review - AnnaTheApple

April 2, 2015March 30, 2017

Jabra Sport Rox Ear Buds Review

I first heard about the Jabra ear bud range on the MarathonTalk podcast. I was instantly intrigued. They sounded amazing (especially the heart rate monitoring ones). So naturally I was over the moon to get to test out a pair from their range for a review. Sadly not the heart rate ones, but sport-focused ones nonetheless: the Jabra Sport Rox Wireless ones.

Perhaps I’m not a ‘proper’ runner because I like to listen to music during races or speedy training runs and podcasts during my long runs. For me the two go hand in hand. That’s not to say I can’t run if I’m not listening to something as I often do races where ear phones are not allowed or sometimes just fancy a run where I just hear the world around me. It’s just I prefer to have something going on. In hard races it can take the pain away, when I’m de-motivated a good song can power me back up again, and on long runs I can get lost in a funny anecdote and I’m entertained.

They come in a very nifty, minimalistic little box

In the pack you get the ear buds (obviously), an instruction manual, a charging cable, an armband for your mp3 device of choice, and several choices for the actual buds (“ear gels”) that go into your ear and ‘wings’ that help with stability of the buds.

I won’t lie, it took me a good while to work out which buds fitted my ears best. When I thought I had it figured out one fell out just as I started to run, which was frustrating. What I will say is take your time when choosing and working out what works best. One of my ears is clearly different to the other so required a different ‘setting’ and the wings took a bit of fiddling with to see out how they worked. There’s a video online you can watch which is referenced in the instruction manual. It’s funny because when I read that before I had attempted wearing them I laughed and thought “who the hell needs help with putting in ear phones??”…yes that would be me it turned out.

But when you have the correct fit, those bad boys aren’t going anywhere. I’ve run in them for fast 5k parkruns and steady long miles over an hour and a half long. I forget they’re there.

The short cable just sits nicely behind your head

What’s very handy is they’re Bluetooth so they connect wirelessly to your device, in my case my iPhone. It is very easy to connect (take it from me, a technologically challenged individual). The short cable just sits behind your head nicely (there’s a little grip thing that can shorten the length of the cable to keep things tidy and stops cable flapping).

On the cable there’s a handy control where you can increase/decrease volume, skip songs and even answer phone calls. This is so much easier for me than faffing about with my iPhone in it’s armband when I’m running!

Handily as well the two ear buds are magnetic so if you want to take them out and let them hang round your neck, they’ll connect together creating a loop. This also pauses the music! I always rip my ear phones out as soon as I finish parkrun so this is great.

Charging the earphones is very easy as you just connect one of the ear buds to charging cable and then connect that to a USB port, like you PC or a corresponding plug.

My PC is resting on my make-shift standing desk

They’re built with solid steel and are waterproof (apparently built to US Military rain, shock, sand, and dust standards!), which was fairly handy for my windy and wet 13 miler last Sunday. The sound quality is brilliant. Very clear and immersive. My only sadness is that to enhance the sound quality with Dolby you must install the Jabra app (this is fine, it’s very easy and comes with the product so it’s free). But this will only work with music on your phone/device, not music you’re streaming. I use Spotify for my music and it doesn’t support this 🙁 That being said, I actually didn’t realise this until recently and I honestly think the quality is fabulous without the app anyway.

Thoughts? I love them. The ease of wearing them and not having a long cable flying about my arms and body is such a relief. Not having to faff with my phone to skip a song or pause is also brilliant. The quality is great and though I had a few bumps wearing them at the start, they now they fit like a glove (in my ear? Weird).

On the website (find them HERE) they cost £129. Yes that’s expensive but it’s an investment in a good, durable product. For me as a runner who loves music and podcasts (and not just running, walking and going to the gym – especially on the rower!!), these are perfect.

Now I’m just desperate to try the Sport Pulse Wireless earbuds… heart rate monitoring without a horrible strap!!! I mean these guys are good!

Do you listen to music when you workout?

Have you ever tried wireless earphones?

