long run - AnnaTheApple

August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

Visit to North Wales

Hey, hey, hey. I am back from my long weekend in North Wales and back to the blogging world. I’m very behind on all my blog reading as well…this both stresses me out and makes me happy as I love reading blogs but hate getting so behind.

Last Thursday Ben and me were off work as we were heading up to visit my grandparents again in North Wales, Llandudno. Though the weather didn’t look to be amazing we were really looking forward to the trip. I decided to get a longish run in before we went (13.1 miles to be exact). It went OK and I was happy enough. I tried to keep the speed down but I wanted to try a faster finish.

Sort of anyway! Annoyingly my left shin has been niggling me. It’s been niggling for a little bit, hence why I have been lighter on the running side of things and not racking up any great mileage. But after attempting to run again on Saturday (3 miles) it just felt bleurgh. I saw my physio today and he’s not worried but he says it’s inflamed and I need to let it rest. I can bike and swim to my heart’s content but the pounding of running isn’t letting it rest and heal sufficiently. Not ideal at all during marathon training but I’m trying not to stress too much about it. I’ve come to realise that running and me is a bit of a messy relationship. I just need to get through Berlin and then I’m going to have a bit of a break to let everything in my body that feels the urge to niggle settle down.

Anyway back to Wales. Our journey was 5 hours of being in the car which was boring and stressful for my teeny tiny bladder. We did however see a giant dalek in Chesire.

Random!

We arrived and caught up with my grandparents and had dinner. The next morning we were up to do a gentle bike ride (just under 10 miles) with them. I love how cool my grandparents are – along with their mountain bikes that they often take out to the surrounding hills and mountains they have their Boardman road bikes as well! So we all had a bike.

The weather was a bit dubious but then the sun peeped out and we all got very warm. We stopped for coffee and a nice walk in the RSPB enclosure.

There were lots of birds to see but I honestly couldn’t tell you what we saw as I am no bird watcher! But it was a lovely walk in the beautiful scenery. Then we cycled back home, while having a bit of selfie fun on the way of course…

We’re fairly pleasant people I assure you

Then we had some lunch. My grandparents are quite health-focused so we had a delicious salad for lunch (you know I love my salads). Ben and me quite fancied another walk as the sun was shining and I wanted to have a little mosey around some of the local little Conwy shops so my granddad gave us a route on a map and sent us on our way – he’s very good at devising routes being a retired mountain guide!

Ben point out the sheep

It was a bit of a trek up some hills but we saw some beautiful views and I got my retail urge out of the way, though I bought nothing. The next day I got up early and went out for a 3 mile run in the pouring cold rain and it was just terrible. My legs felt tired, my shin felt niggly, the rain was AWFUL and I was soaked. But I had a lovely hot shower and breakfast and was ready for a nice long walk with Ben and my grandparents. The walk was going to be very long and would basically find seventeen lakes (yep, seventeen). We started together but my grandparents sent us on so we could find our own way using our map navigation skills following a route my granddad had once again written.

The weather was strange. It rained a bit, it got sunny, it rained a bit more. But otherwise it was a lovely cool temperature, perfect for walking up very steep hills!

The first half of our walk went well and lasted about an hour and a half covering 3.8miles. We met up with my grandparents and had a packed lunch in the sunshine on a bench which was lovely. Then we went off again for the second half. We didn’t do quite as well this time…we missed a turning and got ourselves a bit lost.

This was the ‘path’ we missed – doesn’t look much like a path does it!?

In the end it worked out fine as we met up back with my grandparents and we all decided to cut the walk short as we were feeling a bit tired (3.6miles in just over an hour and half).

Serious navigation going on here

But we did get to see some very beautiful lakes.

That evening we headed out for an Indian. Can’t beat a good Indian! The family loved that I was happy to be the designated driver and they could enjoy a pint (or three). I was just happy tucking into copious amounts of tasty food!

