General ramblings - Maria Runs

Guest post- from the therapy lounge

Hi everyone- I am so glad Friday is here! I enjoyed the Wednesday night run (with my brother in tow too) although I found it really hard- I suppose the very late night on Tuesday combined with running Saturday, Sunday and Monday did not help. At least it wasn’t raining, and we tackled “the hill” route which is nearly 4 miles long- I still managed it in sub 10 min miles, I think I need to learn that that can be my normal speed. Last night we went into London again, this time to see Louis CK in Hammersmith. It was a funny show, and thankfully did not finish too late as there was a second show later on in the evening. Two nights out in one week = a very tired Friday though!

Today I have a guest post all about the links with anxiety and food- I found it really interesting, let me know what you think:

Food For Thought – Controlling Anxiety with Diet and Hypnotherapy

You are what you eat, a cliché pedalled out by every nutritionist in the media maybe, but true nonetheless. Our mind and bodies interact and the importance food and drink consumption has on our mood and general well being can’t be underestimated. When they are extremely anxious or worried about something it is common for some people to lose their appetite and survive on a diet of coffee and chocolate bars, whereas others turn to food for comfort, overeating and craving junk food to medicate their feelings. The mental health charity MIND carried out a study on food and mood and found that food can have mental as well as physical effects. This is a very simplified version but food can basically be divided into two groups: those that affect anxiety and those that support recovery. According to MIND foods that can aggravate symptoms of anxiety include wheat, caffeine, sugar, alcohol and dairy products. Foods that can have a positive effect on mood include whole grains, fruit, vegetables, omega 3 rich oily fish, protein and very importantly adequate intake of water.

The way food affects mood could be due to an individual’s sensitivity to the ingredients or certain foods could cause allergies that manifest as mood depression rather than physical symptoms such as skin rashes. It may be worth keeping a food diary to see if what you are eating is contributing to the way you are feeling. If you discover a particular food is clearly having a negative effect-it may be time to make a change. Even whilst receiving other treatment for your anxiety, diet plays an important role in the recovery process.

An example day’s diet that supports recovery would look something like this:

Breakfast: Porridge with berries

Lunch: Hummus with vegetable crudités and pitta bread

Dinner: Salad Nicoise

Snacks: Fresh fruit, nuts, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, oatcakes

Drinks: Water

There is evidence to suggest that ditching the junk can help you manage your symptoms; researchers in London found that eating a diet of processed and fatty foods increases the risk of depression and the associated anxiety. They reported that those who ate processed meat etc. had a 58% higher rate of suffering than those who ate whole foods. It can be hard to make time for regular meals during times of stress but something as simple as following the recommended ‘5 A Day’ and drinking more water could help you because not only will you increase your consumption of essential vitamins and nutrients and avoid anxiety aggravating dehydration, but if you are eating your 5 a day and drinking 2 litres of water you simply won’t have the room to consume as much junk!

Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? The problem however is that the low mood of anxiety sufferers can prevent them thinking they are worth it, or they may simply not have the motivation and energy to shop and cook for themselves so they become trapped in a cycle of feeling low, eating unhealthily, feeling worse. The cycle of bingeing on unhealthy food and then quickly feeling hungry again only serves to add to feelings of low self esteem and low mood often felt by anxiety sufferers. Controlling anxiety symptoms with a healthy diet is only one step on the journey to recovery. It can possibly prevent some anxiety symptoms worsening but without dealing with the underlying problems, that is the actual cause of the anxiety, the cycle is unlikely to be broken.

Advice from the NHS suggests that if you are suffering with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) your anxiety can intensify when you do not know what the triggers are because it leads you to worry that there will be no solution. Identifying the source of your anxiety is the key to recovery. You don’t have to go it alone however, there are many treatments available for anxiety and one clinically proven treatment for those seeking alternatives to drugs or psychotherapy is hypnotherapy. It can help you build more useful responses to life’s stresses that don’t involve reaching for the stimulants or junk food. Anxiety could even manifest itself as an eating phobia, in which case professional help will be most certainly be needed. At the therapy lounge hypnotherapy is one of several treatments successfully used to teach people how to change negative and undermining thinking and make choices that boost a healthy lifestyle. Hypnosis empowers people to let go of past habits and deal with the subconscious issues at the root of their problem. When you recognise and address the triggers of your anxiety head on you can stop it in its tracks and as a result stop punishing your body and mind even further with an inadequate diet. You can find out more about the role hypnotherapy can play in helping you beat anxiety and live a happier, healthier life at http://www.thetherapylounge.com/hypnotherapy/overcoming-anxiety.

