Posted on

I’ve moved house!

What a weekend. I’m shattered. It’s been a blur! I’ve finally moved in to my new little home. Moved in but not entirely sorted. Oh the boxes and the disorganised chaos…

So Thursday I had the day off of work and really started packing in earnest. I’d done a lot of packing and sorting beforehand but now it was literally ensuring everything was packed. I won’t lie, I hugely underestimated this process. I don’t have a huge amount of stuff as it’s just me (and Alfie) and I wasn’t taking any real furniture with me, but that still leaves a lot of stuff that I’d left because I was still using. This included clothes, toiletries, shoes, handbags, kitchen stuff, food… and then cleaning the bathrooms, dusting, hoovering and cleaning cupboards.IMG_6441

Where’s Alfie?

I felt very overwhelmed and under a lot of pressure to get it done as the next day I had to be out of the house by 12. I rung my mum (who’s currently off of work for 8 weeks after having a back operation) and had a mini-meltdown. She felt guilty for not being able to help – which was ridiculous as she’s in a lot of discomfort at the moment and can’t drive or really do much and that’s hardly her fault so the last thing I wanted was for her to feel bad. But I just need to vent and stress before getting back to it.

I caved in the end and text my friend, Louise, asking her if she could spare some time the next day to help me. She’d offered her services a few weeks ago and I’d told her I’d be fine. Just a few boxes, easy peasy. Ha! How I’d completely underestimated things! Lou was awesome and said she could come in the morning and help. What a legend! She’s also far more practical and sensible in these sorts of areas. I’m from a different, less organised school of thought…

Friday morning I had to pick up a van at 8.30am and then get back home to start moving stuff out of the house. The hardest thing was the mattress, which Lou and I struggled to get into the van. And then found it took up a huge amount of space in the van. At this point the estate agent’s from where I was buying from had rung and said I could not pick up the keys for the flat. I thought it’d be a good idea to go to the estate agent’s in the van, pick up the keys and then take the mattress to the flat and sort that first.

Good plan in theory… we arrived at the estate agents around 11. I ran in and said I was there to pick up the keys only to have the woman stare at me like I was crazy. She said that that was a printing shop and that the estate agents had moved. So I had to ring them and find out where the hell they were: central Southampton (about 20 mins away)!! I would have had a mental breakdown had Louise not calmed me down. In the end we decided to pack as much as we could in the van (playing Tetris with the mattress and boxes and then I would carry on packing and Lou would go and pick the keys up for me.

We finished packing at 12.15. What an absolute grind!
 IMG_6455I got to the flat and met Lou there with the keys and we unloaded a few things before she had to go. It was around 1pm and I needed to get the van back by 4.30pm (so leave at 4pm). My dad was supposed to be coming to help but he was stuck in a meeting at work. I tried to get on and get stuff unpacked but it was taking forever getting items out of the van and then up the two flights of stairs. It was slow and hard progress. I decided to call in another friend to see if he could spare even just 20 minutes.

I was so grateful when he, Mike, said he could spare an hour! When he got there we got a great system of him unloaded the van and putting stuff in the stairwell and me going up and down the stairs putting the stuff in the flat. It was like intervals, I swear to god. I was sweating, my heart was racing… it was exhausting! And not to mention the fact that I hadn’t eaten anything other than breakfast and two apples.

In under an hour though we got everything into the flat and the van was empty. Mike had to dash off to pick his daughter up but I was so grateful for his hard work and effort. I couldn’t have done it without him (or Louise!).

My dad arrived at 3pm and his task was to help me move an old sofa that had been left in the flat to the van so we could take it to the tip. I wasn’t going to kick up a fuss about it as I had a van and we could get rid of it quickly (I would have been in my rights to have done so though).

After dropping that off at the tip, I got a phonecall from my estate agents for the property I was selling saying that the buyer wasn’t happy I’d left the garden table and chairs. I had mistakenly thought I was leaving them (I had agreed to leave a lot of other furniture). So we then had to take the van and take that furniture to the tip.

This was all very rushed as it was just after 4pm and I needed to get the van back. We arrived at the tip literally  at one minute past 4 to find they were closed. WHAT. So we had to swing by my parent’s house to drop the furniture off there as there was nowhere else for it to go and I needed to get the van back ASAP.

