Lack of food-related constraint - AnnaTheApple

March 21, 2016

Happy birthday Netley and weekend recap

The start of the week is always sweeter when you know you have a chunky four day weekend on the horizon, am I right? Knowing I only have four days at work just puts me in a happy mood. I like my job, don’t get me wrong, but I like not being at my job more

Saturday started as most of my normal Saturdays do, at Netley Abbey parkrun. I walked Alfie before leaving and the weather was dry but chilly. I didn’t think it was that cold so went with my running skirt and long sleeved top. When I got to parkrun to help set up however it seemed far colder. Obviously I had a coat but I was suddenly really quite cold.

Setting up parkrun (Photo credit: Max Andrews)

As I had the Weymouth Half Marathon the next day I didn’t want to go too fast at parkrun. It’s always nice to turn up to a parkrun knowing you’re just going to ‘plod’ round. The pressure is off! Lots of people were volunteering and not running as there was the very popular Eastleigh 10k the next day too which is a local race for us that lots in our club and nearby clubs take part in. I’ve actually never done it despite it being so close by. It just didn’t fit in with marathon training and I hate 10ks…

It was Netley’s four year anniversary of setting up so there were a collection of awards given out during the race brief. I thought I was going to be third on the female points table but surprisingly I turned out to be second.

Apparently the maths had gone wrong somewhere and so it was wrong on the website. I was over the moon. What was nice was that the first place female and third place female were all lovely ladies from my running club so we were quite chuffed to all be on the podium.

Receiving my certificate (Photo credit: Max Andrews)

Anyway parkrun was good fun. I ran with my friends Mike and Matt. Mike was also doing the half the next day and Matt is just getting back into running after an extended time off. It’s always nice to see people back at it after a break – and enjoying it again

Matt (in green), Mike (in purple) and me (in black) (Photo credit: Max Andrews)

We went round at a nice conservative pace though I felt fairly pants running initially. But after two laps I perked up and decided to push the pace with Mike to the end. He went with me and we went back and forth overtaking each other before finishing – both knackered from the random bursts of speed.

Final stretch (Photo credit: Max Andrews)

I finished in 24:08 so not too shabby!

I enjoyed a nice hot drink in the cafe after helping clear down everything. I’d been looking forward to it the entire run – a lovely hot peppermint tea! Then I headed home to quickly freshen up, have breakfast then head to the gym. I’d skipped my usual gym visit on Friday morning as I’d felt tired after my evening seven miler on Thursday and for once I had nothing really planned for the afternoon apart from chores so thought I’d have a quick visit.

I quite enjoy going to the gym at the weekend (despite it being a bit more busy) as I’m less rushed and more awake. I did some assisted pull-ups (still working hard at them!), chest presses, single-arm rows, press-ups, lateral pull-downs, narrow cable rows and some kettle bell swings. A nice hour of upper body work (apart from the swings). I didn’t go too hard as I was conscious about the next day.

In the evening I met up with a fairly dedicated triathlete I’d chatted a lot with on Twitter. His family lives in Portsmouth and he was down from the Cotswolds for the weekend and apparently I go on a lot about ribs and Coast to Coast (do I…? ) and he wanted to see how good it was.

It’s funny because he’s read my blog (careful what I say here I guess…ha) so I felt a little at a disadvantage of him knowing more about me than me about him. Though it was also nice because he didn’t think I was a loon (or so he says) for photographing my dinner despite initially me saying I wouldn’t as I’d been there so often. But Coast to Coast had changed their menu! My favourite St. Louis ribs were gone and they just had regular baby back ones and the dishes were slightly different, which therefore justified more photos

I had my regular chicken wings to start (still good and fairly similar to before), baby back ribs for main with sweet potato fries (which, though smaller than the jumbo ones, were still pretty damn tasty), followed by millionaire’s waffle (a waffle with honeycomb ice cream, honeycomb chocolate balls and chocolate syrup).

