Running - AnnaTheApple

November 7, 2014November 12, 2014

JoggBox Review

I have quite an interesting review for you guys today. JoggBox is a monthly subscription box which delivers a range of different running and fitness specific products to you. This is quite a hefty review as there are a lot of products to get through!

JoggBox is a great concept because it gives you the opportunity to try a range of different products and brands that you might not have heard of or seen but never tried. And there’s a range of brands that JoggBox use so it’s quite exciting to see what you’ll get each month. I must say I quite like that element of surprise. There are so many brands (you can check them all out HERE), like Beet It, nuun, chia charge, High5 etc. Basically lots of brands I like!

When you sign up you put in a few details of yourself, such as shoe size, gender, age etc. and any food constraints so the box is more customised to you which is always good. You also get a little ‘crib sheet’ of what you’ve received and how to use them. Sooo what did I get?

I’m not going to lie, it was like Christmas morning opening this box for me!

Pulsin Snack Bars (website HERE; RRP £1.60)

In my box I received one vanilla choc chip protein Pulsin bar. These snacks bars in general are low in fat, have a low GI and are high in protein.

Calories per serving (50g): 225kcal
Fat: 13.1g
Of which saturates: 3.2g
Carbohydrate: 14.5g
Of which sugars: 6.2g
Sodium: 57mg
Protein: 12g
Fibre: 4.6g

There’s no added sugar, they’re vegan, dairy and gluten free. Ben loves these sorts of snacks so I (reluctantly) let him have this to take to work as his breakfast. He said it had a very crumbly texture with lots of nuts and chocolate but wasn’t particularly sweet. Though he admitted that he has a high sweet threshold 😉 As the bars are quite hefty they’re ideal for a quick breakfast option if you don’t have time one morning or a beasty snack if you’ve particularly been affected by runger one day.

Body Glide (website HERE; RRP £7.99)

Ahh this couldn’t be more perfect for me. I chafe when I wear certain vests under my arms and also my HR monitor savages my chest. It’s a nightmare. Showering afterwards is no joke. This stuff is brilliant. It acts as a barrier to prevent chafing and rubbing, ultimately reducing those painful rashes or blisters. It’s sweat and water resistant (you can even use it when swimming!) It’s very easy to apply (like deodorant), it doesn’t smell and it doesn’t leave a nasty residue on your skin. I was very pleased with this product.

Frank Snack Bars (website HERE; RRP £1.00)

I really like the name of these bars, I think it’s quite quirky. Interestingly, the Frank Food Company was founded by a former Everton footballer, Neil Robinson who was keen to create a snack that was genuinely healthy and not an “imposter”. They contain 100% natural ingredients. In my box I had two Frank bars: an oat chocolate one and blueberry chocolate one.

Nutrition for Blueberry and Chocolate:

Calories per serving: 117kcal
Fat: 1.71g
Of which saturates: 1.06g
Carbohydrate: 22.88g
Of which sugars: 14.36g
Sodium: 0.03g
Protein: 3.89g
Fibre: 8.89g

I really enjoyed these. They had a nice cakey, dense texture and had the right amount of sweetness. Good little pick-me-ups in an afternoon.

KT Tape (website HERE; RRP £5.99)

KT stands for kinesiology tape and is a handy tool if you’re injured or maybe feeling a bit of pain when working out. It’s not just for running, the tape can be used for lots of different sports and not just on your legs but all over your body (the mind boggles…).

Essentially it’s tape that you stick on to your body and can help provide a bit of a relief for so many common injuries such as knee pain, shin splints, tennis elbow and many many more. It stays on for a good few days as you can even shower in it. The tape stretches with the movement of your body. There are loads of guides online of how to apply the tape for certain body parts and injuries and it’s really quite easy and simple.

In my JoggBox I got several strips of KT tape which is enough for most different injuries. Obviously the supply won’t last that long but it’s good for a few usages. I’m not actually injured (HALLALEUIGH) but I’ve felt my shin ever so slightly with my increased running so thought it would be an ideal time to test it out for shin splints.