Gadget junkies, if you had to run without a watch or music what would you choose?

***Full Disclosure: I was sent the Jabra ear buds for free to review. All opinions are my own honest ones.***

March 26, 2015March 30, 2017

Finding the small things

I don’t know about you but when I get stressed, or angry, or sad sometimes I can find myself wallowing in the emotion. This isn’t good to do for long periods of time obviously. It’s not good for your mind, your health or you spirit.

Pardon my French, but when the shit hits the fan I just want to run away and hide. I want to moan, cry and beat my fists: “why me?”. But what good does this do really? OK sometimes it’s very cathartic and I’m not saying to have a good cry is wrong from time to time. But you still have your life to live and things to get done. So when I’m feeling this way I try and find stuff to keep me smiling and make me happy.

As I’ve mentioned before, I love reading. I’m a self-confessed book worm and I am not ashamed! After the very sad death of Terry Pratchett I realised I hadn’t actually read many of his books (possibly just one, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents which was one of his younger books). My dad is a huge Terry Pratchett fan so I asked his advice about where to start because the Discworld (where most of the books are set) is massive. I was slightly dubious as I’m not that into fantasy but I thought I’d give it a crack. My dad leant me Going Postal and I’m hooked.

Source

It’s exactly what I need right now – a story about a world far enough from reality that I can forget any problems I have and just sink into the story. For me reading is a brilliant escape and perfect to help you relax just before you go to bed (that terrible time when the demons always appear).

And in daily life seeing the hints of spring always makes me feel good. Knowing that better weather is round the corner, lighter evenings, lighter mornings and wearing less layers.

Let’s not think about losing an hour this weekend though! Meaning my 5am gym wake-ups might feel like 4am for a bit. Dear lord.

And spring time means my motivation to walk Alfie is far higher. It’s no longer a trudge through the cold, but sometimes the sun is shining and it’s just perfect. I know I keep going on about them, but the Jabra ear buds are also making walks with Alfie easier.

Having a dog lead and ear phone cables to contend with makes things a bit stressful and occasionally I’ll accidentally catch the cable and yank one from my ear, which is always painful. But as the Jabra ones are wireless it means just one thing to contend with – Alfie…who’s hard enough on his own with chasing birds and pooing in bushes!

Obviously running makes me happy and is a fabulous escape and refresher of the mind. I’ve been running the same very hilly 10k(ish) route every week around Basingstoke where I work before I go home on a Wednesday night. Strava is brilliant because it let’s me compare runs when I do the same route. I’ve now done this route five times and so far I’ve just kept improving slightly.

To be honest though I don’t think I can continue this trend. It is a hard run and I’m not sure how much faster I can do it. But it’s not necessarily just about the speed for the run – it’s about those horrific hills and the strength I’m hoping I’m building up in my legs.

There’s no point just running easy flat routes all the time. Make your training hard to make racing easy is my plan. Though always remember to make it easy when your body tells you to – we’re not superheroes!

As I run from work on a Wednesday night it means I’m not going to get dinner until I get home. So by the time I’m home and dinner is prepared it can be at least an hour and a half later. I do need something to refuel me to make the next day not feel like hell. The people from Upbeat sent me some protein smoothies to review for my blog.

So I’ve been taking them to work and having them post-run on a Wednesday night when I drive back home. Luckily we have a fridge at work so I just grab it as soon as I’ve finished my run and drink while I do some stretching in the mini work gym.

Post run stretch and refuel

Upbeat drinks are dairy protein drinks. They’re high in protein (20g per bottle – and this comes from whey protein from the milk), low in fat and relatively lower in sugar than most smoothies. Each bottle also has less than 150 calories. The available flavours are Strawberry, Blueberry & Raspberry and Mango & Passion Fruit. The ingredients list reads very nicely without any crazy artificial flavourings or chemicals.