What do you think about the links between diet and stress? I agree that you can easily get into a sort of downward spiral with unhealthier foods- and when you eat healthily you feel loads better, but then sometimes when you are stressed it is much easier to eat a biscuit than to chop up some fruit or something.

Tomorrow I might go to the parkrun again, depending on the weather as it seems a lot of snow might fall, but if not I have plenty of work to keep me busy!

Any exciting weekend plans?

Rest day

Hey peeps- good news- today is where the days get longer than the nights!

I bought myself some more tulips last week, they are so bright and cheerful.

After work on Monday I went for a little run, in the rain- I didn’t look at my pace at all as I knew I would be slow. At first I found it fine, but after 2 miles I had to stop and walk for a bit as my legs were getting sore. Ah well.

I had a lovely dinner after- baked sweet potato with almond butter, and a salad with avocado, rocket, and cherry tomatoes that I roasted a little in some basil oil. Delicious.

Tuesday was a rest day as we were going in to London after work to see Bug with Adam Buxton (from The Adam and Joe show etc). it was a bit of a rush to get there- we had to get to the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, but at least we knew we had booked our seats. I had never been to that cinema before, but I can’t see how it was much different to a normal one- I am not sure I would pay to see a film there. The seats were a rather interesting leopard print too.

Anyway, it turned out we had loads of time, so got to watch the preview (the countdown on the screen), and then a video of Adam cycling (helmet cam) through Norwich. The show was great- very funny, and included a live interview with Edgar Wright (who directs films, Shaun of the Dead, Spaced, stuff like that). We even got a sneak preview of the new Marvel film called Ant-man, although I thought that was a joke?

Anyway, it was fab, but finished so late (half 11!)- I was tired this morning! I am not used to going out on a school night.

I was excited that my order of Trek bars arrived- they were selling them off at a discount and they put on their facebook page a sneak peak of the new packaging- including what looks like a coconut bar- exciting!

I have also been sent some grape juice drinks to try, although I feel like the weather needs to warm up before I have cold drinks!

Plus I have managed to persuade my brother to come to the Sweatshop run with me tonight- should be fine and hopefully we can keep each other company on the run as I think we run at a similar pace.

parkrun, pb’s and popcorn!

Hey everyone! So I braved the weather on Saturday morning and went for my first parkrun. My Dad and brother have been going to it quite regularly, so I picked them up and we all went together.

I loved it!

I had to register on-line first, and they emailed me a barcode, which I kept in a sandwich bag in my running top as it needed to be waterproof. It really was pouring down. The run started on the edge of the park, right by the car park, so we stayed in the car until about 5 to 9. There were loads of people (131 to be exact)! I saw a few people from the Sweatshop run, so we had a chat before it started (right on the bells of the church- I like a run that starts on time).

I thought my Dad would run ahead, as he is faster, but he stayed with me which was fab- we had a nice chat. We had to run along a path into the wind and rain, down to the lake, 3 laps of the lake, then back up to the path. At least the wind would be behind us on the final stretch, we thought. The wind was tough, and I felt like I was going slow, but each time I glanced at my watch I could see 8- something for the mile pace- very fast for me! At least with the laps of the lake we had the wind behind us for a bit, and could catch our breath before heading back into the wind again.

The whole system is so clever- at the end my Dad went a bit ahead, and you had to run through a little chute (well basically 2 mini temporary fences) and you were handed a little plastic chip. I stopped my Garmin on 27.10, although I was not sure if I had started it as exactly the right time. I was super pleased with that, but wanted to find my official time. Then we joined another queue (and cheered home my brother who was only minutes behind)- then someone scanned your barcode and chip- it is just so clever.

Later I got an email with all sorts of stats- my time, age grading, position, gender position, number of parkruns completed etc. I was 82nd, but only the 16th female. My official time was 27.12, which is a new pb for me. For Jantastic the March part was to choose a distance and predict your time- you get 100% if you predict it exactly, and lose if you are too slow or too fast- it is all about predicting your fitness. Anyway, I rashly put down a 27 min 5k (although I just checked and actually I put down 27 hours!), as that was what I was hoping for, without really working it out. Pretty close indeed!

After we had a quite chat to the Sweatshop people, clapped home a few more runners, and then wimped out and went back to the car- it was raining hard, very windy, and we were all getting very cold once we had stopped.

My mum had offered to make us pancakes for breakfast (she came home from hospital in the week but is meant to be taking it easy!)- pancakes and Earl Grey tea was a welcome breakfast indeed.

