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

August 21, 2013August 21, 2013

Cheddar Gorge Half Marathon

Hi guys! Sooo on Sunday I ~~completed~~ survived the Cheddar Gorge half marathon. And I’m not tooting my own horn here when I say it was no small feat!

The day began very early, showering (ha, what was the point in that!) and having a good breakfast at 6.30am. My dad was supposed to come with Ben and me and support while my mum stayed at home with their dogs and Alfie as it would have been unfair to have left them on their own in the house another day (after Saturday’s BBQ). But my dad was really ill in the night and couldn’t make it so my mum came instead. My dad was devastated. I always joke that he’s my ‘soccer mom’ as he’s always encouraging me and giving me pep talks before races so it was a real shame.

Anyway we drove the two hours towards Somerset (grabbed a coffee en route – necessity!) and arrived with an hour to spare. Perfect!

It had rained a fair bit on the journey up and but it had stopped by the time we arrived and I started feeling excited!

We got ourselves together with our hydration belt (for me) and Camelbak (for Ben). Panic struck when I realised my gel had burst a bit in my bag. Very sticky. Gross. But luckily not too much of it had leaked to make a significant difference. It just meant I had to carry it running rather than keep it in my belt.

Look what we found!! This made me think of Claire as she’s always showing photos of Gromits from around Bristol and London.

Then we got our bibs and made the long journey up to the start. We left my mum (bless her wearing her flip flops) and she went off to have a mosey around the shops to come back later to where we would be finishing. Basically there was no ideal point to spectate!

We could tell as we saw the other runners that this was a different style of race. The runners did not look like your stereotypical road runners. They were hardy looking men and women ready for a challenge. It felt very relaxed which was great.

Ideal to be walking behind the first aid guys!!

We were sweating before we’d even begun!!

And we finally made it to the start.

Here are the elevation changes throughout the course:

Mile one: It began really really tough. A lot of up hill running. We ran through about four fields so there was a lot of jumping over stiles. My game plan had been to stay around 9 minutes a mile. I looked at my watch during the first half a mile and I was doing 10 minutes and struggling.

Mile two: It levelled out, there was a nice downhill section which was refreshing after the climb. Then some rocky bits to climb over and slide down which was good fun.

Mile three: This involved more running uphill across a big field. There was absolutely no point in trying to be speedy. Then we ran through a lovely bog soaking my trainers…good stuff.

Mile four: Still climbing. There weren’t a huge number of runners at all. There was maybe three guys I could see directly in front of me (obviously more further ahead!) and a few behind. I saw up ahead that two of the runners were coming to a stop and looked confused as to where they were going and a bunch of hikers pointed the way. It was that kind of race! There were ribbons on trees and marks on the floor but it was dodgy at times! I caught up with a guy and we started chatting which was really nice. It was his first off-road half marathon as well so it was nice to be in good company!

Best bit was passing a couple of marshals and them shouting “here’s the first lady!” What a boost! The guy in front of me did a bow pretending it was him, which was funny.

Mile five: What a dream! I zoomed downhill. I kept a great routine of doing teeny tiny footsteps and landing on the front of my foot to let gravity basically push me forward. I gained back quite a bit of energy doing this as it didn’t take as much to run it. Though obviously I had to be careful not to fall!!

Mile six: I took my gel, thankful to stop carrying it (putting the now less sticky rubbish in my belt of course!). I managed to get lost off the route by mindlessly following two guys. We ended up going through a very constricted path amongst brambles then realising it really didn’t feel right and backtracked to the correct path.

Mile seven: Oh man this was tough – one of the hardest parts. Serious uphill. I couldn’t run it. It was just impossible. My thighs were burning. The guys around me walked it too so I didn’t feel so bad.

Mile eight to mile 11: Can’t remember much apart from really loving it at this point. No more uphill’s for a bit and I felt like I was zipping along nicely gaining back some speed. My music was being annoying as I was using Spotify and it kept losing signal but when it did burst into life in my ear (half scaring the hell out of me) it was excellent. Otherwise the atmosphere of the race was great too. I’m quite glad I had the best of both worlds to be honest.

Mile 11: Oh mile 11. You ruined my fun. Suddenly in front of me were these steps of doom. huge steep steps we had to get up and it went on and on for what seemed like forever.

Mile 12: After finishing the steps I was flying again. Some fellow racers let me pass them which was nice and one even said “I want her shoes!”. Lots of downhill’s which I took at break-neck speed which I now cringe at thinking back to. All heading downhill to the town where we got some actual road running for a few seconds!

My mum was there with her camera and snapped a photo.