My thoughts? I actually really enjoyed these, which I was surprised about as I thought “ooh whey protein and a smoothie? Hmm”. The consistency was fairly thick (like a smoothie) but lovely and, well, smooth. I definitely felt like I was being filled up when I drank it. It didn’t feel like “empty calories”. I never want actual food straight after a run but the length of time between running and dinner is too long to not have something and this fits the bill perfectly.

They also sent me a lovely material bag for life and notepad as well, which just made me smile. Maybe I’m not feeling that upbeat right now, but it helps to have a reminder to at least try!

And if all else fails, just have a bit of what you fancy. I don’t believe you should eat for your moods all the time but I do believe sometimes you just bloody well need chocolate.

How good does that sound?? Salted fudge! It’s currently sat in my fridge just waiting…I’ll crack into it soon (no pun intended…) but just knowing it’s there like an old friend ready to help me when I most need it is just wonderful.

How do you get yourself out of dark moods?

What is making you smile lately?

What is your perfect East egg?

***Full Disclosure: I was sent the Upbeat protein smoothies for free to review. All opinions are my own honest ones.***

March 19, 2015March 30, 2017

Hello tasty food – Hello Fresh Review

This post has been a long time coming.

[I have not been compensated for this review. I just fancied doing it.]

I mentioned a while ago that I caved into the pressure of a door-to-door salesman touting a Hello Fresh subscription discount. I was that sucker. What’s the one thing they say? Never buy or sign up to someone knocking at your door.

But it did sound very good to me (I hear your thoughts: of course it would). I signed up to the three meals for two people. My discount took £20 off for two boxes and then I could cancel my subscription or continue on at £39 per box. Note how I say per box not per week. You can decide how often you want the box delivered – whether that’s once a week or once a month or whatever.

But what actually is it? Well, it’s a food and recipe delivery service. In each box I receive the ingredients for three meals and the three recipes to go with it. The only thing you need to have is oil/butter, salt and pepper. If the recipe calls for a tablespoon of cornflour then Hello Fresh have made sure to give you a tiny container with exactly that amount. Even teeny tiny bottles of soy sauce or sesame oil. Everything is provided for in the exact amount you need.

The meat is ethically reared, the vegetables are seasonal and fresh and the fish is coastal fresh, line-caught and free from any artificial preservatives. And so far all the ingredients have been in great condition and delicious.

Also, all the packaging and the box are recyclable and you can send back (for free) the cooling wool lining (used to wrap the meats and fridge products) back to Hello Fresh so they can recycle it there.

The meals are well balanced and the portions are brilliant – and considering this is me we’re talking about (the girl with a tiny T-rex inside her) this is something.

Every meal we’ve had so far I’ve enjoyed. There was one meal, a prawn and Serrano ham linguine, that I changed slightly for me (but kept the same for Ben) as I really don’t enjoy pasta. So I served it up with roasted sweet potato fries instead and it worked perfectly.

These aren’t super fast meals though. It takes me roughly 30-40 minutes to have it cooked and on the table (though the recipes are very clear and easy to follow).

Pork loin with leek mash and onion gravy

And the meals often require more pans than I’m used to, meaning lots more washing up. However, I love cooking. I find it a great way to de-stress from work and my long commute. I make sure I read the recipe at work so I know what I’m going to do and then when I get home I just get going. I know I already have everything at hand for the meal.

Pork loin with leek mash and onion gravy

I’m also learning how to cook better. I’ve never made onion gravy from scratch before or cooked certain cuts of meat so I feel like my culinary skills are broadening and my cooking CV expanding.

Things like the above photo: I’ve never beat down a chicken breast before to make it thinner and quicker to cook (we have since bought a rolling pin rather than using a tin of chickpeas…).

Pan-fried chicken and tarragon sauce

All the meals come with their nutritional information and are around 400-800 calories per meal. They’re very balanced in protein, carbs and fat and I’m always left satisfied.

Pan-fried tilapia with chorizo roasted potatoes

At the end of the week Hello Fresh ask for feedback for the meal and you can say whether you would want it again or not. So if you didn’t enjoy a meal for whatever reason you don’t have to have it again. You can give feedback as well if there was something about the meal you didn’t like or didn’t work for you. You can also see the meals coming up for the next week and you’re able to swap a meal with two other options (I’ve now do this with pasta meals).

