review - AnnaTheApple

July 31, 2015September 18, 2020

nuun Review – from my running club

I’m a big fan of nuun hydration tablets and the company in general. I go through a lot of their hydration tablets over the summer and after my long runs in general. You add one tablet to around 500ml of water and let it fizzle and then drink.

It’s become a bit of a habit for me after my long run to fill a big drinks bottle up with water and throw in a hydration tab and then cart that thing round with me for the rest of the day. I’ve even taken it shopping and to friend’s BBQs – my family and friends are used to it. If the weekend is especially hot I’ll have one the day before a long run and then one after.

I love the flavours and I like that the water I’m guzzling (I guzzle a lot) isn’t just washing me out of my necessary electrolytes.

Citrus Fruit flavour

The guys at nuun graciously supplied me with a number of single samples of two flavours of nuun to give out to my running club (Hedge End Running Club) for them to try and then feed back their thoughts.

The two flavours were: Strawberry Lemonade and Lemon Lime. The tablets contain no sugar or carbs and have almost zero calories. I cannot stand Lucozade or Powerade or any of the other sugary sports drinks but sometimes it is nice to have some flavour to your water and to get the benefits that some of the sports drink provide, i.e. the electrolytes to keep your body in balance when you sweat, and I find nuun is a great win-win choice.

So I was happy to give out samples to members of my running club to see what their thoughts were. [On a side note, this was a somewhat logistical nightmare. I put out a message on our club’s Facebook page and was inundated by requests to try them. Then became the nightmare of trying to get these bad boys out to the people who wanted them. I don’t go to every training session and not everyone goes to my usual Netley parkrun so it was quite tricky (not to mention not knowing what people looked like if I’d never met them before!). But anyway, I hope everyone who wanted to try them tried them. Though not everyone gave me a review back…*sighs* ;-)]

Here are a collection of some of the responses people gave after trying the tablets. Brought to you from Hedge End Running Club (though I haven’t used their last names for privacy):

Peter: “Personally I found them a bit ‘bland’ compared to the SiS ones I am used to but then some people might prefer that.
They also say to dilute them in 450ml rather than 500ml which is a bit annoying when most water bottles are 500ml or have a 500ml marker. Means you also cant pop them in a bottle with a sports cap on it from a shop as they are mainly 500ml if that sort of thing bothers you 🙂 50ml probably makes little difference but shows the American heritage rather than European I guess.”

Karen: “I also agree – compared to Zero tabs I would say these were too weak. I prefer a bit more flavour. I don’t think the product is something that you would notice making a huge difference brand to brand, so for that reason I would stick with zero for the better flavour.”

Mark M.: “I’ll fill my pockets, Anna. I found them easy to drink. On 4+ hour cycle rides other brands become a bit sickly to drink, I found these ones much easier on the taste buds.”

Kate: “Like the flavours. Like that they have vitamin C and B2 in them. (However…they could be mistaken for condoms packet in the individual packets!!!!).”

*Snigger*

Terry: “The one’s I had were quite refreshing but the flavours were a bit weak and needed to be a bit stronger.”

Chris: “Have to agree with Terry, the flavours could definitely have been stronger. I mixed each tablet with a pint of water, whether that was the wrong ratio I can’t say. That said it didn’t particularly make me want to drink more fluids as a rehydration aid and from a few tablets it’s difficult to say whether it helps your body absorb more fluid. Will more than likely get some more to try over a longer period 🙂 Verdict: undecided (& probably not well informed enough about the product yet).”

Carlo responded to Chris’ comment above: “Pint of water way too much, Chris. I got a 500ml bottle, took a sip out of it and added the tablet. Tasted ok to me, but I’ve no idea if any of this stuff works at all for me.”…Later informed me after completing a ridiculously hard Dorset Invader Marathon: “I took 2 half litre bottles with me yesterday and just dropped a tablet in when I fancied it. Not sure if it helped in any way, but tasted alright.” (He did an amazing job at the marathon!)

Julie: “I preferred the strawberry lemonade flavour I think. I actually like the more subtle flavours. They seemed to do the job for me but I’m not one of the top end racing types!” Julie has done over 30 marathons so judge for yourself on whether she’s a top end racer 😉

Mark S.: “I’m not sure about them – I’m taking them during day at work to keep hydrated post cycling in. All that seems to happen is I need the toilet about 20 minutes after drinking.
The one’s I had were quite refreshing but the flavours were a bit weak and needed to be a bit stronger.”

