Weights - AnnaTheApple

June 16, 2014June 16, 2014

Week #1 Marathon Training

Morning all. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on documenting every single week of marathon training (assuming I do manage to complete all the training without getting injured…there’s confidence for you). But as it’s the first week, why not.

My marathon training plan is HERE. Alongside this I’m also doing the ‘Ab Challenge’ which I started on the 1st June. This includes, every day (except for a few rest days), sit ups, crunches, leg raises and a plank. Each day the number increases (for the plank, the length of time increases). It’s no joke now having done Day 15.

Monday – no running, but I did a 45 minute strength workout after work.

This included:
– 100 weighted squats
– 3x 10 weighted calf raises
– 3mins toe lifts
– 2x 20 of kick-backs, leg swings and hydrant lifts

Tuesday – 3 miles easy run in the morning. For my easy runs I’m trying to keep to around 8.30mins/mile which is a comfortable speed. I also did another strength workout after work.

This included:
– 3mins calf raises (no weight)
– 3mins toe lifts
– 3x 1min side planks
– 2x 1min plank with leg touches to the side
– 3x 30 Russian twists

Wednesday – We had the RR10 that evening. This was an off-road 4.5mile race (the RR10 is a set of league races with all the clubs in our area).

I really wasn’t feeling motivated. I was in a bit of a bad mood anyway. Then they delayed the start by 15 minutes and that just furthered by lack of motivation. I ummed and arred about whether to run with Ben or on my own and push it. I decided to push it. Within the first mile I knew it wasn’t a good run. My hip was niggling (possibly because of the unstable terrain?) and I just felt tired.

One of my team mates who wasn’t running cheered me on but at this point (maybe mile 2) I was considering dropping out. She shouted “just enjoy it!” when she realised I wasn’t feeling it. This really helped. Suddenly I realised, “hey, yeah I can just run this as slowly as I want and it doesn’t matter. Just get the miles in.”. My whole mood changed and I dropped the speed and just ran comfortably. Loads of people overtook me but I didn’t care. Eventually my friend Matt caught up (I was hoping Ben would catch up and I could run with him but he was having a rubbish run as he was exhausted (*cough* and hungover *cough*) after getting back from Bucharest earlier that day). So I ran with Matt instead and helped push him along (well sort of, I’m not sure who was pushing who!)

I finished 39th or 38th position (can’t remember) out of the females. Previously I’ve been 10th and 11th but I actually didn’t mind. I’ve also come to realise I don’t like the RR10s one bit. They’re heavily competitive (you aim for position not time), they’re in the evening, they’re always a very short distance and they’re off-road so there’s a big chance of turning your ankle (which a guy at our club did). To me it’s not worth it during my marathon training. Sure it’s a good speed session but I’d rather do that with the club Tuesday night on road or on my own where the pressure (that I put on myself I hasten to add) is less. I know I sound extremely ‘sour grapes’ but the relief and weight off my shoulders felt when I decided not to do anymore was huge. I felt so much better.

Thursday – another after work strength session:

– 2x 1 min side planks
– 3x 30 heel taps
– 3mins toe lifts
– 3mins calf raises
– 3min bridge
– 10x 3 bridge leg lifts

[I’m focusing on areas that I know I’m weak and also making sue I have strong shins and calves as I’m terrified about getting shin splints – because let’s be honest, that’s the next thing I’m bound to get]

Friday – another easy 3 mile run in the morning.

Saturday – I didn’t get to Parkrun because my uni friends were down so I went for an earlier 3 mile speed run. I was chuffed with this. Not my fastest but on my own not too shabby!

Sunday – 5 mile ‘long’ run (fairly amusing but it will get longer later) I really enjoyed this.

I ran very comfortably, rarely looking at my watch and was happy to see my paces were around 8 minutes. Bodes well!

Total run miles: 18

After getting back from my run and Ben returning from his, we had breakfast and then (without showering – yep we’re that gross) we headed out for a 15 mile bike ride with our friend, Nathan. It was fairly hilly and we didn’t blast the speed so it was quite nice.