Pan-fried tilapia with chorizo roasted potatoes

As you can see above, I sometimes add some more veggies (broccoli in this case) to some of the meals as I can’t help myself. Not because the meals aren’t filling (as Ben never needs anything more) but because I just love my veg!

Chicken Shawarma

All in all, we’re big fans. It makes life so much easier to just know what you’re going to have for three meals in the week. You know they’re going to be filling, nutritious and tasty. It’s definitely something we’re going to continue on.

There are several options of boxes to choose from at Hello Fresh: bigger family boxes, vegetarian ones and the classic one that we have. I think it’s a good value for money for quality, delicious food.

If you’re interested, you can use this code ZVUM4A to get £20 off your first two boxes too. It’s my own referral code (I would then get £12 off my own subscription – just so you’re aware).

Do you have any questions?

Do you subscribe to any weekly or monthly boxes?

Do you enjoy cooking meals from scratch?

March 12, 2015March 30, 2017

My baby T-Rex and fashionable fitness ##HHCatwalk

OK I know, I know, weather introductions are boring and samey – but seriously, yesterday I almost left my coat at home!! This makes me so happy!

I got to wear just a T-shirt and shorts for my run last night and even finished still in the light!

Post-run selfie

What also makes me happy is going out on a school night to go eat stupid amounts of ribs with friends. On Tuesday night we went to a place called Rancho Steak House in Southampton and it was amazing. The whole day I was hungry (in my head I ’m pretty sure) and just couldn’t wait to leave work and get there.

I already knew what I’d be having – especially as I found out that Tuesday night’s were unlimited rib night. Ben and me shared a plate of cheesy nachos to start. The service was dreadful which was such a let down and so our food took ages. This meant I was ravenous so those nachos went down quite nicely, despite their rather unappealing presentation.

You can barely see the nachos under the melted cheese – Ben was in heaven

For mains, I went for the £14.95 unlimited rib meal which came with a side salad and chips which I subbed for corn on the cob (because I’m obsessed and chips would have filled me up – stomach space was all for the ribs).

Smothered in a delicious costa picante glaze

I was in rib heaven. They weren’t the best ribs I’ve ever had but they were pretty good. It was also great to know that I could have more if I wanted…which I did.

Half way through this portion I should have stopped as I was full. But the glutton I am continued and I was uncomfortable by the end. No regrets though – I was fully satisfied. I honestly believe there’s a baby T-rex inside me trying to get out.

I’m also loving that my mum and dad are getting into the whole Hello Fresh scene. They signed up after I raved on about it.

My mum cooking one of the recipes the other night

It’s great because I can compare notes with them on how things went and what he liked or didn’t as we’ll get the same recipes each week (though they get theirs on Tuesdays whereas we get ours Thursdays).

I promise I will do a Hello Fresh post soon, I just have a bit of a backlog at the moment!

As you might know, I run three times a week and go to the gym four times a week. Three of those gym seshes are purely strength focused (deadlifts, single leg stuff, squats, box jumps, core work…etc.) but the other gym sesh is what I call my “good for the soul” cardio. I love the rowing machine (is that weird?). Not as much as running but I just love the rhythm of it and can let my mind wander.

It’s usually the time I catch up on MarathonTalk podcasts as well. Usually I’ll spend 45 minutes on it and just row however I feel. I’m no expert and have no real idea what speeds or distances are good, but I enjoy it and see it as a good way to help my fitness without adding in another running session (which I’m loathe to do right now considering I’m being all gradual in my build up and remaining injury-free).

Speaking of fitness…as I’ve mentioned a couple of times now, the guys at the The Running Bug sent me some really cool Helly Hansen running gear to try out and to help spread the word that working out and looking good does not have to be mutually exclusive.

