Lack of food-related constraint - AnnaTheApple

September 14, 2015September 14, 2015

Back in the game

Morning, morning. I am pleased to say that I am back in the marathon running game!

OK to be fair (and I imagine you’re used to this now if you’re a long-time reader) I was probably being my usual paranoid runner self about my shin…which actually worked in my favour as I was very cautious and didn’t do my 16 miler long run, nor my Tuesday run. So by Thursday my shin had calmed down hugely and felt absolutely fine. I think the moral of the story for me is not to go crazy with calf raises and tighten up my calf. Oh, and rest is best!

This meant I could join in with a club-organised long run at the weekend, happy days! A few of us decided to make things interesting by doing 17 miles and then doing a parkrun to top it up to 20 miles. The appeal was a faster finish long run, a nice way to break up an otherwise laborious load of miles and also to get in some parkrun tourism. Most of us had never been to Winchester parkrun (which is about 30 minutes away) so it was quite nice to do something different.

The downside, however, was realising that to get the miles in before parkrun meant a very early start. 5.15am alarm for Saturday morning… ooof. This meant Friday night was technically a school night with sensible food and an early night. I made sure to lay my things out the night before ready to make it easy in the morning.

Decided to wear my Steve Way “Don’t Be Sh*T” top to get me in the zone 😉

I slept so badly as I kept panicking about my alarm and just generally feeling nervous about the run. I woke up at 4.30am and was pleased that I had another 45 minutes to sleep. But then a while later I jolted awake thinking I’d missed my alarm. Well, my alarm was going off all right but it was on silent!! I was so lucky that it was only 5.20am. All thoughts of how tired I felt were gone as I leapt out of bed and got ready in a panic thinking I’d be late. I ate a Trek (Original Oat) protein bar as I walked Alfiea fter I got dressed. Probably not a great idea as it was so crumbly and it was so dark outside I was getting it everywhere. I had the world’s smallest coffee and was good to go! Despite my late getting up, I arrived at the local train station before everyone else. The plan was to leave our cars there, run to Winchester, eat something, then get the train back to our cars.

The beginning crew ready to run

We were going to meet another friend, Matt, half way there as he thought it best to not run the entire 20 miles as he was recovering from the dreaded plantar fasciitis, and then we’d meet another friend, Kate, at the parkrun as she was running a half marathon the next day. The route was lovely! All along Itchen River and a fair bit off the main road – which is such a relief when running so many miles. Though it did rain on and off, it was a lovely temperature. I really enjoyed chatting away to the guys as we ran – the time flew by. I do like doing long runs on my own when I zone out and listen to podcasts, but there is something truly enjoyable about running with others, especially for such a long way. Long runs can get very lonely. We made it to Winchester parkrun with about five minutes to spare which was cutting it close. I didn’t want to have to run again after the parkrun and was about 0.5 away from 17 miles so did a lap around the course just before we started. This helped minimise the break between the two runs as well.

Winchester parkrun is very flat and is basically three laps around a field – though apparently we did a slight variation of the usual course doing a weird diagonal run across a field. My first mile was a bit panicked and rushed because after they finished the briefing I thought we’d be starting somewhere else but the guy just said “get ready, go!” and I realised I was quite far at the back and had to do a lot of over-taking and dodging around people. I did have a chuckle though when I saw a man who was running with a dog get yanked back as the dog decided to do his business there and then come what may. The guy had to stop and pick up the poo…a parkrun poo, tee hee.

The second lap was tough. My legs felt very heavy and it just felt hard. My pace dropped and I felt myself flagging. The third mile was easier because I knew it was the last, but my legs (understandably) still felt tired. I got 23:29 which I was over the moon with though. But it did make me think long and hard about what I could achieve at Bournemouth. I just don’t feel mentally ready to push the pace at that marathon and I don’t think my training as been as good as Liverpool had been. I also don’t feel the hunger to get a faster time like I did with Liverpool and I really don’t want to put pressure on myself and potentially have a horrible experience.

We all agreed that it was a tough parkrun because of the miles beforehand but were really proud of ourselves. And though Kate didn’t run the 20 miles, she still smashed out a great parkrun and got first lady! So we all felt pretty chuffed.

(Ave. pace 8:37min/miles)

Then it was off to Whetherspoons for breakfast. We all sort of stumbled there slowly and collapsed at a table. Most of us had a fry-up. I went for the large fry-up but subbed my hash browns for more bacon (a superior swap I think).

