I’m pretty much back into the normal swing of things again. It’s scary (and sad) how quickly normality and reality submerges you when you get back from being away. It’s like you never went away…
The other parts of my holiday recaps are coming but for now I thought I’d rant and rave for a bit.
Rant: I was driving back from the gym and had BBC Radio 2 (this was about 6.40am) and Chris Evans was reading some texts out. He read one from someone who said “I’m training for London” and Chris Evans was like “what does that mean? Training for the entire of the city? Training to do what? You need to sort your texting out!”. As a runner and a marathon lover obviously I knew exactly what the texter meant. He was training for the London marathon. It just annoyed me that Chris Evans was so oblivious to is and assumed the texter had made a mistake. I suppose as a non-runner you wouldn’t automatically know I guess…but it still irked me.
Rave: I am missing American food big time. I think Ben and me both agreed that if there was a froyo place near to where we lived it would probably become a Friday night and weekend habit. Not good for our bank account, teeth or tummies! I also miss the BBQ food…
Walking past these at Tesco on my lunch break I couldn’t help but grab them and buy them quickly. BBQ ribs for Friday night! It softens the pain somewhat 😉
Rant: Speaking of American food…
Obviously we brought back some treats to enjoy at home. The birthday cake M&Ms are my favourite. I dislike plain chocolate M&Ms as I find them too chocolatey, if that makes sense, but I love these. Very moreish though! I don’t like the Harry Potter Bertie Botts Every Flavour Jelly Beans though. Ear wax and vomit flavours?? Noooo thank you!
Rave: New trainers!
I’m now a big believer in rotating trainers rather than just using one pair all the time. I still love my Brooks trainers but I think I’m always a Mizuno girl at heart. Sooo comfy and just seem to mould well to my feet. These were sent to by Millets to review so that’ll be up next week sometime.
Rant: So much washing. It’s unreal. I do tend to do some hand washing on holiday for my smalls and gym stuff (otherwise they’ll sit in my bag for ages all sweaty and gross) but still the amount of washing needed to be done was ridiculous. That coupled with going to the gym and running and Ben going to the gym and running now…ay ay ay!
Rave: OK strictly speaking this isn’t really a rave, it was just very funny. I’d planned to go to the gym on Wednesday so my alarm was set for 5am. It went off, I got up…and then Ben’s alarm started going off which hugely confused me. He shouldn’t be getting up until 6am. As Ben’s alarm takes a while to wake him up (we’re so different) I nudged him and said “Ben, your alarm is going off??”. He rolled over, turned it off and said “was going to go running…too tired…not a morning person…mrrfff” and went back to sleep.
I got back from the gym about 6.45am to a very quiet and very dark house. I ran upstairs and opened the bedroom to find Ben still asleep. He woke up to the noise, bolted upright in bed and proceeded to reel off a few choice phrases and words I shan’t write here and leapt to the bathroom…he hadn’t re-set his alarm from before! He was 45 minutes late. Yes I’m a bad wife for saying this, but him leaping out of bed half asleep in major panic semi-naked and dishevelled was fairly amusing. Major kudos to him: he got out of the house (with a shower) in under 15 minutes. Oh to be a man…
Rant: I’m really suffering from dry skin on my legs. It started on holiday and I wondered if I was allergic to the hotel linen or water or something, but it’s still bugging me now. We bought some really good moisturiser in the States which is helping to some degree.
Funny name hehe…yes I’m a child
I normally get dry hands during the winter but hand lotion helps…but dry legs? Bit random and very annoying. Finger’s crossed it’ll clear up soon.
Any tips for dry skin?
Do you bring back food from a holiday?
What’s your trainer brand of choice? I like Mizuno, Brooks and Adidas Boosts.
