cake - AnnaTheApple

March 31, 2014

The best kind of weekend

Posting a bit later today as things have got a bit ahead of me. The story of my life at the moment! Definitely didn’t enjoy losing that hour Sunday morning.

The weekend was a busy one. We went to Parkrun in the morning and helped set out the course. Ben is a huge fan of doing this and now has me hooked. I don’t mind getting up earlier to help out as you get a bit more social time with other runners.

I was a bit nervous for the run as my calf had gotten quite tight after Thursday and it’s so close to the marathon now that anything is causing me huge amounts of stress…someone sneezing near me is enough to freeze up my system in terror.

I made sure I did a very good warm-up with jogging, dynamic stretches and specifically stretching my calf using a handy tree.

I’m sure a fun caption could be made here… “Ben I can’t seem to move this tree no matter how hard I push”

Which was caught on camera…lovely! Not one of my best photos haha!

I decided to take Parkrun nice and easy and there were quite a few of us who decided to run together so we had a nice natter as we ran round the course in the lovely sunshine. My calf was OK <– WHEW.

I’m still wearing my gloves even though it was so warm. My hands are the very last things to heat up.

My time was 23:29 and third female – not too shabby at all! After this we had a nice cup of tea with some of the running club and then headed home for breakfast. At this point I was STARVING.

We met up with a friend in the afternoon and did a huge walk with Alfie around the countryside. It wasn’t meant to be so long it’s just we got caught out with lots of muddy routes and had to go the long way back home (needless to say Alfie required a bath that evening…). At the end of the day I’d done almost 30,000 steps. And, more importantly, this happened:

If you don’t know what this game is, I urge you to download it (it’s an app). It is so simple but so very addictive!!

We had a lovely early night as we had to get up early the next day for a long run. I was so tired when the alarm went off at 6.40am – which my body thought was 5.40am due to the daylight savings. Arghh!

My plan was to run 13 miles. Perhaps not the most ideal distance considering I have the marathon a week later but psychologically I needed to do it. Ben and me had decided to meet up with some guys from our running group to run with them. The route was only 10 miles so I ran the 2 miles to the meeting point instead of going in the car with Ben, then planned on adding a bit on at the end.

The route was lovely. Credit to my husband who planned it (though I think it was based on a route one of the other guy’s had used before – so credit all round). It was fairly hilly though which was tough.

There were quite a few of us – eight or nine? Not sure. But in the end we sort of spread out from each other as we found our natural paces. It was really nice to spend a long run chatting to people rather than go solo. Though I will always love my solo long runs listening to podcasts…

I’m not going to lie, it was tough with the hills and not feeling completely fresh from a week of running (6 miles Tuesday, 8 miles Thursday, 3 miles Saturday) of which I’m not as used to anymore with my sporadic training. But it didn’t feel that bad as to worry me. I felt like I could have gone on further (bloody lucky considering it’s double that seven days later).

I was shattered when I got home though. Absolutely drained. So was Ben. We’re pretty sure the long walk the afternoon before hadn’t helped. Then it was time to treat two lovely ladies to some afternoon tea as it was Mother’s Day in the UK.

My mum showed up with the same handbag as me but slightly smaller – it was like mum and baby handbags! (She had originally given me the big handbag as she prefers smaller handbags and I love a huge bag to put my multitude of things in it).

Then off we went to indulge in some very lovely tea, sandwiches and cake at our favourite local (dangerously local) coffee shop: Elsie’s Tearoom if you’re in the area.

[Ben wasn’t happy with this photo; he said he felt uncomfortable because the table next to us were gawping at us – how rude!]

We all had afternoon tea. I had ham and mustard sandwiches, a fruit scone (with strawberry and rhubarb preserve, oohh err) and a slice of lemon cake.

Honestly, I am getting to be somewhat a pro at this afternoon tea business. Way to easy to eat. And I even had a bite of my mum’s unfinished lemon cake. Oh god…

After spending some quality time with The Mums, Ben and me pretty much did nothing. I fell asleep on the sofa to the dulcet tones of Ben blowing up zombie brains on the Xbox…then awoke with a new lease of life to tackle the ironing while we watched Elysium. I would give this movie a rating of “meh”. An OK film for when you’re not in the mood to think too hard.