It was delicious! I also ordered a diet coke, a glass of water and a coffee. Hitting all bases.

We got a lift back with Kate which was great as well. I’m so pleased how well the run went. It was definitely the confident boost I needed for the marathon. Though I ran Cheddar Gorge marathon recently, it was still a good few weeks past now and having missed last week’s long run I was feeling a little worried. But during the 20 miles I felt strong and like I could have gone on and on. The pace was slower than my usual long run which is probably a good thing as 20 miles at my usual pace would probably make the next few weeks hard in terms of recovering and being fresh. Though I’m happy I got to pick the pace up at the end to push through.

After getting back I had this mad surge of energy. Instead of usually feeling exhausted I was on fire with housework, walking Alfie and getting stuff done. Though I didn’t feel hungry again until 4pm! (To be fair, that breakfast was HUGE so I’m not surprised).

The next day I decided to have a rest day. My legs felt good, no niggles or twinges, but I felt a general sense of tiredness. Remembering how injury-prone I am and that I’m not the fastest at recovering, I thought it best to forgo any exercise other than some lovely long walks with Alfie. <– Can we just marvel out how sensible that sentence is for me. I’ve come a long way!

Later on I saw Ben’s mum again this weekend for afternoon tea. We were meant to do afternoon tea last weekend but we left it too late so we decided to try again. We headed to a place I’ve been before but not for a while, Lilly’s in Wickham.

We both went for a slice of red velvet cake, a fruit scone with jam and cream and I had ham and onion marmalade sandwiches.

It was divine. Though I do prefer to have crusts on my sandwiches they were very dainty!

So all in all, a pretty good weekend. Cake and running – things are back to my kind of normal 😉 And now time to taper!

How was your weekend?

What’s your ideal long run? A training run at a race, running solo, running with others?

Crust or no crusts on your sandwiches?

August 17, 2015

The day before the Cheddar Gorge Marathon

Well I survived the Cheddar Gorge Marathon! I am so glad I did it, it was truly a fantastic race. I’ll do a full recap of it in another post but I’ll just say that it was tough, hilly but good fun. Marathon number four done!

Saturday I was quite chilled out. It’s funny because I’ve never felt this way the day before a marathon. I was nervous, yes, but more excited and strangely looking forward to it. With a vague finishing time of 4.30-5 hours in mind there was a lot of give so no pressures. I knew the terrain would be technical, hilly and generally tough. But while this was psychologically good to be fairly relaxed, this meant I was probably a bit too blasé when it came to proper preparation.

I felt I had the miles on my legs (though perhaps not enough trail running experience but I have been doing lots of hill work). What I mean by preparation is the food the day before. But I’ll roll back to the start of Saturday first.

I headed to parkrun in the morning to help set-up. It was a bit rushed and stressful as the guy who had the key to the shed where we keep all the parkrun paraphernalia was 20 minutes late. This meant we really had to get a move on to set the course up in time. Surprisingly though we did and it made us wonder what takes us so long normally – all the chatting probably!

Obviously with the marathon the next day I wanted to keep the pace fairly easy. Some people don’t like running the day before a race but I prefer it. I like to give my legs a good shake out, especially as the last time I ran was Thursday. My running club friend, Mark, and me ran together and pretty much chatted the entire way round. I always love parkruns the day before races because I know I shouldn’t push it and feel justified in taking it easy.

After packing things away I had to dash off to get home and sorted as my friend, Bhuvana, was hosting a garden party. She’s a (very close) friend from work so my mum and dad were invited too (my dad works at the same company as me) so they were pleased they could have a couple of drinks and get a lift there and back. I don’t normally drink anyway and it was hardly likely I would before a marathon anyway!

I got to wear my new skirt again

There was a fantastic spread of Indian food (one of my favourite cuisines). Bhuvana knew I had a marathon the next day and was worried how the food would affect me so had made sure it wasn’t hugely spicy, bless her. I practically boasted that I had a stomach of steel and often had Indian takeaways the night before long runs. I’d be fine…!

There was chicken tikka (my favourite), chicken tikka masala, a chickpea curry, samosas, rice, naan bread, poppadoms, salad and dips. Well, I was in my element as you can imagine and went for pretty much everything.

I’m not a rice fan but knew I needed something a bit more carby so I had a naan bread, which I’m usually not a fan of either but the sauce required something to dip in so you gotta do what you gotta do 😉

I had another plate and a half and was lovely and full. Pudding was an Indian ice cream but I gave it a miss as I knew it’d push me over the edge and I can always give or take ice cream (unless it’s with a chocolate brownie).

