Running - 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?

June 8, 2016

Rants and Raves #31

Kind of a mishmash of randomness today as I don’t really have anything specific to talk about!

Rave: Though I’m not running, I am still going to the gym. Annoyingly though I’m avoiding heavy squats and deadlifts to be on the absolute safe side with my hamstring. It’s frustrating but hey ho I can still do lots of other heavier weight stuff, like focusing on my upper body. And I like do about a 30 minute routine of different strength and plyometric exercises.

It’s similar to the strength workouts I was doing last year during the lead-up to Liverpool marathon. I enjoy having variation and it involves a lot of running-specific exercises which will help when it comes to marathon training in the autumn. I have a mega spreadsheet that I track all my running and workouts that I use as a resource for what exercises I’m going to do at the gym. I’ve basically stolen ideas from the Internet, other bloggers, magazines and classes I’ve been to. I like it because I get bored very easily at the gym so mixing it up each day helps. An example of a routine I did on Monday:

– Press-ups
– Eccentric weighted lunge drop
– Box toe taps
– Scorpions
– Eccentric box jumps (jumping off a box into a squat)
– Medicine ball squat:
– Burpees
And I repeated it three times.

Rant: HAY FEVER. I’m being savaged by pollen, despite taking anti-histamines. I wake up with a blocked nose, I sneeze consistently through the day (I’m not a one sneeze girl either, I’m one of those “at least three times” kinda sneezer) and the absolute worst: the itchy eyes. *Shakes fist* damn you, Mother Nature!

Rave: But I will take that pain for the sunshine we’ve been given. Waking up, even at 5am (yes, really), and seeing the sunlight pouring through my windows just makes me wonder how the hell I was able to do that during the cold, bitter, dark months of winter. Walking Alfie at 5.15am without a coat on – what is this dream??

Rant: I’m very lucky that I live in a quite nice area right next to a beautiful park. There are lots of paths through the park, a play area for kids, picnic benches and a large pond.

Every morning I take Alfie for a good walk and, like 95% of the dog owners, let him off his lead to run about. Generally Alfie is very good, he comes back when I call him and he gets separation anxieties if he can’t find me (sometimes I’ll walk ahead while he’s sniffing around and if I go out of his sight he gets panicked and starts running about looking for me…when he notices me he charges over. It’s adorable).

Unfortunately one morning Alfie spotted two ducks near the path we were on – the rest of the ducks were down the slope near the pond. Before I could stop him he ran towards them and chased them down to the pond. He then spotted all the other ducks that were out of the water being fed bread by a lady and ran at them too, causing them to head back to the pond.

The lady yelled up to me “oh well done”. I got Alfie under control and said I was sorry. By way of explanation I said he was a dog and it’s in their nature to chase. To be honest I wasn’t really sure what to say as I felt a bit embarrassed. I know I’m in the wrong of course – the ducks did not deserve to be chased and frightened but the lady was really quite aggressive. She then proceeded to tell me Alfie should be on a lead and that I was a “stupid cow”. I felt a bit affronted. Alfie has never chased the ducks before and has always been quite good off his lead. I think it was just the two loan ducks that caught his attention and then seeing the others nearby.

Anyway the lady carried on yelling at me saying there was a sign saying dogs shouldn’t chase the wildfowl and that I was being irresponsible. At this point (7am by the way) my back was up. Could she stop yelling at me please? I understand I’m in the wrong already! But Alfie was back with me and, as I said to her, “the ducks would come back again”. None of them had been savaged to death or scared into having a heart attack.

She then told me to “f*** off”. At this point I was done. I (perhaps somewhat sarcastically it must be said) said “well good morning to you too” and walked off. She continued to yell that I was a stupid cow and “f*** off”.

Again, I know I was in the wrong. It was a tricky situation that short of rugby tackling Alfie to the ground or foreseeing him chasing the ducks in the first place and putting him on his lead (though, again, he’s never bothered the ducks before), I did what I could. She didn’t have to be abusive or rude!

And on a lighter note…Things that made me chuckle: this is fairly true for me. Even without running my appetite is crazy. Luckily I’m quite savvy with my snacks (think high protein, sustaining nibbles over empty sugar).

Source

And like so many other runners, I’ve had many a black toenail. As summer and flip flops is upon us, nail polish is used to hide the evidence (Not sure where I found this sorry!)

One last rave: I’ve been sent these very cool laces to try out.

