friends - AnnaTheApple

September 16, 2013September 16, 2013

Burgers all round

I think it should be a law somewhere that after running a half marathon (or any race really) you should get the next day off from work. I’m going to save my race recap for my next post purely because this post will just be huge otherwise.

On Saturday morning I woke up at 6am (whhhhhy??) but decided to just stay all snug and warm and doze a little rather than get up out of bed. I ended up laying in bed just thinking for an hour. Planning what I needed to do, obsessing over the race the next day…stupid stuff you really don’t need to ponder over for that long. Anyway I then fell asleep at 7 until my alarm went off at 7.30am for Parkrun. Ben and me headed there with a friend and the weather was chilly but not raining so that was good. Perfect race conditions.

I was happy with this! The first mile felt OK, then the next two just felt like a hard slog. My intention had been a negative split. Yeah that clearly didn’t work out haha.

Then we headed home, had breakfast, got all the house work done, had lunch…then drove up to Bristol. I was shattered!!

We were staying with one of my uni friends and her fiancé (and their adorable pug, Doug).

Look at that face. How cute is he??

When we arranged it ages ago my friend, Kate, suggested we go to the local pub for dinner. Perfect! When we driving up I asked Ben what he’d fancy tonight to eat (am I the only person that does this? Start looking forward to a meal hours in advance??) He wasn’t bothered (typical Ben – he doesn’t get excited about these things). I said I just really fancied a chunky beef burger.

Anyway, when we’re there Kate said they’ve had a change of mind about dinner. They wanted to take us somewhere else. I was intrigued. They wanted to take us to a place called Atomic Burger. How weird is that?? I hadn’t told them my burger desire. Very strange. I was clearly very up for it.

Unfortunately Atomic Burger was fully booked (*shakes fist at better organised people who pre-book*). But we found a lovely little pub and we all ordered burgers as that’s all we could think about.

It was amazing. I had mine with bacon and it rocked my world. But the chips (fries) were served in a ramekin. A RAMEKIN of chips. That’s what you serve a handful of nuts in. Not chips. We were all quite disgruntled so I ordered a side of chips (“can I get a side of chips with my, er, chips?”) and it came out in a bowl. So we were all suitably full and Ben and me fuelled for the next day.

We ended up chatting for ages after the meal. So nice to catch up with them! And the funny thing was that Kate’s fiancé, Jamie, is exactly like me with food. He gets really excited about cooking and eating. We both could talk for hours about our favourite meals. Whereas Kate and Ben were just indifferent. We concluded that if Ben and Kate lived together they’d probably starve or be malnourished, whereas Jamie and me would be massively obese haha.

They then pumped up the world’s largest air bed. When I say they pumped it up, by that I mean they turned it out and it self inflated. Genius.

It took over their lounge pretty much.

It was very comfortable! Exactly what you need the night before a race.

The next morning we got up at 6.30am and had breakfast with them (they’re strange people who get up ridiculously early at the weekend) and then headed to the Park and Ride to get to the race start.

Now it’s back to work and back to reality…for four days. Then Mexico – which looks crazy with all the storms. Uh oh!

Do you have a pre-race ritual you always do? It’s always harder when you’re not at home so you can’t eat exactly what you want, go to bed at a perfect time or sleep in your own bed, but it was so lovely to see our friends that it just made us less nervous and we really relaxed.

Do you get really excited about food or are you not that bothered? Jamie and I got really into a conversation where we were discussing our ‘last day on Earth’ meal. BBQ ribs. Yes.

What’s your perfect burger? Mine is a big home-made beef burger with lots of toppings, like bacon, ketchup, lettuce, tomatoes…goat’s cheese. Anything goes really Though I do like chunky veggie burgers.

September 2, 2013

Weekly workout and weekend catch-up

Hello September! I think September is my favourite month. It’s the month where I feel everything is starting again. Does that sound weird? When I was at school, college and university the new year would begin in September. It was the month Ben and me got married (it’s almost our one year anniversary!) And it’s the month where you can see summer disappearing and the colder weather creeping it.