It came in an orange (nude for my skin) colour so it’s really not that noticeable. I went for a run the next morning and it was fine – I didn’t actually feel it on my leg to be honest and it stayed on in the shower fine. Though it was a little moist for a while afterwards. My shin hasn’t been bothering me too much so it’s hard to tell if it would help with a full-on injury but quite a few people have expressed their love for it so it can’t be bad eh!

Push Gels (website HERE; RRP £1.65)

Though I have tried to get away from using gels I haven’t found a good alternate (or rather, I’m too much of a wuss to attempt something new on a long run). I’m not a huge fan of the chemical taste or indeed the chemicals themselves in the gels. So this peaked my interested a lot. They contain no artificial sweeteners, colours, flavours or preservatives but they still have the necessary carbohydrates (maltodextrin, fructose, waxy maize starch – apparently derived from corn but still sounds a little scary) and electrolytes. They’re favoured with natural fruit juice and are suitable for vegetarians, vegans and are gluten free. Sadly no caffeine, though they do a caffeine version.

They advise you to take these gels with 150ml of water and 1-2 per hour during intense exercise. I received two Passion Fruit gels in my box. I used one during my long cycle the other week and, as gels go, it didn’t taste too bad. The texture was slightly grainy but not horrendous and the flavour was quite nice. I quite like these as ‘cleaner’ alternates to normal gels. The other flavours are Blackcurrant (with caffeine) and Cherry.

Elivar (website HERE; RRP £1.95)

Right OK. I will let JoggBox off for this one as these are meant to be for athletes over 35 years old and I’m 26! But to be fair, I didn’t tell them my age when I agreed to do the review so hey ho.

Basically it’s a mix of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals specifically tailored for the athletes over 35. The blend of ingredients are to help avoid sharp rises in blood sugar and then the inevitable crash, but still keeping you fuelled efficiently for your activity.

Calories per serving (45g): 165kcal
Fat: 0.4g
Of which saturates: 0.3g
Carbohydrate: 32g
Of which sugars: 13g
Sodium: 43g
Protein: 8g
Fibre: 0.9gIt contains a whole host of vitamins and minerals, such as calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B12 etc. and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) – which are great for muscle repair. It’s jam-packed! Good for providing energy, helping with muscle repair and keeping your bones healthy. You add water and drink during activities. There are other varieties for pre-workouts and post-workouts too. Brilliant idea for the ‘ageing athlete’ (sorry, terrible term I know. I don’t mean to patronise – I can only hope I’ll still be running past 35). It didn’t taste hugely sweet but I didn’t mind the taste. It jazzed up my water.
Clearspring Miso Soup (website HERE; RRP £1.29)

I love miso soup! I actually occasionally buy packs of miso soup to have at work as a nice warming snack (albeit a low calorie one at that). Miso is a nourishing and high energy whole food so perfect for a hot drink in the afternoon, especially with how cold it is right now. Miso is great for digestion as it’s a natural probiotic food.

Each serving is a good source of B vitamins, calcium and iron and is high in antioxidants, and though it tastes salty is has less salt than table salt. I disagree that these would, as the website states, be “perfect for a quick lunch” but rather would be a good addition to a more sustaining lunch or a light snack.
Calories per serving (8g): 29kcal
Fat: 0.8g
Carbohydrate: 3.9g
Salt: 1.5g
Protein: 1.4g

Armband (RRP £7.99)

This product is made by JoggBox themselves. It’s a phone/mp3 player holder that straps around your arm when you’re running or cycling.

You can also put your house/car key in a little compartment as well which is very handy. When I first attempted to put my phone in the armband it didn’t fit (I have an iPhone 5s) but realised in order for it to fit I’d need to take off my phone case first. Then it fits quite snugly and has a little hole so you can still attach earphones.

You can still use your phone once it’s in the holder and it fits quite comfortably on my arm and feels very secure. Though it’s a pain to remove my phone case I really liked this and will be upgraded my old armband for it. I’m not sure how other phones would fit however as we only have iPhones.