They’re called Elastic Lace System by Phoenix Fit UK and basically stop the need for tying laces. I’ll do a full review of them in another post but so far I think they’re pretty good. Probably ideal for triathletes who need to transition quickly from one sport to the next during a race. And they come in lots of colours

What are your rants and raves lately?

What do you like to do in the gym?

Do you suffer from any allergies?

June 6, 2016

A parkrun walk and pretending to be an adult

After a rather cold week, it was lovely to wake up Saturday morning to a reasonably warm day. It was a bit muggy but otherwise promised to be a good day so not too shabby!

I started the weekend off by going to Lee-On-Solent parkrun, which is just down the road from my parent’s house. My dad had said he would try another one and another one of my friends, Fiona, who’s just getting into running, said she’d go too so it was a nice change from Netley. It also meant a bit of a lie-in as I didn’t go and set-up and we didn’t need to leave until 8.25am (and even then we were a bit early).

I also got to meet in person Rebecca who I’ve been chatting away to on Twitter. She’s so lovely and volunteers most week at Lee parkrun, having acquired an injury a few years ago that she can’t seem to find any cure for She was lovely and very welcoming to both my dad and me, which definitely helped. My dad wasn’t quite as optimistic this week. He knew more people at Netley through association with me and knew they’d be less people at Lee who’d cheer “Anna’s dad” along. He was also aware he would be the last person finishing (having checked previous results). But anyway, Rebecca was lovely and bubbly and she promised to cheer us on.

Despite it being Fiona’s first parkrun and her being relatively new to running (she’s another friend doing the Couch to 5K programme) she was really happy to be there. I was so impressed, she was so raring to go.

I had every intention of running parkrun and decided to take it nice and slowly (I even wore my HR monitor to make sure I was actually running VERY slowly – more on that another post). But as I went off I could feel my hamstring nagging me and it just didn’t feel good running. So I decided to play it safe and walk the parkrun with my dad. My hamstring has been feeling better but I had quite a deep massage on Thursday evening and was advised to let it settle for four days so really I was jumping the gun a bit.

My dad was quite chuffed I was going to walk with him and it was nice I had that option because I’m not sure I would have walked on my own.

Photo Credit: Nick MacBeath

Initially we weren’t the last people but eventually two powerwalking ladies overtook us on mile two which got my dad down a bit as they were nattering away and “not really trying” as my dad said But he was out there, working hard and doing it so I’m proud nonetheless. The marshals, as usual, were very supportive and cheered us on and lots of people said well done – and even “well done, Anna’s dad” from some fellow Hedgies and Twitter friends.

My dad found it harder this time. I forget that 5k is actually a long way if you’re not used to the distance and for someone like my dad (no disrespect to him of course) who does hardly any exercise at all other than a few dog walks in the week, it’s a tough thing to do and he was only just getting over last week’s parkrun.

Because Lee parkrun is basically two out and backs we saw Fiona twice and both times she was smiling away and pushing on. I was seriously impressed and chuffed she seemed to be enjoying it.

At the end my dad pushed on for a little jog to get to the finish. Everyone cheered him in.

Photo Credit: Nick MacBeath

And he wasn’t last. I was! Rebecca was lovely, saying he did so well and he was over the moon with himself again. We’d hoped to be faster than Netley but we weren’t sure… Frustratingly he was ONE SECOND slower than last week (51:12). Fiona did a very stellar time of 45:48 for her first parkrun. She was very pleased

For me it was my slowest parkrun, but I still very much enjoyed it. I couldn’t be more proud of my dad – OK he’s not running it or barely any of it at all, but he’s making a step towards getting healthy. He won’t go every week but he’ll be going again at some point for definite. He feels accomplished afterwards and it’s given him something to work towards on improving – a tangible measure of health that’s not just the scale.

My dad said had I not been walking with him he’d have slowed down as he had no one behind him he wanted to make sure he beat. He also found it mentally tough because the course is very flat and you can see where you’re going the whole time – rather than Netley which is a bit more interesting. Though Lee does have the sea…

My sister came over later and brought Ellie and Meg too, my little nieces. As it was such a lovely warm day I offered to take them to the park – ON MY OWN. Now if you’re a long-time reader you’ll know kids and me aren’t a great combination. I have no maternal bones in my body and I struggle to know what to do with children…how to talk to them, to look after them, etc. I’m just awkward. But they’re both at that age where I don’t need to change any nappies or carry them or anything life-sustaining. So I felt up to the job.