When I ordered the pudding the waitress informed me that there were no honeycomb balls left. I jokingly said (well, I was sort of joking) what else could she put on top then and she said how about Oreo crumbles? Sounds good. Then five minutes later she came back to the table with a little bowl of honeycomb chocolate bowls and whispered they were from the bar and used in the milkshakes but I could have them. Amazing! Great service!

And happily I wasn’t the only one eating everything on my plate for the three courses (and he even had a thick shake!) Major kudos there All in all I lovely evening. Though I was stuffed.

I knew I wasn’t in a chance to get a PB for the half the next day so I wasn’t too worried about feeling so full of non-race ideal food. Though I did want a hard effort – ideally I was aiming for sub 1:40. I know I’m not in PB shape and that seemed like a realistic target, maintaining around 7.30min/miles. I’ve also done a lot of long runs having had a big meal (ribs included) the night before so I wasn’t stressed about it.

I’ll recap the race in another post, but all in all it was a great weekend.

How was your weekend?

Has a favourite restaurant of yours ever changed it’s menu for the better or worse?

How old is your local parkrun?

March 17, 2016

Rants and Raves #28

More raves than rants lately which is all good in my book. Marathon training is going well (*TOUCHES WOOD IMMEDIATELY*) and I’m in a happy place. For no specific real reason really (I’m still single…which I don’t particularly mind right now), just loving that the days are longer, the sun is brighter (or actually present) and I’m enjoying life!

Rave: I’m not a huge shopper (unless it’s to do with running/gym clothes, then I’m the worst) but occasionally I might splurge on non-fitness related items. I recently fell in love with a pair of Timberland boots. My mum has the same size feet as me and has a pair but annoyingly she has them in a deep raspberry colour, of which I wasn’t too keen on (otherwise I could borrow them). I went and perused a light brown pair on Saturday and tried a few different styles. They were quite expensive though so I left without buying them. But then ended up going back the next day as I couldn’t resist. That’s always the sign of a good purchase I think!

They’re really good quality, water-proof and hardy. Though the worst of the weather seems to be behind us, I always need a good pair of ‘proper’ shoes that aren’t just trainers or slip-ons. I also got myself two new pairs of jeans from H&M that were a bargain (£15!). They fit perfectly so I bought one in black and one in denim (in above pic). When you’ve found a pair of good fitting jeans, BUY THEM ALL.

Rave: OK I have a leeeeeeeetle thing for leggings. Most of my leggings though are more gym appropriate than running appropriate. They tend to be a bit more flashy or the material isn’t as good. I normally stick with either my trusty Nike capris or my slightly longer Helly Hansen ones. I do have Puma full-length ones but I rarely wear them unless it’s super cold. Anyway, my Nike’s are looking a bit tired (they’ve been around for a few years now…) and I’d seen some cool compression-style ones at the Marathon Talk Run Camp. In the end I went for 2UX 3/4 tights.

I got them from Zalando (I had a £10 off voucher. It made sense. [Not an affiliated link]). They are expensive at £70 (without my voucher) but I know how long my Nike’s have lasted and I wanted a quality product. And let me tell you, they are fantastic. They’re compression so they’re obviously a bit tighter than my Nike’s but they feel great on. They don’t slip down, they’re water-resistant, they have a little pocket for a key and they’re lovely and smooth. And they have the compression technology in them. Fully recommend!

Rant: When you’re one of the few people in an office who regular runs you become known somewhat of a ‘guru’ for all things running related. It doesn’t sound too bad I guess but it’s become more and more regular that people expect me to solve their fitness-problems. One fellow colleague started running with his dog and found after a few runs his knee started hurting. He told me this and then looked at me questioningly as if I could a) explain his knee issue or b) give him some solid medical advice. I’ve had my fair few injuries, don’t get me wrong, but I can barely solve my own let alone other people’s! I suggested getting trainers fitted and laying off the running until it felt OK…and possibly seeing someone about it if it wouldn’t go away.