The next morning we had a shortish walk planned, then lunch out and then Ben and me would make the long drive home. We drove to Parys mountain, in north east Anglesey. Parys mountain used to be a very large copper mining area, which was quite clear as we were walking around.

Huge quarry area

Sadly Ben’s leg had been quite painful the whole weekend but he was soldiering on. Looks like we’re both off running for a little while. Least we can mope together! What are we like??

We made it to the summit. Our walk was under an hour and 2.1miles, with lovely views and lovely company of course.

We’d worked up a fair appetite by this point so headed to Anglesey to a fantastic restaurant, Dylans. I loved it! It reminded me a lot of Jamie’s Italian with it’s decor and food options. They mainly specialised in fish and pizza but did a wide range of different meals. Ben and me shared a huge sharing platter called the Forager’s platter which had roasted vegetables, olives, bread, goat’s cheese and cheddar. I let Ben have most of the bread and cheese so I could have all the veg (we work well together in that respect).

I had Caesar salad…what do you expect really? It was lovely. Good thick Cesar dressing, crispy bits of bacon, nice chunks of chicken and crispy lettuce. However, no anchovies (not that they were on the menu). Point deducted.

Ben got a fiorentina pizza (spinach, mozzarella, egg & parmesan). He loved it.

Pudding though…ohhh pudding. Originally I was like “nah, nothing really calls to me”. But Granddad and Ben were ordering pudding and the blueberry pancakes sounded quite nice.

Honestly the best pudding I’ve had in a while. Perfectly fluffy, good amount of blueberries and the best butterscotch sauce EVER. I could drink that stuff. Ben had a rhubarb sundae and he was equally impressed.

And that was our long weekend in Wales. I love spending the time with my grandparents. They’re such good company, so easy-going and so very active! I’m sure I’ve said this before, but we hope we’re like them at that age. Such great role models. Use it or lose it!

Do you enjoy active mini-breaks and holidays?

Is your family active?

What’s your favourite pudding?

August 18, 2014August 18, 2014

A busy weekend of all the things I love

Happy Monday lovely people. I hope you all had a great weekend.

Mine was bittersweet. Ben is sadly injured. He’s marathon training like me for Berlin (end of September, less than six weeks- PANIC). And, like I mentioned a few posts ago, he went to the Ultra 12 event and ran 4 laps of 5 miles over 12 hours. He was already slightly injured before going into it (although he hadn’t told me this – he’d only said he had a small niggle) and Ultra just pushed him over the edge. He’s seen our physio and the outcome is he’s sprained his knee and can’t run for a week and then see how it is.

This meant all plans for him running at the weekend dissolved and he was in a Dark and Shady mind space. I feel so sorry for him as I know exactly what this is like, being injured while marathon training. But he’s got so many miles in the bag already and if it’s only a week (even if it’s two or three weeks) he’ll be absolutely fine. Ben is determined and strong willed, even if he doesn’t get the training he wants he’ll still do Berlin.

But it meant Saturday I was off to parkrun on my own.

Ben decided to have a lie-in instead which I could totally understand and I went down early to help set up.

It’s always a nice crew of people who volunteer setting up so there’s always a bit of banter and good conversation which helped with me being Ben-less.

Ben and me recently got Steve Way t-shirts so I wore mine to test it out.

My not-so-pregnant-anymore running friend was at parkrun which was lovely. Ages ago I posted about how she was still running while pregnant and doing amazingly (find it HERE). Well she had her baby boy about 10 weeks ago and has been getting back into running. So when we started parkrun and she was running a good clip I decided to hang on to her a bit – it’s always easier following someone doing a good pace than doing it on your own.Karen, my not-so-pregnant-anymore friend, running next to me

I felt good on the last lap so decided to speed up a little bit and managed to get 22:08 and third female which I was chuffed about. Nice tempo run!

Then, after clearing down, it was back to the Wounded Soldier. I let him off housework duties so he could mope a bit more and then we had to dash for some coffee with Ben’s mum.