Leggings and technical fitted T-shirt

As I’ve said so many times, I like looking good when I exercise. So kill me. It’s no different from deciding what to wear to work or what to wear when I go out with friends. I want to look nice. It makes me feel happy and confident. And those two things are so important for when you’re working out. Whatever gets you motivated, confident and in the zone is worth it to me.

The Helly Hansen gear is honestly amazing. The T-shirt (above) is nice and loose fitting. It’s quite thin and slightly see-through so a white sports bra is best. It’s a great top to run in!

The capri leggings fit like a glove. They’re a good thickness, they move with my body and don’t slip down or feel too tight. They’re also great in wet weather!

My only slight sadness is they don’t have a mini pocket for a key.

I also received a technical vest. I love that it has a hole at the back (though this does mean wise sport bra choices). And like the T-shirt it is also slightly see-through.

It’s a mesh material so cool, breathable and quick drying.

I was also sent a hoodie. It’s a strange material – kind of a thicker technical material and is very warm. So ideal for either a very cold run or for just after a race or parkrun.

Appalling posing faces sorry – it’s so very awkward

I love that it had the thumbholes and it also has a fitted waist bit so hugs you at the bottom keeping you warm and doesn’t ride up. My only issue is the head hole is quite small so when I have a pony tail it tends to snag it down when I put it on (#longhairproblems).

And finally, my absolute favourite item (no wait the leggings are my favourite…second favourite), the jacket!

I adore the colour and it goes nicely with the other bits as well. It was brilliant during a very wet and windy run the other week. It’s comfortable and water-proof. The hood was a bit annoying in the wind and there’re no pockets again, but this doesn’t detract my love for it.

Helly Hansen has a great range of funky running gear and fitness apparel. It is expensive, I won’t lie, but unlike some brands that you pay more for you get really good quality. I can see these items lasting me a very long time and they’re already some of the favourite fitness clothes I have.

Also just so you know, if you Tweet pictures of yourself in your favourite fitness gear (tagging @therunningbug and using #HHcatwalk) one lucky person will be selected to win a very exciting Helly Hansen prize!

[Full Disclosure: I was sent the Helly Hansen gear for free as part of the Running Bug’s fashion fitness campaign. All opinions are my own honest ones.]

March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

Rant and Raves #10 and a review of Osmo Nutrition

Happy Wednesday! I love Wednesdays because it’s the day I get a whole extra hour and fifteen minutes in bed and go running in the evening. Especially as we went out for dinner last night and I ate an obscene amount of pork ribs. Happy days.

Today I have some rants and raves and also a little review.

Rant: Ben is now an avid gym goer and so when he said he’d bought a big container of protein powder I was like “cool, whatever makes you happy”. Until I opened our bedroom wardrobe to find the monstrosity.

I guess it hadn’t twigged in my brain how big he was talking. There’s literally no way this bad boy would fit in our tiny kitchen so I’m pretty sure this is where it will live forever more. Oh joy.

Rave: I love using the slow cooker for meals. I’ll make soup, chicken meals, ribs…anything really. I love the idea that you can literally just throw a load of stuff in there and when you get home the house smells SO good and dinner is served pretty much (check THIS post out for some of my adventures). However our slow cooker was given to us by my parents who no longer wanted it. And it’s HUGE. So it meant when I did meals for two sometimes the sauce would dry up a bit. Or chicken breasts would be overcooked. So I decided to get a smaller one and put the other one in the loft for the future.

I didn’t quite expect it to be so small but I’m actually pretty pleased with it. Two chicken breasts will fit nicely in there with some veggies and sauce and will hopefully stay succulent. It means I can’t slow cook an entire chicken anymore but that’s usually a weekend meal anyway and can be done in the oven.

It also means we have a lot more kitchen surface space as it just sits so nicely in the corner.

Rant: Llike most runners, hills are not my favourite thing at all. But they’re really good for building strength in your legs. I try and do a hill session every week after work (I work in Basingstoke where hills are ten a penny!). I found a BEAST of a hill that works perfectly.

Mid-run photo so quite blurry sorry!

