel knew lots of information and themed the weekend for the runners (free yoga Saturday morning, free water taxi to Boston mainland on Monday, carb-based meals in the restaurant, etc.). They even put a finish line on the floor.

The hotel was located very close to the airport which was very handy (and had a free shuttle) though we were, as I mentioned, a water taxi ride from Boston proper. At first I thought this was annoying but actually it was lovely. The views from the restaurant were phenomenal.

We had such good views of the Boston skyline and a lovely path to walk along the water.

As we were tired we didn’t fancy getting the water taxi over and hunting for somewhere to eat. We caught an Uber (honestly, this app blew my mind – it’s like magic!) and went to Angela’s Cafe, in East Boston, which I’d seen on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and I’d also been heartily recommended by Anthony Rodriguez, a member of the DDD team.

As we weren’t hugely hungry we kept it simple with a soup for my mum and a chicken salad for me. We also had a HUGE stone bowl of guacamole and tortilla chips. Heavenly! I was worried that the place would be a bit ‘off-beat- for my mum but she loved it. Honestly the food was awesome and so fresh! The restaurant was very small but clearly a local favourite. I wish we could have gone back there to fully try out some of the other food but sadly we didn’t have time.

The next morning we got up early as we were jetlagged and had an early breakfast in the hotel before catching the water taxi over. The water taxi took less than eight minutes and was a lovely way to travel as the views were great.

Another cheeky selfie

It was a bit chilly and windy but otherwise lovely and sunny. Our mission was to head straight to the marathon expo first to get that done. We used the metro system, the “T”, and then followed all the other marathoners to the convention centre. It was easy to spot runners – they were everywhere and most of them either carrying a map that came with the marathon info or wearing Boston marathon clothing. It was very exciting.

Some firemen were stood watching the 5k ear their fire station and I couldn’t not say hello to their adorable Dalmatian

We stopped a few times to take photos of course. The Boston 5k was going on at that time so there was lots going on.

We found the expo and headed straight to the bib pick-up area. We were actually slightly early as they hadn’t even started giving out the bibs yet. But we only had a few minutes to wait – our timing was awesome.The expo was great. Similar to Berlin where there were large areas of different companies selling running-related stuff. As Adidas were the clothing sponsor for the marathon they got the largest area and I was literally in heaven.

I decided to treat myself to some Boston merchandise because it was all so lovely and I wanted a few items with Boston Marathon 2016 on. It was expensive though as you can imagine! I decided to go for a black Adidas jacket and a blue tank top. There were the traditional blue jackets but I found the colours quite garish, though so many people were going for them and we’d see them everywhere the days after.

We carried on moseying about but I didn’t buy anything else. It was starting to get busy so we headed out to start a day of shopping, something we were both excited about. My mum, bless her, was wonderful joining me in the expo and I could see her getting into the excitement of it all as she was beginning to realise just how big a deal running Boston was to the US.

We got to the shops just as they were opening. We mainly stuck to the Prudential Centre, which is basically a mall with an observatory on the top floor (it’s a huge skyscraper).

Though we were tempted by the observatory and seeing the city from so high we were too distracted by shops

I found a Lululemon and almost bought one of their swiftly tops which I’d be hankering over for ages on the Internet. It’s so expensive for basically a long-sleeved running top but it’s such a lovely fit and lovely material. It also had “Boston 2016” on the back. In the end I decided not to buy it (MISTAKE).

After lots of of shopping we started to feel hungry so decided to try out the Cheesecake Factory as it was close by, relatively inexpensive and easy. It was ridiculously busy everywhere now (runners everywhere). We had a 20 minute wait but we decided it was worth it as everywhere else was rammed. We’d never been to a Cheesecake factory before so it was a new experience.

I couldn’t believe all the cheesecakes and cake that were in the display cabinet. It was amazing! As we instantly knew we were going to have cheesecake for pudding, we decided to be a bit sensible and have a light salad for lunch.

The salad was delicious, with goat’s cheese and chicken. But obviously the cheesecake was the winner here. It was ginormous.

I went for the Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake while my mum went for the Salted Caramel Cheesecake. I’d love to say that I couldn’t eat all of it but that would be a lie. I’m such a greedy cake monster that I polished the entire thing off. I felt ridiculously full afterwards of course but I fully enjoyed it! That cheesecake will forever haunt my dreams now…it was so good. My mum, being a far more reasonable human being, couldn’t finish hers. Luckily the waitress took it away quickly as I was eyeing it up. God.