My parent’s gardener was there at the time and offered to take it off our hands as she quite fancied the furniture. What a happy ending!! And I got the van back in time. *HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF*

By the time I stopped it was dinner time and I was now out of adrenaline and STARVING. Luckily I’d had the forethought to have made a Hello Fresh meal up in the week that I just had to microwave.IMG_6457

I ate it on a (Hello Fresh) box, surveying the madness.

I’ll leave it there as this ramble has gone on a fair bit. So I can fully confirm that moving house is bloody stressful. But if you’re looking for a good way to start intermittent fasting, house moving really helps 😉 Though not when you then have a massive slice of white chocolate blondie from your freezer stash at the end…

White chocolate blondie

Incidentally this is one of the cakes I got from Wales all those weeks ago. It was AMAZING. And all the better with my cake fork.

Have you ever moved house?

How do you cope under pressure?

Are you an organised or disorganised person?

Posted on

SIS Rego Rapid Recovery Review

Hello! I’ve been missing in action this week because I’ve just had quite a few things going on..courses, moving house (which I’m doing tomorrow, argh) etc.

I really wanted to do a longer post to catch up but I need to crack on and literally move everything from upstairs in my house to downstairs to make the actual moving process easier, do lots of cleaning and just get everything I don’t need for the next day into a box. I’ve hired a van for tomorrow which I collect in the morning and then move all my stuff into the van before midday (contractual I have to be out of the house by then) and pray that before midday I’ll be given the OK to move into my flat rather than literally have to cram everything in the van and be in limbo. I’d rather be able to do a few trips! Oh the joys of completion…

Anyway, I have a review for you guys for a neat little protein drink sent to me by the ProBikeKit website. I’ve previously done a review for them before and I was happy to do another as they’re a great company. They have a cool site with lots of cycling-specific gear but also running as well, and a great selection of nutritional items.

I was sent some Science in Sport (SIS) Rego Rapid Recovery protein powder specifically designed for endurance athletes. There are obviously loads and loads of protein drinks out there but usually they’ll be more protein-heavy, whereas this baby has a nice balance of protein and carbs which is ideal for when you’ve done cardio, like running or cycling, rather than post lifting weights.

The idea behind this is that you take it 30 minutes after you’ve exercised and it provides your body with high levels of easily digestible protein and carbohydrates in order to accelerate your recovery. It was developed with Chris Boardman’s, the Olympic cyclists, input and feedback which is quite cool!

There are four different flavours available: vanilla, banana, strawberry and chocolate. I chose the chocolate flavour as it was a no brainer for me.

You mix one scoop (50g) of the powder with water. Interestingly, unlike regular protein powders, you only mix the powder with water, not milk. It advises that if you mix it with milk it will slow down the absorption process.

The nutritional stats are really good as well:

Though the ingredients list is quite long… But it is suitable for vegetarians.

Thoughts? I was really wary of the fact that it’s just mixing with water… I thought this would make it taste watery and not very nice. But I was pleasantly surprised! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not Nestle chocolate milk but it’s not unpleasant. I quite enjoyed it. For me it was a problem-solver for when I run after work and then have a long commute home – basically a long time before I get any proper food. It’ll be really handy after races as well, when I find hours go by before I get any decent food in me.

I’m really happy to continue to use this, especially with marathon training cropping up soon and the fact that I’m still loving lifting weights at the gym. I don’t want my body to suddenly start eating away at the muscle I’ve strived to build over the past few weeks.

Check out ProBikeKit’s website for more cool nutritional products like gels, protein bars and drink mixes, etc.

Have you tried any of the SIS products?

Do you take any protein powders?

What do you have post workout?

**Full Disclosure: I was sent this product for free in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own honest ones.**

Posted on

Injury update and SimplySupplements Review

Friday! I love Fridays as you know you just have to get through the working day and then you’re freeeeee to enjoy whatever. I like my job but I like weekends more 😉 And happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers. Thanks for clogging up my social media with ridiculously amazing looking food. It was tough scrolling through all of that while I munched on my lettuce and tuna!

Just a quick update on my running and then on to a review. I’m really really hoping my injury is on its way out for good. I’ve run twice more since that grumpy parkrun I did at the weekend. One was three miles on Monday and another three miles on Wednesday.