I am hoping to go next week too. They ask you to volunteer 3 times a year (the volunteers were great- cheering runners on and honestly standing about in that weather must be worse than running in it) so I will have to make sure I do that at some point too. There was a huge range of people- there were club runners with their vests on (I think the winner did it in about 16 mins something), but there were people run/ walking, kids running, people with buggies- it seemed very inclusive.

Onto the popcorn- a while ago Sainsbury’s sent me some popcorn to trial. I have to say that salt and vinegar is my favourite crisp flavour (really the only flavour I like) and this popcorn did not disappoint. I loved it- the vinegar flavour was nice and strong- good to nibble on (or to top up the salt levels after a run). I was not such a fan of the cheese and chive- it was not too cheesy, but I just don’t like that flavour so much. I did see that they do apple and cinnamon, which I think sounds amazing! Although I think it was maybe a festive flavour? Will have to have a look next time I am there.

This morning Andy and I had planned a run together- as the weather was awful, and I was a bit tired after yesterday, we chose a slightly shorter route. It was really enjoyable going out together again- nice to have time to chat (or gasp, as we were charging up hills)- it was strange as my legs were not that tired, but I was finding breathing harder than usual. Anyway, at the 10k point I looked at my watch, and it was on 58.58 (easy to remember)- woohoo a proper sub 60 min 10k! We did 7 miles, and just as we were coming to the roads by home it started raining lightly, and as we got in the front door it bucketed down- jammy with our timing!

I think Andy has decided that he wants to get me to do our next half in under 2 hours (I suppose that is the next time bracket to aim for) and he knows I run faster with him (or with anyone basically) so he is quite keen to plan the weekend runs in. After that I was starving, but we were going out for breakfast, so I had an apple and persimmon before we went to (where else?) The Waffle House (and again, it was not even my idea!). The trouble was, we ended up there over lunch time, so I think despite being awake since about 7am, running 7 miles, I didn’t eat a meal until about 1pm. I paid for that later with a headache while we were out shopping- I didn’t want to not be hungry for a waffle, but I think I could have eaten 2!

Ah well, overall it has been a fab weekend- 2 pb’s to boot 🙂

How was your weekend? Anyone tempted to sign up for a parkrun?

Guest post- Where to stay for the London Marathon

Hey folks,

I hope you are all keeping warm and dry! I have a guest post today, so enjoy:

Where to stay for the London Marathon

In less than two months over 30,000 people will embark on one of the greatest and challenging races on the planet, the London Marathon. Raising money for charitable causes and gaining the satisfaction that you’ve completed a 26.2 mile run is all part of the London Marathon. Even if you don’t complete it, the fact that you’ve been a part of such a noteworthy event is an accomplishment in itself.

Runners can spend an entire year or more training for the marathon, it’s a test of fitness, endurance and mentality. We’re sure there is no other feeling quite like it than passing the finishing line and raising awareness for your chosen charity.

After a long slog, trying to complete the marathon in the best time you possibly can (the record time was set by Emmanuel Mutai who completed the race in 2:04:40), you’re sure to be needing some rest, putting those tired feet up and enjoying one of the best sleeps of your life.

So after completing the race where would you rather stay; in a hotel room or a serviced apartment? We’ve taken a look at the pros and cons of both these accommodations to see what would be better for competitors and their family.

All I care about is a bed: Then we would recommend a hotel, especially if you’d prefer to be alone. However, it might be cheaper to rent a serviced apartment on a short-let stay as you will be able to split the cost between each person.

I want to pamper myself after a long sleep: Either type of accommodation can cater for this, but it can be quite costly – budget hotels and serviced accommodation won’t normally have these facilities, but paying that little bit extra will be worth it if you want to rejuvenate and treat yourself to a spa.

I need my own living space: This is a common request; some people just need their own space to breathe and think about their accomplishments. A serviced apartment is ideal for those who want a lounge with satellite TV and comfortable sofas, along with a kitchen and dining area. If you were to book with a hotel you would need to go into the public lounge or dining area, or alternatively order room service – another costly venture.

I don’t want to spend too much money: This is a tricky one to advise on, as there are many budgets to cater for. Both a hotel or serviced apartments can provide you with a money-saving alternative, so we would suggest that you do your research and look for places that cater to all of your requirements at a reasonable price. We have noticed that one provider, Refresh Accommodation have a special 15% off offer for an apartment in South Kensington– something that could be ideal for those who don’t want to venture too far from the finishing line.