Another guy told me how he was going to run the Reading Half Marathon which is in a few weeks time. I asked how his training was going and he said he wasn’t really training for it. OK… Yeah so plucked a random time goal out of the air, he then plugged that pace into a treadmill and evaluated how he got on. Apparently he lasted 10 minutes. Riiiiight. I told him normal half marathon training plans were at very least eight weeks long for fairly new runners, though ideally 12 weeks realistically (and that’s probably with at least some running experience behind them). He laughed and said, “Weeks?!”. Good luck, my friend. Good luck.

Rave: But on that similar note, it’s always nice people from other companies (we share an office block) coming up to you and saying they saw you running after work and asking what I was training for. They did London, they’re planning on doing this or that and the conversation just flows nicely. Running brings people together

Rant: When I was in Bristol the other weekend Alfie joined me. This is a tad gross but Kate said when they took Alfie and Doug, her pug, for a walk in the morning when I was at parkrun she noticed Alfie’s poo wasn’t, er, optimal. She suggested feeding him pasta to help his tummy as that’s what the vet has always told her (Doug’s had a few sick times). She kindly cooked him a little bowl of plain pasta (fusilli if you’re interested) for him to eat. He absolutely wolfed it down. Now Alfie is far more a grazer than a wolfer-downer (I just leave kibble in his bowl and he has it as and when he fancies it). I was really shocked.

My little Alfie is a carb-lover it seems! However, when I tried to recreate this at home but with rice instead of pasta (as I never have pasta) he played around with it and then left it. I’ve now been finding rice grains all over my floor since. *Sighs* Thanks Alfie. Clearly he’s picky with his carbs. But his poo has become more normal so it’s all good (TMI?).

Rave: I’ve been doing so well in reducing the number of artificial sweeteners I eat in my diet. I’m really quite bad at this… Sugar-free squash, sugar-free jelly, Options Hot Chocolate. It isn’t pretty.

But I’ve managed to cut back on my squash successfully; only two glasses a day. The rest have been swapped for herbal teas (peppermint and raspberry & Echinacea are my two current favourites). I haven’t been able to stop the jellies (choose your battles). But I have been able to stop the Options Hot Chocolate. This is a big move for me as I literally have one every single night. Not now though!

I now have real cocoa powder with Stevia to sweeten. Stevia, though yes is still technically a sugar, is far better for you than other more chemical ones. At first it wasn’t the same… Not as sweet, a little bit too bitter, but now I’ve adjusted. Cocoa actually has some great benefits for reducing inflammation and contains antioxidants. Win win!

Rave: Still loving the gym. I thought I wouldn’t be able to balance the two: strength training and marathon training but I listen to my body and go with it. When I’m tired or ache from a run, if I still fancy going to the gym I’ll lower the weights or do less reps. Or avoid some exercises completely. But I’m really pleased that I’ve managed to reach 75kg for my squats (six reps!). My depth probably needs to improve a bit but I focus on that on a different day when I do higher reps (12) with a lighter weight. My deadlift as well is coming on better. I had a break from it for a while as my lower back was bugging me (trampolining…). When I went back to it I needed to lower the weight again and work on my form but it’s all nice progress

Rant: Easter eggs. They’re everywhere. How am I going to resist?!

It’s just a nightmare. I love Easter Eggs – especially the ones with bits in the actual egg (Thornton’s do a great peppermint speckled egg and ones with fudge pieces in) .I can give or take the plain chocolate ones but anything that’s remotely a bit more exciting I struggle to resist. I do want one this year but I know that it’ll only goad me from it’s see-through prison and then when I break into it it’ll be game over. I just have no self-control.

Do you buy Easter eggs? What do you go for?

Do you eat a lot of artificial sweeteners?

What kind of ‘proper’ shoes do you usually go for?

March 9, 2016

Heartbreaker Half Marathon (and last of the MT Run Camp)

So the final part of the Marathon Talk Run Camp weekend recap is basically the race recap of the Heartbreaker Half Marathon that took place on the Sunday.

