AnnaTheApple - The life of a girl who loves apples and running

August 12, 2015

Rants and Raves #17

I do enjoy writing my Rants and Raves post because I often have a collection of little thoughts or events that occur during the week that I want to share but don’t always cohesively fit into a good narrative. If you’re bore of the Rants and Raves though, please let me know!

Rant: I work in an office and it drives me mad when people come in ill. I’m not a particularly tolerant person it must be said – I don’t have a lot of patience and I know I need to work on it but this is surely not an unfair complaint. When people come in and spend the entire day coughing up their lungs (not just a little cough, a real lung-blasting one) within a rather enclosed space, well it takes a lot of mental willpower to not yell “GO HOME”. Work is not that important that you need to come when you’re really not well. It’s not good for them and it’s not great for us either!

Rave: Food parcels from the parents. It’s like being 18 again and my parents are sending me back on the train to Cardiff University with a bundle of food.

Ahh university. Those were the days that I was too cheap to buy magazines, chewing gum and quilted loo roll. Small luxuries I still cherish to this day. But back to the food. This time it was more that they were going to throw away this food if I didn’t take it because it would go off.

My parents, I’m sure they don’t mind me saying, are notorious for wasting food. They both have dinners at different times in the week because of when they finish work so what usually happens is my mum randomly buys a load of food from M&S despite my dad buying a load of food from the supermarket. Not all of it will get eaten. This is a rant in itself because I hate wasting food. They do have the best intentions and never set out to waste it, but often as not something will get left behind in the week. And I’m more than happy to take if off their hands.

So I received a half roast chicken, a Cumberland sausage and two slightly iffy looking salad boxes (once the soggy cucumbers where picked out it was fine. I’m not fussy when it comes to eating food past it’s best!).

From this I had a delicious BBQ sauce chicken stir-fry (yes, I know BBQ sauce is practically just sugar…that’s why it tastes so good).

I literally put the entire half a chicken in there and it was massive. I was fairly full!

I used the Cumberland sausage to do something similar but this time used balsamic vinegar and some herbs to flavour it and included some roasted butternut squash and chickpeas.

This was so good! Definitely need to repeat it. At the weekends at the moment I tend to be eating rather random meals as I’m slowly eating my way through the freezer ready for the move (still no date). This also means the hardship of eating all the cake in there too. *Sighs* it’s tough.

Rant: I’m an animal lover through and through but I will always prefer dogs to cats. Sorry but it’s true. I’m sure if I ever owned a cat I would feel differently (though from speaking to other cat owners, you never really “own” a cat…). I own a dog though and I’m pretty sure he would not be happy knowing what was happening right outside his front door.

The absolute audacity of this cat. And when I (gently) shooed it along before opening the door, it sloped off slowly with an indignant air. When I later walked Alfie it was still within proximity to the door and Alfie attempted to do the Big Dog thing of barking at it but then, when the cat simply glowered back, Alfie quickly backed off into the road. *Sighs* My little hero.

Rave: Ahh watermelon. How I adore you.

Such a refreshing and tasty snack. And you can eat so much without filling up as it’s practically water! And it’s so good for you with it’s great anti-inflammatory and antioxidant support.

Rant: I wore a dress to work yesterday. Big mistake.

Bargain dress from H&M; cardigan from New Look; belt not sure

My bare legs were rather chilly. But I refuse to accept that summer is over. I realise I can’t stay in denial forever but it’s August.

And finally this really made me laugh:

Quite amusing! I relate most to Belle I think in terms of nerdiness and book-reading. And I did used to have a boyfriend at college that my friends weren’t keen on – though I wouldn’t have called him at beast!

What Disney character do you most relate to? I think we all knew a Jasmine at school!

What’s your favourite summer food?

Do your parents give you food parcels? One birthday when I was at university my parents surprised me with a hamper of goodies, like sweets, beauty products, chewing gum, magazines and food. It was one of the best presents I’ve had, so random but so useful and appreciated.