Tomorrow Ben and me (with Alfie in tow) will be picking up Ben’s mum and driving the 15 minutes to my parent’s house mid-morning to celebrate the day-long eating extravaganza otherwise known as Christmas. I’ve been put in charge of vegetables (clearly my speciality) so I’ll be carting honey-marinating carrots and parsnips as well as Brussels’ sprouts, broad beans (OK, not entirely a Christmas thing but they’re my favourite veg and I’m in charge sooo…) and some vegetarian stuffing (Ben’s mum and me prefer the non-sausage mix stuff). All good in the hood.
We’ll also be taking the freshly iced Christmas cake…da da!
We used royal icing and just kind of swirled it on. We bought the snowmen to decorate. We’re not brilliant at decorating as you can probably tell…
And the stollen was made pretty much by Ben while I hovered about sneaking samples.
My German friend’s mum’s kindly gave me her stollen recipe as we had some of hers freshly baked when we were over in Berlin recently and it rocked my world. Well anything does that has marzipan in to be fair but this was especially good. We wanted a fruitless stollen to bring as my dad can’t have the Christmas cake because he can’t eat dried fruit (or rather, as he so delightfully puts it, it “goes straight through him”).
Here’s the Stollen recipe (all credit to Charlotte’s mum) if you’re interested:
Stollen
500g plain flour (we had to sub for wholemeal as we didn’t have plain, whoops)
2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
150g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
150g soft margarine
250g quark
100g chopped almonds
200g marzipan (we might have significantly increased this to twice the amount)
To Dust: 30g margarine; 2 tbs. icing sugar
– Sieve flour and baking power into a bowl, add eggs, sugar, salt, margarine, almonds and quark. Knead into a soft dough and wrap in foil. Leave in fridge for 30 minutes.
– Roll out dough into a square (approx 30 x 40cm) on a sheet of lightly dusted baking paper.
– Thinly slice marzipan and lay out on the dough (alternatively sit the fat sausage-like wodge of marzipan on the dough depending how generous you were with the marzipan). Wrap the dough up from the sides to the middle and press together. Bake for 45 minutes at 175 degrees.
– Melt margarine and spread on warm Stollen and dust with icing sugar.
You can add different dried fruit or peel to the Stollen as well beforehand but like I said, we wanted ours to be more simplistic. Serve with jam, butter or cream cheese (highly recommended) or just eat plain! I think ours cracked quite a bit during baking because we used the stupid wholemeal flour but normal plain flour should be a lot better.
And lastly I have one more quick review for you. I was sent a Body Glide product from the company to test out. Sadly I haven’t been able to test the specific product I was sent out with running but I have previously used this brand before when doing races or when it’s been particularly warm. And I have trialled out the product they sent with my new gym activities.
I’ve suffered many times with chafage and honest to god it’s no joke. Like blisters they are savage and can really affect how your run is going. When I wear sleeveless tops to run I really felt the chafe under my arms. Getting into the shower afterwards was beyond painful.
A slightly old photo of when I suffered from the dreaded chaffage
Body Glide is a company specialising in a range of anti-chafe balms to help athletes keep comfortable and avoid irritation. These particular balms are quite popular because they are non-greasy and very reliable as they can apparently survive all weather conditions. I can attest that it reliably survives a hot sunny day!
The Body Glide have a new range being introduced to the UK:
Original Body Glide – the standard anti-chafe and blister balm
For Her – anti-chafing balm with effective skin moisturiser
Chamois Glide –balm for cyclists
Foot Glide – blister resister specifically for feet.
And they do different sizes as well so you can take a little travel-sized one with you to use just before a race. I was sent the For Her product.
It was great – very easy to apply (like deodorant) and it wasn’t sticky or greasy. It didn’t smell of anything in particular either. It was also nice that it had a nice moisturising element to it. To be honest though, I wasn’t overly fussed about this and happily would have used the original. As long as I don’t chafe I don’t mind!
I’ve used the original body glide product before when running. I all but bathed in it before my marathons and happily had no rubbing issues during. Although I failed to realise I’d chafe on my lower back! Who’d have thought to have applied the glide there!?