The final bit of the race was a short but very steep uphill. Then done!

Hurrah!

Crazy paces! My official time was 1:58:42. My Garmin stopped several times during the run because of my walking breaks – clearly it was unimpressed with my lack of hill climbing ability and gave up on me. I also came first girl and 20th overall out of 157 runners.

After finding my mum afterwards, I promptly collapsed onto the grass with some water and we waited for Ben.

Ben finished in 2:52:34. I was so worried he hadn’t enjoyed it because of his unfortunate lack of preparation but he was smiling and looking strong at the end. I was very proud!

Nope that’s not a lovely tan; that is just dirt

I’ll spare you the raw details but then commenced the Great Baby Wipe and Change of Clothes Adventure in the car park. We’re classy like that

And then we headed out to find FOOD (this was 3pm!) We found a lovely little pub and walked in praying they were still serving, which they were, hurrah! I hurriedly told the barmaid that we had just finished a race and didn’t always look so bedraggled! She laughed and said she’d seen worse haha.

Code of conduct for post race: always wear your medal. You feel like Mr T.

I had a butternut squash and feta salad to start (delicious but I was so hungry I really wanted to just get to the main!) and then for the main I had a delicious home-made beef burger with chips and tomato relish. Ohhhhh it was heaven. Alongside I had a cup of tea.

I inhaled everything. Those chips didn’t stand a chance.

I thoroughly recommend this race. I loved it. So much variation in the course, such good camaraderie from the fellow racers and the marshals were excellent. Definitely one for next year!

What’s your kind of race? Do you prefer the regular road race, or something a bit more crazy and off-road? I just know my next race is going to seem a bit dull in comparison now?

What’s your favourite running surface? Treadmill, road, gravel, grass, sand (you crazy!)…

Do you run with music or not? I get a boost from music and it helps me not get bored. Sometimes I like my own thoughts for 13.1 miles I get bored of myself.

August 19, 2013

What a weekend!

Hi guys! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty much a whirlwind. One of the best weekends in a while I think.

Ohhh before I start with the weekend: MY MUG HAS RETURNED!!!

Apparently it had been taken down to the canteen downstairs. My poster worked

Anyway…

Saturday morning Ben and me woke up late (whoops) for Parkrun and had to mad dash around the place to get ourselves together. I like to arrive at least 30 minutes before so I can relax a bit as I get so nervous and stressed before races. Even though Parkruns aren’t really ‘proper’ races as they’re so informal and just a bit of fun.

Anyway we got there and made it to the start. I didn’t really know how I was going to run but I did want to try as I’m not going to be back at our local Parkrun for a couple of weeks now. As soon as I started running I felt strong and happy. What was brilliant was that there was a bunch of guys who were running the same speed and I kept with them so it really helped.

With 5ks I just like to give it my all and hold on for as long as I can. Not sure if that’s a great strategy as the last lap is always so tough. My running club friend was right behind me as well which helped push me on but she managed to sail past me breezily on the last stretch. She obviously has a great strategy of keeping something in the bag because she looked very fresh as she zoomed past me hehe.

Amazingly I beat last week’s PB by about 5 seconds. I think I’m going to plateau soon because it just gets too hard now.

Then we zoomed home and got ready to go to my work’s summer BBQ. I was the designated driver as I rarely drink and I wasn’t going to drink the day before the half marathon anyway. My parents came with us too (my dad works in the company as well).

It looked a bit gloomy and like it was about to rain when we got there but it didn’t really matter as they had a huge marquee in the garden.

The marquee is that white tent on the side of the photos

There was mini golf, giant Jenga, a beer tent, a tent for other alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, a puppeteer, a face painter (more on that in a bit!) and a beautifully huge garden.

Oh and even very posh temporary loos! Of course I took a sneaky photo in the interior of the toilets as I was so impressed.

And there was a bouncy castle. *Sighs* I love my father. I really do. But seriously.

Within five minutes of arriving he was on that bouncy castle. I feared for his life

I stuck to sparkling water (which I really love – anyone else with me on that?) and just milled around enjoying myself.

I enjoyed a lovely plateful of BBQ food when food was served.

Burger, kebabs, a sausage (I’ve found I quite like actual sausages – since having turkey sausages things have changed!), rustic-flavoured bread, corn on the cob and salad. And maybe another cheeky burger and sausage afterwards…

So good. Always a good spread as these things!

Ben enjoyed himself too and was (in my opinion) daring and had a few glasses of wine! His mentality was that he hadn’t really done the training, had been in Germany for the week on business, had just come back from an injury…so why the hell not! If the odds were against him he might as well enjoy it haha.