I rationalised that as the marathon was on Monday I could enjoy my eating on the Saturday but on the Sunday I’d be more sensible. In theory. During the meal we chatted away to two ladies who were running the marathon the next day in the table near us. It was incredible, everywhere there were marathoners.

We did a bit more shopping and sightseeing then headed back, by walking this time, to the harbour area. We decided to go back to the hotel to chill for a bit and then head out again for dinner that evening. We made sure to book somewhere before we got the water taxi back as it was so busy. We booked dinner for a lot later as obviously we were stuffed!

The next day I got up with the intentions of doing a shakeout run. I asked at reception where I could do this and they provided me with a handy hand-size map that showed different options – a longer 6+ mile run or a shorter three mile run. This was fantastic! I eyeballed it for a while then decided I knew where to go for my three miler. It basically ran alongside the water so it was lovely and scenic.

In true Anna standard, I did get lost. But amazingly I managed to find my way back and run exactly three miles! I saw lots of runners about and we all smiled and waved at each other.

Then my mum and me had breakfast again in the hotel. The breakfast at the hotel was lovely; it was a buffet-style affair but you could order off the menu as well. I ordered a bacon, cheese and lobster omelette to have alongside my oatmeal and black coffee.

This set me up nicely for another day of walking around Boston. We decided to follow the Freedom Trail, which would take in the main historic sights of Boston on foot. It was quite fun as we used an app on our phone which would tell us information about each thing we saw and it was a bit like an Easter egg hunt trying to find the different things.

Basically red bricks would guide you to each different place and there would be a plaque giving information about different buildings and places. The app helped though giving a map and some context (you could use it offline).Not knowing a huge amount of American history (or barely any…) it was quite interesting. It also helped us get a good bearing on the city. This was really helpful for me as the next day, marathon Monday, I’d need to get myself to the Boston Common ridiculously early on my own from the hotel (catching the water taxi, then walking about a mile) to catch the shuttle buses to the start of the marathon, 26-something miles away from Boston.

Whoops, my mum cut off George Washington’s head!

We walked down Newbury Street which was teeming with people. The sun was shining and it was a lovely day. We found a lovely little Italian restaurant, called Trattoria, for a light lunch.

Again I had a salad with chicken and goat’s cheese (I know what I like!). It was delicious and the atmosphere was lovely. We chatted to a table next to us who’s dad was running the marathon for the seventh time. It was great to chat to someone who had done it.

We did a bit more shopping in the Prudential Centre and I decided to go back to Lululemon to buy that top I’d seen the day before. Alas though they’d sold out of the Boston 2016 one… I was fairly grumpy but tried on a load of stuff and decided to treat myself (I had gone with a shopping budget) to a few things. Lululemon is expensive but the quality is good. I treated myself to two jackets and the swiftly top sans the “Boston 2016” on the back. (It wasn’t until later on when I checked the receipt I realised they hadn’t charge me for one of the jackets. Though I had watched the sales person ring them up and fold them! Unknowingly I’d walked out of the shop without them charging me for a £90 jacket!! My lucky day it seems! My mum joked that we could now never go back to that shop).

I also treated myself to a few Nike items (one long sleeved top and a tank top with Boston on it and personalised with my name – for free!).

We checked out the finish line as well – which was ridiculously busy.

The Marathon Daffodils were lined up all along the streets and outside shops

We then spent some time around Quincy Market as well, which again was just heaving with activity. So many people! It was mental. In fact the entire day we couldn’t move for runners running everywhere or just people wearing Boston marathon jackets or just lycra-clad people. Everyone looked super fit and healthy. It seemed the whole city knew about the marathon. In shops the staff would be talking about it, wondering whether to go down and watch it (it’s a holiday for them on the Monday) and people would ask if you were running it. Though it was nice, it was making me exceptionally nervous. My hamstring had been really tight for a few days and I was so worried it would cause me issues. I could feel it when I ran that morning – not pain, just a tightness. I was worried about all those hills. My mum, bless her, did her best to calm me down.

Quincy Market is full of restaurants, food stalls and shops. We wandered around for a bit and then I spotted someone with a chocolate covered apple. Where was this!? I soon found a stall inside the market hall and bought one immediately.

Nothing calms me more than apples

We had already decided to eat a meal in the restaurant that evening as it was easy and I didn’t want to have too late a night. The hotel’s restaurant was very posh and looked out onto the harbour. We’d booked in the morning (or so we thought) and at 7.30pm arrived for our table. They looked confused and said there was no reservation. We clearly saw a woman write down our names, our room number and our time that morning so we were a bit annoyed. Especially as we had nowhere else to go really for dinner (without stress) and it was fairly important I ate a good meal. It was busy though and I started to get nervous.