I was fairly shattered for the rest of the day. Onwards to Week 2!

Do you put pressure on yourself to the point you stop enjoying something?

What workouts have you enjoyed this week?

What workouts have you hated?

April 30, 2014April 30, 2014

Weddings, cake and apple

Hello! We’re in that awkward spot of half way between last weekend and next weekend (and a Bank holiday on Monday, wahay!)

Last weekend was a busy one. We had Parkrun in the morning as usual. We had to dash off pretty quickly afterwards to get home, showered and sorted as we had my friend’s wedding later in the day in Bristol.

I do love a good wedding, don’t you? Though it was a little overcast and drizzly at the start, when it was important the weather held out and there was some beautiful sunshine. Though it was quite chilly!

The ceremony was lovely. It’s so strange seeing one of your close friends walking down the aisle with her dad about to marry someone.

I mean I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’m a married woman!

I know this is quite sad, but I’m so happy I was actually able to wear my fascinator! My mum gave it to me ages ago and I finally had an occasion and a dress that went with it. The dress is from Warehouse and I love it! I didn’t do anything with my hair because, well, I’m not that creative and it’s quite stubborn in that it just likes being straight. Ben looked rather dapper as well I must say!

I don’t normally drink but I did enjoy quite a few G&Ts and bucks fizzes, but luckily it was over a long period of time so I wasn’t an embarrassing drunk! I don’t usually drink so it was a nice change. My lack of drinking is not really a conscious thing, just that I don’t like wine or beer. I find cake and chocolate help me relax better anyway 😉

The table favours and theme for the wedding were great. The wedding couple are obsessed with Florida and the theme parks so they named each table a theme park, like Magical Kingdom, Busch Gardens and Universal Studios. We were Seaworld. In our table favours there were American sweets (candy?) like Reese’s Kisses and Baby Ruths (what on Earth are they??) and Tootsie Rolls.

The wedding breakfast (though really lunch – isn’t that a strange term?) was delicious: tomato soup, followed by chicken with vegetables and a creamy mash and then the most amazing slice of apple pie.

Then it was time to cut the cake.

How cool is that? An upside-down cake! It was chocolate cake with a white chocolate hard coating.

I had three slices. To be fair they were tiny slices so really I’m sure it was only one ‘proper’ slice 😉

Later there was a lot of dancing and craziness. I missed the second coming of the cake and was a little disappointed (I know, I know…) but had a spare apple in my room in the hotel to tide me over into the evening.

I am too cool for school I know. Can’t beat a late-night apple 😉

Needless to say I felt so tired on Sunday. The bride had booked the breakfast room in the morning for 8.45am for us all to have breakfast together. The day before that didn’t sound too bad, but in the morning I could have definitely had a bit more sleep! I might have had a little doze in the car on the way home…

We then enjoyed an afternoon of doing nothing. We watch the new Thor film (not bad at all!) and just chilled. Normally I hate just sitting down and doing nothing all day but actually it was lovely. A nice way to recharge the batteries.

Have you been to any weddings recently? What’s your favourite part?

Do you know of any interesting wedding themes that people use? At our wedding we used a ‘sweet’ theme, so each table was called a different sweet and the favours contained pick ‘n’ mix.

How do you recharge your batteries after a night out?

February 19, 2014

Where I’m currently at

I don’t like talking to other marathon trainees at the moment as it stresses me out. I’m not where I’d ideally like to be in my ‘perfect’ marathon training, but in this sensible world I’m currently trying to live in (i.e. avoiding re-injury) it’s just how it has to be.

There are quite a few people in my running club and bloggers training for spring marathons and every weekend they say how far they’ve run for their long run…18, 20, 22miles. It really concerns me. I’m currently at 13. But it just has to be this way as I really need to take my build up slowly. My knee is still delicate. I don’t want to make it angry and flake out on me again And, as I keep berating myself, it’s my training plan and my marathon I’m working towards. It is pointless to compare to others.

