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

June 26, 2013

Cake and Recovery

Whew, I feel so much more human after getting some good night’s sleep for the past couple of days.

Honestly, the weekend adventures hugely took it out of me. And, this is going to sound CRAZY coming from me, but I have decided to not jump straight back in to running. My body is literally exhausted. I haven’t done cycling in years so to suddenly jump on a bike and cycle up a ~~mountain~~ large hill is quite a shock to my system. I’m happy to say my previous injury from the other week seems to have disappeared. However I now have a new twinge in the back of my knee but it doesn’t feel that serious. But ice, rest and cake should make things all better.

As annoying as it is, I’m going to take a break from running this week and try using the elliptical machine at work instead. I think I really need to just take some time to allow my leg to fully heal. The Challenge really didn’t help things just after getting better last week. I hate the elliptical but I think I need to do something to stop myself from going mad.

My next race is a 10 mile trail race through the New Forest (beautiful forest in the South of England) on 14th July so I’m hoping this break will be good enough to be better before then.

So speaking of cake…it was my birthday last week and I didn’t really get a chance to go into much detail about how I celebrated. Well I didn’t to be honest. I had the UK Challenge the next day and that went on until Sunday so celebrations were limited. But my amazing mother brought round cake in the evening. People, there is always time for cake.

How pretty is this cake?? It’s gorgeous! My mum isn’t a great baker. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her bake. Ever. I could controversially say I’ve never seen her cook…but I don’t want to incur the wrath of the mothership (love you, Mumsie!!)

But, despite not being Nigella Lawson, my mum knows how to SHOP. And she did good on picking this beauty out. A Waitrose special cake (for those non-UK-based, Waitrose is like the queen of all supermarkets. Maybe just one below M&S Food).

However, the decorative butterflies could not be eaten we quickly found. Very disappointing and slightly nasty to chew. But otherwise, a very tasty jam and buttercream birthday cake sponge.

At work I was also give some very beautiful flowers from my lovely co-workers.

So I felt very spoilt despite having a mid-week birthday with no weekend celebration!

And in the morning (I’m working my way backwards through the day here for some reason…) my husband, Ben, decided to send me on a bit of a treasure hunt around the house. He had printed out lots of different pictures of my favourite clothes shops and running gear shops and restaurants (and hid them all about the place with clues to direct me to them). I could pick and choose what I wanted in terms of spending some money to get some clothes and going somewhere to have a nice meal. There were also little pictures of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and our favourite Indian restaurant so that’s on the horizon too hehe. So lots all my favourite things to look forward to!

From my parents they gave me a Lululemon workout top. SO chuffed. I’ve seen this top all over the Internet I loved the design.

Not sure how much I’ll get to wear this year round due to the weather though! Best get wearing it soon

From my mother-in-law she bought me a Lumie Bodyclock Starter Alarm Clock.

Not hugely necessary at the moment as it’s so light in the morning…but in the winter this will mimic the light of a sunrise and will, supposedly, gradually wake me up just before my alarm. I love being woken up my sunlight in the morning at the moment so this will be great (hopefully!) in the winter when it doesn’t get light until like ~~ever~~ 9ish.

On to some food-related news…stir-fries are back in the game again. Anything where more than half the meal is veg is a winner for me. I’m not sure it even warrants a recipe (basically throw together a load of veg, noodles, chicken and a handful of cashew nuts). But I did make my own sauce and that was pretty tasty.

Lemon Stir-Fry Sauce (serves 2)

2/3 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. flour/corn starch (to thicken it)

So easy, so tasty.

Psst! I’ve got some exciting news which I will divulge soon in my next post!

What’s your favourite stir-fry sauce? I love lemon, but I quite like black bean as well.

What do you like getting for your birthday? I’m not great with surprises so I usually ask for things I’ve seen previously. From Ben I just said surprise me and I was so chuffed he put so much effort into the treasure hunt and in the end letting me choose what I wanted from a predefined list (which he knew I’d love haha).

Do you like being woken up early by the sun? Though it means I can’t sleep in at the weekend I love having the whole day ahead of me and feeling all refreshed.

June 24, 2013

UK Challenge

Hi guys. Apologies for being MIA for a while. I’ve been running round lost in Dartmoor (a very hilly and beautiful place in the UK) on a three-day team building event with work. Let me tell you, I am shattered. Possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever done physically.