{Catch up with PART 1 and PART 2 of the MT Run Camp}

Not everyone at the Run Camp was doing the half but most people did. The others that didn’t did an 8 mile or 16 mile run with Tom.

The handy thing about the race was that the race HQ and the start line was at Sandy Balls so it was really easy to get to in the morning, obviously, as that’s where the Run Camp was based. I knew the course was going to be tough and I had no ambitions to get a good time so I wanted to add some miles on beforehand to make it into a good marathon training long run instead. Happily some of my new (and old) fellow Marathon Talkers had similar plans so a small group of us planned to meet up at 8.45am to run five miles. The race started at 10am so it was more than enough time.

My fellow lodger, Hannah, and I headed down to meet Matt and another guy, Aidan.

Thanks to Hannah for the photo!

We planned a fairly easy pace and a 2.5 mile out and back to keep things very simple so we wouldn’t be at risk of getting lost and missing the race.

We asked a passing dog walker to take our photo before starting so we could get a “Sandy Balls” photo. Annoyingly he missed the “Balls” off! Ah well.

The route was actually quite tough as it was rather undulating but it was just a precursor of what was to come really.

We saw lots of marshals heading out to their positions as we were very close to the actual race route and we waved and smiled. A walker wished us good luck for the race as Hannah and me were wearing our bib already to save faffing time later. Then we got back in time to have a quick pre-race pee and listen to the brief. I also spotted a few of my running club friends as well which was nice. It’s a fairly local race so I wasn’t surprised to see them (one of them had previously told me he was doing it but I was just an idiot and had forgotten).

Then we walked down to the start. “Down” being the operative word here. The race begins at the bottom of a rather steep hill. An actual hill, not an incline or undulation. If I’d have come across this hill at any other point during the race I would have walked it!

My friend Matt and me decided to run together which was nice as without any time goals it can be a bit boring just plodding out miles. Plus we’d both done the first five miles together so we were both fatigued to begin with. We tried to pretend the five miles hadn’t happened. Annoyingly my ankle chip thing had come undone and so I had to stop to sort it out mid hill. I told Matt to go on and this was pretty much the theme of the race!

After the awful hill we were then on to a very gentle incline along the road for about a mile and then onto the track in the New Forest proper. The ground was easy underfoot and the scenery was beautiful.

The course is a sort of T shape where you run down the stem of the T, where the aid station is based (water or a carb-based drink on offer), and then it’s a left turn to head down an out back of three-ish miles. There was an almighty downhill and then some sharp uphills before turning around and heading back…to that almighty uphill.

Matt is further along in his marathon training and in general I think he’s slightly faster than me so he was springing up the hills whereas I was struggling. I walked without shame when it got too tough, but I always caught him up again – though it did require me to burst some speed out.

Mid-race photo of Matt on the downhill

As we got going along the next bit of the T out-and-back we were going along quite nicely, chatting away. The good thing about these out-and-backs were that we could see so many other people either going out or coming back. We waved and cheered other Marathon Talkers and people we knew, which was great. We saw Martin Yelling zooming along several times too. I waved and shouted to my running club friend, Mark, but he just looked daggers at me and grunted.

“Must be having a hard time, I guess”, I said to Matt. Then we got to the turnaround and began our final way back (after just being passed by Steve Way heading back on the last stretch of the marathon – the marathon began an hour earlier and was twice the course). As we turned around the wind hit us in full force. Jesus! Suddenly we were faced with a ridiculous wind and some nasty uphills. No wonder Mark reacted like he did when I cheerily greeted him. I would have been the same! Matt broke away from me again on the hills and I vowed to catch him up again on the flat – which I did (though I can’t be certain he didn’t just slow down for me).

Then finally we turned again to head back to Sandy Balls. Thank god, we were now out of the wind. The good thing about the course was that you could split it into segments psychologically I found this easier than one loop or point-to-point (ahh Boston is a point-to-point…).