So a big thumbs up! Anything to stop that dread burn in the shower or that horrible chaffing feeling while you’re running (and then end up running like a chicken as I had to do one race as the rubbing was so painful).
Anyway, a big merry Christmas to you all! Have a lovely day and eat lots of yummy food. I know I will be!
Do you do any Christmas-specific baking?
Do you chafe when you run? Or are prone to blisters? Nasty little buggers.
***Full Disclosure: I was sent the Body Glide product for free to review. All opinions are my own as always.***
Hey hey hey. Last Friday before Christmas! Thankfully I’m working from home again today which is nice. Means I could go to Spin this morning and miss out on horrific traffic.
Today I have another review for you guys. This is review of the ProBikeKit.com website of which I’ve reviewed before (find HERE for my Clif Sports Energy Bars review and HERE for hydration tablets). Like I’ve said previously, I like this website because it has a range of both cycling-specific and running-specific products, from accessories, bike kit, clothing and nutrition. Today’s post is again focused on nutritional side of things.
This is a box of 14 drink sachets (for £12.99) which are designed to maximise your workout. You add the sachet of power to a 500ml of water and drink during your workout. It has a balance of electrolytes which help keep you hydrated and also provides carbohydrates (maltodextrin and fructose) to help fuel your muscles for 45-60 minutes. It has a neutral pH and is free from artificial sweeteners, colours or preservatives. It is also suitable for vegetarians and vegans, and is gluten and dairy free.
Calories per 43g serving: 180cal
Fat: 0g
Of which saturates: 0g
Carbohydrate: 40g
Of which sugars: 8.2g
Sodium: 360mg
Fibre: 0g
Protein: 0g
Potassium: 304mg
Calcium: 31mg,
Magnesium: 10mg
Thought? They come in three different flavours: Orange, Blackcurrant and Vanilla. I chose Orange. When you first smell the powder it’s like “woah!!”. It’s really strong – kind of similar to sherbet? I assumed it would taste similar. However, the taste is subtle and not very sweet at all. At first I wasn’t keen but then after swigging more it grew on me. It’s pleasant. Sometimes overly sweets things can be really overwhelming – especially when you’re also chomping through lots of gels and/or jelly beans etc. during a race or workout.I think it’s a great idea if you’re out on a long ride or long run and need some easy carbs and hydration that aren’t overly sweet. I probably wouldn’t have it during a short run or normal workout though as I wouldn’t need it but it’s ideal for endurance. And you could argue that you could have this instead of a gel as it’s got the carbs in there which means carrying less stuff during a run or ride. I’m a fan!
This is a box of 12 wafers (for £10.99) which contain a C2MAX which is “dual Source Carb Mix contains a special of glucose and fructose sources ” (source). They’re individually wrapped wafers to help fuel you before or during your workout. They come in either Berry Yogurt flavour or Chocolate Peanut. They contain no artificial colours.
Calories per 43g serving: 166cal
Fat: 4.8g
Of which saturates: 2.4g
Carbohydrate: 28g
Of which sugars: 14.4g
Salt: 0.22g
Protein: 2.8g
Thoughts? They’re a bit flaky in texture so I can’t imagine they’d be a great choice for eating during a workout (especially running – perhaps cycling though if you don’t mind a bit of crumbage?). They’re very sweet but this is due to the high carbohydrate content designed to give you a buzz of energy to fuel you on. It was deliciously chocolatey as well with really only a hint of peanut (I liked this as I’m not a peanut person really – Snickers are a no-go for me). It’s definitely not a snack I’d eat middle of the afternoon to acquit my hunger as I’m sure my blood sugar levels would spike, but before a run or gym session they’re ideal as a quick “pick me up” if you don’t have time to make something more elaborate. The ingredient’s list isn’t perfect but it doesn’t look too bad for what it is. They’re also very tasty which always helps! 😉
Like I said, I really like ProBikeKit.com. Especially since I’ve become a bit more of a cyclist. There’s a whole range of bits and pieces on the website at, I think, quite affordable prices.