The plan for this week is all easy running. Probably three miles Tuesday, three miles Thursday, the Paris breakfast 5km on Saturday (to shake out our ‘plane legs’) and then just a short gentle jog taking in the different sights of Paris. Probably 26.2miles, but we’ll see how it goes 😉

For those who celebrated it, how did you spend Mother’s Day?

Do you struggle with a full afternoon tea?

Ladies, do you prefer big handbags or small? (Men you can join in too with your manbags!) I have small handbags when I’m going out for an evening, but I do love a good handbag. Looking forward to all those back problems in later life 😉

Long runs solo or with a group?

March 24, 2014March 24, 2014

Bath, Bristol, a run and lots of food

I am on cloud nine right now. Actually, maybe cloud eight. I feel exhausted! But in a good way. I had a mad but brilliant weekend.

It was one of my close friend’s hen weekend (for Americans, I think you guys call this a bachelorette party?). I drove up to Bath on Friday morning as I had Friday off of work and met up with the hen, her sister and another friend. We were staying in the very posh and lovely Windsor hotel for the night.

I shared a the room on the left with another friend who arrived later and the bottom-right picture is the view from our window

The location of the hotel was perfect. It was only a very short walk and you were right in the centre of Bath with the shops and restaurants.

The road that the hotel was on

After sorting ourselves out we headed out for lunch at Bill’s. I went for my favourite: Caesar salad and a cheeky portion of sweet potato fries.

So yummy. Then we headed for a few lovely hours at the Thermae Bath Spa.

Fabulously relaxing. It was like swimming in a huge bath! And there were these steam rooms that were infused with different scents, like peppermint (like being in a big vat of Vix) and sandalwood. Very nice. And the top layer had another warm pool right out in the open with a lovely view of Bath.

After this we hopped back to the hotel to get showered and dressed ready for dinner. We went to Browns where we met up with another friend.

I had a very refreshing glass of Prosecco and a wild boar burger with fries. This definitely filled a hole! I wanted something carby enough for my planned long run the next day…

We didn’t go to bed too late (for normal people – late enough for me!). And my alarm was set for 5.45am. Oh joy. My intention was to run 10 miles, but see how my foot felt and would stop if it hurt. I had planned a route and took a printed map with me in case I got lost. I was a super ninja in the morning getting up and dressed as quiet as possible as to not wake my friend (she was fine with me going out early – I had checked beforehand!)

My planned route had a HUGE hill to start with so I ignored it and just ran wherever. Unfortunately the beginning was still quite hilly but then I managed to find a good area to run around that was flat for the second portion of the run. I ran 11 miles! And everything felt NORMAL. No niggles. OK it was tough and I know I’ve lost so much fitness (from both injury breaks). But I am over the moon.

View of Bath on my run

It’s given me a little bit of confidence for Paris. I only stopped at 11 because I was running out of time. Though it was probably sensible to not go further if I’m honest.

The hardest part? These stairs back to the room. Yep all the way to the top. Brutal.

Then it was a quick shower and delicious breakfast of kippers and scrambled egg.

Loved this. I wouldn’t have it every day as it was overwhelmingly fishy but it was a nice change.

Then we zoomed to Bristol, picking up another friend en route and had an afternoon of quad biking and high ropes.

High ropes were stupidly scary. I was all the ‘Big I Am’ when I got there, thinking I’d have no issues but as soon as I got up the top beam I was shaking, terrified and just wanted to get down. Turns out I’m a bit of a wuss. Quad biking though was more my forté. I got the fastest lap round the course!

Later as we got back to the hen’s house we enjoyed cake and champagne while getting ready.

After getting all glammed up we headed out for dinner at Cuban in the centre of Bristol and met up with yet more people. It was funny because I got huge déjà vu when I realised where we were. This is where the race village had been set up for the Bristol half marathon!

I ate so much I’m not gonna lie. There were so many sharing starters at the beginning. And then I had a huge but lovely seafood soup thing.

Phenomenally good.