My thoughts on JoggBox:

I really like the concept of JoggBox. I liked that I could try out different products without committing to buying a large number of them and potentially wasting them if I didn’t like them. For a monthly subscription it’s £15 (plus £3 P&P), but there are other options if you want to do 3 month’s or a year’s subscription which are cheaper in the long run. The subscription can be suspended and re-activated (or cancelled) at anytime as well so you’re not locked into a contract. You can also just buy one box (or 3, 6, or 12) as a one-off – like a gift for someone. Personally I’d probably buy a few one off boxes from time to time to see what’s out there and try new things. And like I said, I love the idea that you don’t know what’s you’re going to get 🙂 I was really chuffed with everything I go. The Elivar probably the only thing that I didn’t find particularly useful to me.

Have you ever tried JoggBox?

Do you have any monthly subscriptions you’re signed up to, such as organic food boxes?

Are there any products here that you’ve tried or like the sound of?

[Disclosure: I was sent the JoggBox for free to review. However all opinions are my own.]

November 5, 2014January 14, 2015

Rants and Raves

I thought I’d do a little ranting and raving in this post of some of the thing going on around here lately.

Rant: walking Alfie at 5.30am when the weather is freezing. The weather has definitely realised it’s November now and it is COLD. I walk Alfie before I go running and whereas I have no issues with running in the cold (because really it’s only cold for 5 minutes) the pre-walk is horrendous. I’m half asleep, freezing cold and feeling really grumpy. During that 10 minutes of walking all those annoying voices in my head are having a field day persuading me to just go back to bed. So far I’ve been able to ignore them…

Rave: having friends who bring back treats from India!

I’d love to pretend I know what each of these delights are but needless to say they taste amazing. They’re all sweet treats – some a bit like fudge, others just condensed sugary cakey things. The smell of them is incredible and I’m pretty sure each sniff is about 500 calories each 😉 Those bad boys won’t last long at all.

Rant: As I’ve been running on consecutive days in the morning things have become quite stressful to ensure I’m not late for work. This means getting up at stupid o’clock (aka 5.10am). I get dressed and ready, take Alfie for a walk and then run at about 5.50am. But do you know what’s most exhausting? Washing my hair after every run. So that’s shampooing, rinsing, conditioning, rinsing, towel drying, combing, blow-drying, combing and finally a quick straighten to tidy things up. Effectively my life is wasting before me because of my hair. In desperation I have sought another option.

Dry shampoo! Obviously I still shower, but not washing my hair after every single run means I actually gain back about 15-20 minutes of my morning (all important porridge eating time).

I’ve only used dry shampoo once before and it was ages ago when they were pretty much just white powder. Perfect for blondes but a disaster for any dark haired people like myself. If you don’t manage to comb it all out it can look suspiciously like dandruff. So I was chuffed to find a brunette-specific one.

After finishing a fairly easy run I forwent the hair wash and decided optimistically to just spray this stuff all over my hair. Big mistake. I probably should have been a bit more careful and less liberal because it took quite a long time to not look like my forehead and neck had been beaten up. And it sprinkled lovely dark dust all over our white sink. ARGH. So the time I saved from not washing my hair was spent washing my face and neck again and then cleaning the bathroom sink. I’m sensing I need more practice at this…

Rave: coconut water. Yes I know I’m so far behind the times and trends of the healthy living world but I am fully on board after winning a whole set of Naked coconut waters from Maria’s giveaway.

I pretty much keep one in the fridge at all times so when I get back from my run I have an ice cold coconut water to guzzle.

Rant: I subscribe to RunnersWorld magazine and really enjoy reading it. I often go on the website as well. Sadly the UK version of the site is far less comprehensive than the US version, hey ho, but that’s a rant for another day I think. No my rant for this is when I’m clicking on different articles suddenly a huge subscription advert will occasionally pop up.