Alfie loves Ben’s mum as she always gives him doggie chocolates

Then I managed to persuade Ben to go for dinner at Nando’s for our friend, Nathan’s, birthday.

Whole chicken and double salad = perfection

Chicken and beer, what more could you need? While chomping away on chicken Ben and Nathan planned to do a swim in the morning and then a cycle. I was planning a long run so decided to join the cycle afterwards.

The next morning I got up early and did 13.1 miles. It did feel like a hard slog for the first half and from mile four onwards I started getting very thirsty. I foolishly hadn’t brought any water thinking the temperature was cool enough. I started fantasying about drinks and wondered if I could beg for water from a shop as I had no money. At 7.5 miles I realised I was quite close to Ben’s mum’s house and as it was 9.15am it wasn’t too early…I rang her and she was more than happy with me dropping by to grab some water. Bliss! Bit of a strange experience to talk to someone on the phone mid-run though!

Ignore the fact that the mile numbers don’t make sense – I stopped to stretch after the first mile and randomly stopped my Garmin completely. So annoying! The run took just under 1:50 which I’m pleased with. I felt stronger towards the end so picked up the pace a bit. It’s funny because Saturday’s parkrun the work was all happening in my lungs and heart, whereas Sunday’s run my lungs and heart felt fine, it was all to do with my legs which is how it should be I think.

After getting back and foam rolling a bit I then had breakfast and quickly changed my top to get ready to cycle with the boys.

Straight away my legs felt like lead. It was a good cycle but it was tough. Usually our 15 mile route is fine and I can speed off along the straights but honestly I felt like an old lady. But it was nice to spin the legs. When we got home it took about 10 minutes for me to take my socks off though as I was so shattered.

As Ben and Nathan went to the pub to watch the football, I showered, reluctantly walked (shuffled?) Alfie round the block and then promptly collapsed onto the sofa with half a watermelon and chilled for a bit. Then Ben returned and we headed to my parent’s for the piece de resistance…afternoon tea.

Awkwardly Ben’s football team had lost and my dad’s football team had won (same match) but they were good sports about it (whew). It also helped Ben was four beers down by the this point and like a hyperactive child.

We went to the same place we went last week (The Tea Rooms in Lee-on-Solent) and it was lovely. Roast chicken sandwiches, a beautifully tasting scone with cream and jam and carrot cake. Ben had coconut and lemon cake and my dad had Victoria sponge (my mum just had cream tea).

As we went for a walk along the seafront Ben spotted an ice cream shop and jokingly (or so I thought) said he really fancied ice cream. I called his bluff and he so he went and bought one!

By this point Ben is both hyped up on alcohol and sugar. Bouncing all around the place, climbing walls and just generally being good fun. I’m glad he was feeling in a better mood (even if it was under the influence…).

Finally a happy chappy with his ice cream 🙂

And then we headed home to crash, both from exertion and sugar, on the sofa. Another weekend complete.

When you’re feeling down, how do you make yourself happy again?

What’s your favourite ice cream? I really can’t stand the Mr Whippy ice creams, I like the proper stuff!

Have you ever cycled after a long run? Triathletes are just amazing! It was very hard.

July 14, 2014July 14, 2014

Week #5 Marathon Training

Still trucking along nicely. I do look out though to the (many) weeks ahead and think “how am I going to survive this?” I’m sure something will crop up injury-wise, I just only hope it’s something minor. How’s that for positivity?

I forgot to mention last week the commencement of the Ab Challenge (er so that would be two weeks ago?) I did complete the 30 days, but as I said previously, I amended it to be bicycle crunches and Russian twists (with the leg raises and plank). It was tough I’m not going to lie. But I felt like I gained some strength (but no six pack thank god). I’m trying to do something every day, whether it’s a plank, some crunches or what-have-you but at the weekend it’s hard because, well, it’s the weekend.