It’s called the UK Challenge and 50 teams took part. My company just had one team of six (me and five guys). We left on Thursday morning and got to Exeter university where everyone was based for the challenge at lunch time. We stayed in the halls of residence (I felt like a student again!). We were then assigned our very cool (*cough* not) outfits.

We had to wear these the whole time on every challenge

The challenges were events where you had to run about (or cycle or canoe) and solve different puzzles within certain times. It sounds fairly easy saying it like that but honestly the puzzles were a nightmare and the physical elements of it were TOUGH.

For example, for one of the challenges you had to run 5km (with pit stops in between to solve puzzles) to then get on your bike and cycle 5km (with puzzle stops) and then run 2km to finish. But this is Dartmoor, and we were basically running up mountains (or so it felt like).

Sometimes the hills became so tough we had to get off our bikes and push them as it was just impossible otherwise.

Doing one challenge would have been tough but fine. But there were multiple a day. It started late Thursday night with our first challenge. Running around collecting picture fragments to make up an entire picture.

The first night was very misty

At the start one team member had to sprint to get an envelope which contained the map we needed

You had to stay in pairs and run around together picking up clues. It was good fun running around trails with our head torches on. So after two hours of running around we got to bed at 1am, only for the next day to be at breakfast for 6am and then the next challenge at 9am.

This involved canoeing and another run around.

We had to canoe over the lake to get to the point to start running

Four of the team had to canoe across the lake, than two of us ran off to collect things while the other two had to canoe around the lake to collect other things. Then meet again to canoe back.

Then after that we had a packed lunch of sandwiches which we inhaled quickly. Then it was off to the next challenge… A running and biking challenge lasting three hours. We had to run around to collected certain things, to then cycle off through trails and up and down hills to collect more to then get back and run to the finish. The challenges were quite complicated if I’m honest and I didn’t always know what the hell we were doing haha. There were maps and compasses involved…my navigation skills are severely lacking!!

Honestly, I have never felt so absolutely drained in my life. It wasn’t so much the muscle pains or the aching; it just felt like I had nothing left inside to give. We got to one hill and I almost wanted to cry. I had to stop and push my bike. My team mates were great and kept me going but I honestly felt the ‘wall’ looming. But something takes over you when you’re in a team and all I could keep thinking was “I can’t let me team down”. I dug deeper than I think I ever have (I know this sounds really cheesy but it was honestly like that).

And you wouldn’t believe it but then there was a third challenge starting at 10pm. This involved lots of running through all these mud tracks for three hours. Luckily I was the substitute for this task and basically struggled to not fall asleep in the van while I waited because I might need to be subbed in (I was in the end, for the last 15mins).

Then it started all over again on Saturday (the last day). Again I was substitute for the first task as it was a construction/engineering style task that I honestly would have been rubbish at.

And then after lunch was the last challenge (the 5km run and 5km bike ride). Like I said above, this was just ridiculously tough. But we did it. We pulled through as a team and finished. It felt so good to cross the finish line.

I loved every minute of it. It was tough as hell and it really tested you but it was great. As a team we worked well and helped each other through.

For breakfast and dinner we ate in the university where the food wasn’t brilliant but honestly you ate to SURVIVE. This was no time to be fussy. I piled my plate high I tell you. You needed all the energy you could get!!

Yep that is spaghetti Bolognese

If you read this blog regularly you will probably know I hate pasta. But I ate it. There’s no messing about here. You’ve got to make do! Each night I ate like a horse. I was famished and easily polished off every meal. Breakfast there unfortunately wasn’t porridge, but I still ate a good amount of bacon, eggs, toast and beans to keep me going. Lunch were sandwiches and I made sure to also eat a big handful of my fruit and nut mix and a banana to keep me going. And we all had the camelback style water packs with us at all time to ensure we had enough water.

Would I do it again? Most definitely!!

It really pushed me to my limit but also showed me how much I can push myself.

Needless to say I slept a good 10 hours last night. I was dead on my feet when I got home!!

Would you do something like the UK Challenge if you could?

Have you ever felt like you’ve been pushed to you limit? How did you cope?

What did you get up to this weekend?

June 19, 2013

It’s My Birthday!

It’s my birthday! I’ve turned the ripe old age of 25 today. I can now be rounded up to 30. I’m half-way to 50. I’m a quarter of a century old. In my head I’m still 19 though I don’t feel like I should be an adult yet. Do you remember when you were younger and your twenties seemed like the age when you became an Adult. Responsible. Old. Confident. You knew what you were doing.