But, on a positive note, I do things are going well. Last week I had my highest mileage in ages.

Monday: off
Tuesday: recovery 4 miles (ave. 9mins/mile) // leg strength workout in evening
Wednesday: Core strength workout
Thursday: Personal trainer session (lots of back and shoulders) // 6 miles (1 mile warm-up, 6x 6min tempo with 1 min recoveries) in evening
Friday: Leg strength and Pilates
Saturday: Parkrun (22:30)
Sunday: Brighton half marathon

I’m loving me some recovery runs at the moment. I never used to do them; every run had to be about proving my speed and I felt I failed if the run was too slow. But it just meant all my runs were ‘sub par’ because I’d never really be recovered to then take on a hard run at 100%. So Tuesday’s run was just perfect after my previous tough long run on the Sunday.

I’ve also been focusing a lot on my strength. I want to do one core session a week (planks, side planks, supermans, etc.) and at least one leg strength session (though ideally two) a week. We’re not talking anything crazy here. Just under an hour focusing on what I know are my weakness (hips, bum, hamstrings).

Thursday tempo run was tough, I’m not gonna lie. I was chuffed to maintain speedy paces throughout the 6minutes but it became increasingly more difficult. Also I chose a rubbish route that I looped around twice: two sets of stairs and a nasty hill!

So I might not be hitting the big miles but I’m consistent with my running at the moment and feeling somewhat happy with how it’s going. My knee is still not 100% and it can niggle the day after a run if I’ve been sat down for too long but it’s manageable and getting increasingly better. Fingers crossed it will eventually just bugger off!!

I’ve got a 15 miler planned for this weekend. It’s a bit of a tough call on what to run as it’s the week before Reading half. But I know for a fact that I won’t be getting a PB, or anywhere close, even if I tapered appropriately. My fitness is just not where it was last year. Ideally I’d love to beat what I got in Reading last year (1:41:19) but anything close would make me happy 🙂 So I will push myself but I won’t kill myself. It will be a faster long run.

If you’re training for a marathon, where are you at with your long runs?

What long runs do you like to get in before a marathon?

What was your favourite workout last week?

January 13, 2014January 16, 2014

Winter workout and tasty pastries

Happy Monday, everyone. Is it me or is it starting to get lighter in the mornings? I can’t wait until I’m woken by sunlight in the morning again…such a gentle way to wake up.

During my time off of running [apart from boring the socks off of everyone about how much I wish I was running] I have been going to the gym and trying to strengthen my body so that when it decides it is happy to run again, it will run strong.

I’ve been seeing a person trainer pretty much once a week (apart from Christmas) and he’s been guiding me through lots of exercises that I would never have done on my own. And lifting weights I would never have dreamed I could have done. Now I am by no means comparable to lots of other far stronger people out there, but for me I’m amazed.

My session last week he instructed me to deadlift a dumbbell bar weighing a total of 50kg. This is pretty much my weight! I realise this might seem so easy to some people but I couldn’t do it. I was terrified: it was too heavy, I was convinced I’d break my back or knees.

He took the weights off and started with just 20kg. He tutored my form and then added more weights, I deadlifted, then rested. He added more weights, I deadlifted, then rested. We continued with this until we were back at 50kg. And I did it – all 8 reps of it!!

It’s not running, no where near. But I was so proud of myself.

I also follow workouts that my running coach devised (all those weeks ago) which is mainly focused on lower body:

This took me 40mins to complete. And I looked like a right berk doing the unbalanced squats.

I’m hoping that I’ve been using my ‘non-running’ time well. And when I get back into running I will continue with my strength workouts, hopefully, twice a week. That is the plan anyway!

On an entirely different note, I was sent some pastry cases made by Pidy to try out. Pidy products are made with their award winning pastry recipe that the Pidy family initially created in their little patisserie shop in Ypres, Belgium back in 1952. They have a huge range of different pastries ready for fillings to be added.