Monday – no running but I did this strength routine:

– 15×4 calf raises with weights
– 4mins crab walk
– 1min x3 plank with side leg touch
– 200/leg clams with resistance band
– 4.5min bridge
– 15×4 bridge leg lifts
– 15 press-ups
– 2min toe lifts

Tuesday – I did another hill running session. One mile warm-up, two miles worth of two hills running up and down, then one mile cool down. The bin men were out and they must have thought I was mad.

Undoubtedly I would be running faster with the running club (as is the nature of running with others) but I’m so motivated at getting up early and running that I’m quite happy to go solo. And I know I harp on about this, but I can fully listen to my body rather than get all competitive and carried away with the club. But I do miss it 🙁

Strength routine in the evening:

– 15 press-ups
– 4mins toe lifts
– 4x 15 calf raises with weights
– 3mins plank
– 3x 1min elbow plank to push up
– 100 Russian twists
– 200/leg clams with resistance band
– 4.5min crab walk

Wednesday – 4 miles easy recovery run in the morning. Kept around 8.30min/mile pace. Legs felt heavy and niggly though especially one of my calves. I promptly text the wonder that is Kyle, our local sports massage therapist, and he was able to come round that evening and sort it out. I’m all over prompt action for any sort of niggle. Kyle got rid of the issue thankfully. You might think I’m a bit of a paranoid over-reactor when it comes to running niggles. You would be right.

Strength routine:

– 2x 100 bicycle crunches
– 4x 15/leg weighted single leg dead lifts
– 200/leg clams with resistance band
– 1x 1.5min/side plank

Unfortunately I got bored with the side planks and kind of gave up and went home. It happens! Also it was annoying that I’d forgotten my hair bobble. You know when I get bored when I start taking plank selfies…

I’m not pouting, I’m grimacing!!

Thursday – speaking of Kyle, he was able to put me in touch with a guy at Southampton Solent University who is currently doing a study on endurance runners and athletes and needed participants for his current study. This involved me doing a VO2 Max test.

I’ll post more about this in a separate post as I have a lot to say! It was all very interesting but hard work. Probably 2.5 miles running at a guess.

Friday – had some time in the morning so did a few quick strength moves:

– 4×15/leg single leg squats
– 100 Russian twists
– 100/leg clams with resistance band
– 3min wall sit

Saturday – I knew I wouldn’t have time on Sunday for a long run, so I ran to parkrun (4 miles), did parkrun and then ran home again.

I felt really good on the run there and got a bit carried away with my pace but I was just enjoying it. It was so hot though. I made sure to arrive at parkrun just before the start so the gap of stop-starting would be small. I thought I’d put some effort into the parkrun but really had no idea how it would go considering the heat and the four miles already on my legs. Not sure quite why I was looking so happy!

A guy from my club kindly ran with me and helped pace me. I was intending on getting a negative split but it didn’t really happen.

In the end 22:32 which I was happy about. And then I scanned my barcode and dashed off to run home.

My legs felt considerably more tired but still fairly good, though I got a terrible stitch after a mile because I’d chugged down a load of Ben’s water before I ran off home. Rookie error. But a successful 11 miles in the bag!

Later Ben, our friend Nathan, Kyle and me met up for a 15mile bike ride round Durley. Initially I was really not up for it as I was quite tired but as soon as I started pedalling I felt the best I’ve ever felt on the bike. Really strong and comfortable. It spun my legs nicely.

Sunday – urgh. My alarm was set for 5.15am as we needed to leave the house to go marshal a local race at 8.30am. I wanted to get 6 miles and I really didn’t fancy leaving the run till later when I’d want to chill. Just a recovery run so kept it easy.

Ben had his alarm set for 4.30am as he wanted to do 12 miles. He was meeting another friend at 5.30am (madness!). Unfortunately he slept through his alarm and when mine went off I was like “er, Ben, why are you still asleep?” I’ve never seen that boy move so quickly in my life. Or heard such language so early in the morning 😉

It’s currently Monday morning and I’m shattered. Absolutely drained. Come on body, don’t fail me now please!