Then my least favourite part of the night…going clubbing. Ah I think I’m just too old now. Well actually I never really enjoyed clubbing that much when I was at university. I wasn’t drinking heavily, maybe that was problem.

All the tacky hen do stuff of course

Very loud, sticky floors, past my bedtime <—granny status right there. Not my thing. But the hen had a great time and that’s the important part. I tried to get into it for her sake anyway.

Anyway the weekend was brilliant but I am shattered. It didn’t help that the airbed my friend and I were sleeping on half deflated in the middle of the night and we woke up at 5am with our legs in the air going “what the hell??”. It was fairly amusing.

I got home Sunday afternoon and went to bed very early. But I still need another day, you know? All in all, a truly great weekend 🙂

Have you been to Bath or Bristol before?

Have you been on a hen do before?

What’s your ideal hen do? I like lots of activity-style things, like paintballing and go-karting.

March 5, 2014

Inspiring runners and lots of food

Good morning! Well I’m nice and recovered from Sunday’s half marathon and feeling strong thankfully.

This past weekend was all of a bit of a whirlwind. I do love weekends where lots goes on, but it can be a bit stressful because you have to cram everything you need to do around everything you want to do.

On the Saturday Ben and me got up less early than usual as we weren’t helping set up Parkrun. My plan for the run was to just run a nice easy run without pushing it so I would be fresh for Sunday. Because it was the five laps around the cricket pitch again, they’d decided to do it in reverse to mix things up a bit. This blew my mind a bit 😉

Anyway it was nice to just take it easy and not worry about paces and times. Though I did get a little bored with the five laps. But I was running near one of the younger guys at our running club who was desperate for a PB so we were all encouraging him and pushing him on as we ran so that was nice. He got his PB in the end which was brilliant – and with such a great sprint finish.

A few posts ago I mentioned that my lovely pregnant running friend (Karen) was still running. She really is an inspiration.

Twenty-six weeks pregnant (I think – I’m not very good at remembering these sorts of things, sorry Karen if I’m wrong!!) and smashing out very respectable times.

I was very cheeky and got her to stand sideways because in the above photo (^^) she doesn’t look pregnant at all!

Honestly, when I’m pregnant (not for a few years) then I really hope I can follow her example. She has a very healthy attitude towards running as well in that she is listening to her body and will only continue running if she feels she can without causing herself or her baby issues.

After getting home and doing the boring housework bits and pieces I then headed off to see another pregnant friend. It was her baby shower. She had no idea about it and we were all at her sister’s house ready to surprise her. Her sister got her over and honestly her face was a picture. She was so shocked.

We played lots of games (like guess how many sweets in the bottle) and ate lots of cake. I really wish I hadn’t but you know what my will power is like around cake. In retrospect I probably shouldn’t have eaten two cupcakes, a slice of lemon meringue and a lot of chocolate fondue. I don’t think this helped particularly well for the next day’s race. Duly noted for Paris 😉

Then I had to eat a pizza in the evening before the race. Jeeze I did not fancy it.

Hey ho. I ate it regardless.

Anyway so the race happened on Sunday. Check my recap out HERE.

After running the half marathon, Ben, my parents, Ben’s mum and me stumbled back to car in that ‘post-race walk’ (the parents were stiff themselves from walking out a few miles and then standing in the cold). After getting changed we headed off to Jamie’s Italian – exactly the same thing we did last year.

It was a little bit of a nightmare as I have a Gold members card for Jamie’s (I go there so often…) and as a Gold member I get certain benefits. I once got £10 off the bill! However, I’d left my card in the car and the waitress needed the number on it in order for us to qualify for the perks.

So I had to trek back to the car to get it. To be fair, everyone did offer to go for me but it was my fault I left it so I felt I was the one to retrieve it. The multi-storey car park was very close but the car was on floor three and I optimistically took the stairs. After getting to the first level I then waited for the lift. My legs basically just said “no, Anna. Just no”.

Finally after getting back to Jamie’s I fully enjoyed my peppermint tea as I was so cold and tired by this point. For my Gold membership, we each got a free little courgette thing that had been rolled in some tasty breadcrumb thing with a zesty dip (top right-hand picture).