Hmmm. I’m not quite sure I’m there yet!

Well anyway I’m one year older and I’d like to think one year wiser (ha!). Though I do feel more confident in myself and where my life is going. I’m head of heels in love with my husband, we’re enjoying our life in our little home and I feel happy with where my career is going. So not bad!

And in a nice coincidence it’s What I Ate Wednesday (thanks, Jenn).

Here’s a mix of today’s breakfast and lunch from yesterday and dinner and snacks from the weekend (random I know, but more interesting this way…believe me).

Birthday breakfast: oatmeal…seriously what else would I be eating on my birthday!

This morning Ben had set up a treasure hunt for my presents so I was running all over the house to get my gifts. We decided to do a surprise this year so I had no idea what I was getting. The boy did good though!

For Lunch I went crazy and had something different. Mainly because I was running late and had forgotten to make my lunch the night before but hey ho.

Chicken salad with beetroot that I had from home. With this I also had popcorn and fruit with Greek yogurt (I had just enough time to get those in order – and seriously, I’ll be late for popcorn ). My office is used to the smell of popcorn now…but unfortunately I’m moving into another room as I’m changing teams and so I’ll have to explain my popcorn obsession again to a whole different set of people…

Dinner: on Sunday after the 10k race we had roast chicken.

So, so good. I love the smell of the house as it’s cooking away. So homey.

With this I had roasted butternut squash, Brussels sprouts and watercress (but of course) that we got from the race. And I went back for seconds of the chicken (in fact I’m pretty sure I had a breast, a thigh & a drumstick). It was so good. I obviously had a big dollop of BBQ sauce by the side as well…

Snacks: on Sunday I carved up the beast of a watermelon we had. I can eat a never-ending amount of watermelon. I’ll get full and then 5 minutes later I’m ready for more. It must be the water content. Great for after the race to rehydrate!

Happily I found Ben hates watermelon, which meant more for me!

Running: my running is almost back on form. I ran 4.5miles on Tuesday morning and my leg still didn’t feel completely better. Not painful, just discomfort and it felt like it was holding me back. But I’m continuing to stretch and ice it.

Today’s run (because I have to run on my birthday!) was better but towards the end it became tough. And stretching afterwards felt amazing.

I’m also loving the below yoga moves for helping get back into good shape (read: avoid injuries):

One-legged pigeon pose

Source

This is great for stretching out tight hips and the muscles right near the bum!

Ardha-Matsyendrasana

Source

Good for hips (again), spine, abs and bum, while also stretching outer thigh, back, chest and shoulder. Nice.

Janushirasana

Source

Good circulation stimulator.

Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Janushirasana

Source

Stretches the hamstrings.

So I’m giving those stretches a go when I can and though I’m definitely not looking as good as the pictures in terms of form and position, it does feel good and I swear each time I do them it feels a teeny bit easier (probably psychological…) Seriously though, what kind of names are they!!

Unfortunately this weekend I can’t celebrate my birthday as I’m off tomorrow on a team building event with work. A crazy orienteering/mountain biking/puzzle solving/running around getting lost in Dartmoor thing. Wish me luck. I’m the only girl going!!

My parents should be coming over tonight…potentially with a cake. Hopefully by the end of tonight I won’t look like this:

But let’s be honest, knowing me it’ll be something like that haha

How do you like to celebrate your birthday? We’ve postponed the celebration for a few weeks (as we have friends coming over the next weekend). Our plan is to go for a lovely meal and get a taxi home.

What do you think of yoga? If you’re a runner, does it complement your running?

Do you always have a cake on your birthday? I always try and drop not-so-subtle hints to my parents to get me one…

June 17, 2013

Sushi and Watercress

Hi guys! Hope you had a great weekend and, if you were celebrating Father’s Day, I hope you spoilt your old man rotten. I just want to preface this as well by apologising for being so moany in the past few posts about not being able to run. I realise how melodramatic I’m being.

Ben and I took my dad out for dinner on Friday night. We went for sushi. I haven’t had it in so long. I was quite impressed that both my dad and Ben were happy to go for sushi. My dad’s comment “as long as there’s noodles I’m fine” did make me chuckle.