Ever set your alarm ridiculously early to make a workout?

Have you ever done a VO2 max test?

Have you ever done any 30 day workout challenge?

July 7, 2014July 7, 2014

Week #4 Marathon Training

Hello summer! I’m loving the lovely sunshine and beautiful mornings. Getting up stupidly early to run is actually quite easy as the sun is already shining and it’s fairly warm outside.

This week has been really tough. After Endure 24 I had Monday and Tuesday off running as I just needed some down time. I had a great sports massage with Kyle which really helped loosen things up. Thankfully my hip hasn’t played up again either. It’s now 12 weeks from Berlin marathon and I am wondering for how long I will go until I get injured again – I really hope things go plain sailing. Who knows? All you can be is sensible with warming up, stretching, regular foam rolling, massages and strength training.

Monday – OFF

Tuesday – strength training after work:

– 15×3/leg calf lifts with weights
– 200/leg clams with resistance band (I do 50 per leg each time)
– 4.5mins bridge
– 20×3/leg single leg dead lifts
– 16 press-ups
– 3mins toe lifts

Wednesday – I had planned to do four easy miles but as I started I found I was quite happy to run a bit faster so I call this a “paced run”. I’m finding it easier to start slower and get faster which is always good I guess.

Strength work:

– 200/leg clams
– 50/leg single leg lifts with ankle weight
– 20×3/leg single leg dead lifts with weights
– 20×3/leg lunges (mix of lunge twists and with weights)
– 4mins crab walk

Thursday – 10k tempo run. This was a brilliant run. My legs felt fresh and I felt good. My plan was one mile warm-up, two miles tempo, one mile easy then two final tempo miles.

To cool down I walked Alfie afterwards. He’s loving it at the moment as I walk him in the morning before I run at stupidly o’clock (usually 5.30am), then when I get back from my run if I have enough time I’ll walk him again to cool down. Pampered pooch!

Strength work (felt a bit de-motivated and bored so kept it quick):

– 200/leg clams
– 4mins crab walk
– 3mins toe lifts
– 3mins plank
– 2x 1.5mins side planks

Friday – a much needed recovery run. My legs felt very heavy and I felt tired. This was the third consecutive day of getting up around 5.10am.

Saturday – Ben and me headed to Basingstoke to do the Basingstoke parkrun with my friend who’s just gotten into running (the one I did the Race for Life with) and her husband and son.

In my plan it was a speedy 5k but as I had now run three days before I wasn’t sure how well this would go. I just thought put in some effort and see how it goes.

It was actually quite a tough course. There were two laps and a sneaky gradual incline you had to do twice. But it wasn’t anything crazy hard. There were over 300 people there! And lots of speedsters. I was lucky to come 4th lady with a time of 21:22, which I was chuffed with. It’s the fastest parkrun I’ve done since November. Fairly depressing but I’m pleased regardless.

There’s Ben in the red shirt

Ben found the run quite tough. His ankle was playing up and it didn’t help that he’d had a late night the night before and hadn’t run properly all week. My friend got a PB of just over 28 minutes 😀

We all had a good time though and had coffee afterwards with our friends. So chuffed they’re getting into running!

Sunday – fifth day running in a row. I hope I don’t look back at this week as a mistake week. I was concerned I was running so many consecutive days but I needed to get the mileage increasing (famous last words…). I did feel OK for all the runs and afterwards though. I kept this run slow and easy.

But it did feel like a lot of hard work at about six miles. My endurance has definitely suffered due to my lack of long runs. This distance was a distance I used to find very easy, but yesterday it was back to basics. I spent a long time foam rolling and stretching afterwards, as well as doing a quick bit of core work and clams.

Later we went shopping and I was shattered at the end of the day; I had to have a nap! Ten miles is definitely not a distance my body is used to anymore sadly. Work in progress!