We also got a cocktail each – Prosecco and some berry fizz thing. I opted for a non-alcoholic one as my stomach wasn’t feeling great. Obviously I got my Turkey Milanese meal which was HUGE. I swear it was never that big before. And I got a side of cabbage with prosciutto and parmesan breadcrumbs. Like I said, my stomach didn’t feel good though. I ate the turkey but Ben got my egg and I took the cabbage home with me.

I think the cakes the day before really didn’t do good things to me. I felt rough when we got home. I was fine the next day thankfully. I just think sometimes a race can hit you badly and mess things up a bit.

But there we go, apart from the dodgy tummy, it was a great weekend! Next race for me is the Paris marathon…

Have you ever felt a bit ‘off’ after a race?

Do you know any inspiring runners?

If you’re female and considering (or have had) children, will you/did you exercise during pregnancy?

February 22, 2014February 25, 2014

A cake lover’s problem

Happy Saturday everyone! I have a guest post for you today which rings very true to my heart…

There’s a problem brewing. My love of cake is getting a bit out of hand because treating myself to a nice scone, a Victoria sponge or a cupcake is no longer limited to trips to my favourite bakery. Friends have been swept up in the baking frenzy sweeping the nation and they keep offering their tasty creations to me!

The Great British Bake Off is to blame of course. Who knew watching a group of people try to out bake each other could be so entertaining? Or inspiring! There’s an abundance of cookery shows on the box, after all, and yet people are responding to the trials and tribulations of amateur bakers more than they ever have to Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay or Nigella Lawson. Running helps to keep any pending weight and fitness issues at bay, but indulgences of this kind are always going to have an effect. In this case, my energy levels are taking a bit of a hit.

The media’s not exactly helping. Who tuned in to watch the Sport Relief Bake-Off? There was something very entertaining about watching a different group of celebrities an episode wise cracking and often failing miserably at baking anything that resembles an actual cake. And then there’s the events and competitions which are held by popular companies.

A friend for example, blames her baking obsession on the Foxy Bingo Twitter page. As someone who has spent a number of years playing the odd game of 90 ball bingo, she was intrigued when Foxy’s Bake Off was announced, rising to the challenge of creating a Foxy themed cake. While she didn’t win, it’s certainly given her a new hobby. One that’s benefiting my need for cake greatly and making me very conscious of my health.

In fact, you could say that Foxy Bingo really took to the new baking craze with gusto. Members of their social media community have been posting pictures of cakes on the Foxy Bingo Facebook page – and as you can see some of them are really quite good. Personally, I would welcome as many companies as possible getting on a baking tip. Few things can cheer you up like baking a cake, then there is the eating or giving of the finished product too. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Another of my friends was given a cake decorating recipe book this past Christmas, and has since been experimenting with butter icing on the cupcakes she makes in her cupcake maker. She can’t justify eating them all, so they end up in my possession (Like I’m going to turn it down!). Sometimes they’re green and minty in flavour, other times she pops round with chocolate orange flavoured cakes, ready for devouring, always scrumptious and more-ish.

The good thing about baking your own treats, is that you can control the measurements of unhealthy ingredients. Sometimes all it takes to live a cake lovers lifestyle without the unnecessary weight gain and shortness of breath when you head to the gym is to substitute low fat margarine, add slightly less sugar and a cut back on the chocolate chip. And much as I do adore bakeries, you do feel exceptionally naughty walking in and ordering your favourite chocolate muffin, even after a run.

What are the chances my friends can be convinced to substitute in healthier ingredients?
The Sport Relief Bake Off has had one inspiring effect, mind you. People who are not sporty have found a way to do their bit for the cause. I’m happy to give up the cakes baked if they are raising money. Get togethers are already being planned, so I suspect red butter icing is in my immediate future.

I loved the Bake Off and I loved the Sport Relief version! Did you watch them?

Do you have friends always offering you baked goods?

Who’s your favourite celebrity chef? Mine will always be Jamie Oliver.

*Guest post

February 17, 2014April 12, 2017

Brighton Half Marathon Recap

Hey everyone! This weekend was almost a perfect weekend. Parkrun, cake, a race, seeing friends, good food and lots of chilling.