Don’t get me wrong, dark mornings and dark evenings can be so depressing. As can cold blustery winds and relentless rain…but there’s something so lovely about curling up in bed hearing the wind outside and being snug and warm inside. And runs that aren’t stupidly hot!

This weekend has been great. A nice quiet one, while also having dinner with friends and seeing my mum for a coffee and slice of cake. Unfortunately Ben has come down with a cold. SORRY – man flu. So I’ve been making him lots of hot lemon with honey drinks and giving him some TLC.

And I finally went for a run! Hurrah! This whole week has all been about avoiding running and mending myself. This is what my workouts this week have looked like:

Monday: LBT (due to spinning fail) and circuits

Tuesday: Spinning

Wednesday: Spinning

Thursday: Pump

Friday: Spinning

Saturday: 4 mile easy run

Sunday: 11 mile long easy run

Yeah I sort of went spinning crazy. I really enjoyed it. OK it wasn’t the same as running but it was still good to get that “oof that was tough” buzz afterwards and sense of accomplishment. Don’t get me wrong, I will always choose running over spinning though.

One thing that annoyed me about spinning was one of the instructors kept talking about weight-loss and fat-loss – “burning those calories”. That is not why I go to spin. I go to spin to help compliment and improve my running without actually running. Spinning is a tough workout and really works my legs and works muscles that I don’t use when I run so I become stronger overall.

It just annoys me when people can be so narrow-minded. The gym is not all about losing weight! I get a lot of judgements from people as well when I tell them I go to the gym. Comments like “you don’t need to go to the gym!”. It just irks me that that’s all people think I’m doing.

Moan over. So as you can see I did go running eventually. I decided not to do Parkrun because I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t go into ‘race mode’ and do something stupid and reignite my groin problem (hmm, maybe I should call it something different? That sounds weird haha). Instead I ran the 4 nice and easy miles to Parkrun (while Ben drove) and then marshalled. I love marshalling because it’s great to cheer people on and a few people afterwards said it really helped

Later Alfie and me had such a lovely long walk while I listened to an old MarathonTalk podcast (interview with Nell McAndrew one running a stupidly fast marathon – she is amazing and sounds lovely).

Then we had dinner at my friends house which was great. Felt like proper grown ups having a dinner party!

Then Sunday I tentatively went out for my long run. I was so worried it wouldn’t happen. That I’d aggravated things the day before…but it went fine! My groin didn’t hurt but it didn’t feel completely sorted, still an annoying niggle, so I kept things nice and easy.

I don’t think I’ve ever run at such a consistent pace! It didn’t hurt and it felt amazing to get out for a long run. It just cleared my mind wonderfully of any stress.

This week I’m still going to take it easy on the running front. Probably keep going to spin but see how I feel for the Thursday running club session and then maybe Parkrun Saturday.

It’s two weeks until my next half marathon (Bristol)!! So I’m glad things are getting back on plan…finger’s crossed!!

How was your weekend? What did you get up to?

What’s your next race or big event your planning for?

What’s your favourite time of year and why?

July 22, 2013

A little slice of a great weekend

Ahhh what an amazing weekend! I love weekends where you know the memories will last forever I’ll have to split it into two because honestly this will be a beast of a post otherwise!!

Starting off on Friday, I enjoyed a ‘lovely’ hot and sweaty 10 mile run in the morning. I was so pleased with how this went as it was niggle free! I literally felt normal running; no discomfort, no slight twinges…perfect. The only thing hard about it was the heat. I can live with that! I even randomly decided to make the second to last mile a speedy one. I just felt the urge!

Then I ate a nice big bowl of oatmeal, showered and set out on my bike for a very leisurely 7 mile cycle to a local coffee shop/garden centre/farm shop to meet up with my mum, sister and little niece, Megan for a lovely coffee.

How cool do I look? I am rocking that helmet!

We nattered and caught up and I even got to hold Megan for a little bit.

That, my friends, is the look of sheer panic. I’m not very good with babies or small children…or children in general. Megan is absolutely adorable…but I’m just terrified of doing something wrong. She did fall asleep on me which was lovely.