Conclusion: I think people enjoyed them and liked the benefits they gave them, but some found the flavours a bit weak. I must admit I do somewhat agree but sometimes I add a bit of squash and I’m happy as Larry. I agree with Mark M. though that you don’t always want an overwhelming flavour when you’re out racing for a long time (especially if it’s warm) as it can be a bit too much, so subtle flavours help with that respect.

And I agree with Kate – hilariously it did look like I was handing out Durexes to my fellow club members 😉 And my dad, when he saw the box of them on my dining table, said awkwardly “er, what exactly are these, Anna? And why do you have so many?”. But this is the same with other hydration tablet samples too, not just nuun! 😉

Have you tried nuun before?

Do you enjoy sugar-based sports drinks and find they help? I used gels instead to get my carbs and energy during a marathon.

How do you stay hydrated when it’s warm?

**Full Disclosure: I was sent a free box of samples from nuun to give out to my running club in exchange for their opinions and an honest review. I haven’t altered what they said in their reviews (other than one or two typos – I can’t help myself!) All opinions were included, none were left out that I’m aware.**

July 23, 2015September 18, 2020

33Shake Review

As an endurance runner it’s important to fuel your body well, not only in terms of quantity but in terms of quality. I’m very lucky in that my running stomach is quite hardy. I’ve never had any issues with gels or liquids on runs.

I’ve tried loads of different ones and never had any problems during or after a run (directly linked to gels, my last half marathon stitch and sickness was purely self-inflicted food and alcohol related!). Out of preference I don’t do sports drinks though. They’re far too sugary and I don’t feel refreshed after them. I prefer water or water with hydration tabs in them (either nuun or High5 are my favourite).

There’s a lot out there in terms of fuel to take before, during or after a run. And a lot of it is processed and full of chemicals. I don’t necessarily take issue with this though as long as the ingredients are high quality and the research has been done. I assume the chemicals are there for a reason.

BUT it’s always nice to hear about a fuel that is not riddled with strange unpronounceable ingredients. 33Shake are a company championing this natural sports fuel nutrition. In their words:

“We went on a quest for healthy, high-performing, natural ingredients that delivered sustained performance and health…” with ingredients that are “100% natural. No additives, no preservatives, and nothing manmade: This is real food”. (Source)

They wanted a fuel that was chocker full of nutrients and beneficial to your training. They kindly sent me a selection of nutritional goodies to test out.

I was sent All-In-One Endurance Shakes (Cacoa, Mocha and Original flavours) and Chia Energy Gels.

All-In-One Endurance Shakes

The shakes are designed to boost endurance efficiency, energy and recovery. They suggest it can be had as breakfast, before a run or afterwards to refuel. Further positives:

Contain sources of fat, such as flaxseeds
Contain antioxidants to fight free radicals
Contain natural alkalysers to support your immune system
Contain natural proteins, such as hemp seeds
Low GI
No artificial fillers, sweeteners, colourants, flavourings or preservatives
Only gluten in the shakes is organic spelt

I knew straight away that a shake would be perfect for my Ultra12 event, where getting in quality fuel between runs would be tricky. I remember at Endure24 I made the mistake of having stupid amounts of chicken and sweet potato and really struggling to run afterwards as all I could feel was food bouncing around in my tummy, consequently giving me a nasty stitch.

At Ultra12 I mixed an All-In-One Shake with around 200ml of cow’s milk (though you can use any milk) and had it a few hours before I was due to run.

They recommend you blend with a banana for maximum yumminess and effect, but obviously I couldn’t do this while camping. At first I was it unsure of the consistency. It was very bitty and, well, chewy. I wondered if I’d mixed it enough but when I looked at the ingredients I realised it was because it contained things like dried fruit and oats. Basically it tasted like chocolate milky muesli. Very tasty and went down very easily.

Nutritional Info (All-In-One Cacao)

Chia Energy Gels

These are basically ‘clean’ gels (I hesitate to use that word as it has such implications, but what I mean is that they’re free of processed nasties and junk). They’re to be taken during a run/endurance event.

Contain a blend of carbs, proteins, Omega-3s and antioxidants
90 calories per serving (which is equivalent to other gels on the market)
Contain natural anti-inflammatories
Low GI
Gluten free
Contain a natural electrolyte blend including Himalayan Pink salt
No artificial fillers, sweeteners, colourants, flavourings or preservatives

In order to consume, you add water, coconut water or fruit juice within the gel packet, mix well, and leave for ten minutes. It has a resalable top as so you can then take it with you for your run or cycle, etc.