Then pudding. Oh pudding.

Honestly I just did not know what to have. So I had one of everything.

Totally joking! Wish I could have, haha. No I was sensible and stuck very diligently to two puddings only. Believe me when I say I was enormously tempted to go back for more.

There was a conversation like this between Ben and me:

Me: “But surely a cupcake doesn’t count, right?”

Ben: “Anna, you told me to stop you from having more than two puddings. Don’t do it.”

Me: “Yeah…I don’t think I was being sincere though.”

Ben: “You’ll regret it for 13.1 miles tomorrow.”

Me: “Fair point.”

So I stuck with a slice (should I say slab?) of Victoria sponge and a brownie *grumble grumble*. No in all honesty it was perfect and in the evening I was thankful that I hadn’t eaten a buffet of cakes (which, let’s be honest, was a real possibility).

Obviously we had to get a bit of face paint action.

And of course so did my dad…

He had ‘LFC’ on his cheek…*sighs* Liverpool Football Club. Bless him. He kept checking his phone all the time watching the score of the match while we were at the BBQ as well!

Even the rain didn’t dampen our spirits. It was a great day!

When Ben and I got home we really didn’t fancy anything to eat which was annoying. So we had some crisps and snacky things and left it like that. Ideally I wanted to have a proper meal before the race the next day.

And then the half marathon on Sunday…well, I will continue this in my next post as it might be a bit lengthy otherwise and I want to do it justice. Though I will say that it was one of my favourite races of the year. It was epic! And we both survived

How was your weekend?

What is your best pre-race meal the night before? Usually it’s a pizza without cheese (so it’s less heavy and I’m not a bit fan of regular cheesy pizzas – unless it’s goat’s cheese of course).

Did you ever used to get your face painted? It brought back so many memories of when I was little!

August 16, 2013August 16, 2013

Preparation

I am on a high today! I had a truly brilliant run last night. I ran with the running club and there were only five of us in the faster group and this speedy girl and me were on fire leading the pack. I couldn’t believe it when I checked out my Garmin as we got into the run and just how good it felt.

I felt like it was at least a minute slower than we were going. We did stop a few times so the slightly slower part of our group could catch up so I guess it was like long interval running. Mile 4 and 5 did not feel that fast!!

My only worry now is that I rinsed my energy for Sunday. But you know what? I don’t even mind. Last night felt so good and I know Cheddar Gorge is going to be tough regardless. And seriously, I am not aiming for a PB. It’ll kill me!! I’m thinking at least 20 minutes slower, which I am perfectly happy about. No pressures, just enjoying the views and the challenge. It’s almost a relief this half marathon has a ridiculous course because all time pressures are gone.

After I got in, showered, put my compression socks on (my calves were so achy) and made dinner it was like 9.30pm! I had to leave my compression socks on when I went to bed to maximise the effect.

Yep I get that look from Alfie quite frequently…He seems bewildered by my sudden love for long socks in bed. I’m the girl who has to poke my feet out of the duvet as I get so hot! I woke up in the middle of the night and had to peel them off half asleep as my feet got soo hot.

I also tested out my new hydration belt to see how well it worked and if it would be OK for Sunday.

I did want the Nathan Speed 2 belt but it wasn’t going to be dispatched until September and I couldn’t find the right size anywhere else…so I settled for the iFitness belt. The two bottles can contain roughly 170ml (6oz) of water each. Not a huge amount but just enough to not be weighty as I run. There’s also a zip up poach to fit a phone and gels in. And it has clips for a race bib. Perfect.

Post-run feeling a bit sweaty…

It rode up slightly as I set out but after I got it into a good position it worked like a dream. It didn’t annoy me, get in my way, leak or bounce. Very comfortable. Thumbs up.

So this weekend is going to be crazy busy. Saturday morning Ben and me are planning on going to Parkrun for a ‘shakeout run’. Nothing crazy.

Then shower and have breakfast to then leave for my work’s annual summer BBQ (at the boss’s ~~mansion~~ house, ooh err). I can’t believe it’s a year since the last one!! Now my aim for that BBQ is to be sensible with what I eat.

Let me put this into perspective, last year I ate three and a half puddings. and we’re not talking mini puddings here. There was a slice of Victoria sponge…a brownie…a scone…and half of something else which I can’t remember…I obviously didn’t like it too much as I only ate half

Oh man, I even found a photo documenting the evidence ^^… that was clearly round one of the puddings.