Anyway we moseyed about and I bought some more kangaroo burgers and also some wild board burgers. Love trying new food!

There were loads of baking, cooking and crockery bits and pieces in the shop and I couldn’t help but take a photo of this cool tea pot.

So true

Then we parted ways and I cycled back a slightly extended route to avoid all the hills I coasted down on the way there. In the end it was a 16.9mile cycle in total! I tell you what, I was pooped.

My lovely sister drove round a bit later and dropped the burgers off (as I had no proper bag on my bike) and she also had made an AMAZING red velvet cake for Ben and me….maybe because I’d pestered her obsessively for ages as she’s strangely got really into baking lately.

Unfortunately I had to wait until Ben got home from work until I could slice and dice that baby. It was tough. A real stretch of willpower I assure you. I can now report though that it was delicious. I’m not even embarrassed to say I went back for seconds.

The next morning, Saturday, we got up early and caught the train to London to meet up with my university friends for a little social gathering.

I love seeing my friends but I’m really not a big fan of London. I find catching trains and tubes really stressful so I was glad Ben was there with me. We even had to buy and work the Oyster card machine. Hard times.

After meeting up with them all and catching up we headed to a lovely quirky pub for a drink and food.

The pub was really vintagey with bunting hanging from the ceiling and random old chairs and ornaments everywhere. It was cool! And the food was pretty darn tasty.

I had chicken with roasted vegetables, couscous and a sour cream dressing. And for pudding? Well, let me just tell you. It was immense. It was a tough decision because there was a semi-freddo honeycomb dessert with ore cookie crumble. I was tide. I had a lengthy discussion with the waiter and in the end deciding on the dark chocolate tart with clotted cream ice cream. What pushed me over? He said the tart was bigger. Haha. What am I like??

Then we chilled out on the grass in a lovely park and just enjoyed each other’s company and the sunshine.

There did end up a massive grass fight as there was all this dried hay-like grass around where we were sat. Luckily I avoided being targeted!

I’m sure there was a lot of grass in unwanted places by the end!! Haha.

Then after another drink in a pub, a few of my friends headed back to their respective train stations to head home. Ben and me were staying over at the flat of one of my friends and her partner as we were off to Stratford the next day for the Olympic Stadium 5 mile race.

We enjoyed a nice easy pizza, watched some Friends, ate some home-made cheesecake (hey, it’s carbo loading!) and went to bed at a reasonable time as we were up early the next morning. More on that in my next post

Such a good weekend – and it’s not even finished yet!

What did you get up to this weekend?

What do you prefer: pubs/bars or cafes/coffee shops? I much prefer cafes or coffee shops as I’m not a big drinker. I like to have a nice cup of coffee of fragrant tea and maybe a sneaky slice of cake. But a pub is nice too when it’s hot and you can sit outside with a nice cold Coke!

Are you a baby person? Or a mum/dad already? I know I want to have a baby at some point but I am so clueless with kids that it really scares me!

What’s your perfect pre-race meal? I like a good pizza with not too much cheese as I find the cheese sits heavy on my tummy.

July 1, 2013

Sun and Socks

Ahh British summer, thank you for making another appearance. I expect it won’t last but this weekend has been fabulous. So, thank you. We appreciate it.

I was so grateful for the lovely weather as it meant when my university friends came down for a quick visit we could enjoy the sunshine to its full extent along our local beach.

This might not be a beach of white soft sands and flawless turquoise waves, but it’s pretty good for a 15 minute drive away.

Let’s roll back a bit to the stress of trying to get all the housework done before they arrived Saturday morning. Yes I’m a perfectionist. Getting in late Friday night didn’t help much either! And having taps which really show up the marks kills me every week.

Seriously people, I have to polish the damn things otherwise it looks rubbish.

But anyway, I managed to get everything done and dusted (ha, pun intended) by the time they arrived and then we got to catch-up, which is always lovely. And they got me some lovely birthday pressies as well. I feel very spoilt! They know me so well… special G&T glasses, a chopping board, a running book, beautiful scarf and a lemon chopper/bottle opener…

Seriously, how cool?