What do you have if you’re in a rush before a workout if you need a quick snack?
Do you drink your carbs or eat them when doing a long run, or both (if you do at all that is)?
***Full Disclosure: I was sent these two products for free to review. As always, the opinions are my own***
Hello! I have another review for you guys. I’m quite excited about the products as most of them are all to do with being visible during your run or cycle – so it’s perfect timing for the current dark mornings and evenings. The lovely guys from 9Point9, the UK distributor of Feetures! and Nathan Sports, sent me a selection of products to test out. Let’s get to it.
I’ll start first with Feetures!, which is a company specialising in performance running socks. What’s great is that they’re conscious of the environment. They use eco-friendly packaging and have an association with the National Forest Foundation, which I think is pretty cool. They also back all of their products with a Lifetime Guarantee. The products are designed to withstand repeated wearing and washing, and to maintain their fit and feel over the lifetime of the product. So if your socks fail to live up to this standard, then you can return them for an exchange or a full refund.
My socks were the Elite Merino+ which uses a blend of super fine Merino wool and soft rayon (kind of like a pulp?) from bamboo so feel incredibly soft. They insulate when wet so your feet are warm in cool and damp conditions (perfect for right now!) and also have anti-odour properties. There’s a nice bit of compression in the sock too so it “hugs” your foot comfortably and stays in place.
Thoughts? I really liked them. They were SO comfortable. Almost spongy but not thick. It’s also really nice to find a pair of socks that are hidden in your trainers but don’t slip down. Trainer socks always fail me on this account so I was apprehensive to run in these at first. But they’ve never slipped down. They also have that handy left and right indicator on them so the cushioning is in the correct place. And they wash perfectly fine! No blister issues with these bad boys either (thank god). I will say though that for almost £15 they’re not the most cheap socks, but with a lifetime guarantee and how good they are, it does seem worth it.
As the market leader in creating the Running Essentials™ gear, Nathan’s performance-driven products aim to help improve an athlete’s running experience. They specialise in hydration vests, belts, handhelds, bottles, running paks, active visibility and reflective vests, and other gear, all designed to help you run stronger and longer.
I was kindly sent some really snazzy looking visibility gear. I won’t lie, I got quite excited. Especially considering how useful these products would be to me as I run so god damn early in the morning when it’s pretty dark!
This LED light attaches to the heel of one of your trainers. I was initially concerned that I’d feel it and it would either annoy me at best or cause me an issue running at worst. But neither of these happened. It fits very securely and you honestly cannot feel it. It has two settings: pure light and then a flashing light. It’s also waterproof (it has survived quite a few rainy morning’s run now!) and runs on replaceable watch batteries (40+ hours of illumination).
Thoughts? I loved it. Honestly, this is a brilliant idea. It’s now something I won’t run without on an early morning or evening run. Anything that can make you more visible to cars, cyclists and pedestrians is a big thumbs up in my book. It takes nothing away from your run so it’s a no-brainer really.
This is a torch which is rechargeable (via USB ) and is strapped onto your hand – so you don’t actually have to physically hold it. With 108 lumens and 3 lighting modes, there’s light at the top and a red light at the bottom and the torch has a 24 degree downward projection angle to focus on the path in front of you. There’s also a siren built it that activates when clicked (I’d advice that it’s best not to test this before 6am in the morning when you’re perfectly safe!!)
Thoughts? I used to consistently wear a head torch on my dark runs but I found it quite annoying and bouncy on my head so I was really chuffed to try a hand-held torch instead. It’s also less expensive than a head torch as well.