We just had one final nasty long slow incline to power up. Before that we had a nice downhill so I sprinted down it to put some distance between Matt and me so that when I inevitably slowed down on the hill the distance between us both wouldn’t be so huge and my catch-up wouldn’t be so hard.

The hill was relentless but we powered up and Matt, once again, got ahead of me.

Matt on the left (Photo credit: Gary Derwent)

But on the final mile back we were on a gentle downhill with the wind behind us. I did my fastest mile and felt completely in the zone of strong running. I caught Matt up and we pushed on to the end. Whew!

At the finish line we received our medals and a free cup of soup and bread roll (though I somehow missed the roll as I was talking too much). What a great way to finish a race! My time was 1:44:37, 58th overall, 10th lady and 6th in my age category. 18 miles in total. Not a bad training run!

The race was fantastic but it was really hard work. The hills and wind… it was tough, tough, tough! Especially with five miles to begin with. But the medal is great – with the race and date engraved on the back.

I rushed back to get showered and sorted and then met the MT crew back in the usual events room for a carvery lunch. Before the lunch we had another talk, this time from Andy Lane who’s another Marathon Talk podcast interviewee (it also gave people a bit more time to finish and shower before lunch). Andy Lane is a psychology professor and does a lot of research into emotion regulation in sport. I was a bit zoned out at this point and very hungry. I hadn’t had breakfast or anything during the run, only the small cup of soup and it was now heading towards 1pm. My concentration levels were a bit blurred. What I did hear was interesting though.

He talked about how as runners we need to have more of cyclist mentality where not every training session needs to be goal-driven and pressured. We should have more “cake rides”. Cyclists are renowned for just going out and cycling a fair distance but then stopping and enjoying some cake and social time. This rarely happens with running (OK logistically and stomach-wise it’s obviously tough, but we rarely have a run where it’s just about catching up with people and not focusing on the actual run). He said that goals don’t always need to be time-driven and hard. They can be things like: take some photos during this run or simply enjoy the outside. parkrun is a great example of this – it’s not all about your finishing time.

Then it was finally time to eat. It was a carvery so we had to go up and serve ourselves. Our table was about sixth to go up and I was getting increasingly hungry. Thankfully chatting distracted me so I wouldn’t turn into more of a monster.

When we got up there I piled my plate high with vegetables, potatoes, gravy, and what I thought were stuffing balls, and then roast beef was placed on top from the chef. I tried not to wolf this down at breakneck speed… Turns out the ‘stuffing balls’ were actually vegetarian falafels. An interesting addition to the roast dinner! It was so lovely sat there eating this delicious meal amongst running friends and discussing the half marathon and running in general. I was very content.

This is actually from the Saturday evening but it’s mostly of the same people (Photo credit: Gary Derwent)

Then we went up for seconds The chef gladly gave me more meat (there was loads!) and I was in my happy place. Until I was in my very full uncomfortable place (arguably this is also my happy place…).

I plucked up the courage to go up to Martin and Tom, similar to the last Run Camp, and asked them for a cheeky photo. I told them I’d been there two years ago and showed them the older photo. They found it quite amusing.

Martin, me, Tom and Toms daughter, Rosie

They’re so friendly and lovely! I really hope I can make next year’s running camp. They’re just fantastic at organising the camp. It’s so well put together.

Then to finish Martin explained his epic running he’s got planned: running the South West Coast path! Twenty-one days of running 630 miles! Ouch! On the website you can sign up to join different stages or parts of the run with him which is quite cool. I might think about doing that – maybe! And not an entire stage!

And then that was it! I headed home with a lovely warm fluffy feeling in my stomach, and not just from all the food Anyway, the Marathon Talk Run Camp was EPIC, amazing, so much fun and just fantastic. I learnt a lot, met some truly brilliant people and did some really enjoyable running. Fully recommend it to anyone interested in running: whether a veteran marathoner or a newbie runner just doing 5ks. It’s so inclusive and friendly. No one is left behind or made to feel like they’re not good enough.