My usual route around work is a bit of an annoying one as it’s so hilly so the first mile is always feeling amazing as it’s mostly downhill… then the second mile is pretty much a slog uphill. But it’s a nice variation to just a flat run.

On Monday I felt some discomfort and tightness around my knee, but no pain. Then for Wednesday’s run the discomfort was a lot less. Things are looking good! I won’t lie though, the running is hard work. I’ve lost all my endurance and speed. Strangely though I don’t mind. For my Liverpool marathon last year this is how I started and I was able to gradually improve. It’s quite exciting getting faster and running longer as the weeks go on. It’s a far more enjoyable process for me than being top of my game and sharpening the point to hit faster and faster times. That might not sound that believable but genuinely this is how I feel. When you’re at your PB level, hitting those faster and faster times becomes quite painful for me so having a gentle build up like this is a bit more relaxed! Progress is far easier 😉

My plan for now is just to continue running 3-5 miles nice and easily three times a week. Sometime mid-December I’ll start to increase things gradually as I start heading towards marathon training for Boston.

On to the review. This is my third review with SimplySupplements I believe. I like the company and I like their products. I don’t take a vast amount of supplements as I’m big believer in getting valuable nutrients and vitamins from your food.

SimplySupplements sent me Glucosamine 500mg and Chondroitin 400mg:

Glucosamine is naturally found in the body and helps support joints and connective tissues. This natural production can decrease though with age as well as injuries negatively impacting on the body’s cartilage. Chondroitin is also included in this supplement as it’s been found that the combination is more effective when taken together in terms of the body absorbing glucosamine. The glucosamine and chondroitin are high quality marine sourced (and therefore not vegetarian or vegan unfortunately).

You take three tablets a day with food. The capsules are nice and small and easy to take. I will put my hands up and say I don’t have a science background or know the research for whether or not these are effective supplements to take but what I will say is that from speaking to other people (like my mum, who’s a nurse) they agree that glucoasamine is supposed to be good for joints. As a runner this is obviously very important to me! I also have a history of arthritis in my family so I’m also aware that I need to take good care of my joints as I grow older – and as I continue running. It’s actually one of the most popular supplements, other than Omega 3, that is regularly taken as well. Anyway, I’ve been more than happy to take this as I come back from injury!

What supplements do you take regularly?

When do you start marathon training for a spring marathon?

**Full Disclosure: I was sent the supplements for free in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own honest ones.**

Posted on

Why I don’t regret getting injured

Firstly thank you for the lovely messages, comments and kind words after my last post. It really meant the world to me. I know I’m young and my life is ahead of me, I just needed that cathartic vent…

Anyway, onto the subject of this post. Since being injured and being unable to run I’ve been focusing a lot of my energies on going to the gym and really working hard at overall strength. Previously I had been following the New Rules of Lifting for Women which was really good but I was losing a bit of motivation for it. Doing the same two sets of workouts for weeks on end was getting boring. Don’t get me wrong, I still fully recommend that book and it’s highly likely I’ll get back into it (and it’s a great point of reference for different exercises). But after getting injured I needed a complete shake up of what I was doing and a new drive.

I actually found a great website called MuscleForLife that spoke a lot of sense to me by a guy called Mike Matthews. His website has loads of great resources and he talks a lot of sense in terms of workout splits, reps and different exercises (from what my albeit fairly limited knowledge and experience can tell anyway!).

I started breaking my workouts into body parts (sounds painful) and balancing ‘push/pull’ exercises. So for example, Monday is arms day and I’ll try and balance some bicep curls (a push exercise) with tricep pull downs (a pull exercise), amongst other things. And I’ve really been loving it.

What I’ve really come to learn is that you don’t need to go to the gym and come out sweating and gasping for air to know you’ve worked hard. Your heart rate doesn’t need to sky rocket to get a good workout in.Standing military raiseIn fact, I’ve never seen my body change as quickly as it has done with these kind of workouts than all the time I’ve ever been running. And I haven’t touched a cardio machine other than a three minute warm-up for each session. OK, OK I’ve only been doing this for a few weeks and I’m not saying I have muscles of steel or popping abs, but I can see the changes – they are tiny changes but they’re perceptible to me.