And what do you do after eating a large load of Indian food? Jump on a trampoline of course!

I love trampolines! I used to be in the trampoline club at school. It was brilliant. Though my tummy didn’t quite agree afterwards.

I had the usual conversations with a few non-runners when I mentioned about the marathon the next day. One said “how far is that? 25 miles?” and another “Is that in London?” which is always amusing. One woman said “I’m just happy to do 20 minute son the cross trainer every day and stay fit that way”. Absolutely fair enough – but to me that sounds unbelievably dull!

Bhuvana’s adorable little dog, Rain, who shakes her foot when she’s scratched

After the party we headed back to my parent’s where I was spending the night. My mum and dad were coming to the marathon to support me so it made sense. [In the end my mum decided she would give it a miss as she wanted to stay with the dogs (three of theirs and my Alfie) so they wouldn’t be cooped up again all day and her back is still not 100% 🙁 I do jokingly call her a part-time supporter…anything more than 10k and she’ll flake on me (I am of course joking).]

As the evening drew in I knew I needed to eat something else, despite not feeling that hungry. I went for the safe option of porridge. We watched Still Alice (such a good film but prepare to cry for 80% of it) and then went to bed…

Do you run the day before a race?

What’s your favourite cuisine?

What’s your favourite curry?

July 21, 2015July 22, 2015

Little Stoke parkrun and a Bristol BBQ

Yesterday I was a walking zombie. I know I probably say this about most busy weekends but honestly this one takes the biscuit. Going to Bristol to see my friends and then completing the Ultra 12 relay race has just exhausted me. I genuinely feel jet lagged. I’ll recap Ultra12 in a separate post…but needless to say it was epic.

I travelled straight from work (Basingstoke) to Bristol and arrived there about 7pm which was good going. I was the only friend staying over Friday evening so we had a nice low-key takeaway and caught up.

I’d already done a bit of research to find that just over a mile away was Little Stoke parkrun, which is very flat. I was sold! I had originally planned to run there and back on Saturday but I was worried about the extra miles on my legs with Ultra that evening and I wanted to get back quickly to my friend’s. Plus I have a satnav in my car…

Little Stoke parkrun had lots of parking at the community centre where it’s located but I wasn’t sure if it required money to park (and I didn’t bring any) so I parked in a nearby road and walked down. Lots of people (257) were there and it was lovely and friendly. We also got to see some of the new parkrun T-shirts by Tribesports. Very nice indeed. I should get my 50 T-shirt at some point!
Before I’d signed up to Ultra12 (which was fairly last minute) I’d planned to really go for a sub-20 for this parkrun. It was super flat, three laps and no major twists or turns…But after a humid 8 miler on Thursday with the club I was feeling tired and a bit concerned about Ultra12. Saying that though I was going to give it a good go.

(Photo credit: Harleyjonn)

I made sure I got near the front and started really strong. I looked at my watch and saw around 6.30min/miles and felt comfortable. Ahh the joys of the first 0.5 miles of a 5k. The pain hadn’t quite started yet.

(Photo credit: Harleyjonn)

Those happy feelings quickly disappeared into the second lap as it suddenly became so much harder. 7min/miles pace started appearing on my watch as Istarted to fade. I pulled it back somewhat in the third lap but as it was around a field I could see the finishing funnel so far ahead and knew my sub-20 was never going to happen. Not even close. To be fair, by the second lap I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I needed to be running 6.30min/miles strong for most of the run and I wasn’t. I gave up a little towards the end and consoled myself with the fact that I had been lead female all the way round and wasn’t in danger of losing it.

Finishing straight (photo credit: Harleyjonn)

Nowhere near my PB or sub-20 on a completely flat course: 20:43, first female.

I think this tells me my marathon boost from Liverpool is over and I need to rest a bit. If I want to target a sub-20 5k I need to target it – as in, I need to train for it. I don’t enjoy these constant pain trains to try and get there and I was naive enough to think that after the marathon I’d be able to achieve it ‘naturally’ without too much trouble. This is not only an arrogant thought but it’s also unrealistic for me. So for the moment I’m putting that ambition to bed and going to focus on marathon training without distraction. If a sub-20 happens organically and through the process then hurrah, but I’m not going to worry about it anymore. parkruns will still be used for good speed training but as long as I put in a good amount of effort I’m happy. I don’t want to be disappointed after every parkrun anymore! parkruns for me are supposed to be fun.

