Hi guys, I’m ‘afraid’ that I am once again off from work today! Until Tuesday!
This weekend is going to be a busy one. Ben and me are off to London on Saturday to see some friends and then on Sunday I’m running the National Lottery Anniversary Run (5 miles).
I cannot tell you how excited I am about this. Why? Because Paula Radcliffe is running it!!!! I’m not aiming for a super fast run – this is one of those runs that you just enjoy. Take in the atmosphere and the scenery…and chat to Paula. Ha. I wish.
In other random news, my dear hubby found this hilarious comic strip by the incredibly funny (though rather rude 
– I have warned you!) writer from the website TheOatmeal.com. It’s called The Terrible & Wonderful Reasons Why I run Long Distances. Since then I’ve actually seen it about on a few blogs. Here’s one segment from it:
It really made me laugh. OK I don’t treat my body like a fast-moving dumpster, but it just struck me as a great satire of a lot of bloggers out there (yes, myself very much included). Yay for spinach smoothies!!
[Incidentally there’s also a HILARIOUS comic from the same website called My Dog, the Paradox]
I mentioned in my last post that I’ve been dabbling with a bit of cycling. I feel like I’m cheating on my running when I say this…it’s not too bad. Let me be clear though, it’s not running (duh).
So far I’ve cycled twice this week. One almost 13 mile route and one 15 mile route (in just over an hour). I don’t think that’s too shabby (especially considering the mountain bike I’m riding haha). I made the rookie error of comparing my rides with a guy from work who, get this, went to France a couple of weeks ago to cycle some of the routes for the Tour de France. As you do.
I’m tootling along nicely at around 14mph and he’s zooming by around 19mph!! Up mountains! Jeeze. I got slightly giddy when I realised one of his cycles was 18mph. I naively thought, “Ok that’s not too far from mine” until I realised that was an easy recovery ride haha.
But it’s been a great relief for my little legs to not be pounding the pavement so often I must say. And especially after Sunday’s tough race.
Here’s what I’ve discovered about cycling:
- They sell padded cycling shorts for a reason. Enough said.
- I hate cars. I just love cycling along gutters…not.
- Checking my Garmin to see my speed is not safe for me. I have limited balance so this is just an accident waiting to happen.
- Speaking of accidents, what’s the worst that can happen with running? You trip over? It’s painful but it’s not usually life-threatening. Cycling accidents? Jeeze let’s not even think about it.
- You have to cycle a lot longer and a lot further to get the equivalent to a run (and that’s still debatable).
- You can slack of a lot more with cycling than running. You can coast along with cycling. With running you just stop.
- Two words: helmet hair.
But hey ho, it’s something different! And I’ve got my first Pump class booked for Monday morning. My puny muscles are quivering in fear already.
And recently I’ve been trying these yogurts from Danone called Danio. They’re basically a thick yogurt over a layer of fruit at the bottom. If I’m honest I’m not a big fan of the fruit in yogurt…it makes me feel a bit ill.
But these I actually enjoyed! Ben was shocked (and a little disgruntled as he thought he’d be having them all, haha). I really genuinely enjoyed them. The flavours I was able to get were peach, cherry, strawberry and passionfruit (passionfruit hands down was the best – that’s the photo above). But I believe there’s also blueberry and raspberry.
The yogurts are described as “super thick” and they’re not wrong! They also have a good level of protein (11-13g) in them, so you’re kept fuller for longer.
They have no artificial preservatives, flavourings or sweeteners. In fact, the ingredients look pretty good for a fruity flavoured yogurt. And they’re between 120-150kcal per pot and most are 0% fat. Not too shabby. They are quite sweet and they do contain sugar but for a fruit yogurt it’s not too bad at all for a nice afternoon snack to tide you over until dinner.
Funny related story. I bought so many in Tesco (as the company had kindly given me a voucher to purchase them) I looked like I was obsessed.
They’ve take over half my fridge!!
Right, I’m off to indulge in a bit of coffee and cake with my mum and sister. Ciao for now!
Are you running any races this weekend?
What classes do you do at the gym?
Hope you enjoy the race and your time off! That comic is so funny 🙂
Hehe, it did make me chuckle quite a bit.
Those yogurts sound amaziiinngg. And that comic kills me. I love the dog paradox one too! One of my faves.
Literally laughed out loud as I read it. Which is embarrassing as I was at work. Whoops.
Oh wow you are in the red wave? I think that was called “super fast club runners” or something- very impressive!
I am super excited about it too, although I think I start 20 mins behind you so you will nearly be finished by the time I start! I really like those yoghurts too, although I piled my basket high, paid, got home and then realised I had not used the tesco voucher! Duh! Means I get to buy more though!
Haha not sure if the red wave was the super fast wave, I didn’t feel super fast!
I really like those yogurts. I’ve been converted from plain yogurt.
Have a fab race, you will rock it!
Thanks, Jemma!
Those yogurts look great! Also I have all the same issues you do with biking haha – I DEFINITELY do not have enough balance to bike with one hand while I check my pace. I have tried a couple times and it always fails miserably.
It’s just a whole different way of working out…so much more different to running!