Anyway, my plan is to enjoy the food on offer (particularly the carbs!) and not go crazy on the sweet stuff. Obviously I won’t turn down pudding entirely but I will be sensible and stick to ~~three~~ ~~two~~ ~~two~~ ~~two~~ one.

The BBQ will go on until 5, so then we’ll get back and just chill and have a light dinner (I imagine we’ll only manage a light dinner after the BBQ! But I don’t want to have nothing). Then up early to go-go-go to Cheddar Gorge, which will take around 2 hours.

No time to chill this weekend! Ho hum.

All preparations have been made beforehand so I don’t get too stressed on Saturday…the list of stuff I need to remember:

Water with electrolyte tablets
Gels
Hydration belt
Hat
Suntan lotion
Chafing stuff
Safety pins
Headphones

And my playlist has been created:

I have quite an eclectic music taste I guess. I wanted music to ‘pump me up’ and keep pushing me, but also not be too pounding in my ears as 13 miles is quite a long way to go! I’m loving Half Moon Run at the moment and Bastille. And I’m a huge Mumford and Sons fan (can you tell?). But can’t go wrong with a little bit of Kanye as well

I much prefer running with music when I’m racing as it stops me from thinking “man this hurts” or dwelling on speed and pace. I can just sort of ‘connect’ with my running. But not all races let you where headphones (safety shmafety! ). But this one is off-road so no issues! Hurrah.

So now all is left to do is run. Wish me luck!

What are you doing this weekend?

What’s your next race or event you’re planning for?

What’s on your workout playlist?

August 14, 2013August 14, 2013

Enjoying my food

You know my feelings about cake. It’s my weakness. It’s my kryptonite. My heart’s desire and my biggest nemesis.

This bad boy was brought in to work yesterday (a present from a wife for her husband’s birthday):

Sonic the Hedgehog never looked more appealing. The guy is a software developer…so it kinda makes sense. Best wife ever? Seriously, husband, take note.

But I’ll come back to that cake shortly. First off let’s get started with WIAW and the ~~boring~~ other food I ate.

Thanks, Jenn!

I find some days are good days and some days are bad days when it comes to food. I use the word ‘bad’ lightly here because I’m a true believer that no food (or drink) is inherently bad. Oh sure, living on chicken nuggets and milkshake every day isn’t going to do your body any favours and will make you feel pretty rubbish eventually. But once in a while it can’t hurt! Newspapers love to scare us into submission, like pushing the idea that one sniff of a sausage will cause an immediate cancer epidemic. Whatever sells the papers…But in reality, I truly believe no food when eaten in moderation can cause our body’s irreversible damage.

That being sad, I like eating healthy, fresh food. Lots of vegetables, lots of fruit, meat, slow-releasing carbs…for me it’s not something I have to consciously work on because it’s second-nature to me.

This was dinner the other evening: smoked mackerel on a bed of lots of veggies, salad, slices of nectarine and sundried tomatoes

That’s not to say I’m the golden girl of nutrition. Far from it. I love me some sugar. Chocolate, sweets, ice cream… and of course cake.

My best intentions to try and have a day where I eat really well (i.e. avoid the copious amounts of biscuits and cookies at work and don’t consume too much chocolate in the evening) fell very short yesterday. I mean how could they not when you see such a beauty!

I ate a caramel flavoured slice from the top tier and a chocolate fudge slice from the bottom tier. And promptly felt quite sick.

Afterwards I needed to lie down in the foetal position for a while to recover.

But these things happen. Life happens. I’m not going to turn down an offering of a slice of Sonic the Hedgehog cake! I’d regret not trying it more than feeling a bit sick and a bit guilty after.

Like I said, cake is my nemesis…and it was damn good.

I’d also like to point out I wasn’t the only one who had two slices. There was a minority that I was joyfully part of…

Back to ‘proper’ food (i..e not just based entirely on sugar and food colouring haha)…one of my new favourite meals that I could literally eat every single day is this:

Three turkey sausages, broad beans (or other vegetable, I’m not fussy) and cauliflower mash with goat’s cheese. Hold the boat. This was delicious. I’ve had turkey sausages in the freezer for a while now but was inspired to do this meal by the lovely Laura.

The trick to this is to add a good amount of goat’s cheese to the cauliflower to really get the flavour zinging. Yes I said zinging.

Other than these meals, I’ve still been eating my usual stuff; loving the stir-fries and salads!

So basically my motto is, eat healthily but enjoy the good stuff too. Usually I try and ‘be good’ in the week so that I can relax at the weekend with a nice slice of cake in the evening, or a meal out with all the trimmings. But as you can see, this doesn’t always work out that way! But I won’t beat myself up about it because life is too short.