And to escape from it you have to click “No thanks, Marathons are easy”. This annoys me. It’s similar to that subscription advert for one of the women’s fitness websites too but that was about getting the a “bikini body diet plan” or something similarly pathetic and you had to click “no thanks, I already have a perfect body”. Awful.

I’m already hacked off that you interrupted my reading pleasure, RunnersWorld, but don’t get all cocky with me with you cheap digs. And speaking of annoying, RunnersWorld is also notorious for having adverts at the top of the page so if you ACCIDENTALLY scroll briefly over it your screen becomes submerged once again with guff you didn’t choose to see. Way to go at annoying your readers!

Whew always feel a bit better after a good rant 😀

What are you rants and raves lately? I might do these posts more as they’re quite fun. There’s always something to moan about 😉

Do you spend a lot of time on getting ready in a morning? I don’t wear make-up but my hair takes ages mainly because it’s so damn long.

What’s your favourite coconut-based product? Coconut oil is still high on my list for frying vegetables in.

October 30, 2014

It’s all about that pace

Another post title that almost made the cut: “your pace or mine?” Annnnyway… Generally speaking there seems to be two groups of runners in terms of pacing. Those who watch their Garmins like a hawk and those who don’t.

Ahh my old Garmin. I’m now using the Garmin 220 (love it)

I’m part of the former group. I love wearing my Garmin, tracking my pace when I run, keeping to a certain target pace and then having those stats to upload for later nerding. If I don’t log it on my watch, the run didn’t happen.

The first speed work I’ve done in a while! 40mins steady running

OK I’m joking, I’m not that extreme. I’m not adverse to going for a run without my watch, but it’s definitely not my preference.

Perhaps this is due to not trusting myself (will I run too fast? Will I run too slow?). Or perhaps it’s due to feeling like I’m not in control. If I don’t know what pace I’m running at then how do I know if I’m going too fast or not working hard enough? On my first mile I might be absolutely blasting it feeling great…because it’s my first mile. I might still have 9 to go and the wheels will undoubtedly fly off later.

Some people are so much more in tune with their pace that they can run without keeping check on their watch and they run perfectly well. Perhaps I’m one of those people, but I’ll never let myself know. When I first started running I just had an app on my phone to track my pace so I couldn’t look at it all the time. It would tell me every mile my pace (in an annoying woman’s voice) but that was it. Just once a mile. Not like now where I can look down at my watch every second and see my current pace, my average pace, the miles I’ve run and the time I’m doing it in. And I love it!

SStats from the Berlin marathon

For the Berlin marathon I would literally check my watch every minute. I had a strict pace schedule I was trying to stick to. My intention was that the first 10 miles should feel relatively easy, so the temptation to run that little bit faster without realising was a risk. I needed that feedback from my watch to keep me in line. I really didn’t have the training behind me to risk anything. And I managed to do a nice negative split and felt comfortable all for but the last mile. I’m pretty sure I’ll do the same for my next marathon or any race in fact. I just like being in control.

For my first half marathon I wrote my splits on my hand to make sure I kept to them

There also tends to be a bit of (and I use this word very loosely) snobbery. The idea of being a “slave to your watch” or not listening to your body. I can understand that but I don’t necessarily agree with it. Of course you can train on feel. Run a tempo run at a speed where you can’t really say more than a few words. You don’t need your watch to tell you that. Or run flat out 100% for 400m – you won’t have time to look at your watch. But even if you’re not looking at your watch at the time, how can you mark progress without this data saved from those sessions at a later date?

I’m absolutely not saying one way is better than the other – or that they’re mutually exclusive. I admire people who just go out and run without a watch and have no idea about their pace or just run on feel. But for every run? I definitely couldn’t do it. Personally for me my Garmin is there to keep me honest, track my progress (or mistakes) and it makes me happy. Perhaps it’s also my tendency to favour long distance where your pace, I strongly believe, is so important to keep under control because you’ve got a long way ahead of you. Whereas for a 5k perhaps it’s just a case of blast it like hell and hold on for as long as you can.

