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

April 11, 2015April 12, 2015

Marathon Bingo: A Game for The Non-Runners

We all love having the support of our friends and family when we go on our long runs and marathons, but let’s face it: attending these marathons can be deathly boring for the non-runners. These “spectathletes” are left standing at the sidelines waiting for you to come running up to them, and while some fancy dress runs can be wildly entertaining, not all marathons can provide the same level of enjoyment to spectators.

Or can they? When you think about it, the huge variety of people running marathons means that there are endless possibilities for the kind of people you’ll encounter. A bingo game devised by Susan Lacke for Competitor.com makes use of this fact to help make races more fun for spectators. It puts together some of the things you’d commonly expect to see at races and turns it all into a bingo card. You can then give the card to your friends before the race starts, and they can preoccupy themselves with scouring the crowd for people who fulfil the conditions on the card. The first person to successfully complete a BINGO pattern or get a full card wins the game.

By playing the game, you give your friends and family something fun to do so they don’t get bored out of their wits while supporting you at the race. Hopefully, it’ll be fun enough for them so that they won’t even have to be asked to come and watch you race. You could even customize the card for other races, and if you’re going to a fancy dress run, it’s bound to be all the more interesting.

Of course, bingo has been used in other sporting events too, and recently, Betfair ran some promotions in line with the Cheltenham Festival. You could then transform the Marathon Bingo card into a bingo card for any occasion – all you need to do is come up with a list of things you expect to see at a sporting event, use a free bingo card creator like the one on Print-Bingo.com, print them out for the event, and get playing!

Would your “spectathletes” be interested in this idea? Quite a quirky concept that would probably help them pass them time, especially in a marathon when you see your runner once or twice for a few seconds over many hours!

Do you get your friends and family to come watch your events? Both my parents love watching me race, and my dad loves hearing about my splits and intricacies. He’s like a coach!

***Guest Post***

April 9, 2015

Paranoid, insecure runner alert

I won’t lie, I’m nervous about how comparatively little I’m running. I’m training for a marathon which is about nine and a half weeks away and I feel…calm.

(Apologies, this post is a bit of a brain dump!)

I don’t feel like my training is that difficult. OK I know the mega long runs haven’t happened yet but I can’t help feeling I’m cheating the system by not feeling exhausted all the time or sick with fear for the upcoming long runs. Everything is just kind of ticking along without issue (OK now I’m really tempting fate). I’m not saying that I should feel awful or exhausted, but I just don’t feel like I’m training for a marathon.

What I am finding is still having the same enthusiasm for my gym visits. So far I’m keeping my heart rate up by jumping on the cross-trainer for a three minute burst, then running back to do my strength routines, repeating that three times and then doing some focused single-leg and core strength work. All in all totalling an hour and getting a good sweaty workout. Now I’m wondering if I should lessen the gym visits – or at least condense them into something more efficient (i.e. no more cross-trainer and superfluous strength moves), and run a bit more.

This is dangerous territory.

Currently I do three or four gym sessions a week (one of those is either entirely steady state cardio on the rowing machine, or 30 minutes on the rowing machine and 30 minutes strength). I’m considering changing this to two full strength routines (hitting all the strength moves that I think are a priority to maintain injury-free running) and four running sessions. So dropping the rowing and making the strength training just about the strength.

But I don’t know if this is sensible. Running four times? I need my long run, I like parkrun for a short social speed session and I really like my hill session (not at the time mind you!) – do I need anything else in terms of running??

And if I run four times, where do I place my runs and gym visits? Here’s what I was considering:

Monday: Strength training
Tuesday: Recovery run/short hill session?
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Medium length tempo/hilly run?
Friday: Strength training
Saturday: parkrun
Sunday: Long run

As you can see the runs and strength training might not complement each other at all. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated – I’m just a bit confused right now. It doesn’t help having everyone around me suffering (enjoying?) marathon fever right now and talking about their training!

While we’re on the subject of running, I ran last night and it was a brilliant run. The weather is fantastic so the guns were out!

Pre-run selfie in the bathrooms because I’m weird

I didn’t fancy doing my usual 10k speedy hilly run as I felt an immense amount of pressure (from myself) to maintain my trend of running this same route consistently faster each week. I decided instead to do a longer run, but more of a relaxed tempo than an aggressive speedy run. I ran a one mile warm-up to get my legs going, then did the usual 10k route, then enjoyed a two mile cool down. Interestingly it didn’t feel like nine miles as I had split it up in my mind exactly as that: warm-up, 10k, cool down. It was a great longer hill run.