Nutritional Info

I really like these and will definitely be saving a few to take with me for my Cheddar Gorge excursion (either half or marathon, I haven’t decided yet…). I love the concept of having more natural energy to fuel you (I’m sure if you’ve read Born to Run you were somewhat intrigued by the fuel used by the Tarahumaras). Because they’re a more natural energy source as well it might be easier for some people’s stomachs to handle on a run as some people really struggle with the chemically-based mainstream gels. I’ve often considered baby food in the past as a good source of fuel mid-run as it’s so natural but was put off by the fact that it didn’t have the ‘added extras’ that the gels had (e.g. electrolytes). So this is a win-win in my eyes!

Edited to add: I used the Chia Gels for my Cheddar Gorge marathon and they were great. I added coconut water to them and had three of them during my race. They didn’t slide down as most gels did but were more bitty and chewy, but they were very tasty and seemed to work well with giving me energy.

In conclusion, 33Shake get a big thumbs up from me. I love the concept, I love the products and I love the company. Also any company that has Chrissie Wellington as a spokesperson is definitely a good one in my eyes 😉

How do you fuel your exercise?

Do you use standard gels or prefer more natural energy sources?

Do you have protein shakes or energy shakes?

**Full Disclosure: I was sent these products for free to review. All opinions are my own honest ones.**

July 17, 2015September 18, 2020

Trespass Summer Style

It’s Friiiiiiiiiiiday! I have a little review for you guys today from the outdoor clothing shop Trespass.

I was sent two items from their summer range (though this morning it has been raining and doesn’t feel much like summer…standard British weather *sighs*).

Betty Womens Long Sleeve Top (£12.49)

The first item is a long sleeved base layer. It’s ideal for skiing or, for what I plan to use it for, before a race to keep your body temperature nice and warm. Though we are in summer, most races start in the morning and it’s still rather cool so rather than standing their feeling chilled this is ideal to keep me warm but not too hot. Obviously it’ll be great for winter as well underneath a jacket or coat for the extra added warmth (it’s all about layers!). It’s very soft and fits nicely. I like the zip as well as it means you can keep your neck warm skiing/walking, or if you’re too hot zip it down.

Elesie Womens Floral Playsuit (£13.99)

I never thought I’d be a playsuit type of girl, but I love this! It’s so pretty and easy to wear and perfect for hot summer days, having a BBQ or picnic. And no worries about the wind blowing your skirt up or protecting your modesty while lolling around on the grass 😉 I like that it has a belt-like tie as well so gives a bit of definition rather than being sack-like.

It’s not something I could get away with wearing to work however (my work are very relaxed about clothing but not that relaxed). The shorts area are quite high (but not indecent!). The only thing I will say, and this is true for all playsuits and not this one specifically, is that it does make bathroom visits a bit of a saga as it’s a one-piece item.

Trespass have a great range of summer items (I never knew they did ‘normal’ clothing and was pleasantly surprised by their selection – has quite a nice ‘festival’ theme) and obviously all the usual outdoorsy type stuff, like camping equipment and outdoor sports clothing.

Do you buy anything from Trespass?

Do you go camping a lot?

Are you a fan of playsuits/jumpsuits?

**Full Disclosure: I was sent these two items for free in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own honest ones.**

July 8, 2015September 18, 2020

Rants and Raves #15

How the weeks are flying by! I know it’s such a cliché but everything is just moving so quickly. And with another week I have another set of rants and raves…

Rave: I entered a competition with Brooks a while ago and forgot about it. If I remember correctly you had to talk about why running makes you happy and upload a photo of yourself “running happy”. I didn’t win but they did send me a consolation prize.

A very nice Brooks t-shirt. It’s made from wicking material but it’s not a ‘proper’ technical t-shirt if that makes sense but it’s still good for short runs, gym visits or just general wear. It’s lovely and soft and fits nicely.

Rant: My gym has been renovated which has just been *so* much fun trying to find an area to work out in that wasn’t a building site. Though I can understand their issue as it’s open 24/7 so it must be hard to do any sorts of improvements without closing the gym.

But anyway, they’ve created a new door system to get in and out. Before it was like a caged turnstile. Now it’s like something out of Star Trek.

You type in your code, one part of it opens, you step in, it closes before opening the next part. There is about two very long seconds where you fear you’ll never be let out. What a way to spend the rest of your life…locked in a glass cage with only your own sweat smell to comfort you.