Thankfully the hostess was very apologetic and got us a table and told us our appetisers would be covered, which was a lovely touch (and quite appreciated as the menu was quite expensive!). So it actually worked in our favour. Boringly I went for a salad for my main as I wanted to keep things simple but I just could not resist the chicken wings for my starter.

The chicken wings fully rocked my world. As a starter there were LOADS. It was pretty much a main meal (for a normal person). Perhaps not my wisest choice before a marathon but they were bloody awesome. And you know I love my salads

And then we headed to bed. Saturday and Sunday we’d walked over 30,000 steps each day. I was shattered. I knew this was a bad move before the marathon but at the same time, we had a great time and I would rather be busy and walking than sat contemplating the next day. It also helped me fall asleep quickly and deeply both nights.

And then the marathon…

What expos have you been to before?

Have you ever been to Boston?

Do you do a lot of walking the days before a big race?

March 29, 2016

Easter Weekend

And just like that the four day Bank holiday Easter weekend is over… But it was a pretty good one!

I didn’t do that much on Friday as I was driving up to Cardiff to see some friends and also to do the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff on the Saturday (sounds way more exciting than just saying the Cardiff Half Marathon). From Southampton to Cardiff it’s about three hours and as one of my friends and her husband lives there I went and stayed over on the Friday night so it wouldn’t be as stressful getting up there in the morning.

It was really nice to see them and they cooked an amazing chicken chorizo meal that evening (I stole the recipe, a Hairy Biker’s one, and will be recreating!) They even got slices of cake from a bakery as pudding – now that is good hospitality!

The next morning I’d planned on getting up and doing the Cardiff parkrun in the morning as the half marathon didn’t actually start until 2.10pm (which I assume is so they could get optimum TV coverage). As I raced my last weekend’s half marathon I wasn’t intending on racing this one and wanted to try and get to around 18 miles for the day, though it would obviously be a bit disjointed as parkrun starts at 9am.

I went to Cardiff University so it was such a blast from the past to be back again. Though I have obviously been back since, just not for a while and usually just to visit my friends who live in the suburbs. I love the city and have such great memories so this was one of the main reasons I wanted to do the race (and the parkrun).

The parkrun is right next to a huge Tesco so they’d advised parking there, which was very handy as I knew exactly where that was. I got there just before 8.30am. I was meeting up with my friend, Matt (a good running friend who went to the MT running camp weekend). A few of my running club were doing the Half but most of them wouldn’t be up until later and Matt was happy to run a couple of miles before parkrun with me to get my mileage up.

One half of a running club couple, Mark, who had also stayed in Cardiff on the Friday night joined as well and ran down from the hotel (another marathoner in training) so it was nice to catch him too there.

Matt, Mark and me resplendent in red!

Matt and me ran 2.5 miles nice and easily and quite close to the parkrun starting time so there wasn’t much of a gap. The parkrun course was super flat and followed the Taf Trail. It was such a walk (or run!) down memory lane as I used to live in the student flats literally five minutes away and we’d often come down to the park. I wasn’t a runner back then so it was quite surreal.

I ran with Mark and we both decided to keep it easy… though this didn’t exactly work out that way as we were both enjoying the flatness and also both being too polite to the other person to slow down in case the other person didn’t want to.

(Photo credit: Danothy Bennett)

So in the end we went faster than we’d intended and tried not to worry what that would mean for the half later on!

The above splits include the 2.5 miles at the start (obviously). My parkrun time was 22:59. I’m really chuffed with the royal flush negative split for the entire run – not too shabby! (Though it was entirely unplanned).

Mark ran back to his hotel (hardcore), and Matt graciously invited me back to his hotel (wahay! Joke) so I could freshen up and get changed before the next run. I packed so much kit as I wasn’t sure what the weather would be like. I really didn’t want it to rain at parkrun and then for me to be soaked for the rest of the day. Luckily parkrun was lovely and pleasant and rain-free. I sensibly brought some warm trousers and a good coat to put on over my shorts and vest this time. We now had a long time to kill before 2.10pm!

After changing we walked into the centre of town (so handy for me to leave me car outside his hotel as it meant I could avoid ridiculously expensive car parks and could get home quickly at the end without getting stuck in traffic coming out – thanks Matt!).