August 10, 2015September 18, 2020

What a difference preparation makes

Hello, here we are at another Monday. I’d like people to stop talking about autumn please, we’re still in summer! But depressingly when my alarm for the gym goes off in the morning at 5am it’s now dark. It’s so much harder to get up…I might have to get my special alarm clock working (the one that lights up gradually to help you ‘naturally’ wake up).

Saturday was a lovely hot sunny morning, not especially great for running but it’s always a bit more jolly. Nobody is stood shivering dreading the start where they have to take off their nine million layers. I’ve recently been sent some lovely ASICS gear from The Running Bug for their #PoundTheRoad campaign with ASICS and Intersport. The trainers they sent are the new Gel-Glorify, which are perfect for long distance running as they have the gel cushioning in the front and back with a springy midsole.

Along with the trainers I was sent a technical technical T-shirt , shorts and socks all by ASICS. My friend joked at parkrun that it was like I was sponsored by ASICS! I’ll do a full review on the products later on but it was all good quality and the shoes felt lovely and springy, a bit like Adidas Boosts. Not necessarily as light as Boosts but more ideal for long distance running.

I realised when I got to the parkrun (my local one is Netley Abbey) I’d forgotten my Garmin. Whoops! I don’t think I’ve done that in ages. I wasn’t hugely bothered as it’s quite nice to run without a watch once in a while (very freeing) but at the same time, I’m a stats lover. In the end I decided to use the Strava app on my phone to record the run, but hold it with the screen off as I ran.

It was a tough hot run but I managed to maintain consistent 7min/miles without looking at my time. Normally I do spectacular negative splits at parkrun so I’m quite chuffed. I got 21:27 and second female so not too shabby! It was very hot though. I suppose that’s a good thing as it’s good training for next weekend’s marathon – which doesn’t start until 11am!

The rest of the day was spent seeing my parents and my sister, Rachel. This involved building a Wendy house for my nieces, Meg and Ellie. It was quite amusing as no one in our family, my father especially, is blessed with DIY skills. But it was a success in the end. And obviously I had to see what it was like inside.

My dad snapped a photo and joked that this was my new home. Well, it had a cooker and a fireplace in there (albeit fake ones…) 😉 I’d have loved this as a kid!

It was nice to see Rach as we don’t meet up that often (she works different days to me). We’re so different it’s unreal but we always have a laugh when we catch up.

That evening I went out for dinner at a family friend’s house with my parents. My parents were chuffed as it meant they had a designated driver (though I think they somewhat regretted that the next day when they were both feeling slightly fragile).

The host, Sue, asked me about my running and asked when my next race was. I said it was a marathon next weekend and she asked “how long was that one?”. I laughed because I thought she was joking, but she wasn’t. She genuinely hadn’t a clue. I felt mean having laughed and explained it was 26.2miles. I forget that not everyone is as obsessed and wrapped up in running as me and need to remember not to be quite so quick to judge. There are so many other sports (and things in general) that I haven’t a clue about that other people are passionate about and the marathon really isn’t that mainstream (apart from London perhaps).

Sunday morning I wanted a bit of a lie-in after the late night but woke up at 7.40am. This was probably a good thing as I had planned to run 10-14 miles in Queen Elizabeth Country Park and it was already feeling warm. QECP is very hilly, off-road and beautiful. After some sound advice from my friend, Mark, I decided to run a set time rather than distance because my pace would be all over the place with the hills and there was no point saying I’d run 14 miles if it took me forever (not ideal a week before!).

And unlike last weekend’s disastrous run, I wore my hydration belt, a running visor and took water with me in the car. Not going to be dehydrated this time! I also took a little carton of chocolate milk with me to refuel quickly after running. I don’t think my nutritional strategies for refuelling has been that great recently so need to get on top of that if I don’t want to wake up exhausted and drained the next day. Mary always talks about how good chocolate milk is post-run so I decided to give it a go. I find that I never really eat enough the day of a long run as my meals are so pushed back because of my later morning. Chocolate milk would be an easy way to get in those lost calories quickly (and hello, it’s tasty).