I try and do the hill twice at the beginning (it loops back to the beginning of the route) and then carry on with my run and then do it one more time at the end.

Follow me on Strava if you want

They look like mountains and I’m sure my legs would agree. It’s quite a long climb (probably .4 mile?) and my pace drops dramatically but I focus on my form; pumping my arms, running tall and taking small steps (great articles HERE and HERE about hill running). As you can see, the other part of the run is also quite hilly so it’s a really good strength-building run (well I hope anyway!). But I am absolutely done for after the run! I suppose this isn’t a true rant as I’m hoping these tough runs are a good thing.

Rave: Delicious herbal teas. After seeing these on Tamzin’s blog I just knew I needed to try them.

I love peppermint tea so I was pretty sure I’d like them. They taste delicious. There’s a very small hint of vanilla with the lovely minty taste – perfect for a cold afternoon! But I’m still sad that green tea out of a tea bag makes me feel very sick – what is wrong with me?? I’m missing out on so many lovely green tea flavours!

Rant: Having a moany husband when I ask him to take photos of me in my Helly Hansen running gear that I’ve been sent to champion for for Running Bug’s Running Fashion Week campaign. And then having him get bored between outfit changes and take random photos on my phone.

I know it’s dull and I know I can get a bit vain if a photo makes me look like an idiot (more of an idiot?) and request him to re-take it, but come on, you’re married to me so that means fulfilling these silly blogging requests 😉

*sighs*

Though I do know Alfie is far more interesting to take photos of! He enjoyed the dress-up party about as much as Ben I think.

Rave: Obviously it’s clear I love nuun hydration products as I mention them a lot on my blog it seems… The nuun guys asked if I’d include one of thir videos on my blog and because they rock I agreed happily. The video shows some pretty hardcore races and sporting activities with an absolutely belting soundtrack!

[FYI: I did not get any compensation for featuring this on my blog – I just love nuun]

And lastly I have a review:

Osmo Nutrition – Active Hydration for Women (which you can find HERE)

I was sent a tub of the Osmo Active Hydration for Women powder to review by the guys from Pro Bike Kit (great website for cycling/running nutrition items and also kit and clothing).

As a bit of a background, Dr. Stacy Sims developed the product specifically for women as she noted that the female physiological makeup is different to a male’s. For example, the menstrual cycle has big effects on the female body in terms of sodium loss, plasma drops and temperature change so this product aims to address those issues. It apparently increases power output and improves endurance by helping combat the premenstrual-related performance decline. There’s actually quite an interesting interview with Dr. Sims HERE.

Source

The flavour of the powder is mango and the ratio of mixing is one scoop to about 250ml of water. The idea is to drink it before and during your exercise.

My thoughts? I’m not going to lie, when I first tried the drink I didn’t like it one bit. It didn’t taste of mango to me at all. More like weak squash. However I drank more and it grew on me. Let’s be clear, it’s no fresh mango juice but the flavour is quite subtle and once I got used to it it was fine.

Aside from the taste, I really like the concept. It makes sense to have something a bit more specific to the female physiology. I like the extra nutritional elements you get with this drink and the fact that it’s upgrading plain water in terms of hydration. Did I notice a difference taking a water bottle with a scoop of the powder in to the gym for my hour long session? Not hugely but I did find I wasn’t guzzling my water like normal, rather just sipping it occasionally which probably means I was getting more bang for my buck. I also didn’t feel at anytime I was flagging in my workouts.

I think on my longer runs it’ll really help as I want to avoid gels this time around but I will need something in terms of fuelling and hydration so this could tick those boxes together. nuun is always good but it has zero carbs which is good for a shorter run or post-run but not so good for the longer ones if I’m not planning to take any food with me. And I’m sure it would have been handy to have had a bottle of this on my long run on Sunday when I was so thirsty!

Have you ever tried any gender-specific nutritional products before?

Does you husband/partner/parents do anything that push your buttons?

What tasty teas have you had recently? Do you drink green tea?

[Full Disclosure: I was sent the Osmo nutrition product for free in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own honest ones.]