(7.38mins/mile average)

I removed my gloves on the second mile (my route loops back a lot because the amazingly beasty hill sits right next to my office) and threw them off the path. My faith in humanity was boosted when I finished the run and went back to retrieve them to find them still there.

To be fair though they don’t look like anything you’d want really

Annoyingly though I had slightly misjudged the distance and had to run a few loops round my office car park. Luckily most people had gone home…I say most. One man looked at me like I was mental as he headed to his car. I looked meaningfully at my watch a few times though to sort of demonstrate what I was doing (though this was probably lost on him…non-runner!).

Post-run selfie – feeling very happy

Annnnd my mind goes back to my training…Do I just run three times a week and make the third run a hilly longer run?? Keep my rowing??

Nothing like being a paranoid, insecure runner surrounded by other runners doing so many different things!

Any tips to give?

What do you think is important in marathon training?

What strength workouts do you do, if you do any?

April 8, 2015

Easter fun – part 2

Soo continuing on with my Easter weekend (catch up HERE for part 1).

After running 14 miles on the Sunday (and enjoying a very tasty smoothie) I zipped off to Winchester to meet up with a friend to have a mosey about the shops and have lunch (I suppose the theme of Easter for me really!). Not all the shops were open as it was Easter Sunday but it really didn’t matter as we just walked and walked chatting away – actually it was wonderfully quiet which is just brilliant for Winchester as it’s usually rammed. The weather was lovely and the scenery very pretty so it was rather pleasant!

When we stopped for air after chatting so much we realised it was probably a good idea to get some lunch (runger was attacking with a vengeance)! We stopped at CaféMonde which was surprisingly good as it looked quite small and non-descript from the outside. I went for a salad…surprise surprise! And not just any salad, but my favourite…the Caesar of course.

At first I was a bit disappointed as it wasn’t huge and from experience usually the main bits of a salad in restaurants are all on the top. However, on digging deeper there were just tons of olives, slices of parmesan and chicken, along with a boiled egg and pitta bread. This is up there with one of the best Caesar salads I’ve had in a while (and I’ve had a lot!). My friend had a crayfish and avocado salad which also looked very tasty. Very reasonably priced as well (around £7 for the salad and a drink).

We then did some more walking (and shopping). We also found Jane Austen’s house which I’ve never seen before, despite going to Winchester many times…

And we went on the hunt for cake of course. My friend chose a banoffee cheesecake slice to take home to share with her son, which I thought was immensely saintly and selfless of her – I however do not share cakes. I found the last slice of simnel cake in a little cafe and was over the moon because not only have I not had this cake before but because it was the last slice I got all the crumbs from the platter too!

It was pretty much like Christmas cake but without icing and perhaps not as dense. It was delicious! Big fat juicy bits of dried fruit, marzipan topping, moist sponge…oh it was delicious and I very much enjoyed gobbling this all as I sat watching Masterchef that evening at home.

At the end of the day I couldn’t believe how many steps I’d done! And my legs definitely felt it. I had that pleasant drained feeling of a very busy but good day.

This included a walk with Alfie when I got back from Winchester but I was truly shocked at how far I’d gone even knowing I’d run 14 miles. For the day of the Berlin marathon I ran/walked 55k steps!

And guess what I was doing Monday? More walking!! I met up with a bunch of friends to enjoy the Queen Elizabeth Country Park with Alfie. One of the couple’s brought their whippet, Willow, and I think Alfie felt a bit chunky alongside her 😉

Willow bounced along so daintily and was incredibly fast. Alfie was a little apprehensive (he’s a friendly but shy dog) and kept looking back to make sure I was there, bless him.

The walk was lovely – though tough at times for my friends who brought along their little baby boy in a pram. We all took turns to push the pram and I got nominated for the hilly sections because I “run lots”. I’ll accept that weird compliment I think!

The views were fantastic and the weather superb. I even took my coat off and walked in my T-shirt! I have every intention of going there again soon as it’s not far from me at all and Alfie loved it.And what a day for it! I even think I caught the sun! Beautiful 😀

Not as many steps as the day before (I think it was 25k which isn’t bad!) but Alfie was well and truly pooped. We settled down for the evening with The Imitation Game and though I really thought it was going to be dull and not my thing, I was hooked instantly. The acting was superb and the story was fascinating but tragic. It made me so angry about the way Alan Turing was treated, though I felt woefully ignorant to what had happened. I learnt about the Turing test during university when I studied psychology but knew nothing about his life. I also found out that Alan Turing achieved a 2:43 marathon time – how incredible is that?? Brains and speed!