And then we headed to to Osborne View, a local pub right on the seafront.

I had a very tasty meal of butternut squash ‘crumble’ with feta cheese and chips.

Amazing. It all went down very nicely!

Then we had a lovely walk along the beach and checked out the very cool houses (which probably cost a ~~small~~ entire fortune).

Nice, right? But not very private considering all those windows!

Sunday morning was time for a long run. I was planning on doing at least six miles but really wanted to do nine. I have a route where it gets to four miles and then forks to go back home for six miles or goes on for nine or ten. I was going to decide at four how I was feeling (due to my niggle in my leg).

It still feels uncomfortable and not 100% and I don’t feel like I’ve got my speed back up to scratch BUT it didn’t hurt and as I got into the run it became easier. Hurrah!

I’m not going to start celebrating just yet though…I’m planning on running again Tuesday and I think that’ll be the big test to see if it’s still OK.

After running, Ben and me headed off to a local running shop so Ben could replace his NINE YEAR OLD trainers and get his gait analysed. Seriously.

I also got some compression socks. I’ve been wondering about compression socks for ages. I think the jury’s out whether they make you run faster but apparently they’re great for recovery. My calves tend to ache a bit after long runs so I’m hoping they’ll improve that and I might even try them during long runs. I got CEP run compression socks. I’ll let you know what I think.

The rest of Sunday was walking Alfie and this:

Perfect Sunday afternoon in my eyes!

Have you ever tried compression socks? Do you wear them when you run? Do you find they help you’re running or just recovery?

What’s your perfect Sunday afternoon?

Do you go to the beach when it’s sunny? To be honest, I’m not a huge beach fan but I do like the occasional day to walk along the beach and eat an ice lolly. I couldn’t lay in the sun all day long though. I like going for walks in the sunshine.

June 3, 2013

Just Running

Howdy howdy! Ahh happy days: the sun is back and the weekend has been great!

On Friday night I rushed home from work to go out for dinner with our couple friends. I was a little bit later than I’d hoped but I thought I still had time. Wrong. Ben opened the door for me and I found my friends had already arrived! I dashed in to say hi and then headed upstairs, noting that my girlfriend, who was just chilling on the sofa, was wearing a really pretty dress. Ah ha! Dress time it is then However, when I came down in my dress looking quite posh (if I do say so myself) I found, when my friend stood up, the dress I thought she was wearing was actually a top and she was wearing quite casual cut-off jeans. So back upstairs I ran to change. They thought it was a hilarious.

We went to the Brazilian all-you-can-eat ‘Rodízio’ restaurant again. This is where they bring round skewers of meat and carve it there and then at the table for you.

Why yes that is a glass of sangria you can see

And this time, I had a food strategy. This time I was not going to be foolish and try everything. This time I knew the food I wanted to eat. Why waste valuable food space on meat I’d had last time and wasn’t massively fussed about? Not me!

I made careful selections at the salad bar buffet; nothing too heavy to fill me up. There were a couple of meats that I was dying to have again and wanted to fully enjoy without feeling so uncomfortably full like I did last time.

Some meatballs (which I remembered were amazing), corn on the cob, Greek salad, veggies and some random prawns. And BBQ sauce of course.

I turned down a lot of meat (sausages, steaks & lamb) in my patience to get what I wanted. I did however try wild boar which I didn’t get last time. And I am so glad I did because it was amazing and now one of my favourites. I had lots of gammon as well.

When I turned down consecutive meats in a row, the waiter looked at me and said “Is there something in particular you want?” I nodded and said “Ribs”. He smiled and said “I’ll be right back”.

And back he came with the pièce de résistance.

I made Ben get a couple of ribs as well so I could steal his! I am not ashamed to admit that I ate five large ribs. Finger-lickin’ good.

Unfortunately my food strategy wasn’t as good as I hoped as I still left feeling stuffed. But not as stuffed as last time. Progress.