After a quick pep talk and rundown of essential information from my sister (don’t go near fire, hold hands crossing the road, don’t let them eat weird things) I was good to go. It’s about a 10-15 minute walk to the park and it went swimmingly. At the park it was a lot easier as I was around more responsible adults and I basically just copied them. I followed Ellie and Meg around but stayed at a distance to let them play.

I was quite impressed with the park. It had all the usual stuff along with a mini climbing wall and a trampoline! Obviously I had to have a go…

And Ellie amazed me by being able to use my phone to take photos. Well I suppose this is hardly surprising, kids as young as three seem to be able to use technology without any issues these days.

Sunday was another day spent with my family. I was a little sad not to be going to the Romsey Beer race as I’ve done it three years previously but it was the best thing. I didn’t fancy running it, I wasn’t able to race it and my hamstring probably needs more time. To be quite honest, I’m quite happy to give running more time off as I know when marathon training starts it’ll be full-speed ahead. I’m still going to the gym (which I did in the morning) but the desire for running is still pretty low at the moment in general.

Instead I went to Winchester for a little mosey round the shops, not realising a cycling event (CycleFest) and a race (Winchester Criterium) were taking place making it a little busy and tricky to actually swap sides of the road to see different shops….

But it was fun to feel the racing atmosphere and see the cyclists whizzing by so fast. It was a lapped event so we were never short of seeing a lycra clad person zoom past us. And then we enjoyed a beautifully sunny BBQ.

I made up some chicken skewers with my buffalo marinade which were just delicious! There were burgers, sausages, lamb kebabs, pork kebabs and steak. Delicious!

How do you like to spend your time in the sun?

What’s your favourite thing for a BBQ?

Have you ever walked a race/parkrun before?

June 1, 2016

Dad’s first parkrun

If you’re a regular reader you know my dad is a big supporter of my running. My mum is too, of course – after all, she came with me to Boston to support me in the marathon and has gone to many of my races too. But my dad likes to really get involved.

Though he isn’t a runner (though he did used to run back in his navy days) he still “gets” it. He knows what my good paces are and my capabilities, he listens and gives advice when I’m training and he stops me sinking too much into darkness when I’m injured. He’s my coach in many ways.

He came and supported me at my 100th parkrun recently as well. When I’d finished and we met up at the end, he was smiling and said “I’m going to do one”. Apparently he was so inspired by everyone running and the fact that there were walkers and run-walkers that he thought, “I can do this too”. This is exactly what parkrun is about. It’s about getting people out there moving who might not be inclined to on their own. So we planned for the next week for him to come down and power walk the Netley parkrun.

I got there early to help set-up and I was going to meet him at the start area at around 8.30-8.45am. He arrived bang on 8.30am looking a bit nervous.

He had his iPhone with him and headphones. He said he needed a bit of distraction and something to help him round. I was going to run and then come back for him.

Wearing my Boston finisher’s t-shirt

We parted ways and parkrun began. My run was surprisingly speedy considering I hadn’t run all week (or was I speedy because I hadn’t run?). As a side note, my mojo is still flagging and my hamstring is still niggling. It’s a combination that doesn’t get me riled up to run at the moment. I’ve been going to the gym but running is taking a backseat. I don’t have any races coming up that I’m desperate to run or do well in but I do want to be fresh and niggle-free for when I get back into marathon training in July (ideally with some base-building beforehand as well). So a bit of time off now seems ideal.

A photo of the Abbey while setting up

Anyway, it was ridiculously warm and I felt stupid in my long-sleeved t-shirt. When I left the house it had felt quite cool but now the sun was burning through. Running attire fail. My hamstring niggled a bit during the run but otherwise I felt fresher than previous runs which I think just confirms that time off is helping.

Someone asked me while I was running what time I was aiming for. I actually didn’t have an aim so I felt a bit flummoxed with the question, especially while running. I said I didn’t know and the man kind of laughed and said “of course you know, come on you must have some idea” Um, no! I wasn’t even paying attention to my watch so I actually didn’t. I said “Err around 23-24 minutes?”. That’s where my current parkruns have sat to seemed a fair bet.

Each lap I could high-five my dad or shout encouragement to him which was great. I also noticed he wasn’t at the back. He was storming along nicely.