I had no real route but new I wanted to start by going up Butser Hill which is a fairly nasty hill.

This is an old photo but you can see Butser Hill in the distance

Honestly as I got to the actual hill my pace slowed right down. Though I don’t intend on running the hills at Cheddar Gorge, I did want to run the hills here. My intention was to find as many hills as I could to make it a horrifically hard and hilly run so next week’s race won’t be quite such a shock. At the steepest parts my pace was around 14 minute miles. I was barely running faster than people walking up the hill. But I pushed through.

You get to a gate and think you’ve made it but it just keeps going up and up. Eventually I got to the top and continued on. I ran different trail routes randomly and was really enjoying myself. Such a free feeling and beautiful views. I then ran down the other side of the hill which was ridiculously steep. That route headed off further from Butser Hill but I wanted to keep within QECP so when I got to somewhere near the bottom I turned around and went back up. SO hard.

Because I was running quite slowly (if you can even call it that!) I managed to snap a photo of how steep it was. As hard as it was though I really enjoyed it and every straight section felt like a dream. The miles flew by!

I was running around with a smile on my face as the views were just incredible. Taking photos while running is tricky business though…

Not sure what was going on there! ^^

I then headed back down Butser Hill to the other side of QECP to go around the trails there. It was still very undulating and tough going but cooler under some trees and shade.

I aimed for around two hours worth of running (a nice round number and around the time it would take me to run 14 miles on the flat). I also managed to fill my water bottles up again at the tap near the cafe which was just such a luxury! I plan on doing this at the water stations during the marathon and my dad is planning on giving me some more water at some point as well (bless him).

I had one mile to go when I got back to the car park and decided to finish by running up Butser Hill again. I didn’t go past the gate this time as that was already half a mile and then ran back down – a great way to finish the run! What was fantastic was I felt I could carry on at the end of the run. It was exactly what I needed in order to boost my confidence for the Cheddar Gorge marathon. I’m under no illusions that it’s going to be unbelievably tough though – who knows if I’ll even complete it, and I’m honestly not just saying that or sand bagging! Nothing is a given in marathons. Especially not hilly, off-road and potentially very hot ones.

Anyway I felt really good for the rest of the day. Tired, obviously, but not drained and no headache in sight. I felt like I had hydrated perfectly and this really reflected in my energy levels for the rest of the day. No nap required! Just got to replicate this next week…

How was your weekend?

What toys do you wish you had when you were younger that are around now?

Do you have any siblings – are they similar to you?

August 7, 2015September 18, 2020

Simply Supplements – take 2

Happy Friday! This morning I have another review of some supplements from the guys at Simply Supplements. I’ve previously reviewed some of their products before (check it out HERE) and was happy to do another review for them.

Simply Supplements is an online shop selling a wide range of different supplements. I chose two different ones to try.

Alpha Lipoic Acid 250mg

When Simply Supplements asked me to take my pick of something it was perfect timing as I’d only recently heard about some of the benefits of Alpha Lipoic Acid (in combination with the second supplement I chose) to runners and athletes in general. I can’t remember where exactly I read about it, but it was peaked my interest for definite.

After doing my DNAFit test I’m keenly aware that I need to ‘up’ my antioxidants that I have in order to help remove free radicals from my system to improve my recovery and stave off injuries. And this little gem apparently does just that: it helps “defend cells against oxidative damage caused by ‘free-radical’ molecules.” (Source). It’s also supposed to help build lean body mass and reduce fat.

Acetyl L-Carnitine 500mg

Acetyl L-Carnitine was the second supplement I chose and, according to evidence, works best in combination with the previous supplement Alpha Lipoic Acid.

“Acetyl L Carnitine transports important fatty acids into the mitochondria of cells to support vitality and energy” (source). Basically it helps provide the body with more energy.

Though the above two nutrients are present in some foods (e.g. spinach, broccoli, beef, and kidney), the amounts tend to be quite small. So the supplements help in that respect. I’m always more of a fan of getting my nutrients from food than tablets (far more fun that way!), but in this case this seems preferable.