Two fine looking gentleman if I do say so myself

We left my mum at home as this was purely to treat my dad (if you remember, for Mother’s Day we just took our mums out). I guess that sounds strange but sometimes it’s nice just to fully spoil one parent (unfortunately Ben’s dad lives in Essex so we couldn’t treat him as well). Obviously this meant a lot of Xbox and PlayStation talk and the inevitable football discussions. Fun for me…

We went for the ‘all you can eat’ buffet of sushi, noodles and rice dishes. Honestly I was in heaven. So we began with a few bits and pieces…

Spring rolls (for Ben), chicken pieces (for my dad) and BBQ ribs (for me)

And we had miso soup as well. Maybe it’s just me but I could eat/drink miso soup all day long.

And then came the main…which was never ending.

So much food, so little stomach space. My dad, predictably, ordered his noodles and thoroughly enjoyed them. Ben, surprisingly, partook in some sushi with me. Even salmon sashimi!

Needless to say Anna + buffet = stuffed

Aren’t I catch?

And my dad had a great time. On a slightly mushy note, my dad is brilliant. He has a great sense of humour (sometimes embarrassingly so, especially when we’re in the office) and a big heart. He might kill me for saying this, but seriously he gets teary eyed at the funniest things…X-Factor, sad adverts…And besides from Ben, he’s my number one supporter in running. Come rain or sun, he’ll be there cheering me on and being the biggest ‘soccer mom’ in the world. He’ll listen to me drone on about races and running gear and genuinely seems interested. Big pluses in my book

Saturday I went to support Ben doing his Parkrun. Sensibly I was sitting this one out. I decided to volunteer instead of run it and so I got to look all official and see how it is ‘from the other side’.

I felt very important with my high-vis top and clipboard

I got to stand and cheer as Ben zoomed past.

I called out to him to smile at the camera and he did a brief smile which I caught and then glared at me. Oops

I cheered on everyone who ran past (5 times as it was 5 laps) and I started running out of things to say… “Well done!”, “Keep going!”, “Good job!”, “Dig deep!”…and my hands started hurting from clapping so much. People kept smiling at me so I think it helped!

So I’ve been icing and stretching my leg like it’s been going out of fashion in the hopes I could run on the Sunday 10k race we’d signed up to ages ago (yes, yes I know another one).

Always a big fan of frozen veg!

I was fully prepared to drop out if in the morning there was any pain when I did I tester run up the road and back….

And there was no pain! Woohoo, so I got to run it!

It was in a lovely little town with a load of watercress farms all around it. It was a 5km run out and then 5km run back on the same route.

I felt very nervous because of my leg. I don’t believe it’s 100% back to normal as I could still feel a bit of discomfort so I took this race easy. I ran with Ben and it was great as I’ve never ran a proper race with him before. It was tempting to run off but I was sensible and just enjoyed a nice, scenic run. Up several nasty hills!

It was really nice to run a race with no pressures and just enjoy it – hell, it was just nice to run again!! Though I did wonder how fast I could have done it if I was 100% Anna again…probably not very fast considering the hills!

I even managed to take some photos during the race! You can see the people on the other side of the road heading back. The guy in the lead was SUPER fast. He must have been doing around 5-6mins/mile. Very impressive.

Along with our medals, we got a free bag of local watercress! Such a great idea

I was quite jealous speaking to the guys from our running club and nearby clubs who we always see at these races and how they got on. One of them runs around my speed and did make me a bit jealous to hear how he got on. But enough of that nonsense!

And on getting back I promptly did all my stretches like a trooper and then got the frozen veg out of freezer and fully numbed my leg. It ached a bit but absolutely no pain while running or afterwards. Hurrah! So I have another appointment with the physio tomorrow to ensure it’s all good and then hopefully I’ll be easing back up to my usual mileage and runs. Though this was my last 10k for a while.

Things I’ve learnt:

– Don’t think you’re invincible. You’re not. I have certainly been taking too many risks and thinking I’m above silly little things like injuries.

– Stretch. Stretch before running, stretch after running. And then stretch some more.

– Do more weight training. I don’t do enough for the amount of running I do.

– Don’t be annoyingly miserable when I get a (let’s be honest) very minor injury which stops me running just ONE WEEK.

– Don’t do consecutive races. Doing a Parkrun and 10k every weekend is a recipe for disaster.

But like I said, that was my last 10k race. I’ll be back to my usual runs now until my next race which is mid July. A month of normal running will be really good for me. My next races are more my style as well. Longer and slower. The next race is a 10 miler and then we’re doing a half marathon in August. So for now it’s all about easy, slow long runs. My favourite

How was your weekend?

Did you do anything for Father’s Day?

What do you prefer: short and fast races or long and slow?