Tricep pull downAnd more importantly, I can feel the changes. When I was down in the dumps about not running and I needed to find a new focus I decided to give myself the goal of strengthening my upper body (as well as continuing to strengthen the rest of me). One of my goals was to eventually achieve a full pull-up. I haven’t achieved that yet, but what I did achieve at the gym yesterday was almost there. Technically I achieved a neutral grip pull-up… or chin-up. To be honest I’m not entirely sure which it is, but there was definitely an ‘up’ in there 😉Neutral grip pull up

It’s not a full pull-up because as my grip needs to be wider, which is ultimately so much harder because you’re using your back muscles to do most of the work, whereas what I achieved was kind of a combination of back muscles and biceps (a full chin-up uses solely biceps I believe).

I was so pleased you wouldn’t believe. I felt bad ass and like a warrior. If I fell off a cliff I can smile smugly knowing I can pull myself back up it 😉 and then run away from the zombies chasing me in this crazy scenario.

The point is, I don’t regret getting injured. It taught me a lot. Firstly it taught me not to be such an idiot about marathons and running. Three marathons in under six months is stupid for me. I’m an injury-prone runner and looking back I can see the times I was pushing myself when I should have been taking time off. Never ever underestimate the marathon distance. Even if you think “oh I’ll just pootle around really slowly and enjoy it” it’s still 26.2 bloody miles. There ain’t no pootle in that.

It also showed me that the gym isn’t just to keep me running and it isn’t necessarily a chore. It’s somewhere else I can push myself and feel like I’m achieving something amazing (for me anyway). I don’t always need PBs, a runner’s high or the fresh air to get that ‘punch in the air’ killer workout.

It’s another quiver in my bow of mistakes I’m learning from. Plus I got a huge medal soo… totally worth it 😉

Do you have any mistakes you don’t regret?

What is your favourite exercise?

What achievement are you most proud of?

Posted on

Moving on

This is a bit of a random post. I just felt the urge to get some words down in a cathartic kind of brain fart, mainly triggered by the fact that I will finally be moving soon.

It’s been over eight months since Ben, my husband, told me he no longer wanted to be with me. Not a day goes past that I don’t think about it. Whether it’s wondering where the cracks began, why I didn’t see them or what my life is going to be like going forward. It’s not something I feel depressed about or cry about anymore. I don’t want sympathy or pity. That isn’t what this post is about. I actually don’t know what this post is about. It’s just a mental dump, forgive me.

I’ve been given a completion date for the flat I’ve bought (finally) so should be moving Friday 4th December. Ben lives in Switzerland and is enjoying his new life out there, with a new job and ambitions. I’m happy for him. We still keep in touch and this makes me both happy and sad. We’re still friends but it’ll never be the same.

I’m happy in myself and enjoying life. I will never regret the time Ben and me had together because we had so many good times and we grew together as people. But I do worry about the future. I have a ticking clock in the back of my mind which I’ve never had before.

I don’t want to get all Bridget Jones and Sex and the City on you, but I do worry that I’ll be that girl. I’m not outgoing and don’t thrive hugely well in social situations… I won’t ‘put myself out there’. Insecurities have cropped up that I never had before… What was wrong with me? Will anyone want someone as running obsessed as me? Am I boring? Nothing makes you face your flaws like the thought of dating. I was with Ben from when I was just 18 and was still ‘finding myself’ and growing as a person. Well, I’ve found myself and there’s not much I can do about changing now. This is me.

Thankfully I’m not really ready to look for anyone else. I feel exhausted and terrified by the whole idea. I’m happy on my own and enjoying the truly selfish aspects that that entails. No one to dress up for, no one to look good for, no one to try and make a good impression for. Just me, sat at home in my pyjamas, my hair a mess, eating too many apples.

I just worry that’ll I’ll get used that lifestyle. It’s so easy to just get stuck into my routines, my habits and introversion. I know what I’m like. I can become very routine-fixed and like things ‘just so’ and without anyone else there to mess up those routines they only become a bit more ingrained. But, like I said, I like my life at the moment and I like those routines. On to the next chapter!

But, still, that damn ticking clock…

If you’re with someone, how did you find your partner?

If you’re single, are you happy being single?

Do you worry about the future? I never used to. I thought I had my whole life planned out.