Thoughts? Well, you know me, anything that keeps me from getting injured I’m all for! There appears to be a lot of evidence out there that helps back up the claim that together these supplements are a powerhouse of force against oxidative stress (thereby reducing cell damage and ageing). There’s a lot more science to this (as you can imagine) of which I won’t go into, mainly because it’s a) not particularly interesting to read and b) I’m not that intelligent to understand it 😉 but the links I’ve provided go into a bit more detail if you are interested/more intelligent than me.

Having now tried another set of their supplements, I’m confident that Simply Supplements are a great company and I highly recommend their products. The tablets are nice and small and you can take one-two a day of each with meals. I’m probably going to continue buying these supplements when I’m finished as the evidence is so strong and it’s something I think my body would benefit from with my running and high injury status.

What supplements do you use?

How do you support the weakness in your body?

What’s important to you about a supplement?

**Full Disclosure: I was sent these supplements for free to review by Simply Supplements. All opinions are my own honest ones.**

August 6, 2015

Getting stronger by moving out of my comfort zone

Morning! And happy Friday eve 😉 I hope your week is going well. Mine has just flown by! I can’t believe I have one more weekend until Cheddar Gorge marathon is here (16th August).

I’ve been reading some reviews and honestly it’s freaking me out. I went onto the Marathon Talk website to see if there was an event already set up for Cheddar Gorge and found some enlightening comments about the race:

Source

To be honest though I’m already aware of how tough the course is as I’ve done the half marathon, which is one lap of the two laps that make up the marathon. So nothing will be a surprise to me. I also know it took me just under two hours to do the half and that was putting some welly into it (my recap is HERE). My expectations are definitely set!

Lately I’ve been really getting into my gym strength training. I’ve surprised myself by actually following the New Rules of Lifting for Women and consequently going to the gym has been far more enjoyable. Having someone (albeit a book) tell me what to do is fantastic! I just follow the routines and get going. I still include some of my standard strength training (single leg strength and plyometrics) but I follow the book’s workouts and the number of repetitions and sets.

Deadlifting

By ‘only’ lifting 15 repetitions and for two or three sets this has meant I can really up my weight and mentally power through because it’s going to end shortly [side note: this is somewhat ironic because in running I feel the opposite; 5ks are short and painful but I hate them and would rather run longer and slower]. I feel strong and hardcore, which is always nice! And there’s a definite sense of progress as you tick through the routines and bump up the weights.

And something else to liven up my workouts was going down to the track on Tuesday night with my running club. As you probably know, I detest short distance running (I’ll rarely ever enter a 5k race other than parkruns). So going down to the track to do specific speed workouts is possibly the worst thing I can imagine.

Why did I go then? Well, it’s easy to stay comfortable in running and let all the runs merge into the same sort of pace. If you don’t challenge your body, you don’t get stronger. Though I’m training for a marathon (or two – finger’s crossed) speed work might not necessarily come to mind as an important workout to incorporate into your training plan…but actually it is important. Perhaps not every week, but definitely having it in there compliments the longer, slower runs.

This is what I kept telling myself as I ran to the track. I parked two miles away so I could get a decent warm-up. Speed work is hard enough for me and I wanted to make sure my body was adequately prepared for this torture.

The plan was to blast 200m, have 30 seconds recovery and repeat three more times. Then have a five minute recovery and repeat the intervals again. In total we did this three times (3x 4x200m). Beforehand we did a mile (ish) warm-up and drills and got going. Honestly my stomach was a ball of nerves. This is ridiculous I do realise. Running for me is usually about enjoyment.

Saying that though, I did really enjoy it. OK not while my lungs were bursting and my legs were pounding, but I felt such a sense of achievement afterwards. It’s funny because I thought five minutes would be ages but really it flew by and I needed every single second of it (which reminded me of Tom William’s in the Marathon Talk podcast talking about his mile training and how long his rests were when he did interval training).