Saturday we went to Parkrun. It was a bit chilly, very windy but the rain held off…for a little bit. We were on the cricket pitch course which is very flat but very boring (5 laps!). Also a bit precarious underfoot at the moment as it’s quite wet and muddy. In the summer it’s excellent for PB potential. At the moment it’s better than the other more hilly course but you still need to mind your step a fair bit, especially round the corners!

I decided just to see how I felt for this run. In the end one of my running friends from a different run club ran with me. At first I felt a bit pressured as he’s normally quite speedy (we used to be fairly evenly matched but since my injury I’m definitely slower than him) but it was nice as it pushed me harder. I didn’t want to hold him up too much! 2nd female with 22:30. I just couldn’t catch the first female!

Then we rushed home, did the housework, showered and headed out for…yep, afternoon tea – again!

That’s Ben’s “I hate you taking photos” face

It was, as always, lovely. Ham and mustard sandwiches, fruit scones (with ginger and rhubarb jam) and butterscotch banana cake with chocolate chips.

If you’re ever in Botley check out Elsie’s Tea Rooms – it’s lovely and very reasonably priced.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing after a drizzly walk with Alfie. And in bed fairly early because we had a delightful 5.20am start the next day.

Ah yes…I may not have mentioned this on the blog. I had a bit of a change of mind. Ben and me decided to do the Brighton Half (despite deciding against it a few weeks ago). We reasoned that if we survived the very tough 11 miler the weekend before without issue, 13 very flat miles would be OK. I promised myself I wouldn’t go faster than 8-8.30mins/mile and would see it as a training run – a lovely route with thousands of other people.

So we left at 6am. Ouch. On route to Brighton

I ate my porridge and drank a coffee as we drove over. It was about an hour and some to get there. We parked in the Park and Ride and then got the bus down to the race village. Feeling lovely and warm in the bus, but dreading standing the cold!

Through Twitter I managed to find someone to run with who was in a similar situation. Cathy (check her blog out HERE) kindly offered to run with me and we agreed it’d be way more fun to run together slowly than on our own!

So we met up in our optimistically fast pen. The race was like no other half marathon I’ve ever done in that I was quite relaxed, didn’t care about pace and was able to chat someone the whole time.

The weather was fantastic. Cold, but clear, sunny and no wind! Perfect running conditions.

It was a fairly flat course (though there were some minor sneaky gradual inclines). The views were great of the seafront and surroundings. But I just found it a little dull running all the way up the seafront and then running all the way back.

But the company was lovely. We chatted about races, running and life in general. It was great! We both were a bit miffed at not being anywhere near a PB but reflected it was for the best at the moment.

The pace felt very comfortable and chatting was easy so I feel in a good place about that 🙂 We had a little sprint finish (to pick off some females…just couldn’t help it) and then finished. 1:49:01 official time, 2,126th.

Thank you Cathy!

My knee was OK during the run. At times it felt slightly uncomfortable in that it felt tired. Not painful, nothing like before…just hard done by. But this was intermittent and nothing I’m worried about. No pain on finishing and afterwards either. Well, my whole body ached but that’s to be expected!

Ben got himself a cheeky PB as well, despite saying he was going to take it easy (1:52:30).

We then met up with some friends who live in Brighton for a lovely roast.

I had roast venison with the largest Yorkshire pudding known to man and lots of veggies and roast potatoes. Food never tasted so good.

Then we headed home and I fell asleep in the car! I did lots of stretching, foam rolling and icing while just chilling on the sofa, before promptly heading to bed at 9pm shattered.

Brighton Half was a great race, definitely PB potential, well organised, beautiful scenery and great crowd support. The goodie bag not too shabby either.

Ben picked up quite a few Lucozade drinks as he loves them

So that, my friends, is what a great weekend in my eyes looks like. I wish I could have smashed a PB out to make things perfect but I have a bigger goal in mind to jeopardise anything at the moment. Slowly, gradually, I’ll hopefully get there.

How was your weekend?

Did anyone run any races? Eat cake?

Has anyone done Brighton half/marathon before? Thoughts?