I will say though that I don’t think two slices of cake helped with running club in the evening. I felt very sluggish and a bit sick!! Ho hum.

Now I’m going to have a rant. A while ago I mentioned how annoyed I was getting with people using my mug. My lovely large mug, perfect for a good cup of coffee in the morning and a present from my mum. Yes I did leave it in the communal kitchen and no it did not have my name on it so my complaining was hardly that justified. I secretly glared at anyone I caught using it though.

It’s gone. It’s completely missing. I haven’t seen it in ages. I’m despairing. So I did what any sane, non-obsessed, normal person would do in a time like this. I created a poster and put it in the kitchen for all to see.

That picture is genuinely a photo of my mug. Ironic, I know.

Well, I’m in a state of mourning now as it’s been a week and all I’ve got are some sympathetic comments and strange looks. RIP mug.

I have lost a mug and possibly gained the title of “Weird Mug Girl”.

Happy Wednesday!

Have you lost something recently? I wouldn’t mind but, damn, that was a good sized mug.

What are you hopeless at resisting? It doesn’t have to be food. I’m also very and when it comes to anything running-related…what’s that? A new electrolyte drink that people are raving about? Let’s get five.

What’s your view on healthy eating and treats?

August 12, 2013

Good times all round!

Hey guys! How are you doing? The weekend has gone and we’re back to it.

All last week my fitness-related aim was: beat last week’s Parkrun time. I needed some validation that what I was doing was going to pay off. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve found that I’m really loving spinning twice a week, and I always feel such an accomplishment after the interval session I do with my club on a Tuesday night…but they’re painful sessions. I feel like I’ve been through the mill after them! But it’s all about balance for me at the moment and focused training to keep improving without getting injured again.

I’m still doing body pump once a week and every other day I’m doing my stretches and foam rolling. And, well, everything seems to be going quite nicely! I smashed my Parkrun time by 25 seconds from last week’s time which I am over the moon about.

I have absolutely no game plans when it comes to 5ks. For me it’s just go as hard as can for as long as you can. There’s a sneaky hill which we have to do three times and it’s tough to not let the pace drop but I blasted on the downhill to make up for it. I placed second lady so I was very pleased indeed.

The rest of Saturday was getting the jobs done around the house and then chilling. My dad was over once again to watch the football with Ben in the afternoon so I got myself nice and comfy with a magazine, the iPad (with the World Championship athletics playing) and watermelon. Ahh perfect.

I’m reading the Empire magazine, I do love my movie reviews…

I might have also indulged in a slice of cake in the evening while we watched some Friends… I do love Saturdays!

Sunday morning I had planned either a 10 mile run or a 12 mile run. I was going to decide how I felt as the run went on. And from the get-go it felt like a great run. I had Marathon Talk on my iPhone (can’t recommend this podcast enough to runner-lovers out there) and it was raining on and off. Made a lovely change from the heat.

So I made it 12 miles and just really enjoyed it. One of those runs you kind of relax into. The miles flew by. I decided to pick up the pace towards the end just to challenge myself a bit as well. Now fingers crossed next Sunday’s half marathon goes that way! I’m thinking that’s unlikely considering the hills…(“super challenging terrain” says the description. Oh joy).

Despite the rain in the morning, it cleared up beautifully to be a lovely sunny day. Alfie and me went for a nice gentle walk after lunch.

We’re so lucky to live within a five minute’s walk from these lovely trails. Though considering Britain’s usual weather we don’t get to utilise them as much as we’d like

So this week has been great for my workouts. One of my best in a while.

Monday: Spinning

Tuesday: Interval session with running club (2 miles warm up, intervals, 2 miles cool down; total 7 miles)

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Trail run with running club (9 miles total)

Friday: Spinning

Saturday: Parkrun (5k)

Sunday: Glorious 12 miles and body pump

Amongst this, as I said, lots of pre-run stretches, post-run stretches, foam rolling and my strengthening stretches. I’m like a stretching machine. And it really isn’t that much hassle. I used to be so blasé about the whole warm-up and warm-downs, but now I’m like the golden girl of following running best practice. I’m boring myself talking about this sorry!

Hope you all have a lovely week

What has been your favourite workout this week? Mine was my long run. PBs and great speeds come and go, but that mental peace you get from a slower, longer run is just incomparable to anything else I find.

Do you have a dog? Or enjoy going for walks? Like my long runs, I enjoy just popping a podcast on and taking Alfie for a lovely walk to just chill out.

What magazines do you love to read? Empire magazine, BBC Good Food or Runnersworld are my favourite!