I want to be with my family and/or friends: Your supporting family and friends can be accommodated in both a hotel or serviced apartment, it all depends how close you want them to be. When booking with a hotel you’ll have your own rooms and will have to establish meeting points and times. However, renting an apartment will allow you to have your own private quarters, but share living areas, cutting out the need to organise meets. It all depends on your preferences and how you act when tired. After all you’ve just completed a 26.2 mile run, it’s understandable if you don’t want to see anyone when you’re tired and run down.

Comparing these pros and cons, it’s not clear what type of accommodation would be best for marathon runners and their supportive family. Everyone is unique, which makes each requirement special. However, we do hope that this article has helped you decide what is best for you. Good luck with the marathon and here’s an early congratulations.

This post made me think about my own marathon experience. The Stockholm marathon was on Saturday, so we flew up there on Friday night, and had a hotel there for a few days (I think we came home on the Tuesday) as we wanted to see the city. On reflection an apartment would have been better as on the Sunday I was so stiff and could barely move- all I wanted to do was lay on the bed (hard to find a comfy position!) but we had to go out to get food etc. We did manage a hobble around the city on the Sunday, but not for very long. I remember going sideways down the underground stairs, one at a time, and wishing I had worn my marathon t-shirt so the people knew why I was having such trouble! When we did the 20 mile training run (on my 30th birthday!) we had a self catering cottage which was ideal.

If you do races, do you prefer local ones or ones further afield? And what sort of accommodation do you look for?

Avocado obsession

So, until about a year ago I didn’t think I liked avocados. Once when I was younger I had some, although I was told it was “avocado-pear”- so I was expecting pear. When I tasted it, it was so strange that it put me off for years. (The same thing happened to be with hummus as I thought it was honey- who knows why!).

I liked guacamole, and then a few times had sandwiches and wraps that contained avocados, and it turned out that I quite liked it. That has now turned into a bit of an obsession. Ocado sell them in packs of 3, and they are lovely and ripe, so I have been enjoying them with different meals this week.

Andy made a yummy sweet potato chilli (roasted sweet potatoes, onion, red+yellow peppers, tomatoes, and a load of chilli)- it was super spicy so I needed the avocado to calm my mouth down!

That was enjoyed after my Monday night run- that was possibly the coldest I have ever been on a run as the wind was so cold- I really felt like my eye sockets were going to shatter or something!

I made another mexican casserole thing- basically I roast chopped celery, peppers, red onion, cook some quinoa, wilt some spinach in the quinoa, then add passata, chilli, sweetcorn and beans, and then freeze. I enjoyed one portion with avocado after going to aerobics on Tuesday- I had not been in ages and it was fab! Although we did a lot of plank things at the end and I have been sore since.

On Wednesday I went to the Sweatshop run- thankfully it was not as cold as Monday, but it did start snowing quite heavily while we were out- luckily it was not settling so it just fogged up my glasses. The group stayed pretty much together and did just over 5K. I was trying to look at my watch to see what I did the 3.1 miles in, but because I was where the streetlights were out I missed it. I think it was about 28 mins though. I was given the nutrition pack as I have completed 25 runs (well actually it was last week, but they didn’t have any last week). Exciting!

I got confused when planning meals this week, so I had to do freezer lucky dip for Wednesday- I found a butternut squash chilli (think it had celery, peppers, onions, squash and sweet potato in there) so I had that with some salad and beetroot that needed using up. I love how you can see the steam in the picture.

I went to Body Pump tonight, and we got to try the new release. I was glad to see the back of the “Welcome to the Jungle” chest track from last time. It was tough. But in a good way I think. The chest track was really hard (you had to do some sets starting at the bottom, and some starting at the top, which meant it felt like there were no mini rests or anything)- it was a good song (Muse) which always helps. The triceps is back to having the bar, dips and the dreaded overhead things (I hate them!)- means it is tougher which is good I suppose. The lunges track is really challenging- instead of the leaps at the end, you stand with your feet either side of the step, and then jump up. The abs was really different as there were no planks- it was all on your back doing leg raises and some weird push up move things. I am aching already!

After my shower I had a lovely snack plate of yoghurt, persimmon and some little marzipan hearts (Christmas chocolates).

I have signed up to Parkrun and I am planning on going to one this Saturday morning with my Dad and brother, although I just caught the weather and it looks like it is going to be raining hard- not so good. I hope I don’t wimp out!

Right, I am off to get my PJ’s ready for Comic Relief tomorrow (yup, wearing them to work!)- what are your weekend plans?