It gives a good beam of light and I love the fact is has a siren. Early morning or late evening running is dangerous, particularly for a lone female. Whether anyone would come and save me is questionable though! But it’s a good deterrent anyway. My only issue is that my arms are always moving when I run so the light flays about a bit and you have to remember it’s attached to your hand. It’s very easy to forget and then point the torch at someone’s house window or a car, which is never good! But I do think it’s brilliant – not only allowing you to be seen but also showing any puddles, tree roots, rubbish etc. that might be hidden on your path in the dark. As a side point, it’s great for when I take Alfie out on his walks because he tends to find the most dark and difficult corners to do his business which makes poop scooping tough work! #dogownerproblems
This is an LED band that straps round your arm. It has two settings: regular light and flashing. It’s water resistant and, like the heel spur, has a replaceable watch battery. It’s also very bright.
Thoughts? I have quite thin arms and struggled a little to get it to fit snugly but I got there in the end with fiddling about with the straps. Like the heel spur, this is excellent to make yourself seen. I wear the heel spur on one foot and the armband on the opposite arm which works perfectly. It’s very bright and isn’t uncomfortable at all. A very neat little gadget that makes me very visible to anyone driving or walking nearby.
This is very clever. It’s a water-resistant hat with a front white LED light and a rear red LED light. It has 2400 feet of visibility and reflective trims. It’s USB rechargeable and the female version has a hole for your pony tail! There’s also a small pocket to put a house key or what have you. I was fairly excited when I saw this I won’t lie.
Please ignore how truly horrendous I look – it’s 5.40am
Thoughts? Though I was reluctant to wear a hat so soon into the cold weather season (you gotta save the good stuff for the really cold days to appreciate it more), I quite happily donned this to give it a spin on my runs. What a brilliant idea! It’s no head torch but that’s not what it’s for – it’s for people to see you. It fits snugly, my pony tail fits nicely (as you can see in the photo) and the lights are awesome. Very pleased with this. It’s very warm and snug as well.
This is a lightweight fabric wrist pocket. It can fit a credit card, ID, cash, and other small essentials. It’s very stretchy and water-resistant. It comes in two colours – not just pink 😉
Thoughts? This is quite handy as putting things in jacket pockets or wearing a bag can be a bit annoying as they bounce around, but because this is quite form-fitting it doesn’t. On a long run I could keep a debit card (or my parkrun barcode card!) in there which is always handy in case you need to grab a water or something like that. Nothing has fallen out yet either from the pocket. My only quibble with it is that it doesn’t fit on my wrist as I have quite small wrists, but it did fit snugly higher up my arm. I put a key and a card in there and it only slightly slipped down my arm once before I readjusted which was good. It is a little expensive for what it is I think but I like that it’s reflective and it’s useful for carrying a few odd items without going overboard.
As the pack says, they are elastic shoelaces with a lock-and-clip system. The laces are also reflective.
Thoughts? I’m currently wearing three different trainers in rotation (Mizunos, Brooks and Boosts) and decided to put the laces on my Mizunos as they have ridiculously long laces and it drives me mad (I have to triple bow them!). The laces were very easy to thread into the trainers and they could be pulled nice and tight so my feet were very secure. You then just snip off the excess lace and then attach the locks and then the clips at the end. I was a little confused with the clip things and struggled a bit with the instructions given on the packet. I’m not entirely sure what they’re for either as the locks hold the laces down quite nicely. But anyway, they work very well. So much easier than faffing about with tying the laces as they’re very easy to tighten and un-tighten. Ideal for triathlons for definite!
Conclusion: these products have really made me think about how easy it is to be seen when running. It is STUPID to go out like a ninja runner without any sort of light or reflective gear on. Yes you’re on the pavement but you still need to be seen – you cross roads, you can be on badly lit roads or paths, and pedestrians are normally completely hidden in darkness so giving them a bit of notice of your arrival always helps (I’ve scared many a dog walker or walking commuter by flying past with no warning). You’re also less of an easy target for someone to stealthily grab you if you’re more visible to everyone.
There really is no excuse. Be visible. Be safe. The Nathan website has loads of great items from lights to reflective gear. Your only risk is looking a bit like a Christmas tree if you rock out all the lights at once 😉
I would fully recommend the Feetures! socks as well. Expensive though they may be, I fully appreciate anything that makes my feet feel nice and comfortable on a run and don’t slip.