Do you enjoy walking?

What’s your favourite salad?

If you have a pedometer, what’s the highest number of steps you’ve achieved in a day?

April 7, 2015

Easter fun – part 1

Happy Easter everyone! Hope you had an egg-cellent time (sorry, couldn’t resist). Mine was jam-packed, which was brilliant but means I don’t feel that rested for work!

I had Friday and Monday off of work, which I suppose is the norm but I know a lot of people still had to work (I would never work in retail for these reasons!). On Friday I popped to the gym in the morning to do my strength training, though thankfully not having to get up at 5am! I was there for the more reasonable time of 8am. Though this did mean it was far more busy than I’m used to. People all over the place!

Then after breakfast my mum popped over and we headed out, with Alfie, for a lovely walk in Queen Vitoria Country Park which is where my local parkrun is held. Though the weather was a bit grisly, it was nice to walk and chat. And Alfie just loves to walk straight through all those muddy puddles! Walking is helping my mum’s back and she’s trying to swim a bit more too but she’s still off of work and will hopefully have her MRI booked in soon 🙁

We dropped Alfie back off at home, de-wellied ourselves and headed out for lunch at Gunwharf Quays. But the traffic was dreadful. The queue to get to Portsmouth was just chock-a-block so we made the most sensible decision to come off at Port Solent instead and have lunch there. Obviously this meant Zippers (which I’ve been to a fair few times I must admit). Sadly there was no salad bar anymore! Apparently people weren’t fussed with it? This does not compute with me.

But I still got a very tasty chicken, avocado and bacon salad (with a side of chips…). I absolutely couldn’t resist their fantastic chocolate fudge cake either. I’ve had it every single time I’ve been there and it’s consistently amazing. I would go back to Zippers purely for that cake.

Saturday was finally my 50th parkrun! It’s been a long time coming as I’ve been going to parkrun for two years. I baked some double chocolate chip cookies (a very standard recipe, nothing crazy) and they actually turned out OK which is something for me as usually I’m a terrible baker.

I went down early as normal to help set up and as I stood waiting for the others to come I saw my dad pull up. He had said he might come down to watch (he loves supporting races and seeing me run, bless him, and he’s never been to a parkrun before so my 50th seemed an ideal one to watch) but I didn’t know for certain if he’d come. I’d told him to come for 8.30-45am if he was coming so I was quite surprised to see him so early. So I dragged him into setting-up as well. hHe didn’t mind and found it quite interesting.

He was my own personal photographer as well which was cool, as well as a brilliant cheerer.

Annoyingly I hadn’t charged my earphones and hadn’t realised till I got there so I had to run music-less. I wanted to push it and find without music it’s so much harder. Probably need to work on this I suppose as it’s such a mental crutch. Though it was nice to not have music for once and enjoy the atmosphere.I ran it in 21:14 which is slower by 10 seconds or so than last week but I felt strong so I’m happy with that! I feel like I’m being consistent which is good.

The rest of Saturday I spent with my mum again and Di, my mother-in-law. We went to Lymington for a mosey around some shops and lunch.

Lovely violinist setting the tone

There was a market which was cool but it was very busy. The weather was nice, it was Easter weekend…not surprising really! It was lovely to mooch around little independent shops and the market.

For lunch we stopped in a lovely little pub called The Hobler Inn.

I had a lamb kofta for my starter, followed by a mango Cajun chicken salad. Both were delicious and I’d really recommend this pub. It felt very food-focused and the staff were lovely.

Sunday morning was long run time again. This time 14 miles was on the plan and the wind was practically non-existent thank goodness as I was running along the beach again.

It was a good run; I felt comfortable and my legs felt strong (how long will this last??). 7:47mins/mile average.

The only annoying thing was that I got really bad stitch about four times during the run (probably nine miles onwards) and I had to stop a few seconds to try and get rid of it. I wasn’t running fast so I wasn’t sure what was wrong (though I had eaten a lot the night before in the shape of an Indian take-away…but this has never been a problem before?). Though it was annoying it was strangely a good thing because as it kept creeping back I worked out a way to get rid of it while running so didn’t have to stop anymore. I held myself up taller and took big breaths whenever I felt it starting. And it died away! So actually quite good to have happened during a training run to work out how to get rid of it.

After the run I blasted up a beasty smoothie at my parent’s house after showering.

This contained half a banana, loads of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, semi-skimmed milk, orange juice, the Superfood power (<– not an affiliate link!) and kale. Very tasty and it made two lots so my dad got a superfood boost as well.