After finishing I quickly headed back to the car and was back at my friend’s house for 9.30am. Pretty good timing!

As the weather was so lovely it was a great day for one of my new summery dresses from H&M (such a bargain at £8!).

No it’s not a belt, that’s my skin – it’s a ventilation panel 😉

Then the rest of the gang arrived. One couple came from Brighton and one came from Cardiff – so we’re all very much spread over the country (well, Southern UK anyway).

The BBQ was ahhhhmazing. Because this BBQ had been in the pipeline for ages and I’d only really signed up to Ultra12 a couple of weeks ago I didn’t want Ultra12 to overshadow the food choices I made. In my opinion, the BBQ fun was the priority over having fast, speedy laps at Ultra12. Basically I didn’t want to go “oh I’ll just have a small plate of food to be sensible for running tonight”. That is not the Anna Way. Especially as Kate and Jamie, our hosts, had provided such an INCREDIBLE spread of food.

Ultra12 was going to start at 7pm (I’d be arriving at 6ish). I was pretty sure I wasn’t the first person because of my late arrival – I thought I’d be like fourth or fifth so not running until at least 9pm onwards. So I ate what I wanted without worry.

Kate and Jamie bought two £20 packs from the butchers which contained sooo much meat: burgers, sausages, marinated drumsticks, lamb, peppered steak, pork belly and pork ribs. And my friend, Charlotte (a vegetarian), brought halloumi skewers and there were also veggie burgers and sausages.

With crisps and dips, my salad contribution and some incredible homemade salsa, mango chutney and apple rainbow slaw from Jamie’s friend, Tom, we were well and truly set.

Fried onions for the burgers as well

The sun was shining, we were all chilled and the Pimms was flowing. Sadly not into my cup though as I was driving later.

One plate of many I assure you

I stuck to my favourites and maxed out on those: peppered steak, ribs and pork belly (and a cheeky lamb skewer as well). With lots of salad of course to keep the balance 😉

I was sensible enough to not eat until I was really full as I knew we also had some unbelievably tasty looking blueberry cheesecake for pudding made by Charlotte’s husband, Paddy.

My one mistake was probably having two slices when I should have stopped at one, but it was just too good not to. I felt a little too full afterwards but it was worth it. And I had hours before Ultra12…I was really sensible though in wearing suntan lotion and drinking lots of nuun water to keep me hydrated. So that’s something I suppose.

In your dreams little furry pug

Kate’s pug, Doug, was adorable and I wished Alfie could have come as well (as I had originally planned) but because of Ultra12 I had to leave him with my parents.

So so cute

I was sad to be the first to leave but I was glad to have come the night before as otherwise it really would have been a flying visit. I got back into my car and headed to Reading. I got to the campsite for about 6pm and met up with the other Hedgies and my teammates.

L-R: Claire, me, Mark, Mike and Kate (another Kate!)

The atmosphere on site was great. It’s smaller and more low-key than Endure24 was but still has a great buzz and lots of people camping and having BBQs. And thankfully NO rain, just beautiful sunshine and a nice temperature.

After sorting my stuff out I sat down for a nice cup of tea before the madness began.

Have you done many different parkuns?

What’s your favourite BBQ food?

How do you prepare for a race that’s in the evening?

July 13, 2015

Too much of a good thing

I think I need another day off…this weekend was so rammed, I’m not sure I’ve recovered.

It was my friend’s wedding on Saturday in Dorset. I live in Southampton so that’s about an hour and a half away. Originally I was going to camp there overnight as that’s what the invitation stipulated guests to do as they had an entire field booked for the wedding where the marquee was set up. Then I (thankfully) found out my couple friend and their one year old son were driving up and back. So I scored a lift with them, hurrah!

I sadly couldn’t make parkrun (breaking my 18 week streak *sob*) but I got up early to get in a four mile tempo run. I warmed up on the first mile and then aimed for 7min/miles for three miles and I was meant to cool down on the final 0.75 but I was really pushing for time and needed to get home quickly. Standard Anna procedure: only give yourself the very bare minimum of time and end up rushing like a madwoman.

The run went well though and I felt strong. I did miss parkrun but it was an OK alternative, even if I was running in the opposite direction to those running to the local parkrun 🙁

It was so warm and then having to have a shower and blow dry my hair was just a nightmare. Nothing like feeling super hot and sticky while trying to get into a nice dress.