I’m not a huge fan of pastry I must say but these sounded very cute and dinky. I was sent three types: mini square puff pastry squares, award winning pastry ‘sponnettes’ and veggie cups. The puff pastry squares were 130 calories per square and the spoonettes and veggie cups under 20 calories. There are no artificial colours of E-numbers and they’re a great source of fibre too.

Because we were feeling lazy on Sunday night Ben and me decided to have a sort of snack plate so we could try out the pastries.

I filled the different pastries with tuna pate, hummus and Brussels pate. We could have been more adventurous I’m sure and made them more exciting but these little things were perfectly delicious just like this and very filling! My favourite was definitely the veggie cups which were with 30% beetroot juice (hence the colour) and they were very crunchy which I loved. Other veggie cup flavours are carrot, spinach and celeriac.

I’m sure they’d be perfect versatile snacks that you could really go to town on the fillings and offer to guests when hosting an evening (ooh er, how posh!). And they don’t just have to be savoury, you could easily fill these badboys with sweet fillings – like fruit and yogurt, or chocolatey yumminess.

Thanks to food PR agency CLIP Creative and PR for the samples!

**I was sent the samples to review, but these are all my own opinions of the product**

Right, let’s get this week started!

Are you good with balancing strength workouts with cardio?

Do you like finger food and canapés? I love canapés. I especially love weddings with posh canapés 😉

What would you fill these pastries with? I was a bit boring with mine but they were very tasty regardless.

December 11, 2013

Cake, fro-yo and shopping – happy happy happy

Hello! Woah woah woah, how is TWO WEEKS until Christmas? When did that happen! And less than 2 weeks until Ben’s marathon debut. Scary times.

I had a great weekend gone (despite having to work Sunday afternoon – don’t even get me started on this; third weekend in a row). On Saturday Ben and I got up early and he headed to Parkrun while I headed to the gym. Envy doesn’t quite cover the strength of my emotion…The gym really sucks. But I got a good workout in and did 50 minutes on the bike and 30 minutes on the rower.

My aim was to try and emulate the length of time I’d spend on a long run to try and maintain some form of endurance. Who knows if it’ll work!

Then after making myself presentable I headed out to have some absolutely fabulous afternoon tea with some very lovely ladies from my running club. Yes I do realise this afternoon tea business is getting a bit out of hand…but when it’s so tasty and good value (£9.50!) and there’s great company I just can’t help myself.

I made a huge error when ordering and ordered the wrong cake! I thought I was ordering the one I’d seen as I walked in and had tried to describe it to the waitress but I think we misunderstood each other. Though one of my friends kindly swapped hers (which was the cake I wanted) for mine (not the one I wanted). Cake drama let me tell you! 😉

Sunday and I headed to the gym again (I do know how to have fun, don’t I?) and did 20 minutes on the rower and then followed my personal trainer strength routine.

After the gym, Ben and I decided to nip quickly into town and pick up a few Christmas shopping items we can’t get online. This might have involved me updating my wardrobe a little…whoops!

Lovely and Christmassy!

I was SO chuffed to find a frozen yogurt stall in the shopping centre!!

It was a self-serve and there were quite a few different flavours available…like peanut butter, strawberry, banana, plain and…SALTED CARAMEL! Well I just went for a whole load of salted caramel. I was quite impressed as the fro-yo was only 80 calories per 100g. Not too shabby. Let’s not talk about how much mine weighed in the end though 😉 Though I was sharing with Ben!

What more could a girl want? Starbucks (black Americano with hazelnut syrup), fro-yo and shopping.

Then sadly it was back to work. Ho hum.

What’s your favourite flavour of frozen yogurt? I think I actually prefer the plain with lots of toppings.

What’s your usual Starbucks/Costa/etc. order? Mine is always black Americano with a splash of some sort of syrup (my favourite being hazelnut).

Do you enjoy shopping? I enjoy clothes shopping if I’m in the mood and it’s not ridiculously busy. Sunday morning wasn’t actually too bad and I found some really nice tops.