And the whole workout flew by. It was nice commiserating with the others over how painful it was between the intervals and we kept each other motivated. I would never have been able to have done this alone, that is certain.

I ran the two-ish miles back at quite a clip pace as legs felt good. Mainly I wanted to get home for dinner…I should have taken it slower but I was buoyed by the speedy workout. Yes, not sensible I know…

It’s made me realise that the track isn’t the worst thing in the world, and nor is going to the gym. Both have a place in making me stronger, healthy and good at running (I define good by “being able to run as much as I want without injury”). And lifting heavier weights won’t make me bulky or chunky or other ridiculous stereotypes of female weight-lifting. In short, I feel in a really good place right now with my body, my strength and my running. It’s been a while that all three of those things have happened for me together.

In the (very boring) film version of my life, this is where something bad happens…finger’s crossed it doesn’t!

How do you push yourself outside of your comfort zone?

Do you lift weights?

How do you make yourself stronger?

August 3, 2015

Lesson learnt

Hello summer! What a beautifully sunny weekend. Great for sitting and relaxing, having a BBQ and just chilling. Not so good for a 16.6 mile run – but I’ll get to that in a bit.

Friday night was a work night out at La Tasca. As my dad works at my company and lives near to me I offered to drive him in and take him to the restaurant so he could drink as I’m not a big drinker. In retrospect I wish I had been able to have more than my one sangria because it was such a relaxed and fun evening and everyone was getting rather jolly.

My good friend, Bhuvana and I

Saying that though, I’m glad I didn’t as I woke up more fresh than I would have done had I been drinking. Though I ate so much food it was unreal. We had tapas ordered for 21 people, but only 15 people made it in the end and the order still stood. Plate after plate just kept coming out: meatballs, potatoes, chicken, paella, calamari, salad, prawns…The problem with tapas (perhaps not a problem I suppose!) is that you really have no idea how much you’re eating as you keep taking little bits of everything. And then the churros for pudding…needless to say I woke up feeling adequately fuelled, albeit a bit tired, for parkrun on Saturday!

After setting up, I warmed up with a few guys from my club and I felt sluggish and de-motivated. I wasn’t sure what to aim for but I didn’t want to just plod round. One of the guys, Rich, said they were aiming for 23-22 minutes so I asked if I could run with him.

It was nice to run with someone and just switch off and run at a certain pace without trying to go crazy. Towards the final mile Rich started to drop off behind me but he told me to keep maintaining the same pace so he could try and hang on to me rather than me slow down.

In the end I finished 21:42 and he finished 21:54 with a new course PB. He was really chuffed and very grateful. I said likewise, it was nice to have a purpose to my run without feeling I had to smash myself to pieces. It felt very gratifying as well to help someone out 🙂

Urgh then the rest of the day was spent sorting out house stuff. I made a somewhat small start in clearing stuff from under the bed and cupboards and being really quite brutal in the stuff I was binning or giving away to charity. The effort and annoyance of packing is far greater than the want for another pair of high heeled shoes that I rarely wear. I made a good stab at sorting before heading off to my parents to spend the night there.

We watched a film called Four Lions which was hilarious and I highly recommend. If you’re easily offended by black comedy then this wouldn’t be a film for you – IMDB’s synopsis: “Four incompetent British jihadists set out to train for and commit an act of terror”. Very tongue in cheek and satirical.

Sunday’s long run was planned to be about 16 miles, though the route I was taking was slightly different to normal so I knew it might go over that a bit. I walked Alfie first to loosen my legs and gage the temperature. Already it was feeling warm so I decided to go with a sports bra and shorts combo. I headed out and felt nice and fresh, though straight away I knew it was going to be a hot one.

I’d planned my route to climb a hill at the start as I wanted a bit of variation as the routes around my parents are generally quite flat. There’s also a nice two mile stretch of off-road trail running as well. Basically, anything to help with the impending Cheddar Gorge marathon (I’m almost certain it will be the marathon now). I had planned to go for a run around Queen Elizabeth Country Park for my long run as it’s so hilly and off-road but I just wasn’t sure if I could find 16 miles to run there. Maybe for my final long run this Sunday…not sure. Think I’ve missed the boat.