Like I said previously, I went for a very simple dress so I could jazz it up with accessorises. My mum has lots of lovely fascinators so I went for a cream one and added pretty statement necklace.

For the first time in ages I wore heels! I sensibly took a pair of flip flops with me as well for after the ceremony when we got to the field – there’s only so much heel wearing I do.

The ceremony was gorgeous, set in a beautiful courtyard on the grounds of a castle.

It was fairly windy though which was slightly problematic for my skater skirt! It was a beautiful ceremony with Sarah, the bride, arriving on her horse (seated on it in the traditional side-on way ladies used to back in the day) and I felt a bit emotional – which is so unlike me! It was such a lovely touch as Sarah is very into her horse riding and the couple are both very outdoorsy (they were camping that evening too!).

Her dress was beautiful too. Nicely fitted with lots of lace detailing – she looked stunning. Afterwards we had the usual photo session and there was homemade elderflower champagne – oooh er!! Delicious.

We then left for the field for the wedding breakfast. My best friend (and lift), Louise, looked lovely in a white and blue dress with matching blue heels. Yummy mummy indeed!

We both enjoyed a glass (*cough* or three) of Pimms and I felt far more relaxed in my flip flops. Unfortunately I’d applied my suntan lotion a little too late and could already feel the slight sun burn tingling. Gargh!

The marquee was fantastic. They’d done everything themselves in terms of arranging furniture, catering, doing all the decorations and flowers. Honestly, Pinterest would have exploded.

Outside there were hay bales to sit on and space hoppers, giant Jenga, balls…it was brilliant.

They had handmade jam favours that had labels saying “Spread the love”. I mean, wow! Such great attention to detail.

The food was BBQ food which was very tasty indeed. The sausages were really good quality and the beef burger handmade.

Lots of salad and BBQ sauce as well, of course 😉

The pudding was Eton mess, very light and tasty.

Ohh another glass of champagne, a sneaky gin and tonic…I was quite on my merry way. We played with the balls and space hoppers outside, danced lots and basically just enjoyed ourselves.

Then the fish and chip van turned up as the evening guests arrived. Now I don’t even like fish and chips and somehow there I was in the queue waiting my turn for a battered cod and greasy chips.

The portion was huge. Though that didn’t stop me from consuming all but three chips. Honestly, I have no idea what happened! But it tasted good and I enjoyed it. The chips weren’t those horrible soggy ones, they were nice and crispy. Not quite content with consuming a ridiculous amount of stodge I then proceeded to eat three (albeit small!) slices of wedding cake. I can only blame the good atmosphere, my lack of self-control and the alcohol. But you know what, it was bloody fantastic. I did feel sick though and far too full. And massively regretted wearing a belt 😉

As I headed outside to walk to the nearby toilet facilities an elderly man was staggering back. He stopped in front of me and said (quite politely) “Excuse me, but you have lovely legs”. I sort of laughed and said thank you and he continued saying “you made an old man feel young earlier in the courtyard when your skirt blew up. My pacemaker went wild”. I’m pretty sure I just stood there laughing awkwardly. What do you say to something like that?? It was somewhat flattering I suppose…

I have to say, there’s nothing like a wonderful wedding to make you feel quite significantly alone. I wouldn’t say I’m lonely at all right now, being newly single, but being at a wedding where there are lots of couples and love-themed things…well it does sort of salt the wounds a bit. I tried not to dwell on it and just enjoy myself.

Eventually though it was time to head off home around 10pm. I had nicely sobered up by this point (well, I had been drinking since 12) and felt very tired. When I got home and collapsed into bed I fell asleep immediately. Only to wake up at 1.30am to be sick several times (sorry if this is TMI). Not my finest hour. Especially considering I had a half marathon the next day, though thankfully it was at 10.45am and not far away so I would get a lie-in at least. But honestly, I felt so ill. Being sick did help but I also felt very cold and shaky. I reckon being in the sun all day and not hydrating properly along with the alcohol and stupid amounts of food really did a number on me. But hey ho, life is meant for living right??

Not the best way to prepare for a half marathon for definite, but I wasn’t planning on going for it anyway. It was just a nice catered training run on hilly and off-road terrain. PBs were certainly not on my mind! I’ll leave it there for now and recap the race in another post!

Do you enjoy weddings? What’s your favourite part? There’s a lot of standing around…but there is also cake 😉

What handmade touches have you noticed at weddings before?

Have you ever gone to a race hungover and feeling delicate?

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.