Would you be interested in a training camp?

Are you better at running up or down hills?

What kind of course do you prefer – an out and back, a loop, laps, point-to-point, etc.?

January 11, 2016

Those ribs though…

Marathon training has truly begun! I’m shattered. I did my first ‘proper’ long run yesterday and honestly I can’t imagine how I was able to run 16+ miles last year regularly!! But rolling back to Saturday…

I was really not feeling the parkrun love. This is really unusual for me as I’m a self-confessed parkrun addict. I sing its praises high and low, to runners and non-runners alike. I love it. But recently I’ve just felt a bit ‘meh’ about it. It’s likely that it’s a combination of some really rubbish weather, the winter course and the fact that I just don’t seem to be improving at all.

Saturday morning I was woken up by the bin men at 6.30am and my alarm was set for 7am and I just laid there thinking how much I didn’t want to go. Because I’d already said I’d help set-up and clear down I couldn’t just bail though, especially as sometimes they’re really stretched for people to help. I decided to put on some proper layers to stop myself being cold and miserable at least. I decided I’d much rather be overly hot for 25 minutes running but warm before and after. I could bring extra clothes to wear before we start (remember I’m there an hour before we run setting everything up) and then afterwards but it’s so much faff and I never have that much time from setting up and the run actually starting.

Anyway, basically I wore leggings and a long-sleeved top. Annoyingly it was actually quite a mild morning so I knew I was going to be very hot running but hey ho. Despite not really wanting to go, when I got there and saw my parkrun buddies (parkrun fwends! ;)) I cheered right up and, as always, enjoyed myself. I had to laugh as well as Geoff, one of the main Netley parkrun guys, had spent three hours cleaning the cones in the week.

They looked so shiny and clean… this did not last long!!

The run itself went OK. I still find the first lap really hard and the second one is more of a mental battle. I’m definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, a long distance runner. By mile three I was feeling more warmed up and I just want to finish and, similar to last week, put the pedal down and sped up. I’m getting good at these fast finishes!

My time was 23:40. Annoyingly still not getting quicker but quicker than previous recent weeks (not sure how I managed to get 22:59 in December!! Seems ridiculously hard at the moment).

I cannot wait for warmer and drier running as well. I get so muddy it’s ridiculous (and so does the inside of my car *sighs*). I also have to strip off in the shower otherwise I cover my floor with mud and dirt.The rest of the day was standard housework stuff and then I headed to my parent’s house. I had somehow managed to persuade them to go to Coast to Coast again (we went there last week). I know, I know, I’m a little obsessed. When I like a restaurant I tend to do it to death. I really fancied the ribs my granddad had last weekend and I literally could not stop dreaming about them. As my granddad was going home the next day it did seem a good way to say goodbye as he thoroughly enjoyed himself last week as well.

I went for the BBQ platter to share with my dad to start (same as I had here) and then I ordered the ribs for main. The funny thing is when I ordered them the waiter said to me, “I have to warn you, they’re a huge portion and it could be too much for you.” Erm, excuse me? I’m a whole-chicken-at-Nandos kinda girl, I think I’ll be fine thank you very much.I went for a dry rub rather than the BBQ sauce only because I really enjoyed it on the chicken wings I had and there was BBQ sauce on the table anyway. Out of all the ribs I’ve had (and I’ve had a lot) they were pretty damn good, but next time (which I’m sure there will be at some point…) I’ll go for the sauce as they weren’t as juicy as I like. Don’t get me wrong though, they were amazing. I was in meat heaven. By the time I got down to the last couple of ribs though I was really struggling. The meat sweats were starting 😉 But I finished them, much to the amusement of the waiter. Ha!We had a bit of a break and then decided on pudding. As I was ridiculously full I decided the carrot cake and ice cream that I was initially tempted by might push me over the edge and went for the brownie. The brownie was good but it wasn’t as dense as brownies normally are so it reminded me more of a fudge cake – which isn’t a bad thing! It came with chocolate honeycomb pieces on top and honeycomb ice cream, divine.