The city was buzzing with excitement for the upcoming race. Runners were walking round everywhere, brandishing coffees and bananas looking at maps and carrying their race packs.

The sky was looking more and more ominous as the time ticked by. There had been weather warnings for Wales and the chance of rain was now almost guaranteed.

To fuel up, keep warm and pass the time, Matt and me headed to a Welsh cafe for breakfast, though really brunch at this point. My friends the night before had recommended this place to me the evening before saying they did great breakfasts and it was just slightly off the beaten trail down one of the boutiquey alleyways.

It was called Garlands Eatery and it was a lovely quaint cafe with beautiful, random decor (lots of old pictures all over the walls). We both saw the ‘Full Meaty’ English breakfast (Welsh breakfast I suppose!) and ordered that with some coffee and some added black pudding for me – I love the stuff!

It was about 10.30-11ish by the time we were eating and I thought this was pretty safe for such a big meal before a race. I’m too greedy to resist a Full English and it was a training run (these were the arguments I told myself as I tucked into that epic meal). It was, as you can imagine, delicious.

To pass some more time we had another coffee and just chilled out chatting. Then we left for a wander around and to help digestion!

We checked out the bag drop area and race centre which was packed already full of people and good atmosphere. Matt then indulged me by walking with me to my old psychology building where I used to go to lectures etc. Compared to the beautiful Hogwarts-style university building nearby, the psychology building is so ugly!

A 12-floor tower block of ugliness. But it brought back good memories nonetheless. At just after 1pm we headed to the bag drop again as the race drew closer. The race pack came with ponchos so we quickly put those on after de-robing. It was windy and chilly but nothing as bad as I’d felt in Weymouth the week before. The rain was just about holding off…for now.

This obviously required a poncho selfie I then met up with my running club mates who were equally attired in the latest look.

Hedge End Running Club (Photo credit: Andy Cockerell)

I’ll recap the race in full in another post as this will be far too long otherwise.

So skipping instead to Sunday… I had a terrible night sleep on the Saturday. I think the combination of the later than normal race, a Costa coffee late afternoon on the journey home, aching legs from a big mileage day and just general excitement and buzzy-ness from a good day meant I was a bit wired. I didn’t fall asleep until about 1am, and then woke up around 7am (though because of the clock changes it was actually 8am now). I was at my parent’s house so I did have the absolute bliss of laying in bed and watching stuff on my iPad for a couple of hours as Alfie could just go out in their back-garden with the other dogs so I had no reason to have to get up straight away.

I also had no long run as I’d done it the day before! I did want to have a 3 mile recovery run though to shake my legs out as they felt pretty terrible (especially after the three hour car journey home). I was a bit dubious to go for a run after such a hard day the day before but in the end it was the best thing I could have done.

The weather was sunny and the temperature cool, though it was still so gusty. Surprisingly my legs felt OK. I thought they’d be niggling and heavy but they felt good. I just ran comfortably and went with it, listening to the radio (Radio 1 had a requests show all weekend so there were some great and random songs being planned, not just the top 40). Then at around two miles it suddenly went really dark and the heavens opened up. A ridiculous amount of rain and hail descended upon me and I was literally drenched. This sped me up somewhat as I ran back to the warm and dry. My dad found it hilarious when he opened the door for me.

But I’m glad I got it done as my legs felt a lot better afterwards. I’ve never really been fully on-board with recovery runs as I always fear the pounding will only make things worse for me and my injury prone body…but actually it worked nicely.

A hot shower felt so good after that run!! After breakfast my parents gave me my Easter egg. I realise this makes me sound about 12 with that sentence but I’m doing my parents a favour in a few weeks and I jokingly said they could repay me with an expensive Easter egg… They thought it a great idea and who am I to disagree?? Especially when it’s a Hotel Chocolat THICK chocolate egg (£25!).

It’s a ridiculously thick egg (as you bloody well should expect for that price!). One half of the egg is packed full of cookie and puff rice pieces and the other half with caramel pieces. Inside the egg it’s full of different chocolates. Best. Egg. Ever.

The rest of the Easter break was full of a) lots more food with my family and enjoying some film-time and walks, b) lots more chocolate, and c) lots of chilling out and a bit of shopping! I did manage to get the gym on the Monday but it was heaving with people. Not a fun experience! Clarifying why I prefer to go so ridiculously early normally! Everyone clearly had some calories to burn

What did you do over the Easter weekend?

Did you get any Easter eggs?

Thoughts on recovery runs?