Saturday morning Ben and me woke up feeling a little worse for wear. A few too many sangrias and a lot too many platefuls of food. I was not feeling particular ready for a 5k Parkrun. But we got ourselves together and headed out. The sun was shining and it looked to be a beautiful day.

I definitely was not feeling that it would be a good run. I started getting worried and stressed. I know, stupid pressure. Ben could tell I was getting nervous and he said “Just run with me. Help pace me to get a good time.” And I thought: do you know what, that’s a great idea.

Instantly I was less stressed and ready to enjoy the run. We got to the start line and instead of moving straight to the front like I always do in races, I headed to the middle with Ben. We had discussed the ‘best case scenario’ (around 8mins/mile) and ‘worse case scenario’ (9mins/mile) paces if he wasn’t feeling it. I’ve never paced before so I was quite excited.

Ben did amazingly. He kept his pace up. I tried to take his mind of it by talking rubbish to him and tried to encourage him where I could. He didn’t quite get a PB (6 seconds off! 25.16) but he finished the race on a sprint. I mean, seriously, this is the guy who ate just as much, if not more, than me last night and had an extra beer to the jug of sangria we shared. Massive props to him!

I enjoyed my easier run so much so I even decided to run home. I was just really enjoying running without care for pace. I said goodbye to Ben, popped a podcast on and ran home (4 miles) at a lovely relaxed pace just enjoying the sunshine.

I’ve realised that with all the races I’ve been doing I’m missing out on my long runs at the weekend. And they’re my favourite runs. A completely chilled out, no care for pace, run. I loved it! All my runs lately are all about the times and pace and it’s been hard-going. So mentally, this was so refreshing.

I mean, I do love races. I love the adrenaline. I love pushing through when it’s tough. I love the stretch on my brain as I try and work out what times I need to do for a certain pace (this is a lie, I’m rubbish at maths). I love the sense of achievement.

But that’s not everything. Running to me is also a time to switch off and just run. When I’m racing I’m constantly thinking about the race, my strategy, and the people around me. Sometimes it’s just nice to put your trainers on and get outside and run without a target. Get lost in great music or a podcast. And come back physically and mentally fresh for the day.

For the rest of the day Ben and me got the jobs done around the house. Then my granddad came over (he’s staying with my parents while he’s down from Stoke-on-Trent). We don’t get to see him that often so it was nice to catch up.

My granddad is an amazing man. He goes up to Scotland twice a year to help with The Cairngorm Reindeer Centre as a volunteer. He takes his caravan and then spends his time helping out with any jobs they need doing. He built them a shed while he was up last! He used to be carpenter so he has a lot of skills to offer. My granddad is in his late seventies!!

So he popped over to talk to Ben about doing some work in our garden (like extending our patio). He’s just brilliant! For our wedding present he floored our loft (attic) and made shelves so we could use the space as storage as there was nothing up there when we moved in.

So I let the men discuss things like levelling and paving slabs…

My granddad also brought over some delicious treats for us that he’d whipped up.

Meringues with melted dark chocolate and strawberries. This is clearly a man of many talents!

So I had one of these bad boys after dinner. And let me tell you, it went down a treat

Sunday was another race day, this time a 5mile race. I’ll do a recap on that soon but for now I’ll say it was a great race. And cake at the finish line!!

After the race, we came home and chilled. We walked Alfie in the lovely sunshine (we ambled along very slowly) and did not much else!

Hope you’ve been enjoying your weekend

Meat-eaters: what meat would you choose out of all the meats in the world? I love chicken but nothing beats ribs for me. And I really enjoy gammon as well. I love the saltiness.

Vegetarians/vegans (or meat-eaters!): what non-meat protein-based food would you choose over everything else? I love chickpeas – hummus wins my heart as a dip every type.

What do you prefer: running/working out for a target in mind or just enjoying it without any goals? I need a balance in my life. I love the races but I need to have those ‘just running’ times too.

Do you see your grandparents as often as you’d like? I don’t get to see my grandparents nearly as much as I’d like as my granddad lives in Stoke and my other granddad and step-gran live in North Wales. So it’s always nice when they’re here.