Annoyingly running in the hotter weather is causing me some annoying chaffage. I keep forgetting to, er, lubricate my arms before going out…

Which makes things fairly painful later…must do better.

Onwards to another week. Fingers crossed it continues to go OK!!

How has your week been?

Do you get any nasty chaffage issues when running?

What’s your top strength training move? I need to liven things up a bit I think.

April 22, 2014

Recent Runnings – bank it while you can

Happy belated Easter. Hope everyone had a nice weekend and extended time off (if you were so lucky to have the Friday and Monday off). I also hope lots of chocolate was enjoyed. Because let’s be honest that’s what it’s really all about (joke!).

The past week I’ve had a good amount of running. In fact, I’ve hit both running club sessions, Parkrun and a longish run with the guys from the club on Sunday. I’ve never managed that all before – usually I have to run on my own at least once.

Tuesday night was a hard incline intervals session. I felt strong running and though I hated it I did enjoy it – if that makes sense? It was tough but a good kind of tough. In the end I ran 7.8 miles. I definitely felt it the next day though!

Wednesday was no running but I did 45 minute’s in the gym working on my calves, hamstrings, glutes and core. Boring but necessary.

Thursday night was a longer than expected run with running club. I wasn’t looking for a speedy run at all as my legs felt so heavy from Tuesday. I’m really just not used to intervals anymore. So I was just wanted some good miles with good company. Well I did get some good company. But I just found it very hard.

I ran down to the meeting spot (which is just over a mile), then joined with a group who weren’t intending on blasting it. The only thing is it was off-road and there were several hills. In fact, our leader was actively looking for hills. I really struggled and felt really tired afterwards. I didn’t feel my usual amazing buzz. So I saw this as a ‘warning run’. A ‘don’t be stupid and try and jump too quickly back into things’ run. I’ve just done a marathon (and off the back of returning from injury and not having a great training lead-up). I cannot let the marathon and my results make me think I’m invincible. One run does not change you (I think those were Hollie’s wise words).

Hollie has been giving some great advice recently. For example, running and racing are like gambling. Quit while you’re ahead. That doesn’t mean quit running, but don’t think if you get a really good time or PB that suddenly you can keep racing every weekend and smash out good times all the time. Bank that result, take some recovery time, and then race again when you’re fresh and ready. Sound advice which I’m trying to follow.

After a rest day Friday, it was Parkrun on Saturday. I went for an easier pace to compensate for the tough Thursday. In fact, I loved it! Ben and me ran with some running club friends and helped out one of them to get a PB for the course.

It was great fun cheering and encouraging him round and seeing how chuffed he was at the end. We kept to around 8 min/mile pace which was perfect for me.

Sunday I was still feeling tired from the running so I was looking forward to a nice easy-paced longish run with some guys (and Ben) from the club. It’s really nice now that Ben’s properly into running and improving all the time that we can run together more now. Before when he first started it just wasn’t possible. Gotta watch my back soon I think 😉

We just managed to miss the rain thankfully! But it was very cold starting out.

It was quite funny because we actually got lost from half of the group and then had to make a quick and precarious dash across a gold course to get back. Scary times! Not sure the golfers appreciated us there…

This week is all about the RR10 (Hampshire Road Racing league) on Wednesday night. I plan on running an easy run on my own tonight and then (depending how I feel) pushing it on Wednesday so see where my paces are at. It’s all about position rather than time which I find annoying. I much prefer to compare myself to myself with my time than compare myself to others in terms of placing. Hey ho, all good speed work and lots of the club will be there.

And cake. There’s always cake 😀

How have your workouts been lately?

Do you quite while you’re ahead when you’re running really well? I’m just terrified that I’ll get injured. You always hear people getting injured when they’re doing so well in their running…I have no major races coming up so I have no reason to push everything hard.

Do you take part in any club leagues?