Sure maybe one day I’ll go out without the watch to just “run free”, but then I’ll probably just cover up my watch so I can still have a sneaky look at the stats later 😉

What do you prefer: running with a watch or without?

Do you like ‘geeking’ out with your running stats? There’s nothing better for me than looking at my splits after a race, I’m that sad.

If you’re not a runner, do you use other trackers for your exercise (e.g. HR monitors, gym machine stats, etc.)?

October 29, 2014October 28, 2016

Running, poo and a failed recipe

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m back running finally. I will hasten to add though: for how long, who knows! I’m still not entirely convinced I won’t remain injury-free. My shin issue is something I need to keep a beady eye on as I’m not sure it’s gone for good. But this is similar to my IT band where it needs to be managed, meaning regular single-leg squats and resistance band work. For my shin….I’m not so sure really. Compression socks and keeping the calves loose?

So last week I started with Kyle coaching after a bumpy delayed start due to my foot. We worked very closely to make sure everything was OK. He gave me lots of exercises and advice.

And lots of stretching!

When I began running (last Tuesday) it was under the instruction to run 20 minutes easy and to stop if I felt any pain or major discomfort. The day before my foot was feeling almost fine so by Tuesday evening I was feeling happy to run. Apart from a little stiffness it was perfect. Again under Kyle’s instruction, I ran Wednesday and Thursday (all easy, gradually building up the time) and then took Friday off, parkrun on Saturday and 6 miles on Sunday. All easy paced and all with no foot discomfort. Hurrah!

I do struggle though with what I class an “easy” pace. I probably should run it slower, but if I’m only running a short distance then I think easy is a relative term… and I will admit I find it very hard to slow myself down. Whether it’s a mental thing that I feel I need to go faster or a physical thing where I just don’t realise I’m running faster, I find it tough for the shorter runs. For longer runs though I will be very strict with myself and aim for a slower pace, and for recovery runs after harder sessions.

I have no idea what’s to come though in terms of running as it’s out of my hands! Something which I find hugely scary and hugely relieving. It’s also nice to have someone I can hassle ask questions and get advice regularly and specifically for me and the concrete goals I want to achieve. The internet is great but it’s all very vague.

Away from running and onto things more amusing. I just have to share this book that Ben and me found in a little trinket shop.

Because really these are the big issues we face 😉 First world problems and all that… It is very amusing and definitely Ben and my type of humour (we are children). There was also “How to Poo on a Date” – I mean, really?? Plan these things, people. Maybe there should be a book “How to Poo in a Portable Loo” or a “A Guide to Pooing for Runners” judging by the horrific portable loo experience I had in Berlin.

Moving swiftly away from toilet humour to recent dinner adventures! I haven’t posted any recipes for ages as my food is very dull and samey, so thought I’d motivate myself by trying a new recipe every week. Now I will preface by this by saying this isn’t really a recipe more like a “don’t do what I did” kind of warning.

I saw the below recipe for sweet potato and halloumi burgers and thought it looked amazing. I knew I could win Ben over because it contained cheese and I mentioned the word “burger” so I felt confident.

Source

I made the patties at the weekend and thought I’d freeze them so I could have a handy quick meal one day after work. This was a big mistake. I’d advise you not to freeze them! Maybe fridge them to firm them up for an hour but do not freeze. They just fall apart completely when you defrost them, which slightly devastated me.

I tried to flip each patty and, well, it just fell apart. So I just stirred the lot and cooked it as kind of a bubble and squeak *sighs*. However, it tasted really good and even Ben was a fan. I’m sure as actual burgers these would be terrific but they are rather delicate!

Hopefully I’ll have better luck with other recipes but hey if it taste good that’s all that matters right??

Have you had any baking or cooking failures recently?

What kind of sense of humour do you have? I think mine is very dry and sarcastic – but also quite childish and silly.

What’s your favourite veggie burger flavours? I’m a big fan of sweet potato!