All in all I very good selection of products. Perfect gift ideas for runners or stocking fillers in my opinion!
How do you stay safe if you work out outside in the morning or evening?
Are you a sock snob – do you only wear running-specialised socks? I fully admit I am a sock snob. Compression socks or running-specific only!
What would you prefer: a hand-held torch or a head torch?
[Full disclosure: I was sent these products for free to review. All opinions are my own.]
There’s something rather cathartic about having a bit of moan at times, and also professing my love for stuff, which invariably includes some form of food 😉 I try not to be predictable…but why deny my nature, eh?
Rant: I love my husband (obviously) and I love that he’s really gotten into the whole baking lark. We bought loads of new cake tins and gadgets and we’re about to purchase the rather expensive (though heavily discounted because of Ben being an employee) Kenwood K-Mix. However I was led to believe that him baking would be a regular thing. He threw around the sentence “every other week” quite happily. Has this happened? No. And he’s off to China with work for a while so no homemade cake in the foreseeable future either. Good job I know a lot of afternoon tea joints near me otherwise times would be looking grim.
Rave: I love all these owl-themed things that are going on at the moment. The top right is a necklace I got from Mango at the airport just before we went on our honeymoon, so it holds a special place in my heart (corny, yes I know). It’s a lovely long necklace which just goes with so many things. The necklace below is more delicate and sparkly and is from Accessorize. The top left is a cushion I found in a lovely trinket shop near to where I live. The bottom left is a hand-made Christmas tree decoration my parents bought for us as they know we are weird like owls. The bottom right is cake. I want that cake.
Rant: Garmin watches. Yes I expressed my love for all things “pace” a week or so ago but nothing irks me more than a Garmin that doesn’t find satellites. And standing in the cold at 5.50am waiting to find satellites is not what I call fun. I call that verging on hypothermia and looking like a creepy person loitering on a street corner. However, I have since found a way to combat this…
This was Sunday morning – when the sun had actually risen at this point
By balancing my watch on our front door handle before a run means I can do some dynamic warm-up moves in the comfort and privacy of my own home while my watch takes its sweet time to get itself together.
Rant: The iPhone keyboard for typing texts. Maybe I just have fat fingers because honestly I never seem to be able to get a coherent sentence out via text.
Me asking Ben if he was coming to parkrun on Saturday
I know I’m not the only person who struggles. I know we’re a lot better off than previously when we had to press each button like five times before getting the letter we wanted, but COME ON. Other phones do it better I’m sure.
Rave: Sweet popcorn hot chocolate.Let’s ignore the number of chemicals undoubtedly present within this one mug and focus on the deliciousness that is this hot chocolate. It rocked my world. Normally I’m a mint hot chocolate kinda girl but I went crazy and tried a new flavour. It definitely paid off. Options hot chocolate, thank you. (FYI the salted caramel flavour is also pretty good).
Rave: I’m going with a double rave here rather than another rant as I’m all out of ranting. As I run stupid o’clock in the morning it is obviously very dark. I’ve been sent some truly fantastic running products made by Nathan Sports which make being seen a piece of cake. I’ll do a proper review another date, but so far I’m impressed!
No excuses: don’t run like a Ninja – male yourself visible!
This is a handy little gadget (called the Light Spur) that you attach to your trainer and it lights up. It’s very bright and very easy to wear. I love running, but I do not love risking my life by not being seen when I run. Sometimes you can’t just rely on a high vis top.
[Disclosure: I was sent the Nathan Sports products for free to review, all opinions are my own though]
What are your rants and raves this week?
What’s your favourite hot drink? I love tea and coffee but I adore a hot chocolate in the evening.
Funny name hehe…yes I’m a child
![IMG_8371[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.annatheapple.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IMG_83711.jpg?resize=336%2C447&ssl=1 "IMG_8371[1]")