Then sleep needed to happen. Eating so much food is exhausting! I was slightly worried about my long run planned for the next day but the food was too good not to enjoy.

When I got up Sunday I actually felt fine, though I didn’t feel hungry (obviously) which I normally do in the morning when I wake up. I took Alfie for a walk and was pleased that the weather actually looked OK. Yes it was cold but there was barely any wind and no rain. Until 10 minutes into the walk and the heavens opened up. I decided it was time to get back home before both Alfie and I got soaked so I ran with him the last bit (I was wearing my running gear). I’ve never really run with Alfie before and he loved it! He was pulling me alone and really going for it. When I stopped, as I was worried I’d puff him out, he just kept trying to go on. And he’s speedy! I’m thinking he’s a 7min/mile dog (for at least a short distance anyway). He’s definitely more of a sprinter than me.

The rain didn’t seem like it was stopping any time soon and I wanted to get going so I popped my podcast on and headed out. It was tipping it down with cold rain and as I ran up the lane I seriously considered just giving up and stopping. I was soaked and cold. But I thought how much I’d regret not going and just sped up and got going. I was going too fast for my first mile but the incentive was to just get warm. Then the hail started and it seemed laughable. By the time I’d gotten a quarter of the mile up the road I was warm, into the flow and enjoying it. I saw other runners and cyclists and we all just smiled or laughed at each other at how ridiculous it was to be outside in such crappy weather – a king of “aren’t we mad??” sort of exchange.

I had a different route from normal which actually took me along the Stubbington 10k route, which I’m doing next Sunday. It was quite nice to see what it would be like on my own.

Stubbington 10k is a local race I’ve wanted to do for the past two years but haven’t been able to because of injury. The start is five minutes from my parent’s house walking so it’s perfect. I won’t be racing though as I plan to run some miles beforehand and make it into a nice social long run.

Anyway, my long run was a dream. I felt smooth running and in the zone. I’m going too fast again I know but it felt natural. I also think that this is just how I do my long runs (at least these middle distance long runs anyway). I did most of my long runs for Liverpool at a similar pace and it worked well. I find it doesn’t become such a shock on marathon day when the pace is just a little bit faster or similar. I could be dancing with injury risks I know but the whole run felt fine and I felt fine afterwards, albeit tired and, well, like I’d run 11 miles. It’s ridiculous to me how I can get into the groove and run these paces so easily in a long run but when it comes to parkrun it just doesn’t happen. I ran a 7.30min/mile for mile 11 and I can’t seem to do that easily in parkrun!!

I felt fantastic after finishing. Really chuffed with myself and strong. Fingers crossed this continues! I have to say though it was a good while until I was hungry. Those ribs certainly did a good job!

What was clear though was how unused to long runs I am. I was shattered for the rest of the day and once I was finally hungry and had breakfast I was like a bottomless pit. But it’s all part of the process, my body will adjust and the miles will increase. I do love marathon training when it goes well!

What did you do this weekend?

What’s the furthest you’ve ran recently?

Do you ever get really strong cravings for certain foods or meals that you just have to satisfy?

January 7, 2016

Southern Cross Country – Lord Wandsworth College

My running club take part in the Southern Cross Country League which runs, joyfully, all through the winter months. But I’ve previously avoided cross country races like the plague.

It’s never been something I was tempted by because I was convinced I hated it (the mud, the cold, the hills, the competitive element) and it’s frequently been at awkward times in the day like 1pm or 2pm. But when there was one over the Christmas break at a relatively normal time (11am) I really had no excuse but to go and try it. It’s free, loads of my club were doing it and the car-share point was a short walk from where I live.