October 27, 2014

Cake not children any day

Happy Monday, we’re here again. I don’t know what happened to me over the weekend but I was shattered! I even had an hour long nap yesterday afternoon, which is crazy for me! I’m back running consistently so this is probably the case. My foot seems to be fully OK now, whew!

Friday night Ben and me decided to go out for a meal to our recent favourite find (Zippers) and we invited my parents and Ben’s mum to join. Funnily enough my mum and dad had already booked to go to there after we’d raved about it! Happy days.

I went for my salad duo which, once again, rocked my world: salad bar starter and then chicken, avocado and bacon salad.

Apologies for the poor photos – it was dimly lit in the restaurant

And because it is the best chocolate fudge cake I’ve had in ages, I had it for pudding again. Consistently good – and I think I’m qualified to say that now having had it three times! I didn’t take a photo because I’ve already got two photos of it…

Needless to say I think we’re done with Zippers for a bit. We’ll be back for definite but we’ve OOT-ed it recently as you can imagine 😉

Saturday morning I finally got back to parkrun. I haven’t been for soo long due to being busy, injuries and marathons. I really missed it. I went down early to help set up and caught up with the parkrun crew. It was the Halloween special which meant people had dressed up in fancy dress for the occasion which was brilliant!

Skeleton morph suit!

The costumes were brilliant, from pumpkins to zombies, morph suits to masks. I love stuff like this. Sadly all I had to offer was a black sparkly tutu and my colourful RunMummyRun compression socks but it felt fun wearing it.

I took parkrun nice and easy and chatted to lots of people on the way round, which I always really enjoy. Unfortunately talking so much gave me such a nasty a stitch – that’ll teach me! I got just over 25 minutes which I’m happy with for a social run wearing, as it turns out, a rather itchy tutu.

Check out the costumes behind me – amazing effort with the face paint!

The rest of the day was spent just doing the chores, walking Alfie and watching some trashy television watch (*whispers* Made In Chelsea) which Ben and me embarrassingly like to watch and Gogglebox (I’m a new comer to this programme but I am fully addicted – it is HILARIOUS).

Sunday I got up and ran for 50 minutes (Kyle confusingly works in minutes not miles…this makes route planning quite hard!!) then rushed about getting ready to go to church to see my friend Louise’s baby’s Christening-but-not-Christening thing. Basically it was a “welcome to church” kind of thing for their baby, Jacob, but not an actually Christening because they want him to decide on his faith later. I won’t lie, I did not sing at all. No one wants to hear me sing especially if I don’t know any of the songs! Louise is an incredible singer though and is part of the church band so she rocked it.

After the service we headed back to Louise’s parent’s house for “nibbles”. Let’s just dissect this word for a moment…we thought crisps and snacky things, which were out on the sides when we arrived. We nibbled away and had some fizzy pop and were quite content. But Louise’s mum is just amazing at hosting these sorts of things and suddenly an hour later BOOM there was an entire buffet of food. Then after the buffet there was a pudding buffet of lemon tart, chocolate tart, meringues, jelly (all home-made!) and ice cream. Wowza. And of course cake afterwards!

I won’t lie. I went a bit crazy having a slice of both the lemon and chocolate tart (let’s call them slithers shall we? They weren’t huge…) and a couple of slices of cake.

All home-made by Louise herself. Vanilla sponge for the main cake and chocolate for the little trains and square blocks. My reputation preceded me as Louise came over after the first cutting of the cake and handed me a chocolate slice saying “I knew you’d want more”. Full sugar coma commenced afterwards (and an afternoon nap later).

Most of my school friends were there too so it was nice to catch up and have a laugh with them. Mostly taking the mic’ out of my fear of small people and how awkward I am around them. It was actually quite scary how many children were there – Louise has a HUGE family. Needless to say, it’ll be a few years yet before I have the desire to have one!!

Do you go to church? I’m not religious but don’t mind going to these sorts of things.

What are you doing for Halloween? We do nothing. Mainly hide behind our curtains and hope no small people come knocking.

Cake or dessert? I think I’d go with cake.