Right this post is getting too long so I’ll leave it there for now and recap the rest in another post.

How was your Easter?

How do you motivate yourself to run fast?

What is your perfect pudding? Fairly boring but mine is probably a brownie/chocolate cake with ice cream. But if there’s no ice cream I won’t have it as it’s too rich and I don’t like cream!

April 2, 2015March 30, 2017

Jabra Sport Rox Ear Buds Review

I first heard about the Jabra ear bud range on the MarathonTalk podcast. I was instantly intrigued. They sounded amazing (especially the heart rate monitoring ones). So naturally I was over the moon to get to test out a pair from their range for a review. Sadly not the heart rate ones, but sport-focused ones nonetheless: the Jabra Sport Rox Wireless ones.

Perhaps I’m not a ‘proper’ runner because I like to listen to music during races or speedy training runs and podcasts during my long runs. For me the two go hand in hand. That’s not to say I can’t run if I’m not listening to something as I often do races where ear phones are not allowed or sometimes just fancy a run where I just hear the world around me. It’s just I prefer to have something going on. In hard races it can take the pain away, when I’m de-motivated a good song can power me back up again, and on long runs I can get lost in a funny anecdote and I’m entertained.

They come in a very nifty, minimalistic little box

In the pack you get the ear buds (obviously), an instruction manual, a charging cable, an armband for your mp3 device of choice, and several choices for the actual buds (“ear gels”) that go into your ear and ‘wings’ that help with stability of the buds.

I won’t lie, it took me a good while to work out which buds fitted my ears best. When I thought I had it figured out one fell out just as I started to run, which was frustrating. What I will say is take your time when choosing and working out what works best. One of my ears is clearly different to the other so required a different ‘setting’ and the wings took a bit of fiddling with to see out how they worked. There’s a video online you can watch which is referenced in the instruction manual. It’s funny because when I read that before I had attempted wearing them I laughed and thought “who the hell needs help with putting in ear phones??”…yes that would be me it turned out.

But when you have the correct fit, those bad boys aren’t going anywhere. I’ve run in them for fast 5k parkruns and steady long miles over an hour and a half long. I forget they’re there.

The short cable just sits nicely behind your head

What’s very handy is they’re Bluetooth so they connect wirelessly to your device, in my case my iPhone. It is very easy to connect (take it from me, a technologically challenged individual). The short cable just sits behind your head nicely (there’s a little grip thing that can shorten the length of the cable to keep things tidy and stops cable flapping).

On the cable there’s a handy control where you can increase/decrease volume, skip songs and even answer phone calls. This is so much easier for me than faffing about with my iPhone in it’s armband when I’m running!

Handily as well the two ear buds are magnetic so if you want to take them out and let them hang round your neck, they’ll connect together creating a loop. This also pauses the music! I always rip my ear phones out as soon as I finish parkrun so this is great.

Charging the earphones is very easy as you just connect one of the ear buds to charging cable and then connect that to a USB port, like you PC or a corresponding plug.

My PC is resting on my make-shift standing desk

They’re built with solid steel and are waterproof (apparently built to US Military rain, shock, sand, and dust standards!), which was fairly handy for my windy and wet 13 miler last Sunday. The sound quality is brilliant. Very clear and immersive. My only sadness is that to enhance the sound quality with Dolby you must install the Jabra app (this is fine, it’s very easy and comes with the product so it’s free). But this will only work with music on your phone/device, not music you’re streaming. I use Spotify for my music and it doesn’t support this 🙁 That being said, I actually didn’t realise this until recently and I honestly think the quality is fabulous without the app anyway.

Thoughts? I love them. The ease of wearing them and not having a long cable flying about my arms and body is such a relief. Not having to faff with my phone to skip a song or pause is also brilliant. The quality is great and though I had a few bumps wearing them at the start, they now they fit like a glove (in my ear? Weird).

On the website (find them HERE) they cost £129. Yes that’s expensive but it’s an investment in a good, durable product. For me as a runner who loves music and podcasts (and not just running, walking and going to the gym – especially on the rower!!), these are perfect.

Now I’m just desperate to try the Sport Pulse Wireless earbuds… heart rate monitoring without a horrible strap!!! I mean these guys are good!

Do you listen to music when you workout?

Have you ever tried wireless earphones?

Gadget junkies, if you had to run without a watch or music what would you choose?

***Full Disclosure: I was sent the Jabra ear buds for free to review. All opinions are my own honest ones.***