Rave: Speaking of the new gym renovations, it has meant that we’ve had loads of new equipment and weights. Including a proper stepper machine! I was quite excited as previously we’d only had that annoying step machine that when you put your foot on each step it sinks down. I tried it once and it was awful. I just didn’t get on with it as I couldn’t work out if I was meant to do shallow little steps or big deep steps. The real step machine however is far better.

It’s actually like climbing stairs and you can get a good rhythm. Great for the glutes and legs! And for towering over the gym and people watching 😉

But I honestly have no idea what this new machine is…

On closer inspection it looked like a rowing machine, but upright…very strange.

Rant: Hot running! Though it is nice to be warm when you’re doing your warm-up…oh those days not so long ago I was standing in the car park in my tiny shorts absolutely freezing doing my leg swings while people were coming out to their cars wrapped up in coats and scarves looking at me like I was mental. But it does make for harder running.

Sweaty, uncomfortable and harder efforts for the same speeds…it’s tough! And even more so when you come back to the office and find…

NO cups for the water machine. I did consider putting my head under the water release bit and drinking that way but I thought perhaps this wasn’t proper office etiquette, even if it was past normal working hours 😉 Luckily they had another one in another corridor that I had to hunt for in my heat-induced delirium.

Rave: Pretty purple Nike capris! I’m clearly a bit obsessed with capris right now. I don’t tend to wear them running as it’s too hot but I love wearing them to the gym.

These are really comfortable and nice fitting. Normally I’m not one for crazy patterns but I just love the colour! I can’t remember where I got them from, otherwise I’d post the link as well.

Rant: Dropping your hair dryer on yourself while blow drying your hair is painful. And further proof of the accident prone idiot I am.

And also gives the impression that you’ve been mauled by a small animal. Very painful burns from the grating in the hair dryer!

Rave: Alfie just makes me smile every single day. This is him not wanting to get up one morning.

I reckon he thinks he’s invisible if he can’t see me 😉

Rave: I’m very excited about being sent these 33Shake products. I haven’t tried them yet as I’m waiting for a good time to test them out on (I have the perfect event in a week or so to give them a good testing – but more on that soon). I was sent three All-in-One Shake blend which are ideal after hard sessions as they contain great ingredients like hemp seeds and flaxseeds, natural antioxidants (which I’ve found I really need after hard sessions!), protein, and anti-inflammatories like turmeric and green coffee (oooh er!). They’re 100% natural, meaning no additives, no preservatives, and nothing manmade.

I was also sent Chia Energy Gels which will provide energy during a hard workout. And again contain all natural with a blend of carbs, proteins, Omega-3s and antioxidants.

So I’m fairly excited about testing these bad boys out!

What are your rants and raves this week?

What do you look for in sports nutrition, whether that’s before, during or after?

Where do you buy your workout gear from?

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015

Sweaty long runs and Running Heroes

Monday morning, hello again!

My weekend was nice and relaxed, which was lovely. Geoff, one of Netley Abbey parkrun’s event organisers, had given me the honour of being responsible for the keys for the Saturday run as he was going on holiday. I’m a regular member of the set-up and clear down crew so I felt very touched he picked me to look after the keys. With great power… 😉

This meant I needed to make sure I got there dead on time (8am) to help set-up. The keys opened the store cupboard with all the parkrun kit in it (cones, signs, etc.) and it also opened two of the gates that we run through as part of the course.

I’d decided a bit last minute to have breakfast before I left (usually I’ll wait until after, but I was meeting my mum later to go shopping and needed to eat lunch a bit earlier). I was rushing about so much and just before I was about to put my oats and milk in the microwave I knocked it over with quite some force accidentally. The oats and milk went everywhere. All up my legs, all up the walls, the kitchen cabinets, the floor, and even Alfie’s bowls! Argghhhh! I just stared at the carnage around me and could have screamed in frustration – so much mess. But with limited time I had to just get on and clean it up as quickly as I could (and as thoroughly as I could – milk is not a smell you want hanging around in the heat!). Bloody chia seeds are the most stickiest things in the world, I tell you. And those little suckers got everywhere. Alfie sadly missed his walk as I just didn’t have time but I promised to make it up to him later as I dashed out the door.

The set-up went fine and though the morning had begun quite cool it was now heating up. We were on the three lap course but I wanted to see how fast I could do it, having had breakfast. I felt quite confident…

Photo credit: Chris Stapleford – Ahh the face of a happy runner

I actually felt really speedy and like I was gliding along at the start. Then I looked at my watch and saw this wasn’t computing into actual fast times. I was pushing so hard but wasn’t getting better than 6.45min/miles. Though these times are still fast for me, I was bewildered that the previous weekend I was running around 6.50s with no apparent issue for six miles. Surely I could run faster for just three?