I surprised myself by finishing in 22:27 and second female which I was quite pleased with. Fastest parkrun since the beginning of April so I’ll take that! I quickly scanned my barcode and then headed to find my dad. He had just under one and a half laps (and miles) to go. He was doing well.

He jogged a little occasionally but he found it quite uncomfortable on his joints. In future he’s going to stick to power walking rather than jogging just yet as he needs to lose a bit of weight first before he puts any stress on his joints.

He was keen for me to keep an eye on the tail runner, who was a few minutes behind him. He didn’t want to be last so it was a good motivation for him to keep his pace up and his eyes on the finish. I stressed it wouldn’t matter if he was last but he was keen to hit his target.

At the end he was cheered in when he jogged to the finish. I was so proud! So many people encouraged him and cheered him on as he did the course. He said it really helped and he was very chuffed. Every marshal clapped and spurred him on and runners who knew me and knew he was my dad would yell “go on Anna’s dad!”. It was lovely.

He completed it in 51:11 (two minutes faster than the last two people and the tail runner). He was over the moon.

One down and hopefully many more to come. I told him it’s only going to get harder now as he strives to beat that time now Next week we’re going to do the Lee-On-Solent parkrun as a couple of my friends are doing it and it’s literally just up the road for my dad. He’ll be doing his first parkrun tourism! (Not that I’ve decided for him that Netley is his base of course…).

He won’t do it every week but once in a while it’s a fantastic thing for him to do as he continues to try and lose weight (a long-standing battle…). I’m so so proud of him and glad he came. And it just proves, you don’t have to be a certain shape, a certain speed or a certain type of person to do parkrun. It’s open to everyone.

Are you family fit and active?

Do you do any exercise with your family?

Does your family support you at sports events or races?

May 25, 2016

I’ve lost my running mojo

Despite having such a fantastic 100th parkrun general experience on Saturday, the running itself was fairly rubbish. I know I only have myself to blame for this of course.

I say it every single time but I never follow through: “I’ll take a couple of weeks off of running after my marathon”. Then lo and behold, I don’t. I know I’m stupid. I just love running – especially the mental side of it and the thought of not doing it for a few weeks isn’t particularly appealing to me. And after Boston I was on such a running high I just wanted to keep going. I thought by not pushing any sort of hard pace I’d be OK. Run easy runs, shorter than I did previously, and I’d be fine. But the love that was there was slowly dwindling away as the training and the race caught up with me and I’m now not enjoying it.

It doesn’t help that my hamstring still isn’t 100%, though it’s never worse after running and some runs feel absolutely fine whereas others I can feel the slight niggle. To be honest, I think deadlifting at the gym has aggravated it *sighs*.

So anyway, Saturday’s run felt like such a grind and my hamstring was niggling slightly (probably due to my Friday deadlifts). I’d planned to run a long run on Sunday to reattempt my previous failed 16 miles from the week before. I felt demotivated going to bed, I felt demotivated when I woke up and I was dragging my heels to get myself out the door. And when I finally did, I felt my hamstring as soon as I started and that was all the excuse I needed to throw the towel in. I must have looked like a bit of loon to anyone nearby as it was literally a 30 second run from the front door and then me turning around saying out-loud “no, nope. Not happening”.

I was at my parent’s house so when I stormed back into the house moments after leaving my dad said, “Didn’t go well, then? I thought you might be back sooner than expected…” apparently my lack of running mojo was evident before I left. I wasn’t even that upset. I was relieved. This tells me something that should have been fairly evident to me: I need a rest.

I’ve done too much post-marathon. I should have taken a full week off at least. I was just on that post-marathon “I love running, everything’s awesome!” feeling and was looking ahead for the Cakeathon.

Unfortunately the Cakeathon is hurtling towards me quickly and it’s not a race I want to DNS…That said, it’s not a race I want to travel three hours to (dragging my dad with me) on a Bank Holiday Monday and then not enjoy it. It was such a great race last year I don’t want to mar that memory.

So what’s the plan? Well, I’m not running all week. I’ve made that absolutely certain because I left my trainers at my parent’s house. No temptation there. Then I’ll try parkrun on Saturday. If I feel a) tired/heavy legged, or b) demotivated, or c) my hamstring feels niggly, then I won’t go. It’ll be such a shame obviously but, at the same time, it’s not worth trying to recreate how amazing last year was. It wouldn’t be the same.

Have you ever lost your running/exercise mojo?

How do you motivate yourself?

How far are you willing to travel for a race?