Ridiculous I know, but I was quite nervous. My running has been more plodding lately and I wasn’t sure how mud and hills would go down with me. But there was a lovely crowd going and I felt more at ease. I had no goals; just get round, get the miles in and use it as a training run. See what my legs fancied doing when I got there basically.The weather was beautifully sunny, but fairly chilly. Still shorts and vest weather though – unbelievably at the end of December!

The course was two laps and I’d heard there was a nasty hill, which you’d therefore have to do twice. I did a little warm-up with the club and then headed to the start which was basically in a field. No one could hear what the race director was saying and we were all stood shivering just waiting until it was clear we were off.

It was a free-for-all at the start across the field until we got to the main course and then it was a case of finding your place in the line. I managed to overtake a chunk of people and then was stuck behind the person in front. This wasn’t so bad though as it forced you to pace yourself and you couldn’t go flat out. Well, you couldn’t really go flat out anyway as the trail was tricky under foot and very muddy in places.

Straight away my nerves disappeared and I was loving it. It was exciting, fun and required a lot of concentration for where to put your feet and what the person ahead of you was doing. We came to a bottleneck and everyone had to stop quickly, almost banging into each other, and then we were off again. It was just so different to normal road races where you’re go-go-go the entire time and focused on maintaining a certain pace. It was a completely different story. The course required you to pay attention and it involved jumping up verges, balancing along narrow pathways and slopping through ankle deep mud.

The downhills I took at breakneck speed to gain some places and get past people and then it was back to being behind someone. The infamous hill was a killer though. I’d already pre-planned to walk it (my friend, Chris, had advised this was the best way as it was so steep) so I took the time to catch my breath and plough on up. Some people attempted to run it but barely went faster than the walkers and most gave up and walked. Those who persevered with running were caught up again on the straight as they’d knackered themselves.

The second lap was even muddier due to all the people running over the course. I found myself smiling as I sloshed my way through the mud – happy to take the muddier route to get past a few more people who were teetering to the side.

I was putting in a good amount of effort and thoroughly enjoying myself. The miles ticked away quickly as you had no time to dwell on pace. Then it was the final stretch back to the start area (now the finish area).

Photo credit: Dan Bailey

The ground underfoot became even trickier as it was now wet grass rather than mud and dirt and slipping became a real risk. I pushed on, seeing the finish in the distance (you could see the finish from about a quarter of a mile away which was both depressing and motivating).

I finished first female in my running club and 18th female overall, which I was chuffed with! I was pleased with my paces as well. Not too shabby at all!

Everyone was covered in mud at the end. Some people washed the mud off in a large puddle but I was proud of my mud and left it be (plus I didn’t fancy getting cold and wet).

Also, how satisfying is picking dry mud of yourself? Just me…?

I was so chuffed with myself. I literally loved every minute of that race, tough as it was. It felt like an adventure and reminded me why I love the Cheddar Gorge and Stansted Slog trail races so much.

I hung around and cheered for the rest of my club and spent some time chatting with some of the guys at the club at the end…

Photo credit: Simon Sinclair

Not realising that a queue for the cake and tea had started!!

This wasn’t even all of the cake!

I knew there would be cake (you pay £1.50 for sandwiches, cake and tea) but I didn’t realise how bloody long the queue would be at the end. I might have got there a bit more sharpish. I started to get cake anxiety, fearing that all of it would be gone by the time I finally made it.

I needn’t have worried though… There was so much cake it was unreal. It’s funny because the line was also for the sandwiches but I just wanted cake so I asked if I could skip that line and just get to the cake bit (after queuing to get to the actual food area). I’d like to say it came as a surprise to my club that I had absolutely nothing savoury on my plate buuuut they know me too well.

That plate is pretty damn good if I do say so myself. Cake heaven!

So I’m now a cross country convert (and not just because of the cake…). There’s another race from the league at the end of January which I’m going to do as well which I’m looking forward to. I don’t know why I was so worried beforehand!

Have you ever run a cross country race before?

Do you like getting muddy when running?

What have you done recently that you were nervous about beforehand?