Photo credit: Chris Stapleford

I felt stupidly hot and it was a tough slog at the end. I managed second female with 20:48. Not too shabby at all but, I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed. I know in reality if I want to be speedier at 5ks I need to put some real work in to it, like sharp short intervals, but I just don’t have that desire, so I’ll take that time and be happy with it!

The clear down went smoothly and I was pleased to have successfully done my temporary job well. Netley had actually been very busy with our highest attendance yet at 314! Southampton parkrun has been cancelled so we got a lot of runners from there I believe.

Later on I met my mum for a shopping trip to find an outfit for a wedding I’m going to next weekend. Oh the pressure of finding an outfit…but I found a very simple but very chic black dress in H&M which I can jazz up with a statement necklace and a fascinator. I’m all about the accessories! I got two other summery dresses as well and in total paid under £30!! I mean come on, that’s such a bargain!

Sunday I’d planned a long run but didn’t know what distance to run. I have a dream trail race (*cough* marathon) I’d love to do in August but I’m not sure if it’s sensible or if my body will handle it so I’m judging things as I go for the next couple of weeks…

I stayed at my parents and decided to go a different route to incorporate a few hills and some off-road trail, but still get to run alongside the sea for part of it. As I headed out I knew I felt good. No niggles and no mental exhaustion like before…just plain sailing, relaxed running.

As I was on my second mile I passed a man with a young boy (probably about nine years old? I’m rubbish at judging small people’s ages). The boy started to run with me and at first it was funny. Then it was annoying. He just stayed with me. I got a bit worried because he was running further from his dad (I assume it was his dad). I said to him “you do know I’m running 10 miles, right?” hoping to scare him off but he replied “well my dad ran a half marathon”. Oh alright then! Cheeky bugger, I felt like replying “well I’ve run a marathon so there” but stopped myself as I remembered he was a small child and I’m an adult. Anyway he dropped off thankfully a few moments later.

The run went well. I really enjoyed it. Though I was drenched in sweat. I don’t normally sweat a great deal – that I notice anyway. But I was coated and my arms were chaffing because the sweat just wasn’t evaporating off me because of the high humidity. There was absolutely no wind either which was lovely as normally it can get quite windy along the seafront.

(Ave. pace 7:51 min/miles)

In the end I did 12 miles and felt good. I felt like I could have gone further which is great because this shows me I’ve still got a lot of endurance left over in my legs from the marathon. Just need to make sure I don’t over-train or injure myself.

The rest of the day was all about enjoying the wonderful weather. Meaning, it was time for a BBQ!

All those ribs were mine

My dad multi-tasked with setting the BBQ up and cooking while watching the Grand Prix on his iPad that was propped up on the table. Quite impressive really that nothing got burnt or under-done.

I went for ribs (soooooooo good), a kangaroo burger and a garlic chicken skewer. With lots of salad of course. Delicious! I felt well topped up after the run.

And away from the weekend…

I’ve recently found out about a company called Running Heroes that went live in the UK a few weeks ago. Running Heroes are basically trying to encourage people to run by rewarding them.

They’ve built the largest running community in France with more than 150,000 members. The company have a lot of well known partners as well, such asNike, Spotify, Uber, Birchbox and many more. In the UK they already have 5,000 users and were named a “Cool Vendor” by Gartner (like Dropbox, Evernote, Instagram or BlaBlaCar before) in April 2015.

The way they reward runners is very simple:

Runners connect their running app / watch to the website (Nike+, Runtastic, Garmin, Strava, Runkeeper, Polar, MapMyRun or Endomondo);
The more they run, the more they gather points;
With their points, they get access to exclusive discounts and gifts offered by our partners on our website.

It rewards your effort based on your profile meaning that it’s a fair distribution of rewards. So women gets 20% more points for the same effort as men, as studies have shown that they have to make 20% more effort for the same performance. There’s also a forum to exchange tips and experiences.

Just a snap shot of the rewards you could get

They’ve set me up with a code for my readers and I to start off with 100 free bonus points, just go to « activate a bonus code » et type in “RunAnnaRun” if you want to join!

How was your weekend?

What do you think about Running Heroes? I’m quite intrigued by it and am giving it a go!

What do you like on a BBQ?

**Full disclosure: The company contacted me and asked if I would spread the word and in return received the code to use for myself and you guys.**