If you like sushi, what’s your favourite dish?

June 13, 2013

Would You Rather…

I think it can be safely said that Anna not running is like Anna without apples: not a happy bunny. I’m grumpy and I’m surly. Yes I know I’m being pathetic and yes I know the bigger picture is way more important. Let me wallow in my self-indulgent pit of woe-is-me for a little longer.

I haven’t run since Sunday

That’s a lifetime ago. OK, no it’s not. But it feels like it is. But the rational side of my brain knows five days is just five days and not five weeks or five months. I know I am very lucky not to be out of the game for longer. I know I’m being melodramatic.

And let’s be serious here, this can only be a good thing.

You only have one body. You only have one set of muscles. You only have one set of bones. Treat it well.

Can you hear the desperation in my ~~voice~~ text trying to convince myself this is a good thing? Do you believe me? No neither do I. So let’s go back to glaring at every runner I see, convinced they’re doing it to annoy me.

As I can’t run, I might as well ~~bore you death~~ indulge in a bit of survey fun on running from the lovely OliveToRun blog.

#1. Would you rather bike 100 miles or run 100 miles?

What do you think? Obviously run. Though 100 miles is a fairly epic. Maybe 20 would be run, 80 would be walked and progressively changes into crawling.

#2. Wear TOO many clothes and then have to carry them because it’s too hot or wear TOO little clothes and endure a little coldness?

Hmmm ordinarily in every day life I’d always rather be too hot than cold. I hate feeling cold. But with running, however bad the first initial start is I always know within a few minutes I’ll be toasty and warm ~~in a cocoon of sweat~~. So less is more for me when running. But gloves are always essential in winter. And a hat when it’s really bad.

#3. Would you rather run without your GPS or without your Music?

I’d run without music. I’m a numbers kinda girl and love seeing the splits and stats when I’ve finished because I’m sad like that.

So true. Especially when you’re just hanging around outside your house.

The other week I was running and my Garmin told me my lap database was full (OK, I did ignore the previous 10 warnings leading up to this) and then just stopped. Gave up on me. DNF. So annoying. It was like my run didn’t exist in the running universe.

I need to get me one of these!

#4. Would you rather run socially or run competitively?

Tough. I love races and I love club running where I run with other people in a more relaxed way. Hmmm. Though I’m a competitive person through and through so I guess I’ll take races!

#5. Would you rather start a race in the front or in the back?

I prefer the front. Not because I stand a chance at winning but because I like to start fast and not be held back. It stresses me out to be hemmed in by people. Though obviously this means I get overtaken a fair bit…I like to remember a couple of people who overtake me so later I can try and catch them again.

#6. Would you rather run a race to raise money for a charity or in remembrance of someone?

Either. I think both are a great thing to do. Money to a charity is always good as it’s helping in a tangible way.

This was ages ago – 2011 I think when Ben and I did the 5k Great South Run. We raised money for Alzheimer’s Society (this year we’re running the full 10 mile race)

#7. Would you rather have an awful race experience and PR or have the time of your life and NOT PR?

Time of your life and not PR. Hands down every time. I know I go on a lot about my recent PBs (not peanut butter –> personal best ) but there will always be a chance to try and beat your PB in another race. I prefer to enjoy the experience. I run because I love it. If I stop loving it I stop running.

#8. Would you rather run on the right side of the road during a race or the left?

I run in the middle…? I’m a trail blazer I joke…I have no idea.

#9. Would you rather shower and take a nap after a long run/race or shower and be productive?

After running I am wired. On a Saturday after a long run or Parkrun I come back and eat and then power through all the chores with a crazy amount of energy coursing through my veins. It isn’t until I sit down with a coffee that I’m like “jeeze I am shattered”. I also never take naps.

#10. Run with your significant other or your friends?

I love running with my husband but at the moment it’s just not ideal. We both have different paces. No disrespect to him at all, but if I want an easy run I’ll run with him but then that’s a hard run for him so it helps pace him. I’ve been running a lot longer than he has so it’s fair enough I suppose. He is quickly gaining on me though.

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Your turn: answer some of the above questions!

I think the most interesting question is the PB/PR one and enjoyment. This has been a big thing for me lately to realise that times are not everything. When you start caring too much the enjoyment just goes down. It’s important to not take things so seriously!

If you’re not a runner: ~~why the heck not~~ what’s your passion? What can’t you live without? What would send you into a spiral of despair if you could no longer do it?