See what I mean? I’m trying not to worry too much that my training hasn’t been great in terms of hilly long runs.

Anyway I got to about seven miles and found I was quite thirsty (yes I know, surprise surprise genius). It wasn’t so bad and I thought I’d be fine. I did start imagining different ways of getting water though…stopping in a cafe or finding a tap along the seafront promenade. By mile 11 I knew I needed water soon. I knew I couldn’t last the whole run without any.

It’s funny because the weather was so different to last weekend’s run in the constant rain. I remember having to run through a huge puddle, whereas this week that puddle had dried up [I’m pretty sure if it had been there I’d have done a Cersei from Game of Thrones and got down and drunk the damn thing]. Instead I rang my dad while I was running and asked if he could deliver me some water. Bless him he was more than happy to come to my rescue and asked where I was. My brain was so fuzzy now that I really struggled to tell him where to come meet me. It was a painful process and he had to go step by step as to where I was and where I was going.

Thankfully he found me and Tour de France style handed me a bottle mid-run. I was so grateful! I had to be careful not to guzzle it all at once (you can really make yourself sick if you do this) but to sip it slowly as I went. Eventually I had drunk enough and found carrying the bottle to be annoying so binned it. I was only three miles from home now and was fine to get back.

(Average 8:05min/miles)

The run was hard work. As I was running towards the end I was trying to work out why it was hard. My lungs and heart felt fine, my breathing relaxed, my legs not niggling or aching…it was just generally an overwhelming sense of tiredness and feeling drained. The dehydration and heat clearly had not helped.

I felt completely out of it when I got in. I had a pint of water and then just sat in a bit of a daze. I was covered in salt crystals as well, which never normally happens for me!

Though I felt quite sick I knew I needed to eat something soon as I had a friend’s BBQ at 1.30pm that I was going to and didn’t want to turn up ravenous because I hadn’t eaten after the run (with BBQs you can never tell how long the food will be and I didn’t want to be that person moaning about being hungry).

Another inexpensive dress from H&M

After porridge and a cup of coffee, I showered and got ready. I took my big 750ml bottle of nuun to take with me to the BBQ which I dutifully drank.

The food was delicious (I had kangaroo burgers, a venison and redcurrant burger and a huge turkey skewer…and maybe some chicken skewers as well) but we were sat in the sun and it was just so hot. I put suntan lotion on and tried to stick in the shade.

I had a tasty slice of coconut and cherry cake and a bit of Eton mess but started to get a horrible headache. I took some tablets and kept drinking. I knew something was up because I didn’t go back for seconds of the cake. I realised that since my run, despite drinking all I’d had, I had only been to the loo twice and it was now 5pm. For me (the girl with a bladder the size of a walnut who goes hourly) this was crazy! The headache just got worse and I realised I needed to go home. I said my goodbyes to my friends and headed back.

I got home and despite my plans of finishing my housework and unpacking my overnight bag, I just had to sit down on the sofa. My head was pounding and I could literally do nothing. In the end I closed my eyes and managed to fall asleep. After 20 minutes I woke up and felt like a new person. The headache was gone and I felt refreshed. I drank another 750ml bottle of nuun while I did my jobs and felt so much better.

This really scared me. I was so stupid to not take anything with me on the run. For Cheddar Gorge I need to be sensible. It could be very warm and sunny and there are only two aid stations (for the marathon you do those aid stations twice, so four in total) and I’m going to be out there for well over four hours, well over four and a half looking at the latest results! I’m definitely going to wear my hydration belt and top it up at the drink stations and my dad should be somewhere at half way(ish) to hand me another bottle too. No mistakes this time. In a way I’m glad this happened as it’s made me plan a bit more sensibly for hydrating during the run.

How was your weekend?

Have you ever learnt something from a tough run/workout?

How do you make sure you stay hydrated?